Crinoid skeletal elements are a rare component in modern seafloor sediment, but ancient crinoid ossicles are commonly abundant enough to be major constituents of marine rocks. Thus, the study of fossilization processes of separate ossicles is important for sedimentologists as well as for paleontologists. In order to determine the effects of in-place degradation of crinoid ossicles, the elements will be glued to plexiglass plates and fastened to concrete hemispheres on the seafloor. Ossicles will also be glued to plexiglass rods buried vertically in the seafloor sediment to study the effects of burial. These techniques have already proven effective in a study of biologic degradation over the summer months (March-September, 1991). Infesting and encrusting organisms and their effects on the crinoid's calcite stereom are currently being studied using ossicles left on the seafloor for periods from 5 days to 6 months. The proposed research will focus on the winter months, using the same approach. Transport of ossicles has not been observed directly in the summer, but is expected to be a major part of the proposed research. Dye will be released into the water, grains will be stained and monitored, and sediment traps designed to sample both traction and suspended load will be used to measure ossicle transport directly and indirectly. In addition, sediment samples will be taken along transect from shore to shelf edge, and examined for ossicles transported from their living sites.
