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OXYGEN CONSUMPTION BY THE SEABED. II. IN SITU MEASUREMENTS TO A DEPTH OF 180 m 1
Author(s) -
Pamatmat Mario M.,
Banse Karl
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1969.14.2.0250
Subject(s) - seabed , sediment , organic matter , oceanography , environmental science , phytoplankton , plankton , nitrogen , oxygen , sound (geography) , biomass (ecology) , geology , nutrient , ecology , chemistry , biology , geomorphology , organic chemistry
Oxygen consumption by the seabed in Puget Sound was measured in situ in bell jars pushed into the bottom while monitored by television. Eleven stations were visited irregularly between January and August 1967. Depths ranged from 11 to 180 m, and sediment varied from coarse sand to mud. Observed short‐term rates were between 4 and 40 ml O 2 m −2 hr −1 and were unrelated to depth (pressure), mean grain size, fine fraction of the sediment, organic matter or organic nitrogen in the upper 0.5 cm, or the biomass of macrofauna. Temperature accounted for only about 30% of the total variation in rates. We suggest that the seasonal changes of rates, and possibly the differences between stations, are caused primarily by changes of activity of small organisms as governed by the rate of supply of organic matter from the plankton. Estimates of annual rates of oxidation of organic matter on the seabed correspond to 17 and 25% of the phytoplankton production ( 1 4 C uptake) near the stations in northern and southern Puget Sound, respectively.