1 The other important point is that the axis of Lydonia Canyon, both 



2 at 300 meters and at about 600 meters, have very high levels. The 



3 canyon axis, even at almost 1,500 meters, has an appreciable level near 



4 the bottom. 



5 In fact, a level here at 1,500 meters is quite comparable to what 



6 we observe on the continental shelf at 125 meters of water. Shallower 



7 on the continental shelf, somewhat higher levels. 



8 The final point is that compared to continental slope, located 



9 here at the same depth as shown here, we have just the smallest amount 



10 of resuspended bottom sediment found in these bottom traps. 



11 So, this diagram, I think, shows pretty dramatically that the 



12 action, in terms of resuspended sediment, is indeed in the canyon axis, 



13 compared to other areas surrounding it. 



14 To illustrate that point again in another way, we've now plotted 



15 the results of all the traps on the same diagram. Here we're showing 



16 meters above bottom and on a large scale, the flux of trap sediment. 



17 The red represents traps that were collected in the canyon axis. 



18 These two stations are in the upper reaches of the canyon between 300 



19 and 600 meters. This is deeper in the canyon at 1,400 meters. That's 



20 comparable, as I said earlier, to the values found on the continental 



21 shelf. Way back here, bringing up a distant third, is the area of the 



22 continental slope. 



23 I really don't have much data to talk about Oceanographer Canyon 



24 in comparison, but I will point out that in one deployment where we had 



25 sediment trap and current-mooring arrays in Oceanographer Canyon, that 



26 commensurate with its greater current velocity, we found a greater flux 



27 by about 30 percent of the trap sediment collected in Oceanographer 



28 Canyon at exactly the same depths measure in Lydonia Canyon. 



29 So, this then illustrates the fact that there is a fair amount of 



30 intensity in the canyon axis with respect to resuspension and if my 



31 hypothesis is correct that this offers an opportunity for absorption of 



32 contaminants, that then is the first step in the argument that we would 



33 expect greater accumulation by this process. 



62 



