1. Benthic community structure Decisions made from the 1 st cruise results: –Macrofauna absent from the brines –Meiofauna present and different between the basins. Need evidence for living organisms –Concentrate on meiofauna sampling Qualitative samples (to check for living organisms) Quantitative samples (in and out)

2. Samples

3. Living organisms Two different methods: 1.Approach: Application of a fluorogenic probe to visualize life organisms –Urania samples first In approx. 2/5 of the samples no results (but no mollusks found yet) 2.Approach: Use of transmission electron microscopy

4. Comparison of brine quantitative samples

5. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -300-200-1000100200300400500600 AB14MC-URANIA AB12MC-URANIA AB15MC-URANIA AB10MC-DISCOVERY AB13MC-L'ATALANTE AB28MC-BANNOCK AB03MC-BANNOCK AB04MC-BANNOCK Eh (mV) November cruise

6. Redox 1 st cruise

7. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 00,010,020,030,040,050,06 AB15MC Urania AB03MC Bannock AB12MC Urania AB28MC Bannock 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 00,050,10,150,20,250,30,35 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 00,10,20,30,4 Depth (cm) Chlorophyll a (μg/g) Phaeopigments (μg/g) CPE (μg/g) Pigments from Nov 2003 cruise

8. Pigments from 1 st cruise

9. Work to be done Completion of quantitative sample analysis (both brine and normal sediments) Look for living organisms at the other 3 basins Completion of sediment chemistry (organic carbon) Wait for TEM results