Seabed Attributes and Meiofaunal Abundance Associated with a Hydrodynamic Gradient in Baynes Sound, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sutherland, T.F.; Garcia-Hoyos, L.M.; Poon, P.; Krassovski, M.V.; Foreman, M.G.G.; Martin, A.J., and Amos, C.L., 2018. Seabed attributes and meiofaunal abundance associated with a hydrodynamic gradient in Baynes Sound, British Columbia, Canada. The distribution of seabed geotechnical, biochemical, and meiofauna attributes was examined in Baynes Sound, British Columbia, between 2009 and 2014. Among attributes measured were sediment porosity, organic carbon and nitrogen, and trace element concentrations (e.g., zinc, copper), which increased with increasing sediment fines content toward the head of the Sound. A ternary plot (sand-silt-clay percentages) revealed a constant clay/silt ratio across a range of sand proportions with textures ranging from well-sorted sand at the high-energy SE entrance to silt-dominated mud in the depositional basin. These sediment textures were related to modeled maximum velocity values within 5 m of the seabed (Umax,5), with highest values (restricted entrance) and lowes...