Figure 24-2. Diagram on One of the MERL Tanks. 
NOTE: Each fiberglass tank is insulated and has three flanged ports on the side 
and one drainage port. The sediment container, also of fiberglass, contains 
about 30 cm of sediment. The tanks are filled through a port on the side and 
water exits from about 1 m below the surface through a level-control stand 
pipe. The depth of water is about 5 m. The mixer moves vertically through an 
excursion of about 60 cm with a frequency which is variable but is now set at 
about 5 cycles per minute. 
Table 24-1. Characteristics of MERL microcosms 
Tank interior diameter, 1.83 m 
Tank interior height, 5.49 m 
Surface area, water, 2.63 
Depth of water, 4.98 m 
Volume of water, net, 13.0 m 
Salinity, 30 o/oo 
Mass of water, 13.3 tons 
o 
Area sediment, 2.52 m 
Depth of sediment, 0.30 m 
3 
Volume of sediment, 0.756 m 
Mass of sediment (wet), 1.10 tons 
Mass of sediment (dry), 0.568 tons 
363 
