1 DR. BUTMAN: Right. 



2 . DR. TEAL: It seems to me it would be unreasonable to assume that 



3 it wasn't at least going to be mixed in the top couple of centimeters. 



4 DR. GRASSLE: Well, over a period of time. 



5 DR. TEAL: But it is being put in over a period of time, too. 



6 DR. GRASSLE: At a lower depth. 



7 DR. TEAL: At the depth we are talking about, it's not terribly 



8 deep. 



9 DR. VALENTINE: We are not talking about a tranquil environment 



10 here. This stuff is being resuspended e^^ery day. 



11 DR. HECKER: I guess I'm concerned, also, about gross sediment. 



12 Again, what I know about the larvae of corals is that they are 



13 exceptionally sensitive to textural and chemical. 



14 DR. TEAL: But we are talking now about an environment which is 



15 very changeable, apparently, because it gets stirred up and mixed every 



16 day. These corals, I would expect to be more tolerant of changes just 



17 for that reason. We have heard so much about that. 



18 DR. HECKER: Yes, you hear so much about it, but when you are 



19 actually down there and looking at it, they look pretty damned tranquil. 



20 That silty area looks tranquil. 



21 DR. BUTMAN: You're not down there for very long. 



22 DR. TEAL: One time, everything was pretty clear and then it began 



23 to pick up and more and more stuff was flying around. 



24 DR. HECKER: I'm talking about the silty axis at the head of 



25 Lydonia. They are patchy. Also, you are talking about along the rim, 



26 the walls, you've got differences in the axis. In Lydonia Canyon, you 



27 go down to 600 meters and you've got material flying past you like Dick 



28 was talking about. Go to 900 meters and your sub is thrown all over the 



29 place. It depends. 



30 DR. TEAL: But we are trying to put it into this area of where the 



31 deposition occurs. 



32 DR. BOTHNER: In that area, there is frequent resuspension. 



305 



