Lattice-automaton bioturbation simulator (LABS): implementation for small deposit feeders

A new model for biological activity and its effects in sediments is presented. Sediment is represented as a random 2D collection of solid and water “particles”, distributed on a regular lattice with individually assigned chemical, biological and physical properties, e.g. food versus inert material. Model benthic organisms move through the lattice (the virtual sediment) as programmable entities, i.e., automatons, by displacing or ingesting–defecating particles. Each type of automaton obeys a different set of rules, both deterministic and stochastic, designed to mimic real infauna. In the present version of the model code, the organisms are simple small deposit feeders, resembling capitellids.The results from the model are 2D visualizations of the movement of the animals and the particles with time. The latter provide immediate appreciation of the consequences of animal actions on sediment fabric and composition, including both the mixing, traditionally associated with bioturbation, and the development of biologically-induced heterogeneities, which are observed in real sediments. The output is readily amenable to presentation as computer-generated (QuickTimeTM) movies, for which links are provided to such examples. As a particular case, we present a simulation of the mixing of a sand plug in a muddy sediment which shows that this is process not accomplished by counter-diffusion of sand and mud but by displacement and dilution of the sand with mud that is defecated as feces therein; this mode of mixing appears to be far more favorable to preservation of this sand feature than traditional diffusive models.