Benthic habitats within fjords are predominantly insulated from the high energy physical dynamics of open coastlines. As a result, fjords may have atypical mass and heat transfer rates at the seafloor. This study presents aquatic eddy covariance (EC) measurements made continuously from late May 2013 through December 2013, in Saanich Inlet fjord, British Columbia, to assess areal-averaged benthic fluxes of dissolved oxygen and heat, and their relationships to bottom boundary layer dynamics and water properties. The measurements were achieved by the connection of a system of underwater EC sensors to Ocean Network Canada's Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS) observatory that has a primary seafloor node located near the 100-m isobath in Patricia Bay off the eastern shore of Saanich Inlet. Current velocities and turbulence (characterized by turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate estimates) were observed to be generally low with the weakest dynamics in autumn during periods of heightened hypoxia. EC fluxes that represented turbulent eddy transport in balance with the seafloor source/sink were derived through conditional criteria that excluded measurements occurring when the bottom boundary layer was not sufficiently turbulent or when transient shifts in bottom water properties were observed. The accepted fluxes of oxygen (−1.6 ± 1.2 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹) and heat (0.27 ± 0.57 W m⁻²) showed only modest variations within the observed 7-month period in Saanich Inlet. Broader implications of these fluxes are that: 1) seafloor oxygen uptake rates are too limited to drive annual expansions and intensification of the site's overlying seasonal hypoxic zone, and 2) heat transferred to the seabed in summer is only slowly dissipated back to the water column during other times of the year.

峡湾内的底栖生境主要与开放海岸线的高能物理动力隔离。结果，峡湾在海底可能具有非典型的质量和传热速率。本研究呈现了自2013年5月下旬至2013年12月在不列颠哥伦比亚省Saanich Inlet峡湾连续进行的水域涡动协方差（EC）测量，以评估溶解氧和热量的平均底栖通量及其与底边界层动力学和水性能。通过将水下EC传感器系统连接到加拿大海洋网络，加拿大维多利亚海底实验网络（VENUS）观测站来实现测量，该观测站的主要海底节点位于萨尼奇东海岸帕特里夏湾等深线100米附近。进口。观察到当前的速度和湍流（以湍动能和耗散率估算为特征）通常较低，而在缺氧加剧的秋季，动力学最弱。EC通量是通过条件标准得出的，该通量表示湍流涡流与海床源/汇的平衡，该条件通量排除了当底部边界层湍流不足或观察到底部水质瞬变时发生的测量结果。可接受的氧气通量（-1.6±1.2 mmol·m EC通量是通过条件标准得出的，该通量表示湍流涡流与海床源/汇的平衡，该条件通量排除了当底部边界层湍流不足或观察到底部水质瞬变时发生的测量结果。可接受的氧气通量（-1.6±1.2 mmol·m EC通量是通过条件标准得出的，该通量表示湍流涡流与海底源/汇的平衡，该条件标准排除了当底部边界层湍流不足或观察到底部水质瞬变时发生的测量结果。可接受的氧气通量（-1.6±1.2 mmol·m^-2 d ^-1）和热量（0.27±0.57 W m ^-2）在萨尼奇（Saanich）入口观察到的7个月内仅显示出适度的变化。这些通量的更广泛含义是：1）太低的海底氧气吸收率无法驱动该站点上覆的季节性缺氧区的年度扩张和加剧，以及2）夏季传递到海床的热量仅缓慢散发回水柱在一年中的其他时间。