A BENTHIC MESOCOSM FACILITY FOR MAINTAINING SOFT-BOTTOM SEDIMENTS

Citation
N. Silverberg et al., A BENTHIC MESOCOSM FACILITY FOR MAINTAINING SOFT-BOTTOM SEDIMENTS, Netherlands journal of sea research, 34(4), 1995, pp. 289-302
Citations number
23
Categorie Soggetti
Oceanografhy,"Marine & Freshwater Biology
ISSN journal
00777579
Volume
34
Issue
4
Year of publication
1995
Pages
289 - 302
Database
ISI
SICI code
0077-7579(1995)34:4<289:ABMFFM>2.0.ZU;2-J
Abstract
Closed-circulation, water jacket-insulated laboratory basins (benthic mesocosms) of 1 m(2) surface area preserved the abundance and species composition of the principal benthic macrofauna of the 350-m-deep Laur entian Trough for periods exceeding a year. Abundance of meiofauna, an d bacterial numbers and activity were also sustained. Although the ove rlying water was permitted to equilibrate with the atmosphere, oxygen penetration depths in the sediment stabilized at about twice the thick ness of the in situ aerobic layer, while whole-sediment respiration ra tes remained within the range observed for freshly obtained sediment c ores. Build-up of metabolic by-products in the overlying water was con trolled by bi-monthly replacement of a third of the bottom water. The study demonstrated that close observation of organism behaviour and bi ogeochemical processes within deep coastal sediments can be carried ou t in laboratory mesocosms.