WIGLEY and STINTON: REMAINS FROM MARINE SEDIMENTS 



Table 1. — Station location, water depth, sediment type, 

 ime of bottom samples collected south of Martha's 

 d, Mass., 11-20 June 1962. 



mineral matter and associated debris were re- 

 moved by hand sorting, and the animals and an- 

 imal remains were separated by species, identi- 

 fied, and counted. Only animal remains are 

 considered in the present report. 



Water depths at which samples were collected 

 ranged from 27 to 567 m. 



Sediment samples were collected at each sta- 

 tion and at two localities equally spaced between 

 stations along the cruise track. Of the 186 sam- 

 ples collected, 60 were analyzed in detail for par- 

 ticle size, and the remaining 126 were examined 

 in the laboratory by field techniques. Names 

 of the various sediment types are in accordance 

 with the classification reported by Shepard 

 (1954) and Emery (1960). 



DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA 



Three major physical features that have an 

 important impact on the occurrence, distribu- 

 tion, and condition of the prefossil animal re- 

 mains in this area are: physiography, bottom 

 sediment composition, and hydrography. These 

 features are briefly discussed below. 



PHYSIOGRAPHY 



The area studied is about 130 km square and 

 extends across the continental shelf and the up- 

 per portion of the continental slope. Bottom 

 configuration is moderately smooth; water 

 depths increase gradually and rather uniformly 

 from shore outward to the shelf break, which is 

 at a depth of about 120 m. Beyond the shelf 

 break, on the continental slope, the depth gradi- 

 ent is relatively steep, averaging 4°. Detailed 

 bathymetric charts of this area having contour 

 intervals of 1 fathom were published in 1967 

 by the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. 

 Department of the Interior (Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, Bathymetric Maps numbers: 0708N-52 

 and 53; 0808N-51 and 52; and 0807N-51). 



BOTTOM SEDIMENT COMPOSITION 



Bottom sediments in the area are composed 

 of relict glacial material — principally nonbio- 

 genic sands and silts plus a few gravel patches 



