Journal
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
Volume 50, Issue 3, Pages 315-331Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD
DOI: 10.1006/ecss.2000.0548
Keywords
mineral sediment deposition; salt marsh; sediment and flow dynamics; process variability; tidal variability; grain size distributions; US Atlantic Coast; Virginia Coast Reserve Long Term Ecological Research
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The physical processes that control mineral sediment deposition on a mesotidal salt marsh surface on the Atlantic Coast of Virginia were characterized through a series of measurements of sediment concentration, flow velocity, turbulence, water surface elevation, marsh topography and particle size distributions of sediment deposited on the marsh surface. The comprehensive nature of the data set allowed assessment of the temporal and spatial variability in marsh surface deposition, the variability in depositional processes among tides of different amplitudes, as well as the specific processes that control deposition on this tidal marsh. Through three different types of measurements, if was found that sediment deposition occurred on the marsh surface during rising tides at tidal elevations ranging from those barely flooding the creek bank to high spring tides, and that sediment was not remobilized by tidal flows after initial deposition. Sediment deposition occurred on this marsh surface largely because fine sediment in suspension formed flocs. Analysis of inorganic grain size distributions of sediment deposited within 8 m of the tidal creek indicated that 70-80% of this sediment was deposited in a flocculated form. The rest (particles larger than 20 mu m) were deposited as individual particles. In the marsh interior, 25 m from the tidal creek, single grain settling predominated. Reduction of turbulence levels within the vegetation canopy on the marsh also promoted particle settling. The processes controlling sediment deposition did not vary among tides. However, suspended sediment. concentrations near the creek bank increased with increasing tidal amplitude, consequently promoting higher rates of deposition on higher tides. (C) 2000 Academic Press.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available