Sediment flux determined via sediment traps at marine sites around Davis Station, East Antarctica, summer 2009/10.

Brief description

A series of sediment traps were deployed at 13 sites in the Vestfold Hills region with 3 replicate traps at each site. The traps were deployed and collected from inflatable boats. Each trap consisted of a perspex cylinder kept upright in the water column by a semi-spherical float around the centre of the cylinder. The trap was approximately 50cm above the seabed and held in place by a galvanized metal chain attached to a mooring anchor. Each trap had a retrieval rope with subsurface buoy which was intended to be approx 2m below the water surface at low tide. The sediment traps had an internal diameter of 5.4 cm and an internal height of 13.7 cm. No preservatives were used to keep the settling particles. Upon collection the sediment trap contents were transferred to acid cleaned 200 mL HDPE bottles. Collected sediment material was transported to the laboratory at Davis Station and stored at 4 degrees C until processed (within 48 hours of collection). All plastic ware and filters were acid cleaned in a 10% nitric acid bath, rinsed with Milli-Q and dried prior to use. Sediment material was twice filtered through pre-weighed 0.8 micron glass fibre filters and 0.45 micron cellulose acetate filters. Filters were then placed on individual petri dishes, oven dried at 60C, cooled in a desiccator and their dry weights recorded.