This is a core program in the Black Sea expedition. Honjo will collect and analyze annual (12 to 14 months) particulate flux samples applying high resolution sediment trap technology (at 15-day intervals) in the Black Sea. In addition, there will be a short-term deployment for 3 months at 2 depths using synchronized time-series traps during the spring bloom period with a sampling interval of less than one week. Simultaneously, extensive box core sampling at the trap site and along a W-E transect between the trap sites will establish the annual particulate flux over the last 5,000 years as annual paleoflux. This study will further be supported by a broad range of highly focused studies pertaining (1) to the source of the terrigenous, biogenic, and chemogenic particles, (2) to the transport mechanism of the particles, and (3) to the chemical and microbiological alterations of the particles in the anerobic water column and in the sediment.
