Preface The expedition ARK XIX/3 with the German icebreaking RV ...

Visible calcareous fauna removed (bivalves etc.) and noted – both number of
individuals and species
Delicate epifauna picked off
If possible the core is sliced to separate the upper 10cm from the lower portion
of the core. The two sections will be processed separately and we may only
process the upper 10cm.
Samples then sieved using filtered seawater through stacked sieves (1000, 500
& maybe 250 µm)
The sievings are then stored in separate sample buckets with 10% formalin
(equivalent to 4% formaldehyde) borax-buffered filtered seawater containing
rose bengal for 24 hours minimum giving:
coral rubble
1000 µm sieving
500 µm sieving
?250 µm sieving
Then transferred from formalin, washed in filtered seawater and preserved in
95% ethanol 4% glycol (if sufficient ethanol is available).
Sampling sites for biological box cores
"Moira mound" (x1 exploratory core + 2-3 later)
"Galway mound" (x3 on mound), sediment waves (x3 off mound)
" Thérèse mound", on mound (x2), off mound (x2) if time – focus on collecting live
coral
"Twin mounds" (Porcupine Bank – see section 4.4.2), untrawled on mound (x3),
trawled on mound (x3), off mound (x2)
This gives a total of up to 22 box cores of which 14 would be fully processed for
benthos.
Box Core Stations
The box core sampling stations are summarised in the following log sheets and plotted
in Figs A4.3.3-1 & A4.3.3-2.
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