Antarctic trials of the multi-box corer, a new device for benthos sampling

A multi-box corer is described, recently designed and constructed as part of the Euromar Project, through cooperation between the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and Fa. MAK Krupp Maschinenbau GmbH Kiel. Deployed successfully during the RV Polarstern expedition ANT VI/3 early in 1988, the multiple corer provided nine samples over a sampling area of 2–3 m2, thus obtaining more reliable abundance values than a single corer, and providing insights into the spatial variability of macrobenthic organisms. Equipped with a UW-video, the corer facilitates controlled economic collection of sediment and macrobenthos in depths down to 5000 m.