The basic analytical result of the study was provisional establishment of the spatial distribution of potential oxygen demand in the Houston Ship Channel. These data would constitute a direct input for a mathematical dissolved oxygen (DO) model; in the case of a section-mean model the measurements would first be integrated laterally. These measurements represent the potential demand that would be exerted only if DO were present above the bed, for which C greater than 0 is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition. In summary, the respirometers developed in this study seem to be a useful method for direct measurement of the potential oxygen demand of Houston Ship Channel sediments