Submarine experiments on benthic colonization of sediments in the western Baltic Sea. I. Technical layout

✍ Scribed by M. Sarnthein; W. Richter

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1974
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 810 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0025-3162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00387292

✦ Synopsis

Submarine sedimentary substrates have been exposed in a new-style special arrangement for benthic colonization. The experiment has been running for 2 years and is planned to continue as a long-term test for several more years, with the purpose of studying independently both the effects of hydrographic and biotic factors as well as those of substrate type. This is accomplished by 3 floating platforms. Each carries 3 open containers filled with clayey mud, sand, and gravel (70 cm diameter, 25 cm deep). The platforms are anchored close together at 11, 15 and 19 m water depths. Their distances from the sea floor vary between 5.5 and 2.0 m. The sediments were obtained from sand pits on land. Substrate samples are continuously taken by divers, l~drographic data are available by direct measurements from a ship and automatic sensors. The characteristic sources of error of the experiment seem to exert no decisive influence on the benthic production data.