Particulate matter sinking to the deep-sea floor at 2000 M in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas, with a description of a new sedimentation trap
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1792Location
Tongue of the OceanDOI
10.1575/1912/1792Abstract
A sedimentation trap for use just above the deep-sea floor was free-fallen to a depth of
2050 m in the Tongue of the Ocean canyon on January 3, 1974. On March 6, it was successfully
recovered with the assistance of D.S.R.V. Alvin. The trap has a base 1 m square and a
height of 30 cm. At the trap bottom are filters to retain falling particles. Two spring-powered
sliding doors, each 1 m x 0.5 m, are used to close off the lower 2 cm of the trap during
ascent to prevent disturbance of the particles collected on the filters.
Total carbon on the filters as determined by high temperature combustion averaged 2301
mgC/m2 or an average on a daily basis of 36.5 mgC/m2. Similar filter aliquots were treated
with cold phosphoric acid to eliminate the inorganic fraction. The resulting carbon values
(X =: 5.7 mgC/m2/day) suggest 14% of the total carbon reaching the sea floor at 2000 m in
this area is organic in origin. Fecal material is one readily identifiable component of the material
contributing to the organic fraction. Counts of fecal pellets resulted in an estimate of an
average of ~650 pellets/m2/day. Average pellet length was 241 μm and diameter was 109
μm. In laboratory experiments the pellets sank at rates varying from 50 m/day to 941 m/day
(X at 5°C =159 m/day).
Comparison of the sedimentation trap estimates of organic carbon input to the sea floor in
this area with benthic energy requirements indicates that rapidly sinking small particulate matter
could supply approximately 14% of the metabolic requirements of the benthos.
Description
Originally published in Journal of Marine Research 34 (1976): 341-354
Collections
Suggested Citation
Wiebe, P. H., Boyd, S. H., & Winget, C. (1976). Particulate matter sinking to the deep-sea floor at 2000 M in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas, with a description of a new sedimentation trap. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/1792Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Widespread influence of resuspended sediments on oceanic particulate organic carbon : insights from radiocarbon and aluminum contents in sinking particles
Hwang, Jeomshik; Druffel, Ellen R. M.; Eglinton, Timothy I. (American Geophysical Union, 2010-11-20)Particulate organic carbon (POC) in the ocean often exhibits more depleted radiocarbon contents (lower Δ 14C values) than expected if its sole source were POC recently synthesized by primary production and export from the ... -
d15N of size-fractionated particulate organic nitrogen (PON) from sediment traps in the Sargasso Sea
Sigman, Daniel (Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). Contact: bco-dmo-data@whoi.edu, 2020-01-10)d15N of size-fractionated particulate organic nitrogen (PON) from sediment traps n the Sargasso Sea (off Bermuda) in the western subtropical North Atlantic. Sediment traps from 500 m, 1500 m, and 3200 m water depth (31°50’N, ... -
Particulate & dissolved Po-210 & Pb-210 in seawater, snow, melt ponds, ice core, ice-rafted sediments, and aerosols from the US GEOTRACES Arctic cruise (HLY1502) on USCGC Healy from August to October 2015
Baskaran, Mark; Krupp, Katherine (Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). Contact: bco-dmo-data@whoi.edu, 2020-02-28)Particulate & dissolved Po-210 & Pb-210 in seawater, snow, melt ponds, ice core, ice-rafted sediments, and aerosols from the US GEOTRACES Arctic cruise (HLY1502) on USCGC Healy from August to October 2015. For a complete ...