Abstract
An earlier assessment of the litter habitat of the benthic fauna (WALKER 1992) in the inundation
forest alongside the river Tarumã Mirím indicated a high rate of fine sediment deposition on the submerged litter. These sediments included sand, clay and organic particles. Sediment quantity appeared to be
a function of the duration of the inundation period and as such, of maximum water depth occurring in
June. In order to confìrm the magnitude of this sedimentation process, sampling was repeated. The method,
however, was modified to collect total fine sediment deposition. According to this renewed evaluation,
total fine sediment deposition during one year's inundation cycle amounts to circa 1 kg/m² (= 10 t/ha)
which, depending on sampling area, corresponds to a rate of 1.4-3.0 t/ha x yr x m water depth in June.
