Thirty-year time series study at a station in the abyssal NE Pacific: An introduction

The deep sea has always been intriguing given its vast expanse and that little is known about processes and inhabitants below 1000 m depth. Given the paucity of information regarding the deep ocean, an abyssal time-series station was established in June 1989 off central California beneath the coastal upwelling region. Early color satellite imagery showed seasonal chlorophyll-rich plumes extending west off the headlands of Point Conception over abyssal depths (Pelaez and McGowan, 1986). A station was chosen beneath one extensive plume of this enriched surface water (Fig. 1). This site had soft bottom sediments and minimal relief (Smith and Druffel, 1998). It was hypothesized that seasonal spikes in surface productivity would afford an opportunity to track this food source through the water column and identify its impact at abyssal depths.