Samples were collected at two sites in the Eastern Canadian Arctic (Figure 1) aboard the scientific icebreaker CCGS Amundsen. The sampling positions at biogenic and non-biogenic habitats were defined during ROV video surveys at the two sites (Figure 2a-d). Positions were carefully selected to avoid overlap between the two types of habitats (i.e., when most of the camera’s field of view was dominated by a single habitat over the course of approximatively 5 meters). At each site, we deployed two box cores (0.5 × 0.5 m) per habitat (i.e., inside the biogenic structures and in the bare sediment; Figure 2e) approximately 200 m apart in FB site and 500 m apart in BB site. From each box core, we collected three sediment cores (i.d = 9.8 cm, H = 30 cm) for a total of six cores per habitat and 12 cores per site. Sediment cores sampled in biogenic structures habitats were visually exempted from biogenic structures. Bottom (10 m above the seafloor) temperature, salinity and oxygen saturation at each site were recorded with a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) probe. Sediment cores were incubated in the dark at a temperature-controlled room (2-4°C) until a maximum of 20% of available oxygen was consumed.
Sediment samples for chlorophyll a, phaeopigments and sediment properties were also collected from each box core. sediment cores were sieved through a 500 µm mesh sieve to collect infauna. Organisms were fixed with 4% formaldehyde solution. They were sorted under a dissecting microscope in the laboratory and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level.
