Bio-irrigation Model Data from Benthic Chambers in Port Phillip Bay

A tracer study of bio-irrigation rates in marine sediments used deuterium and dissolved caesium in benthic incubation chambers. The dataset likely contains results from seven chambers deployed at four sites, indicating advection depths of 20-50 cm and rates between 150 and 700 mL h-1. The data was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated on 2026-06-05.

Use Cases

• Modeling pore-water solute transport across the sediment-water interface based on tracer incubation time plots.
• Comparing bio-irrigation rates and depths across different regions of a bay based on sediment type and depth.
• Estimating whole-bay water column turnover through sediments based on modeled advection rates.
• Assessing the consistency of infauna distribution within defined sediment regions based on chamber replication.

Strengths

• Data is based on seven benthic incubation chambers deployed at four distinct sites.
• Modeling provides specific advection depth ranges (20-50 cm) and rate ranges (150-700 mL h-1).
• Multiple chambers deployed in the same region showed consistent results, suggesting methodological reliability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The use of dissolved caesium as a tracer is noted to have increased uncertainty due to sediment adsorption.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Deployment of benthic incubation chambers with deuterium and dissolved caesium tracers on the sea floor.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 06:29:21.659378; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Port Phillip Bay, Australia