Aller OCE-9711198 ABSTRACT From tidal flats to the deepest ocean trenches, the surface sediments of the sea floor are zones of intense chemical, biological, and physical activity. This intensity is due largely by macroscopic animals that physically mix particles and cause interstitial water exchange during their feeding, moving, and burrow irrigation activities. Such activity effectively increases the effective surface of the seafloor several times more that it would be if such animals were not present. The investigator in this project will be organizing a scientific workshop to review the state of scientific development of the field of "organism-sediment" relations and to assess future research directions and technological developments. Participants will include sediment geochemists, physical oceanographers, benthic biologists, ocean engineers, sedimentary geologists and others who share a common interest in understanding this most scientifically elusive boundary of the world ocean.
