Northeastern Pacific abyssal zones

Due to the overarching significance of POC flux in shaping abyssal communities, our discussion of the Northeastern Pacific abyssal plain ecosystem is organized into sections on the eutrophic, mesotrophic and oligotrophic abyss. 

The gradients in POC flux across the NEPAP explain gradients in the total benthic biomass, sediment community oxygen consumption, other solute fluxes into and out of the sediments and, consequently, elemental cycling rates. 

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