Thermal additions and epifaunal organisms at Chalk Point, Maryland

Abstract

Two sets of test panels, one in the intake and the other in the effluent canal of a steam-generating station, were submerged at monthly intervals in 1967. The panels were analyzed for epifaunal species composition, abundance, seasonal attachment, and total biomass production. The average surface-water temperature rose 6.3 C above ambient on the effluent side, and the biomass production of the epifaunal organisms found there increased nearly three times that of the intake. An earlier and larger set of some attached organisms occurred in the effluent, but there was little change in species composition between the intake and effluent canals. During the summer when high surface-water temperatures prevailed, there seemed to be a reduced number and/or disappearance of flatworms and colonial hydroids, along with increased barnacle growth.