Meiobenthic Organisms as Indicators of Mixing Processes in the Baltic Surface Sediments

. Two sediment cores were collected in the southern Baltic Sea and sliced into 1.0cm-thick layers. Sediments of each layer were analysed for activities of 210Pb, 137Cs, 134Cs and for the density of meiobenthic organisms (meiofauna). Zones with the rapid mixing occur in the uppermost layers (0–3 cm) of the cores based on I34Cs profiles. The extent and density of meiofauna confirmed the rapid mixing and revealed layers with slow mixing (4–8 cm). Sedimentation rates were derived from 210Pb profiles below the mixing zones (1.21 and 1.72 mm a-I) and were confumed by 137Cs distribution. Of twenty-one major meiofauna taxa commonly found in the Baltic sediments, three were present in the cores.