Degradation and Transport of Recent Crinoid Ossicles at San Salvador, Bahamas: Part 2, the Winter Season

海百合的骨骼元素是一种罕见的组成部分， 海底沉积物，但古代海百合小骨通常 丰富到足以成为海洋岩石的主要成分。 因此，在本发明中， 对分离听小骨骨化过程研究， 对沉积学家和古生物学家都很重要。 为了确定土壤的就地退化的影响， 海百合小骨，这些元素将被粘在有机玻璃板上 固定在海底的混凝土半球上。 小骨 也将被粘在垂直埋在 海底沉积物，以研究埋藏的影响。 这些技术 已经在生物降解研究中证明是有效的 在夏季（1991年3月至9月）。 寄生， 结壳生物及其对海百合方解石的影响 立体声目前正在研究使用小骨留在 在海底进行为期5天至6个月的试验。 拟议 研究将采用同样的方法，侧重于冬季月份。 听小骨的运输尚未直接观察到 夏天，但预计将是一个主要部分， research. 染料会释放到水中，谷物会 染色和监测，以及沉积物收集器， 将使用牵引和悬吊载荷来测量听小骨 直接或间接运输。 此外，沉积物样本 将从海岸到陆架边缘沿沿着取样，并进行检查 从他们的生活地点运来的小骨。

Crinoid skeletal elements are a rare component in modern seafloor sediment, but ancient crinoid ossicles are commonly abundant enough to be major constituents of marine rocks. Thus, the study of fossilization processes of separate ossicles is important for sedimentologists as well as for paleontologists. In order to determine the effects of in-place degradation of crinoid ossicles, the elements will be glued to plexiglass plates and fastened to concrete hemispheres on the seafloor. Ossicles will also be glued to plexiglass rods buried vertically in the seafloor sediment to study the effects of burial. These techniques have already proven effective in a study of biologic degradation over the summer months (March-September, 1991). Infesting and encrusting organisms and their effects on the crinoid's calcite stereom are currently being studied using ossicles left on the seafloor for periods from 5 days to 6 months. The proposed research will focus on the winter months, using the same approach. Transport of ossicles has not been observed directly in the summer, but is expected to be a major part of the proposed research. Dye will be released into the water, grains will be stained and monitored, and sediment traps designed to sample both traction and suspended load will be used to measure ossicle transport directly and indirectly. In addition, sediment samples will be taken along transect from shore to shelf edge, and examined for ossicles transported from their living sites.