In 2017, the RV METEOR M134 expedition investigated macrobenthic assemblages associated with methane seeps on the South Georgia continental shelf. Six shelf troughs with active methane seepage were sampled to assess species richness, abundance, and environmental conditions. Data were collected from eleven shelf stations, with species richness ranging from 19 to 51 species and abundances from 3,303 to 30,326 individuals per square meter. A total of 103 species were identified, with arthropods (primarily crustaceans) and annelids comprising most of the species richness. Environmental data include methane and sulfate flux, hydrogen sulfide concentrations, and sediment geochemistry. Seep assemblage data is combined with data from non-seep benthic communities from other expeditions.The dataset provides: 1) South Georgia methane seep station locations and environmental data. 2) Macrobenthic species absolute and normalized abundances at seep sites. 3) A combination of seep assemblages with non-seep benthic communities from other expeditions.

Funding:

The fieldwork for this study, was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in the framework of the priority programme ''Antarctic Research with comparative investigations in Arctic ice areas'' (project-id 40464014) and within the DFG-Research Center/Cluster of Excellence EXC 309 ''The Ocean in the Earth System'' (project-id 49926684). The expedition, titled ''Emissions of free gas around South Georgia: distribution, quantification, and sources for methane ebullition sites in sub-Antarctic waters,'' was supported by MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, Research Faculty University of Bremen, and the University of Bremen. Additional support came from the Helmholtz Association (Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven). The cruise was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Katrin Linse is part of the British Antarctic Survey Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme (NC Science), funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Studies around South Georgia were conducted under permit RAP 129/2016 (M134) issued by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UK. Macrobenthic faunal sorting was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council through a DEI Internship for Madeline PBC Anderson (via the NERC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion engagement funding) and an IAPETUS2 PhD studentship held by Madeline PBC Anderson (grant reference NE/S007431/1).