Macroflocs: Production of Marine Snow in the Laboratory

Abstract

Large suspended aggregates similar to 'marine snow' have been obtained by placing natural and artificially produced particulate matter in a vertical recirculating tube with an upward flowing turbulent current. At flow rates as high as 0.25 cm S-' the seawater suspension settled out as macroflocs which incorporated all the components in suspension. The size and shape of the particles produced by physiochemical flocculation varied with flow rate and floc composition.