Saanich Inlet, Canada

Redox potential (oxidation-reduction) is considered a master variable with respect to controls on the concentration and speciation of many trace elements in natural waters (Stumm and Morgan 1981). Shifts between oxic, suboxic and anoxic conditions represent one of nature s most dramatic chemical variations. The response of lanthanides to variations in redox conditions has been studied in many of the world s classic anoxic and suboxic basins. These include (1) the Black Sea (German et al. 1991, Schijf et al. 1991, 1994, Schijf and De Baar 1995), (2) Saanich Inlet (Canada) (German and Elderfield 1989), (3) Chesapeake Bay (Sholkovitz and Elderfield 1988, Sholkovitz et al. 1992), (4) the Cariaco Trench (De Baar et al. 1988), (5) the Mediterranean Sea (Schijf et al. 1995) and (6) the northwest Indian Ocean (German and Elderfield 1990). The latter two regions are located on ocean shelves while the first three basins are estuarine and coastal. Data from the papers cited above are compiled in table A12. 

Wong et al. [38] conducted an inter comparison of sampling devices using seawater at 9 m in a plastic enclosure of 65 m in Saanich Inlet, BC, Canada. The sampling methods were ... 

Saanich Inlet British Columbia, Canada bottom waters... 

Saanich Inlet British Columbia, Canada 22 analyses from 1.3-16 Peterson and Carpenter (1986)... 

The coincidence of maxima in the methane oxidation rate and the sulfate reduction rate in Saanich Inlet strongly suggests that the methane oxidizing agent was sulfate, either via direct reaction, or coupled indirectly through reactions with other substrates (Devol, 1983). A methane-sulfate coupled reaction diffusion model was developed to describe the inverse relationship commonly observed between methane and sulfate concentrations in the pore waters of anoxic marine sediments. When fit to data from Saanich Inlet (B.C., Canada) and Skan Bay (Alaska), the model not only reproduces the observed methane and sulfate pore water concentration profiles but also accurately predicts the methane oxidation and sulfate reduction rates. In Saanich Inlet sediments, from 23 to 40% of the downward sulfate flux is consumed in methane oxidation while in Skan Bay this value is only about 12%. 

In this discussion, I will examine the cycling of C and P and C P ratios in sediments from the anoxic Saanich Inlet (located near Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada). This basin was cored by Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 169S in 1996 at two sites (Bomhold et al. 1998). The blue-gray silty sediments in the lower part... 

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