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1.
Recent (6–12 month) marsh sediment accretion and accumulation rates were measured with feldspar marker horizons in the vicinity of natural waterways and man-made canals with spoil banks in the rapidly subsiding environment of coastal Louisiana. Annual accretion rates in aSpartina alterniflora salt marsh in the Mississippi deltaic plain averaged 6 mm in marsh adjacent to canals compared to 10 mm in marsh adjacent to natural waterways. The rates, however, were not statistically significantly different. The average rate of sediment accretion in the same salt marsh region for a transect perpendicular to a canal (13 mm yr?1) was significantly greater than the rate measured for a transect perpendicular to a natural waterway (7 mm yr?1). Measurements of soil bulk density and organic matter content from the two transects were also different. This spatial variability in accretion rates is probably related to (1) spoil bank influences on local hydrology; and (2) a locally high rate of sediment input from lateral erosion associated with pond enlargement. In a brackishSpartina patens marsh on Louisiana’s Chenier plain, vertical accretion rates were the same along natural and canal waterways (3–4 mm yr?1) in a hydrologically restricted marsh region. However, the accretion rates for both waterways were significantly lower than the rates along a nonhydrologically restricted natural waterway nearby (11 mm yr?1). The vertical accretion of matter displayed semi-annual differences in the brackish marsh environment.  相似文献   

2.
I examined four hypotheses about causes for the dramatically high coastal wetland losses (0.86% yr?1) in the northern Gulf of Mexico: an extensive dredged canal and spoil bank network, a decline in sediments in the Mississippi River during the 1950s, Mississippi River navigation and flood protection levees, and salinity changes. Natural factors contributing to these habitat changes include eustatic sea-level rise and geological compaction, which appear to have remained relatively constant this century, although variation does occur. These four hypotheses were tested using data on land-to-water changes in 15-min quadrangle maps inventoried for four intervals between the 1930s and 1990. Land loss rates were directly proportional to changes in wefland hydrology in time and space. A linear regression of the direct losses due to dredging versus the losses due to all other factors (indirect losses) had a zero intercept and a slope that increased with time. The ratio indirect:direct land loss was highest nearest the estuarine entrance. The coastwide patterns of land loss do not appear to be affected by riverine sediment reductions over the last 60 yr. The effects of changes in wetland hydrology from dredging human-made channels and forming dredged spoil banks appear to be the most efficacious hypothesis explaning these dramatic losses. The effects of extensive human-induced changes on this coast have apparently overwhelmed the causal linkages identified in the historical re-constructionist view of deltaic gain and loss that emphasizes the role of mineral sediments. A paradigm shift is therefore proposed that emphasizes a broad ecological view as contrasted to a mostly physical view emphasizing the role of sediment supply in wetland maintenance. In this view, plants are not an ancillary consequence of strictly geological dynamics such as sediment supply but are dominant agents controlling factors relevant to coastal restoration and management efforts.  相似文献   

3.
Carbonate pond deposits occur associated with alluvial sediments in Miocene sequences of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. The ponds developed near the basin margins, either in floodplain environments (north) or mud-flat settings (south). Three main facies assemblages are recognized: (1) floodplain/mud-flat, (2) palaeosols and (3) pond deposits. In the northern part of the basin, ponds developed on the floodplain of terminal fluvial systems. The floodplain facies are typically red mudstones with interbedded sandstones and siltstones. Palaeosols associated with the ponds show a pedofacies relationship, the maturity of soils increasing with distance from the main channel. Carbonate pond deposits consist mainly of limestones, which display typical ‘palustrine’features. The formation and further accumulation of carbonate in the ponds took place in periods of reduced clastic sediment input and it is suggested that recharge into the pond areas was mainly from groundwater. In the south, ponds developed on mud-flats located between sheet-flood-dominated alluvial fans and evaporite lakes. Mud-flat facies consist of red mudstone that exhibits evidence of progressive soil development near both edges and beneath the carbonate pond lenses. Carbonate in the ponds is mainly dolomite and comprises two subfacies, mottled and laminated dolomicrites. This mineralogy, together with the presence of gypsum crusts below and in the lower part of the carbonate body, suggests higher evaporation rates and/or more saline waters filling the ponds in this part of the basin. In spite of differences in depositional setting and, to some extent, climatic conditions between the two areas of the basin, both facies associations and the sequential arrangement of the ponds show strong similarities that allow the proposal of a facies model for carbonate pond deposits related to semi-arid alluvial systems. The sequences recognized from the pond deposits record a set of facies clearly different to those forming in swampy lakes associated with many permanent fluvial systems developed in more humid climates.  相似文献   

4.
赣北红土区工程堆积体坡面水动力特性   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1       下载免费PDF全文
为探明锥状工程堆积体坡面薄层水流剥蚀率与水力要素之间的关系, 室内模拟赣北红土区散乱锥状工程堆积体。通过人工降雨试验, 设计4种降雨强度(1.0~2.5mm/min)和3种砾石含量(10%~30%)完全组合。采用灰色关联度分析法, 评估坡面水力参数与土壤剥蚀率之间的关联度。结果表明:① 在试验条件下, 坡面水流功率与土壤剥蚀率呈幂函数关系;② 当堆积体砾石含量一定时, 以降雨强度为变量能反映堆积体坡面水力参数与土壤剥蚀率之间的关联度;③ 当降雨强度一定时, 大雨强下(≥1.5mm/min)堆积体砾石含量不宜作为灰色关联度分析的变量。综上所述, 水流功率是描述赣北红土区锥状工程堆积体侵蚀过程的最佳水力参数, 可用于建立堆积体侵蚀物理模型。  相似文献   

5.
连续降雨下不同砾石含量工程堆积体土壤侵蚀   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5       下载免费PDF全文
为探究砾石对工程堆积体土壤侵蚀的影响与其作用机制,通过室内模拟降雨研究了连续降雨下不同砾石含量的重壤质堆积体水蚀过程。结果表明:①堆积体砾石含量增加,坡面产流历时延长,产流率线性减小,土壤剥蚀率降低;②连续降雨下,堆积体所含砾石主要通过对坡面产流历时、坡面产流率、砾石覆盖率的多重影响发挥减沙作用,主成分回归方程可表达多个变量与平均土壤剥蚀率的关系;③一定砾石含量下,堆积体坡面砾石覆盖率随表土的剥离而增大,导致土壤剥蚀率呈指数函数递减趋势,并与累积土壤侵蚀总量存在较好的函数关系。工程堆积体所含砾石对土壤侵蚀程度的削减可为生产建设项目下垫面水土保持治理提供重要参考。  相似文献   

6.
An earlier investigation (Turner 1997) concluded that most of the coastal wetland loss in Louisiana was caused by the effects of canal dredging, that loss was near zero in the absence of canals, and that land loss had decreased to near zero by the late 1990s. This analysis was based on a 15-min quadrangle (approximately 68,000 ha) scale that is too large to isolate processes responsible for small-scale wetland loss and too small to capture those responsible for large-scale loss. We conducted a further evaluation of the relationship between direct loss due to canal dredging and all other loss from 1933–1990 using a spatial scale of 4,100 ha that accurately captures local land-loss processes. Regressions of other wetland loss on canal area (i.e., direct loss) for the Birdfoot, Terrebonne, and Calcasieu basins were not significant. Positive relationships were found for the Breton (r2=0.675), Barataria (r2=0.47), and Mermentau (r2=0.35) basins, indicating that the extent of canals is significantly related to wetland loss in these basins. A significant negative relationship (r2=0.36) was found for the Atchafalaya coastal basin which had statistically lower loss rates than the other basins as a whole. The Atchafalaya area receives direct inflow of about one third of the Mississippi discharge. When the data were combined for all basins, 9.2% of the variation in other wetland loss was attributable to canals. All significant regressions intercepted the y-axis at positive loss values indicating that some loss occurred in the absence of canals. Wetland loss did not differ significantly from the coast inland or between marsh type. We agree with Turner that canals are an important agent in causing wetland loss in coastal Louisiana, but strongly disagree that they are responsible for the vast majority of this loss. We conclude that wetland loss in the Mississippi delta is an ongoing complex process involving several interacting factors and that efforts to create and restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands must emphasize riverine inputs of freshwater and sediments.  相似文献   

7.
Bitumen recovery from Alberta oil sands generates fluid fine tailings, which are retained in tailings ponds where solids settle and release process water. The recovered water is recycled for bitumen extraction, while the resulting tailings are incorporated into various landforms for reclamation, with one option being conversion of tailings basins to viable end pit lakes. Tailings ponds commonly host diverse microbial communities, including SO4-reducing prokaryotes. The highly reducing nature of the hydrogen sulfide produced by these prokaryotes may impact the biogeochemical cycling of key nutrients. However, the behavioral dynamics of hydrogen sulfide production in ponds containing fluid fine tailings remain to be clearly explained. In this study, microcosms are used as analogues of the sediment–water interface of a tailings pond undergoing reclamation to determine sulfide generation patterns and the behavior of O2. In the microcosms, hydrogen sulfide fluxes correlated positively with biotic activity, reaching levels of over 2 × 103 nmol cm−2 s−1, leading to Fe sulfide formation. Depth-related hydrogen sulfide profiles in the microcosms were comparable to those encountered in situ, in Syncrude’s West In-Pit, an active tailing pond. Oxygen diffusion across the fluid fine tailing sediment–water interface was controlled to different degrees by both biotic and abiotic processes. The results have implications for quantitatively estimating the impact of hydrogen sulfide production, O2 availability, and biogeochemical cycling of key nutrients important for the success of life in fluid fine tailings-affected ecosystems. This paper shows that this production of hydrogen sulfide may be a self-limiting process, which will begin to decrease after a period of time.  相似文献   

8.
Younger Dryas to earliest Holocene mega‐landslides (>10 km2) in the eastern Fish Lake Plateau of central Utah required unusually wet conditions to drive movement. The sediment from abundant small lakes, ponds and especially fens that formed in swales between hummocks on the landslide surfaces are excellent archives of past climate. An integrated geophysical, geochemical and micro‐palaeontological investigation characterized fen deposits, determining the timing of mass movement and establishing the subsequent climate history of the region. High‐resolution P‐(compressional) wave surveys of fen deposits were conducted to image fen‐landslide contacts. Past climate states were assessed through loss on ignition, pollen and diatom abundances. Diatoms, in particular, record large variations in precipitation as the present‐day wetland switched from fen (intermittent standing water) to pond states in response to variable precipitation. One core was analysed for detailed climate proxies. A wet episode (pond) prevailed from 11.5 to 10 ka after which the climate became much drier (fen) until 6 ka due to weakening of the North American Monsoon. After 2.5–2.0 ka, reduced insolation produced cooler summers and wet winters (pond). Only recently (<500 years) has a fen re‐emerged based on direct observation and the disappearance of diatoms that require standing water. 14C ages of basal sediment from four cores show two episodes of movement: 12.8–12.5 and 10.5 ka. The earlier ages indicate that Younger Dryas high effective precipitation caused mass wasting. Later, during early Holocene times, colder winters followed by warmer summers and vigorous monsoons drove movement as rapid spring snow‐melt was followed by wet summers. In broad terms, this work highlights variable climate conditions that can drive mass movement, as well as the sensitivity of diatom records in fens to effective precipitation.  相似文献   

9.
西南喀斯特区土层浅薄、成土速率低等特点决定了其允许土壤流失量小,土壤一旦流失,极难恢复,土壤侵蚀及其造成的石漠化现象已成为制约该区可持续发展最严重的生态环境问题。文章首先明晰西南喀斯特区土壤侵蚀特征,从坡面、小流域和区域三个尺度上系统概括西南喀斯特区土壤侵蚀的相关研究进展。针对当前喀斯特区土壤侵蚀研究野外径流小区、小流域及区域空间尺度数据缺少和相关研究模型限制性强等不足,建议从不同尺度深入研究喀斯特区土壤侵蚀发生发展规律及时空演化格局,并结合高新遥感、地球物理探测技术及模型,同步监测坡面—小流域—区域土壤流失,对土壤侵蚀进行定量评估,结合不同空间尺度土壤侵蚀特征构建系统性水土保持生态恢复治理模式和监测系统评价体系。   相似文献   

10.
The Mississippi River Delta Complex (MRDC) has experienced extensive wetland loss in the last century due, in part, to flood control levees that have isolated the lower Mississippi River and its sediment resource from adjacent wetlands. Reconnecting the River to these wetlands through diversions is being used and proposed on a larger scale for the future, to reduce wetland loss rates. However, some currently operating diversions (e.g., Caernarvon and Davis Pond) have been implicated in causing negative impacts on wetland ecosystem structure and function due to increased nutrient loads in diverted Mississippi River water combined with insufficient sediment delivery. Initial assessments of these concerns were carried out in a greenhouse setting where six nutrient enrichment treatment levels (control, NO3, NH4, PO4, SO4, and Combo [NO3?+?NH4?+?PO4?+?SO4]) were applied with and without sediment addition to 60 marsh sods from a Sagittaria lancifolia-dominated oligohaline wetland at rates simulating the Davis Pond Diversion of the Mississippi River. After 25 months, independent enrichment with N (regardless of form) and sediment was generally beneficial to wetland structure and function, while SO4 enrichment had the opposite effect, regardless of sediment addition. Simultaneous application of N and P (i.e., the Combo treatment level) ameliorated the negative impacts of SO4-loading, but the concurrent application of sediment did not, likely because the loading rate was based on a diversion that was designed to deliver water and not to maximize sediment input. Nonetheless, sediment input is critical to the sustainability of MRDC wetlands experiencing high rates of deterioration. Thus, optimizing future diversions to maximize sediment delivery, along with continued surveillance of negative nutrient effects, are recommended management decisions.  相似文献   

11.
 Sediment and its associated pore water were collected from a zoned, freshwater, riparian wetland, located in the Talladega National Forest, northeastern Hale County, Alabama, to study the porewater chemistry and its spatial changes within and between the wetland ecological zones. Obvious changes in pH, Eh and element concentrations were observed between the different wetland ecological zones. Major cations (Ca, Mg, and Na) and trace elements (B, Ba, Sr, and Mn) have very good spatial correlation with Fe and Mn distributions, both in the pore water and the sediment, suggesting that adsorption on, and desorption from, iron and manganese oxyhydroxides are important processes controlling the distributions of these elements in the wetland sediment. However, an equilibrium adsorption model is not able to explain the distribution of trace elements between the pore water and sediment. A redox kinetic model gives similar vertical profiles for iron and the correlated elements as those measured in the field and thus suggests that the relative rates of ferrous iron oxidation and the reductive dissolution of ferric iron in the sediment are important variables determining the distributions of these elements in the wetland pore waters. Received: 31 October 1996 · Accepted: 27 May 1997  相似文献   

12.
 The morphological evolution, hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics of the lower Ebro are studied from historical and current data in order to determine the main changes that have governed the evolution of the Ebro channel near the river mouth during the last few centuries. The evolution of the mouth of this river during the last 2000-years, from an estuary to a delta, is interpreted as a process that has been accelerated by human land management. However, an inverse trend has been observed during recent decades: (1) the river mouth has been affected by erosion due to a drastic decrease in the river sediment discharge, and (2) the lower Ebro tends to evolve towards a quasi-permanent salt-wedge estuary as a consequence of the decrease in the river water discharge. Freshwater and sediment discharge decreases are mainly related to intense river water management during this century. The salt wedge favours erosion in the river banks, widening the river channel and causing an aggradational trend in the lower Ebro. Accretion-erosion rates and the sediment budget in the river mouth are estimated for different conditions. Received: 13 November 1995 · Accepted: 17 June 1996  相似文献   

13.
滑坡形态要素及发育特征研究是古(老)滑坡野外调查和遥感影像识别以及复杂艰险山区基础设施选线(址)工程地质研究的重要内容。青藏高原东缘地质环境条件复杂,在内外动力地质作用下该区域发育有大量古(老)滑坡体。本文以位于青藏高原东缘毛垭坝盆地的大型老滑坡——乱石包滑坡为例,以滑坡塘形态要素为研究对象,综合利用无人机摄影测量技术、水文地质调查、自然电位地球物理勘探以及渗流数值模拟等研究方法,探明了乱石包滑坡塘形态要素几何特征和渗流发育特征并揭示了其成因和演化机制。研究结果表明乱石包滑坡发生后在滑坡后缘平台和主滑壁处形成低洼地形,地下水沿该处发育的理塘—德巫断裂产生泉水出露,地下水持续补给最终形成体积约为5505 m3的大型滑坡塘,最大水深位于滑坡塘西侧,深度约为2 m。滑坡运动过程中在滑坡后缘平台下部形成次级滑壁,在上部滑坡塘高水头长期作用下,物质结构松散破碎的滑坡后缘平台西侧坡体内形成内部渗流并在陡峭的次级滑壁中部产生泉水出露,进而在下部滑坡洼地处形成体积约为35 m3的小型滑坡塘。长期渗流作用下,堆积体内部存在渗流潜蚀风险,建议后期针对次级滑壁上泉水出露点的渗流潜蚀速率开展长期观测研究,为乱石包滑坡塘演化研究提供重要依据。  相似文献   

14.
Soil erosion and associated sedimentation are a threat to the sustainable use of surface water resources through the loss of volume storage capacity and conveyance of pollutants to receiving water bodies. The RUSLE2 empirical model and isotopic sediment core analyses were used to evaluate watershed erosion and reservoir sediment accumulation rates for Lake Anna, in Central Virginia. A sediment flux rate of 66,000 Mg/year was estimated from the upper basin and land use was determined to be the primary factor contributing to soil erosion. Barren lands and agricultural activities were estimated to contribute the most sediment (>20 Mg/ha/year), whereas forested and herbaceous landscapes were less likely to erode (<0.3 Mg/ha/year). Eleven separate 210Pb-based estimates of sediment accumulation were used to construct reservoir-scale sedimentation rates. Sedimentation rates in the upper reaches of the reservoir were variable, ranging from 2.3 to 100 Mg/ha/year, with a median rate of 8.4 Mg/ha/year. Historical sedimentation showed an increase in annual accumulation from 1972 to present. Based on these data the reservoir has experienced a 2% loss of volume storage capacity since impoundment in 1972. Results from this study indicate that Lake Anna is not currently experiencing excessive sedimentation and erosion problems. However, the predominance of highly erosive soils (soil erodibility factor >0.30) within the watershed makes this system highly vulnerable to future anthropogenic stressors.  相似文献   

15.
Oxytetracycline (OTC) is an antibiotic that is regularly added to fish ponds used in industrial- scale fish-farming along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It is not found in unpolluted water. The ponds are constructed upon porous sands that are also the host rock of the local aquifer. These ponds leak. Monitoring for OTC was carried out in a fish pond and three surrounding water wells that exploit the local aquifer. The local groundwater is composed of the native groundwater and the leakage additions. Two wells, P-204 P-205 are used to insure that the water levels in the ponds are maintained. A frequently pumping well, M-2, is located closest to the main source of OTC input at pond B. It is used to supply drinking water and OTC was found in it. This contaminant is related to leakage from the nearby fish pond. OTC is generally assumed to be immobile and effectively removed by soil and sediments. In this case, continuous leakage of the pond has created preferential saturated flow paths that bring the contaminants directly to groundwater, bypassing the immobilizing sorption processes that usually take place in the unsaturated zone. In the absence of such conduits OTC is effectively excluded from reaching other producing wells.  相似文献   

16.
The present study examines sedimentation rates in the eastern Gotland Basin using a variety of methods that reveal considerable heterogeneity in the rates, both spatially and temporally. High-resolution seismic recordings and correlation with long sediment cores indicate increased thickness of strata and higher sedimentation rates (0.75 mm a -1 ) in the eastern part of the basin than in the western part (0.23 mm a -1 ) since the Littorina transgression some 8000 14 C years BP. This difference is apparently a consequence of a counterclockwise near-bottom circulation in the basin with periodically high current speeds that cause winnowing on the steep SE slope of the basin and differential settling of sediments in areas of low current speeds. On shorter time scales, recent sediment accumulation rates based on radiometric dating ( 210 Pb) are in general twice as high as those observed 25 years ago using the same method. The higher modern rates, compared to those of the 1970s, may partly be due to increased eutrophication, as more carbon is buried in the sediment, and partly due to increased erosion in shallow water areas. However, strong lateral variations are evident. The average sediment accumulation rates vary between 119 and 340 g m -2 a -1 (corresponding to sedimentation rates of 2.1-2.5 mm a -1 ) in the deepest part of the basin. Very high rates (6100 g m -2 a -1 , corresponding to sedimentation rates of 30 mm a -1 ) are observed on an intraslope basin site (offshore Latvia) at a water depth of only 70 m. The radiometrically determined sediment accumulation rates are up to three times higher than those estimated from average water column concentrations of suspended matter and from sediment trap flux rates. The discrepancy suggests that sedimentation in the deep basin may have a substantial contribution from near-bottom lateral transport.  相似文献   

17.
General geochemical parameters of water, superficial sediments, and suspended particulate matter (SPM) were determined from small shallow saline lakes (soda ponds) as well as from lake Neusiedlersee in eastern Austria. Additionally, instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was used to determine the distribution of major, rare earth and other trace elements in superficial sediments and SPM. Chemical results show remarkable differences in salinity and ionic strength between the investigated ponds. Anthropogenic effects, such as drawdown of ground water level and a loss of lake water due to drainage, are clearly reflected in obtained chemical and geological data. Due to a strong dependence of the complexation and scavenging behavior of the rare earth elements (REE) on ionic strength, a significant difference between REE concentrations in soda ponds with different anthropogenic impact was found. The content and composition of authigenic evaporitic minerals in superficial sediments and SPM clearly differ with a fluctuating water level and salt concentration. Furthermore, we determined the distribution of major and trace elements in superficial sediments of a nearby fluvial system. Our results show a clear correlation between REE superficial sediment concentrations in anthropogenically degraded soda ponds and fluvial system. Therefore, we assume that REE concentrations of sediments and SPM are suitable for the study of geochemical changes of inland saline lakes due to anthropogenic impacts on water balance.  相似文献   

18.
胶州湾滨海湿地的景观格局变化及环境效应   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  
在湿地景观类型分类基础上,利用RS及GIS技术提取了1986、1995和2010年胶州湾滨海湿地的Landsat卫星假彩色合成影像的空间属性数据,利用斑块动态度、斑块密度指数、景观多样性指数、斑块破碎化指数研究了胶州湾滨海湿地的景观格局变化及累积环境效应。结果表明,1986～2010年胶州湾滨海湿地总面积减少,河流与河口湿地面积稍有增大,潮间带滩涂和潮上带湿地面积和斑块数减小;养殖池面积增大、斑块数增多,盐田面积减小、斑块数基本未变,增加了湿地公园这种新的人工湿地景观类型。期间,湿地的景观斑块密度指数、多样性指数和景观斑块破碎化指数增大了。上述湿地面积和景观格局变化是由围垦、城市化、港口和道路建设、河流径流量和输沙量减少、海岸侵蚀、海水入侵、全球变暖、海面上升等因素引起的,并导致湿地生物多样化水平下降、有害植物入侵、环境净化功能降低、污染和赤潮灾害加重、植被退化演替、渔业资源衰退和湿地生态系统服务价值降低等累积环境效应。为减轻这些不利的累积环境效应,应采取建设湿地自然保护区、控制养殖池和盐田规模、发展工业循环经济和生态农业等措施保护胶州湾滨海湿地。  相似文献   

19.
The shallow water wave simulation model-SWAN incorporated with a simple fine sediment erosion model is applied to Hangzhou Bay, China, to model the horizontal distribution of the maximum bottom orbital velocity and corresponding fine sediment erosion rates induced by: (1) southeasterly steady winds (5, 20 and 30 m/s), (2) southwesterly steady winds (5 and 20 m/s); (3) northwesterly steady winds (5 and 20 m/s); (4) east-southeasterly steady winds (5 and 20 m/s); (5) easterly steady winds (5 and 20 m/s) under closed and unclosed boundaries; and (6) unsteady winds during the slack water periods. Results suggest: (1) the steady wind wave-induced maximum bottom orbital velocities and corresponding fine sediment erosion rates generally increased with the increasing steady winds; (2) closed and unclosed boundary conditions had more significant influences on modeled fine sediment erosion rates under 5 m/s easterly steady winds than 20 m/s; and (3) steady and unsteady wind wave-induced maximum bottom currents could be significant in eroding fine sediment bed in Hangzhou Bay. The results show implications for geomorphology, sedimentology, coastal erosion, and environmental pollution mitigation in Hangzhou Bay.  相似文献   

20.
Storms have long been recognized as agents of geomorphic change to coastal wetlands. A review of recent data on soil elevation dynamics before and after storms revealed that storms affected wetland elevations by storm surge, high winds, and freshwater flushing of the estuary (inferred). The data also indicate that measures of sediment deposition and erosion can often misrepresent the amount and even direction of elevation change because of storm influences on subsurface processes. Simultaneous influence on both surface and subsurface processe by storms means that soil elevation cannot always be accurately estimated from surface process data alone. Eight processes are identified as potentially influencing soil elevation: sediment deposition, sediment erosion, sediment compaction, soil shrinkage, root decomposition (following tree mortality from high winds), root growth (following flushing with freshwater, inferred), soil swelling, and lateral folding of the marsh root mat. Local wetland condition (e.g., marsh health, tide height, groundwater level) and the physical characteristics of the storm (e.g., angle of approach, proximity, amount of rain, wind speed, and storm surge height) were apparently important factors determining the storm's effect on soil elevation. Storm effect on elevation were both permanent (on an ecological time scale) and short-lived, but event short-term changes have potentially important ecological consequences. Shallow soil subsidence or expansion caused by a storm must be considered when calculating local rates of relative sea level rise and evaluating storm effects on wetland stability.  相似文献   

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