CEPEX hardware: (Now and in the future)

"The Controlled Ecosystem Pollution Experiment (CEPEX) is a cooperative multi-disciplinary research effort designed to test the effects of chronic exposure to low levels of pollutants on pelagic marine organisms." It was decided in 1972 that the method adopted for the program would be to erect large test tubes in the sea. The best way to fill the enclosure is to "capture" the natural environment and avoid filling by pumping. Techniques have now been developed to allow night captures which increase the versatility of the closed ecosystem. Four basic sizes of plastic enclosures have been developed for CEPEX since its inception in 1973: 68m³, 421m³, 1310m³and 1818m³. Near simultaneous captures, within 5 minutes, of six units of the 68m³and three units of the 1310m³and 1818m³ecosystems have been attained. We now have the knowledge to capture open ocean water for pelagic biota and benthic to surface columns in 10m to 20m in depth. Nuclear powered submarines could capture water for studies beneath ice packs or beneath rough waters where surface operations would be untenable. If remote sensing technology was developed, then aircraft-launched,. automatically capturing "test tubes" in grid patterns could be deployed over areas of oceans or large lakes for environmental quality or other studies.