band by Emery, 1960, Fig. 210) are plotted the only clear relationship remaining will 

 be that fine-grained sediments (Mdv>7.5) do not have very low porosities, as indi- 

 cated by the empirical dashed boundary line extending from 7.5 /to 75 percent poros- 

 ity in Figure 6. 



Discussion — Particle size is inversely related to particle surface area and to 

 Interstitial water content. This relation is graphically shown in Figure 5 and also in 

 Figure 9, which will be discussed later. 



C. SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF SOLIDS 



Procedure — Most samples were analyzed in the BUDOCKS Laboratory following 

 ASTM test designation D 854-58 (ASTM, 1958, p. 1149-1151); the same procedure 

 was used on those samples analyzed at the Hydrographic Office. Briefly, a 25 g 

 sample was ovendried at 110°C overnight, cooled in a desiccator, weighed, and 

 placed in distilled water. Entrapped air was removed by subjecting the sample in a 

 volumetric flask to a partial vacuum. Afterwards, the flask was filled with air-free 

 distilled water and then reweighed. Specific gravity of solids, G s , was determined 

 from 



W s G t 

 G s = $ — (5) 



s W s -W] +w 2 



where W s is the dry weight of solid particles, G(. is the specific gravity of distilled 

 water at temperature t, W-j is the weight of the volumetric flask, sediment, and air- 

 free water, and W 2 is the weight of the volumetric flask and air-free water. Values 

 reported are based on a water temperature of 20°C. 



Corrections for salt content in the specific gravities were not made. A discussion 

 of salt corrections is given in Appendix A. 



Although earlier it was stated that all samples were entirely water saturated, when 

 boiling off entrapped air an occasional sample was observed to liberate gas after all the 

 air presumably had been expelled. Neither quantity or quality of gas was determined; 

 the amount is considered less than 5 percent of the degree of saturation and of little 

 importance . 



Results — Specific gravities of solids of nearly 500 samples (Fig. 7) fall between 

 the limits of 2.68 and 2.89. The bulk of sample values are between 2.72 and 2.82. 

 An approximate average for all samples is about 2.76 to 2.77. There is a tendency 

 for specific gravities to be inversely related to the porosity, or water content, and 



