1 One was that one of the reasons--well , we addressed two major 



2 concerns in these particular experiments. One, of course, the primary 



3 one was to look at rates of decolonization in the deep sea. 



4 There was also another question as to whether the design of the 



5 experiment trays that were used were appropriate. This slide shows you 



6 the type of design that has been used in most of Fred's recolonization 



7 work. It's essentially a rectangular arrangement of trays. 



8 In most cases some of the trays will be filled with sediment 



9 that's been frozen and then thawed to make sure there are no living 



10 organisms in it. Other of the trays will be left empty. This is the 



11 lid that ultimately fits down and covers the trays as they're being 



12 lowered through the sediment column. 



13 Most of the work on recolonization rates in the deep sea has been 



14 done with this type of design. One of the concerns had been whether or 



15 not the flow of water over and through this type of structure really was 



16 similar to what occurred in natural circumstances or whether some 



17 artificial barriers were set up. 



18 So, part of the study was to evaluate the design of the tray and 



19 to come up with a redesign. That particular piece of work was carried 



20 out by Cheryl Ann Butman at Woods Hole Oceanographic. If anyone wants 



21 any information on that part of the work, they need to speak with Cheryl 



22 Ann. 



23 We have a chapter in our report that discusses the results, but I 



24 would not presume to get into that aspect of the study. 



25 However, I can show you the result of the redesign, and that was 



26 to come up with a circular arrangement, rather than the rectangular 



27 arrangement. 



28 As you can see, all of the sediment is now positioned in the 



29 center of the whole array. This design was to insure, based on Cheryl 



30 Ann's experiments, that the flow of water over the sediment was as close 



31 to the natural conditions as possible. 



32 The way the trays were arranged in that central area was in this 



33 sort of arrangement. 



126 



