Within the intensively-studied, well-documented latitudinal diversity gradient, the deep-sea biodiversity of the present-day Norwegian Sea stands out with its notably low diversity, constituting a steep latitudinal diversity gradient in the North Atlantic. The reason behind this has long been a topic of debate and speculation. Most prominently, it is explained by the deep-sea glacial disturbance hypothesis, which states that harsh environmental glacial conditions negatively impacted Norwegian Sea diversities, which have not yet fully recovered. Our aim is to empirically test this hypothesis. Specific research questions are: (1) Has deep-sea biodiversity been lower during glacials than during interglacials? (2) Was there any faunal shift at the Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE) when the mode of glacial–interglacial climatic change was altered?

中文翻译：

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使用化石记录测试深海冰川扰动假说是造成当今挪威海多样性低以及由此产生的陡峭纬度多样性梯度的原因


在经过深入研究和详细记录的纬度多样性梯度中，当今挪威海的深海生物多样性以其明显较低的多样性而脱颖而出，在北大西洋构成了陡峭的纬度多样性梯度。这背后的原因长期以来一直是争论和猜测的话题。最突出的是，它可以用深海冰川扰动假说来解释，该假说指出，恶劣的冰川环境条件对挪威海的多样性产生了负面影响，而挪威海的多样性尚未完全恢复。我们的目的是通过实证检验这一假设。具体的研究问题是：（1）冰期期间深海生物多样性是否低于间冰期？ （2）当冰期-间冰期气候变化模式发生改变时，Mid-Brunhes事件（MBE）是否发生了动物区系变化？