Home › Cell Biology › The Benthic Exchange of O2, N2 and Dissolved Nutrients Using Small Core Incubations
Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

The Benthic Exchange of O2, N2 and Dissolved Nutrients Using Small Core Incubations

DOI: 10.3791/54098-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Set up and maintain small core incubations for sediment-water exchange measurements.
  • ✓ Collect gas and solute samples from benthic sediment cores over time.
  • ✓ Quantify O₂, N₂, and nutrient fluxes across the sediment-water interface.
Protocol

Here, we present small core incubations for the measurement of sediment-water gas and solute exchange. These will provide reliable measurements of sediment-water exchange that assess the role of sediment in influencing biological and biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems.

Difficulty
intermediate
Total time
~4–8 hours per core (incubation period varies; collection spans 2–3 hours)

Steps

1
Collect and handle sediment samples

Extract sediment cores from aquatic environments and transport them to the laboratory under appropriate conditions to preserve in situ microbial and biogeochemical activity.

▶ 00:57
2
Prepare sediment-water exchange cores for analysis

Assemble incubation cores, equilibrate them with overlying water, and establish initial steady-state conditions for measuring gas and solute exchange.

▶ 03:35
3
Collect gas and solute samples from cores

Extract water samples from the overlying water column at timed intervals to quantify changes in O₂, N₂, and dissolved nutrient concentrations.

▶ 04:49
4
Analyze nutrient and gas concentrations

Measure concentrations of O₂, N₂, and nutrients in collected samples and calculate benthic exchange rates based on concentration changes over time.

▶ 07:33
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