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We used a multibeam echosounder (Reson7125) front-mounted onto the ROV Isis (Dive D333, DY081 expedition) to map the terrain of a vertical feature marking the edge of a deep-sea glacial trough (Labrador Sea, [63°51.9'N, 53°16.9'W, depth: 650 to 800 m]). After correction of the ROV navigation (i.e. merging of USBL and DVL), bathymetry [m] and backscatter [nominal unit] were extracted at a resolution of 0.3 m and different terrain descriptors were computed: Slope, Bathymetric Position Index (BPI), Terrain Ruggedness Index, Roughness, Mean and Gaussian curvatures and orientations (Northness and Eastness), at scales of 0.9, 3 and 9 m. Using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the terrain descriptors enabled to retrieve 4 terrain clusters and their associated confusion index, to investigate the spatial heterogeneity of the terrain. This approach also underlined the presence of geomorphic features in the wall terrain. The extraction of the backscatter intensity for the first time considering vertical terrains, opens space for further acquisition and processing development. Using photographs collected by the ROV Isis (Dive D334, DY081 expedition), epibenthic fauna was annotated. Each image was linked to a terrain cluster in the 3D space and pooled into 20-m² bins of images. A Bray-Curtis dissimilarity matrix was constructed from morphospecies abundances. This enabled to test for differences of assemblage composition among clusters. Few species appeared more abundant in particular clusters such as L. pertusa in high-roughness cluster. However, nMDS suggested differences in assemblage composition but these dissimilarities were not strongly delineated. Whereas the design of this study may have limited distinctive differences among assemblages, this shows the potential of this cost-effective method of top-down habitat mapping to be applied in undersampled benthic habitat in order to provide a priori knwoledge for defining appropriate sampling design.

The marine silicon cycle is intrinsically linked with carbon cycling in the oceans via biological production of silica by a wide range of organisms. The stable silicon isotopic composition (denoted by δ30Si) of siliceous microfossils extracted from sediment cores can be used as an archive of past oceanic silicon cycling. However, the silicon isotopic composition of biogenic silica has only been measured in diatoms, sponges and radiolarians, and isotopic fractionation relative to seawater is entirely unknown for many other silicifiers. Furthermore, the biochemical pathways and mechanisms that determine isotopic fractionation during biosilicification remain poorly understood. Here, we present the first measurements of the silicon isotopic fractionation during biosilicification by loricate choanoflagellates, a group of protists closely related to animals. We cultured two species of choanoflagellates, Diaphanoeca grandis and Stephanoeca diplocostata, which showed consistently greater isotopic fractionation (approximately −5 ‰ to −7 ‰) than cultured diatoms (−0.5 ‰ to −2.1 ‰). Instead, choanoflagellate silicon isotopic fractionation appears to be more similar to sponges grown under similar dissolved silica concentrations. Our results highlight that there is a taxonomic component to silicon isotope fractionation during biosilicification, possibly via a shared or related biochemical transport pathway. These findings have implications for the use of biogenic silica δ30Si produced by different silicifiers as proxies for past oceanic change.

DY081 was the first fieldwork component of a European Research Council funded project, ICY-LAB, led by Dr. K. Hendry from the University of Bristol to study nutrient cycling in the North Atlantic. This data release contains seawater bottle data collected during DY081 by standard CTD rosette, remotely operated vehicle and Tow fish, together with ancillary, processed sensor data at the bottle opening depths. Four sites of interest were surveyed: Orphan Knoll off the coast of Newfoundland, and Nuuk, Nasrsaq, and Cape Farewell off southwest Greenland. Description of the data available is given in the Data Documentation file (see Further details).

The dataset contains pore water and core incubation silicic acid concentration and isotope measurements, sponge silicon isotope measurements, and pore water major and trace elemental concentrations obtained from seven sediment cores collected from the Greenland margin and the Labrador Sea. The samples were collected as part of the European Research Council project ICY-LAB (ERC-2015-STG grant agreement number 678371).

This data release contains the stable silicon isotope composition of deep sea sponges collected from the North Atlantic, and co-located seawater silicon isotopic compositions. Three sites were surveyed: the Labrador Sea, Nova Scotia and Porcupine Bight. The samples were collected as part of the European Research Council project ICY-LAB (ERC-2015-STG grant agreement number 678371), EU Horizon 2020 project SponGES (H2020-BG-2015-2 grant agreement number 679849), and EU Seventh Framework Programme EUROFLEETS2 (FP7/2007-2013 grant agreement number 312762).