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2017

Grazing

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

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Brine Shrimp Grazing And Fecal Production Increase Sedimentation To The Deep Brine Layer (Monimolimnion) Of Great Salt Lake, Utah, Piotr Maszczyk, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh May 2017

Brine Shrimp Grazing And Fecal Production Increase Sedimentation To The Deep Brine Layer (Monimolimnion) Of Great Salt Lake, Utah, Piotr Maszczyk, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Great Salt Lake (Utah) has a monimolimnion with high concentrations of salts, particulate matter, nutrients, and mercury. To test the importance of brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) grazing on particulate matter flux, we created salinity gradients in 160-cm high columns, reflecting the lake’s gradient. Two experiments were performed in replicated columns with or without Artemia. Sediment traps were positioned at the bottoms of the mixolimnion (95 cm), chemolimnion (105 cm), or monimolimnion (140 cm). We hypothesized that because of the high salt densities of the monimolimnia, greater accumulation of sediments would be in the lower chemocline, than in …