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Some quantitative data on light penetration in sediments
Einige quantitative Daten über Lichtpenetration in Sedimenten
Helgoländer wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen volume 15, pages 120–127 (1967)
Kurzfassung
Mit Hilfe derLangeschen Fotoselenzelle und einem Galvanometer wurden Sedimentproben von der rumänischen Schwarzmeerküste und Vergleichsproben aus dem Gebiet der Ostsee auf ihre Lichtdurchlässigkeit hin untersucht. Derartige Untersuchungen sind für die Beurteilung der Lebensbedingungen für endopsammale Organismen — insbesondere Pflanzen — von großer Wichtigkeit. Das Ausmaß der Lichtpenetration durch die untersuchten Sedimente ist eine Funktion der Partikelgröße und -form; es verringert sich mit abnehmender Korngröße. Die Menge des penetrierenden Lichtes hängt ferner ab von der Substrattiefe. Aus den Meßwerten geht hervor, daß die photische Tiefenzone eine recht geringe Ausdehnung von nur wenigen Millimetern besitzt.
Summary
1. Light penetration in sediments is a function of sediment granulometry; it decreases with the decrease in grain size.
2. Light quantities entering the sediments are a function of substrate depth: At 1 mm depth, light penetration ranges between 80 (at medium quartzy sands from Hel) and 2 (at very fine sands from the Black Sea) percent of the light quantities found at the substrate surface; at 2 mm depth light penetration varies between 52 percent and total darkness (when muds replace sand); at 3 mm depth it varies between 0 and 23 per cent; at 4 mm depth, in most samples the aphotic zone was reached; however, in some sediments (quartzy medium or coarse-medium sands) values up to 9 per cent may occur; at 5 mm depth out of 46 analysed samples only 5 contained up to 5 per cent light; at 6 mm depth the lowest readings of down to 3 per cent were obtained.
3. On the basis of these data, the photic zone in sandy sediments is very thin.
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Gomoiu, MT. Some quantitative data on light penetration in sediments. Helgolander Wiss. Meeresunters 15, 120–127 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01618614
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01618614