Chamber Measurements of Benthic Metabolism: Insights from Deep Sea Floor Studies,
Abstract
The sea floor is recognized as an important location for the decomposition of organic materials and the consumption of metabolic oxidants in many marine environments. As such, reactions in the bottom sediments may exert considerable control on the chemical characteristics and biological habitability of the overlying water column. Quantifying chemical exchange across the sediment-water interface, therefore, is an important goal for assessing and monitoring water quality. During the last four years, I have been involved in the development and use of a free vehicle instrument capable of performing benthic flux chamber incubations at the sea floor. To date, the instrument has been deployed at numerous sites adjacent to the central California continental margin and the California Borderland basin region. In the following, I describe the instrument and discuss some of the rationale for the final design. Particular attention is given to the chamber stirring mechanism and methods used to evaluate the turbulence characteristics at the sediment surface within the chamber. Following the instrument description, results from the margin and basin regions are presented. Instrument, Design.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADP007790
Entities
People
- Richard A. Jahnke
Organizations
- Skidaway Institute of Oceanography