QUANTITATIVE APPROACH OF BIOTURBATION ON CONTINENTAL-MARGIN

Research in the framework of the ECOMARGE operation was carried out on the Mediterranean and Atlantic continental margins to quantify die bi oturbation processes. These studies aim: to identify and quantify the responsible organisms (macrobenthos); to determine and measure the pro cesses generated by these organisms in the sedimentary column, such as biogenic structures (resin casts of burrows) and sediment mixing (int roduction of a tracer at the surface of the sediment); to provide evid ence of the incidence of bioturbation on solute flux through the sedim ent-water interface; and to modelise these phenomena.