The Langseth Ridge - part of the ultra-siow-spreading Gakkel Ridge - lies below the Arctic sea-ice at 87°N (cf. map on p.17). It consists of a chain of three seamounts, and it was on the upper parts of these seamounts that an expedition on RV Polarstern found flourishing benthic communities dominated by sponges. The sponge grounds covered a total area of >15 km~2 across the peaks of the seamount chain and the 'saddles' between them, with the densest aggregations and most massive sponges on the flat upper regions of the seamounts, at depths of 721-585 m (Figure 1).
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