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Marine benthos near the Saldanha Bay iron-ore loading terminal
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Marine benthos near the Saldanha Bay iron-ore loading terminal

L.E. Beckley
South African Journal of Zoology, Vol.16(4), pp.269-271
1981
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Abstract

The development of Saldanha Bay (33 degree S/18 degree E) for the export of iron-ore required the construction of a long breakwater, loading terminal and jetty. Associated dredging operations removed 25 million cubic meters of sediment and resulted in significant changes in the faunal structure of the bay (Moldan 1978). The present study investigated the marine benthos near the completed and functioning iron-ore loading terminal and the data may be useful in the long term monitoring of the effects of port development and industrialization of Saldanaha Bay. It appears that the benthos beneath the iron-ore loading jetty at Saldanha Bay differs from that of other areas in the bay. Macrofauna is dominated by Prionospio sexoculata which is tolerant of adverse conditions whilst meiofauna and bacteria numbers are higher under the jetty than elsewhere in Saldanha Bay.

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