We have developed and successfully collected data with a unique, bottom-transecting vehicle (ROVER) that permits the first long time-series measurements of sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC). This instrument has the, following capabilities: (1) it operates as an autonomous, free vehicle on the sea floor to 6,000-m depth for periods up...
Rates of sediment community oxygen consumption determined in situ are compared to fluxes predicted from oxygen microelectrode gradients measured in cores from ~3,750-m water depth in the eastern North Pacific. Oxygen concentrations decrease exponentially over > 1.5 cm and suggest that organic matter in the sediments is degraded most rapidly...