Floating sediment traps are specially designed sampling devices deployed to float in the water column (as opposed to being secured to a mooring at a fixed depth) for periods of time to collect particles from the water column that are falling toward the sea floor. In general a sediment trap has a container at the bottom to collect the sample and a broad funnel-shaped opening at the top with baffles to keep out very large objects and help prevent the funnel from clogging. The 'Sediment Trap -Floating' designation is used for a floating type of sediment trap about which no other design details are known.
To sample oceanic sediment flux, the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) uses a Particle Interceptor Trap System (PITS), which consists of a floating array holding polycarbonate tubes with a filter at the bottom
The sediment trap array consisted of two VERTEX-style particle interceptor tube (PIT) crosspieces (Knauer et al. 1979, Stukel et al. 2013), deployed at what was initially thought to be the base of the euphotic zone (100m on cycle 1, 90 m on other cycles) and 150 m. Each crosspiece held 8-12 cylindrical trap tubes, with an inner diameter of 70 mm and an 8:1 aspect ratio. Each tube also contained a baffle constructed of 14 smaller tubes that had been tapered at the top to ensure that all particles settling within the inner diameter of the outer tube would sink into the trap.
Refer to Knauer et al. 1979 (doi: 10.1016/0198-0149(79)90089-X) for more information about VERTEX-style sediment traps.
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