CONTENTS 



Page 



Report of the Director 1 



Staff 3 



Staff activities 4 



Meetings attended and papers presented 4 



Appointnnents, committees, conferences, and training . 4 



Radiological consulting activities 5 



Conferences and meetings 5 



Safety analysis reports reviewed 6 



Staff publications 6 



Research by graduate students from North Carolina 



State University, Raleigh, N.C 7 



Estuarine ecology program 10 



Compartmental analysis of production and decay of 



Juncus roemerianus 10 



Biogeochemistry program 13 



Estuarine biogeochemistry of cesium 137 13 



Interference by high concentrations of calcium in trace 



analysis by atomic absorption spectrophotometry 17 



Effect of calcium concentration on aspiration rate 



and atomizer efficiency 18 



Effect of calcium on instrumental response to metal 



standards 18 



Growth of Rangia cuneata (Gray) 19 



Sampling methods and ecology of the sannpling station . 19 



Analysis of growth in Rangia 19 



Pollution studies program 23 



A technique for studying the exchange of trace elements 



between estuarine sediments and water 23 



Materials and methods 23 



Application of technique 27 



Variation in concentrations of iron, manganese, and zinc 



in sediment collected from the Newport River estuary . . 27 



Methods 28 



Variation of iron, manganese, and zinc in sediment ... 28 

 Variation of elemental content in marine polychaetous 



worms 31 



Methods 32 



Ecology of species collected 32 



Elemental concentrations 32 



Effect of geographical location 32 



Elemental relations 33 



Ecological implications 33 



Rates of respiration of estuarine fish 35 



Methods and materials 3^ 



Comparison of respiration rates 37 



Radiation effects program 41 



Interactions of chronic gamma radiation, salinity, and 



temperature on the morphology of young pinfish 41 



Experimental design and procedures 41 



Environmental factors and interactions affecting 



growth 42 



Differences in body characteristics after 45 days .... 43 



Growth in length from to 45 days 44 



Ecological implications 45 



Interaction of gamma irradiation and salinity on respira- 

 tion of brine shrimp nauplii 47 



Experimental procedures 48 



