The thrust of this research is to understand the biology of deep-sea organisms (especially the amphipod, Eurythenes gryllus, and the grenadier fish, Coryphaenoides sp.), from the abyssopelagic region, and their role in the cycling of carbon in the deep sea. Smith will continue development of a free vehicle acoustical array for monitoring the movements of animals across insonified boundaries above the abyssal sea floor. Emphasis will be placed on determining target strength and improving the technology to estimate the flux of carbon represented in the vertical migration of these animals, a phenomenon that has been termed "active flux," and that may have considerable importance to the energetics of deep-sea communities. One of the important goals will be to make more accurate and representative estimates of organism chemical composition vis a vis acoustical target strength under both controlled laboratory and field conditions. The study will take place at a test station in the Santa Catalina Basin and at an abyssal station in the central gyre of the N. Pacific.
