Integrating samplers for the deep sea

Abstract

Two new types of mechanical integrating samplers have been tried in the deep sea, one driven by a constant force spring, the other by a spring‐driven hydraulic system. The samplers are triggered simultaneously with the Niskin bottle to which they are attached and fill in about 90 min. They are useful for sampling poorly mixed tracers, and have been used successfully in tracer release experiments at 800 m depth in Santa Monica Basin in 1985, and to depths of 1900 m in Santa Cruz Basin in 1988.