Composition and Distribution of Macrobenthic Invertebrate Fauna 



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Figure 3 



Side view of the Smith-Mclntyre spring-loaded bottom sampler in the closed position. Lead weights on each 

 side are set vertically to impede rotation of the sampler during descent and ascent. Vertical distance from 

 frame base to top plate is 52 cm. 



divided geographically into six subareas (Fig. 5). These 

 are: 1) Nova Scotia, containing 44,816 km 2 (13, 049 

 mi 2 ) — encompassing southwestern Bay of Fundy, east- 

 ern gulf of Maine, Browns Bank, and the Nova Scotian 

 continental shelf; 2) Gulf of Maine — all of the Gulf of 

 Maine except the eastern sector encompassing an area 

 of 80,067 km' 2 (23,313 mi 2 ); 3) Georges Bank— consist- 

 ing only of Georges Bank proper with an area of 39,21 1 

 km 2 (11,417 mi 2 ); 4) Southern New England Shelf oc- 

 cupying 73,318 km 2 (21,348 mi 2 ) — including the conti- 

 nental shelf from Great South Channel southwestward 

 to central New Jersey; 5) Georges Slope — the continen- 

 tal slope from Great South Channel northeasterly to off 

 the Scotian Banks, an area of 50,706 km 2 (14,764 mi 2 ); 

 6) Southern New England Slope — the continental slope 

 from Great South Channel southwesterly to southwest 

 of Hudson Canyon, occupying 62,570 km 2 (18,218 mi 2 ). 



Each subarea has specific biotopic and biogeographic 

 fauna! characteristics. These are discussed in the sec- 

 tion entitled "Description of the Region" and in the 

 "Geographic Distribution" section for each of the ma- 

 jor taxonomic groups. 



Bottom Sediments 



Bottom sediments from the samples have been ana- 

 lyzed for particle size, composition, and color. In addi- 

 tion, a selected series of these samples was further ana- 

 lyzed for carbonate content (Hulsemann, 1966), quan- 

 tity of organic matter (Hulsemann, 1967) and 

 mineralogy (Ross, 1970b). Detailed particle size analy- 

 ses of approximately 75% of the samples were made by 

 John Schlee, U.S. Geological Survey (Schlee, 1973). 



