Some peculiarities of the vertical distribution of mesoplankton in the Norwegian-Greenland basin

The vertical distribution of zooplankton was studied in three regions of th e Norwegian-Greenland Basin: over the Voring Plateau, over the methane seep age of the Haakon Mosby underwater mud volcano, and in the rift valley of t he Knipovich Ridge. It is worth mentioning that there, several near-surface and interzonal species penetrate to unusually great depths. This phenomeno n could be explained by the hydrological peculiarities of the Norwegian and Greenland seas. The studies of the plankton distribution over the methane seepage of the Haakon Mosby mud volcano did not reveal significant differen ces in the plankton distribution, which confirms that the chemosyntheticall y produced bottom organic matter could be included in the food web of the p elagic zone at the levels of meso- and macroplankton.