fragments ranges from nearly entire shells 

 (10 cm.) of ocean quahog, Arctica islandica , 

 to pieces only slightly larger than sand grains. 

 About 50 percent of the sea bottom is 

 sculptured with a ripple pattern that appears 

 to have resulted from wave action (see section 

 on Water Movement). 



Station 44 (Georges Bank) 



Large-scale topography is slightly undula- 

 tory with low, irregularly spaced elevations. 

 The microtopography is uneven (fig. 5) because 

 of small pockets, ridges, and mounds of 

 various shapes. Some of these surface mark- 

 ings are uniformly spaced and of equal size, 

 whereas others are irregularly spaced and 

 uneven in size. This combination suggests that 

 water movement and biological agents are 

 both active in reworking surface sediments at 

 this locality. Fish feeding, hiding, and escape 

 activities undoubtedly contribute to the 

 irregular and disorderly surface sculpturing, 



which covers about 60 percent of the bottom 

 area. Tracks and trails are uncommon, burrow 

 openings average five per square meter, and 

 tubes of polychaete worms and amphipods are 

 moderately numerous. 



The photographs indicate that the sediment 

 is predominantly sand of relatively light color. 



Mollusk shells are fairly common and some- 

 what evenly distributed. Their size ranges 

 from large (14 cm.) intact shells of surf 

 clams, Spisula, to specimens or fragments 

 less than 1 cm. 



Samples of the bottom sediment collected 

 with a Smith- Mclntyre sampler are predom- 

 inantly medium and coarse sands of light 

 brown color, with a small proportion of shell 

 matter. 



Roughly 40 percent of the bottom area at 

 this station contains ripples of asymmetrical 

 shape that are believed to have been created 

 by a rather strong water current. The direction 

 of the ripple marks indicates that the water 

 flowed from southeast to northwest (see section 

 on Water Movement). 



Figure 5. — Sea floor at station 44, southeastern Georges Bank, water depth 64 m. Identifiable animals: A. burrowing 

 sea anemone, Cerlanthus borealls ; B. waved whelk, Buccinum undatum ; C. surf clam, Spisula solidisslma ; plus 

 numerous tubes of polychaetes and amphipods. Scale bar is 10 cm. long. 



7 



