Relative to the other camera tracks. Station 2 shows the most evidence of organic 

 activity. Throughout the entire length of the track the bottom is thoroughly pitted 

 and marked by trails, tracks, mounds, and burrows. A number of the mounds present 

 in this and the remaining plates are thought to represent pebble and cobble debris 

 which has been covered by sediment. These mounds are differentiated from organi- 

 cally derived ir.ounds by the lack of an axial hole. Some sessile forms are present 

 in the exposures from Station 2 which are suggestive of hydroids. 



Armstrong (1953) reported that a very slow rate of sediment deposition prevails 

 in the center of the TOTO, and any features on the bottom would tend to be preserved 

 for a long time. If this is true then a small benthic population could produce bottom 

 features which could be mistaken for a substantial benthic community. In any event, 

 the inform.ation from the photographs point to an extreme paucity of bottom dwelling 

 organisms on the floor of the TOTO. The low organic carbon values (consequently 

 insufficient nutrients) obtained from analysis of the sediments substantiates these 

 findings. 



Bottom Features 



Relief not connected with animal activity or particle-by-particie deposition over 

 pre-existing features is present to a limited degree in specific areas along two of the 

 camera tracks. 



Photographs from Stations 2 and 3 showed no unexpected evidence of past or 

 present constructional processes for the depth and position of the lowering, and, on 

 the basis of the photographs, it Is inferred that lirnited benthic faunal activity com- 

 bined with a slow rate of sediment accumulation constitutes the dominant mlcrorelief 

 building processes. 



Station 1, in the cul-de-sac, shows an outcrop of either a well lithified calcareous 

 material covered by a sedimentary veneer or a semilithified bottom material (Plate IV). 

 The outcrop strikes northeast, is of undeterminable thickness, and occurs on only two 

 exposures (the closest points to the flank of the cul-de-sac) along the entire track. 

 A slab of the outcropping material is observable in the top left photograph of Plate IV, 

 and it appears to have moved, or is now moving, in a southerly direction. In the bottom 

 two photographs on the same plate, circular pits or depressions a few centimeters in di- 

 ameter and depth are apparent. The depressions show very steep sides and are located 

 only in the photographs taken adjacent to the walls of the cul-de-sac. The dark 

 material enclosed by a depression may represent pebble detritus washed off the adjacent 

 banks; however, the apparent filamentous appearance of the material somewhat negates 

 this possibility. 



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