with the June and March FVP REMOTS® data to provide an assessment 

 of changes in benthic conditions at the FVP site during 1985. 



3 . 1 Methods 



On 2 3 October, twenty-one stations were occupied at the 

 FVP disposal site, corresponding to those which have been 

 monitored since the June 1984 FVP REMOTS® survey. The twelve 

 central stations (Figure 3-1) were considered to be located on 

 the main dredged material mound or mound flanks based on REMOTS® 

 and bathymetric surveys conducted immediately after the FVP 

 disposal operation. The remaining nine stations located off the 

 dredged material mound were classified as edge and ambient 

 stations. Three REMOTS® images were obtained at each FVP 

 station, and twenty REMOTS® images were obtained from the CLIS 

 reference site (CLIS-REF) . 



Methods of REMOTS® image interpretation have been 

 described in DAMOS Contribution #23 (SAIC, 1982) and are not 

 repeated here. 



3 . 2 Results 



The distribution and thickness (cm) of apparent dredged 

 material layers at the FVP site (Figure 3-1) were comparable to 

 those observed in previous surveys. 



All stations showed an apparent grain-size major mode 

 of >4 phi (silt-clay) , with subordinate fractions of 3 and 2 phi 

 (very fine to fine sand) . A layer of fine sand (3-2 phi) 

 continued to be observed at station CTR (Figure 3-2) . This sand 

 layer has been observed since the January 1984 REMOTS® survey and 

 has been interpreted as being a lag deposit resulting from 

 current washing of the mound apex. For the first time, sand and 

 shell lag deposits were also evident at stations 150E and 100W, 

 indicating more widespread current scouring of the central 

 disposal mound area. This was apparently a result of Hurricane 

 Gloria. 



In June, approximately 8 0% of the FVP REMOTS® photos 

 exhibited patches of reduced sediment and/or reduced mud clasts 

 at or near the sediment-water interface. This material seemed to 

 represent locally eroded Black Rock sediment which had recently 

 been redistributed over the site as far as 1000E and 1000W. This 

 material was not observed at CLIS-REF, and it had not been 

 observed in previous FVP surveys. In the October survey, 

 approximately 50% of the FVP images showed patches of reduced 

 material at the interface (Figures 3-2 and 3-3). As in June, 

 this material was distributed within the entire survey grid at 

 the FVP site (Figure 3-1) ; moreover, reduced sediments were 

 evident at the interface in two of the twenty CLIS-REF images 



