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1.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze downstream effects of freshwater flow diversion from a small, active-continental-margin river basin. The Skokomish River delta is a tributary estuary to Hood Canal in Washington state that receives drainage from the southeastern side of the Olympic Mountains. Its drainage basin is steep, and rainfall is high. Approximately 40% of the annual average runoff of the entire system has been diverted from the North Fork Skokomish River for power production since completion of two dams in 1930; this water does not pass through the lower river or over the delta. Extensive logging has occurred in the remainder of the basin. Comparison of prediversion (1885) and postdiversion (1972) bathymetric surveys shows that deposition (about 0.013 to 0.022 m yr?1) has occurred on the inner delta and erosion (up to 0.033 m yr?1) on the outer delta. This steepening of the delta surface has apparently been caused by a loss of sediment transport capacity in the lower river and estuary combined with an increased sediment supply due to logging. Although the total area of unvegetated tidal flats thas decreased by only about 6%, there has been a more than 40% loss of highly productive low intertidal surface area. A conservative estimate of loss of eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds is 18%; a reduction in the size of mesohaline mixing zone has also occurred. These habitat losses are similar to those observed elsewhere in the world in larger river basins that have suffered water withdrawals of the same magnitude, but their impacts cannot either be evaluated or understood causally through consideration of simple measures like changes total estuarine deltaic area. Evaluation of estuarine effects of anthropogenic modification must, therefore, include consideration of both changes in habitat function and in the physical processes. These must be evaluated within the totality of the river basin-estuary system that cause these changes. In this case, sediment transport constitutes the critical link between fluvial alterations and the remote downstream, estuarine consequences thereof.  相似文献   

2.
Small turbidite systems offshore from southern California provide an opportunity to track sediment from river source through the turbidity‐current initiation process to ultimate deposition, and to evaluate the impact of changing sea level and tectonics. The Santa Monica Basin is almost a closed system for terrigenous sediment input, and is supplied principally from the Santa Clara River. The Hueneme fan is supplied directly by the river, whereas the smaller Mugu and Dume fans are nourished by southward longshore drift. This study of the Late Quaternary turbidite fill of the Santa Monica Basin uses a dense grid of high‐resolution seismic‐reflection profiles tied to new radiocarbon ages for Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1015 back to 32 ka. Over the last glacial cycle, sedimentation rates in the distal part of Santa Monica Basin averaged 2–3 mm yr?1, with increases at times of extreme relative sea‐level lowstand. Coarser‐grained mid‐fan lobes prograded into the basin from the Hueneme, Mugu and Dume fans at times of rapid sea‐level fall. These pulses of coarse‐grained sediment resulted from river channel incision and delta cannibalization. During the extreme lowstand of the last glacial maximum, sediment delivery was concentrated on the Hueneme Fan, with mean depositional rates of up to 13 mm yr?1 on the mid‐ and upper fan. During the marine isotope stage (MIS) 2 transgression, enhanced rates of sedimentation of > 4 mm yr?1 occurred on the Mugu and Dume fans, as a result of distributary switching and southward littoral drift providing nourishment to these fan systems. Longer‐term sediment delivery to Santa Monica Basin was controlled by tectonics. Prior to MIS 10, the Anacapa ridge blocked the southward discharge of the Santa Clara River into the Santa Monica Basin. The pattern and distribution of turbidite sedimentation was strongly controlled by sea level through the rate of supply of coarse sediment and the style of initiation of turbidity currents. These two factors appear to have been more important than the absolute position of sea level.  相似文献   

3.
Sedimentation in a river dominated estuary   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  
The Mgeni Estuary on the wave dominated east coast of South Africa occupies a narrow, bedrock confined, alluvial valley and is partially blocked at the coast by an elongate sandy barrier. Fluvial sediment extends to the barrier and marine deposition is restricted to a small flood tidal delta. Sequential aerial photography, sediment sampling and topographical surveys reveal a cyclical pattern of sedimentation that is mediated by severe fluvial floods which exceed normal energy thresholds. During severe floods (up to 10x 103 m3 s?1), lateral channel confinement promotes vertical erosion ofbed material. Eroded material is deposited as an ephemeral delta in the sea. After floods the river gradient is restored within a few months through rapid fluvial deposition and formation of a shallow, braided channel. Over an extended period (approximately 70 years) the estuary banks and bars are stabilised by vegetation and mud deposition. Subsequent downcutting in marginal areas transforms the channel to an anastomosing pattern which represents a stable morphology which adjusts to the normal range of hydrodynamic conditions. This cyclical pattern of deposition produces multiple fill sequences in such estuaries under conditions of stable sea level. The barrier and adjacent coastline prograde temporarily after major floods as the eroded barrier is reformed by wave action, but excess sediment is ultimately eroded as waves adjust the barrier to an equilibrium plan form morphology. Deltaic progradation is prevented by a steep nearshore slope, and rapid sediment dispersal by wave action and shelf currents. During transgression, estuarine sedimentation patterns are controlled by the balance between sedimentation rates and receiving basin volume. If fluvial sedimentation keeps pace with the volume increase of a basin an estuary may remain shallow and river dominated throughout its evolution and excess fluvial sediments pass through the estuary into the sea. Only if the rate of volume increase of the drowned river valley exceeds the volume of sediment supply are deep water environments formed. Under such conditions an estuary becomes a sediment sink and infills by deltaic progradation and lateral accretion as predicted by evolutionary models for microtidal estuaries. Bedrock valley geometry may exert an important control on this rate of volume increase independently of variations in the rate of relative sea level change. If estuarine morphology is viewed as a function of the balance of wave, tidal and fluvial processes, the Mgeni Estuary may be defined as a river dominated estuary in which deltaic progradation at the coast is limited by high wave energy. It is broadly representative of other river dominated estuaries along the Natal coast and a conceptual regional depositional model is proposed. Refinement of a globally applicable model will require further comparative studies of river dominated estuaries in this and other settings, but it is proposed that river dominated estuaries represent a distinct type of estuarine morphology.  相似文献   

4.
In an attempt to characterize localized rates of sediment accretion, 10 sediment cores were collected from the lower reach of the Passaic River, a major tributary of Newark Bay, New Jersey. Sediments were assayed for 210Pb activity at predetermined depths and the rate of sediment accretion (cm yr?1) was estimated from the least squares regression of the log of unsupported activity versus depth. Sediment accretion rates, derived from 210Pb measurements (RPb) were used to predict the depth interval within the core containing sediments deposited around 1954; subsequent 137Cs analyses were focused on this depth interval. Sediment accretion rates derived from 137Cs measurements (RCs) were extrapolated from the depth of the 1954 horizon. Lead-210 derived sediment accretion rates in cores collected from a sediment bench extending along the inside bend on the southern shore of a meander in the river, ranged from 4.1 cm yr?1 to 10.2 cm yr?1 and averaged 6.8 cm yr?1. The RCs estimates for cores from this area ranged from 3.8 cm yr?1 to 8.9 cm yr?1 and averaged 6.6 cm yr?1. The RCs for cores collected in a more hydrologically dynamic reach of the river upstream of the sediment bench, were only 0.41 cm yr?1 and 0.66 cm yr?1. The results of this investigation indicate that this reach of the lower Passaic River is an area of high sediment accumulation, retaining much of the sediment load deposited from upstream and downstream sources. The rates of sediment accretion in the lower Passaic River are among the highest reported anywhere in the Newark Bay estuary.  相似文献   

5.
In the Patía River delta, the best-developed delta on the western margin of South America, a major water diversion started in 1972. The diversion of the Patía flow to the Sanquianga River, the latter a small stream draining internal lakes from the Pacific lowlands, shifted the active delta plain from the south to the north and changed the northern estuarine system into an active delta plain. The Sanquianga Mangrove National Park, a mangrove reserve measuring 800 km2, lies in this former estuary, where major hydrologic and sedimentation changes are occurring. Overall, major environmental consequences of this discharge diversion in terms of geomorphic changes along distributary channels and ecological impacts on mangrove ecosystems are evidenced by: (1) distributary channel accretion by operating processes such as sedimentation, overbank flow, increasing width of levees, sedimentation in crevasses, interdistributary channel fill, and colonization of pioneer mangrove; (2) freshening conditions in the Sanquianga distributary channel, a hydrologic change that has shifted the upper estuarine region (salinity <1%) downstream; (3) downstream advance of freshwater vegetation, which is invading channel banks in the lower and mixing estuarine zones; (4) die-off of approximately 5200 ha of mangrove near the delta apex at Bocas de Satinga, where the highest sediment accumulation rates occur; and (5) recurrent periods of mangrove defoliation due to a worm plague. Further analyses indicate strong mangrove erosion along transgressive barrier islands on the former delta plain. Here tectonic-induced subsidence, relative sea-level rise, and sediment starving conditions due to the channel diversion, are the main causes of the observed retreating conditions of mangrove communities. Our data also indicate that the Patía River has the highest sediment load (27 × 106 t yr−1) and basin-wide sediment yield (1500 t km−2 yr−1) on the west coast of South America. Erosion rates from the Patía catchment have been more pronounced during the decades of 1970–1980 and 1990–2000, as a result of land degradation and deforestation. The high sediment and freshwater inputs into the mangrove ecosystem create additional stress (both at ongoing background levels and, occasionally, at dramatic levels), which may periodically push local environmental parameters beyond the thresholds for mangrove survival. The future environmental state of the Sanquianga Mangrove National Reserve deserves more scientific and governmental attention.  相似文献   

6.
The distribution of Mn was examined in the bottom sediments and water column (suspended paniculate matter) of the Laurentian Trough. Gulf of St. Lawrence. A characteristic profile of Mn with depth in the sediment consisted of a Mn-enriched surface oxidized zone, less than 20 mm thick, and a Mn-depleted subsurface reducing zone. A subsurface Mn maximum occurred within the oxidized zone. Below this maximum the concentration dropped sharply to nearly constant residual levels in the reducing zone. The accumulating estuarine sediments are deficient in Mn compared to the river input of suspended matter and are definitely not the ultimate sink for manganese. Manganese escapes from the sediment by diffusion and resuspension, forming Mn-enriched, fine-grained particles which are flushed out in the estuarine circulation. 5.0 × 109gyr?1 of Mn, or 50% more than the river input of dissolved Mn. are exported to the open ocean. In spite of the efficient mobilization and export of Mn, the quantity exported is a small fraction (0.2%) of the total flux to the deep-sea sediments. This is related to the low levels of paniculate matter transported by the St. Lawrence River. The export phénomenon, however, is probably true of many coastal regions of muddy sediments and thus has interesting implications for the oceanic budget of Mn.  相似文献   

7.
Accretion rates were measured in fringe and basin mangrove forests in river and tidally dominated sites in Terminos Lagoon, Mexico, and a basin mangrove forest in Rookery Bay, Florida, USA. Accretion rates were determined using the radionuclides210Pb and137Cs. Consolidation-corrected accretion rates for the Rookery Bay cores, ranged from 1.4 to 1.7 mm yr?1, with an average rate of 1.6 mm yr?1. Rates at the Mexico sites ranged from 1.0 to 4.4 mm yr?1, with an average of 2.4 mm yr?1. Determination of rates in these mangrove forests was greatly affected by the consolidation corrections which decreased the apparent accretion rate by over 50% in one case. Accretion rates at basin sites compare favorably with a reported 1.4 to 1.6 mm yr?1 rate of sea-level rise, indicating little or no subsidence at inland locations. Accretion rates in fringe sites are generally greater than basin sites, indicating greater subsidence rates in these sediments over longer time intervals.  相似文献   

8.
Spatial gradients of silver concentrations in the surface waters of San Francisco Bay reveal substantial anthropogenic perturbations of the biogeochemical cycle of the element throughout the estuarine system. The most pronounced perturbations are in the south bay, where dissolved (<0.45 μm) silver concentrations are as high as 250 pM. This is more than one order-of-magnitude above baseline concentrations in the northern reach of the estuary (6 pM) and approximately two orders-of-magnitude above natural concentrations in adjacent coastal waters (3 pM). The excess silver is primarily attributed to wastewater discharges of industrial silver to the estuary on the order of 20 kg d?1. The contamination is most evident in the south bay, where wastewater discharges of silver are on the order of 10 kg d?1 and natural freshwater discharges are relatively insignificant. The limited amount of freshwater flushing in the south bay was exacerbated by persistent drought conditions during the study period. This extended the hydraulic residence time in the south bay (≥160 d), and revealed the apparent seasonal benthic fluxes of silver from anthropogenically contaminated sediments. These were conservatively estimated to average ≈16 nmol m?2 d?1 in the south bay, which is sufficient to replace all of the dissolved silver in the south bay within 22 d. Benthic fluxes of silver throughout the estuary were estimated to average ≈11 nmol m?2 d?1, with an annual input of approximately 540 kg yr?1 of silver to the system. This dwarfs the annual fluvial input of silver during the study period (12 kg yr?1) and is equivalent to approximately 10% of the annual anthropogenic input of silver to the estuary (3,700–7,200 kg yr?1). It is further speculated that benthic fluxes of silver may be greater than or equal to waste water fluxes of silver during periods of intense diagenic remobilization. However, all inputs of dissolved silver to the estuary are efficiently sorbed by suspended particulates, as evidenced by the relatively constant conditional distribution coefficient for silver throughout the estuary (Kd≈105).  相似文献   

9.
The Ouémé River estuary is located on the seasonally humid tropical coast of Benin, west Africa. A striking feature of this microtidal estuary is the presence of a large sand barrier bounding a 120 km2 circular central basin, Lake Nokoué, that is being infilled by heterogeneous fluvial deposits supplied by a relatively large catchment (50 000 km2). Borehole cores from the lower estuary show basal Pleistocene lowstand alluvial sediments overlain by Holocene transgressive–highstand lagoonal mud and by transgressive to probably early highstand tidal inlet and flood‐tidal delta sand deposited in association with non‐preserved transgressive sand barriers. The change in estuary‐mouth sedimentation from a transgressive barrier‐inlet system to a regressive highstand barrier reflects regional modifications in marine sand supply and in the cross‐barrier tidal flux associated with barrier‐inlet systems. As barrier formation west of the Ouémé River led to an increasingly rectilinear shoreline, the longshore drift cell matured, ensuring voluminous eastward transport of sand from the Volta Delta in Ghana, the major purveyor of sand, to the Ouémé embayment, 200 km east. Concomitantly, the number of tidal inlets, and the tidal flux associated with a hitherto interlinked lagoonal system on this coast, diminished. Complete sealing of Lake Nokoué has produced a large, permanently closed estuary, where tidal intrusion is assured through the interconnected coastal lagoon via an inlet located 60 km east. Since 1885, tides have entered the estuary directly through an artificial outlet cut across the sand barrier. Although precluding the seaward loss of fluvial sediments, permanent estuary‐mouth closure has especially deprived the highstand estuary of marine sand, a potentially important component in estuarine infill on wave‐dominated coasts. In spite of a significant fluvial sediment supply, estuarine infill has been moderate, because of the size of the central basin. Estuarine closure has resulted in two co‐existing highstand sediment suites, with limited admixture, the marine‐derived, estuary‐mouth barrier and upland‐derived back‐barrier sediments. This situation differs from that of mature barrier estuaries characterized by active fluvial‐marine sediment mixing and facies interfingering.  相似文献   

10.
Estuary evolution is investigated using the hydrodynamic and sediment transport model, Delft3D, to study the response of a dammed tidal basin to restored tidal processes. The development of decadal (10-year) morphological simulations of the restored estuary required simplifying several data inputs and implementing a time-scale acceleration technique. An innovative river sediment discharge schematization was developed that connected sediment discharge to morphological change in the estuary. Mud erodibility parameters were determined from laboratory analysis of sediment cores from the modern lakebed and statistical refinement with a Bayes network of the probability of occurrence. The changing estuary morphology appears to have a dominant impact on the physical habitat (substrate, inundation frequency, mean salinity, and salinity range). The numerical model provides a tool to compare the functions of the historical estuary and possible future alternatives for a restored estuary. Sensitivity of the morphological model to sediment types and erodibility parameters was also examined. A conceptual model covering morphology and indicators of physical habitat for three phases of estuary evolution during restoration is presented that could be applied to estuarine systems that are severely out of equilibrium.  相似文献   

11.
Sediment accumulation rates were estimated from-the vertical distribution of excess Pb-210 measured in sediment cores collected at seven stations in the Saguenay Fjord, Quebec. These rates decrease with increasing water depth and distance from the mouth of the Saguenay River, ranging from 4.0 g cm?2 yr?1 (～- 7 cm yr?1) near the head of the fjord to 0.07 g cm?2 yr?1 (～- 0.1 cm yr?1) in the deep inner basin of the fjord. In one core from the head of the fjord, layered sediment structures, having different physical characteristics and composition, appear related to recent, pulsed inputs of older raised marine deposits displaced by a landslide in 1971. Synchronous depositional anomalies in several cores provide evidence of other large scale sediment redistribution processes in the fjord. Pb-210 geochronologies are generally in good agreement with time-stratigraphic horizons inferred both from Cs-137 activity profiles and from the analysis of pollen assemblages in one core.  相似文献   

12.
中小型山溪性河流易受极端事件和人类活动影响,且对环境变化响应敏感,在大陆边缘物质循环过程中发挥着十分重要的作用,但学术界对它们的重视程度不够。以闽江—东海陆架系统为例,通过资料收集、遥感解译、样品采集与分析等方法,系统研究了亚热带中小型山溪性河流—宽陆架系统的“源—汇”过程。研究结果表明,人类活动引起的土地利用变化使得闽江入海径流量和泥沙通量在波动中略有增加,但水库的建设显著减少了入海泥沙通量,并且减弱了水沙通量的季节差异,河流入海泥沙通量变化对流域人类活动敏感且响应迅速;河口水体环境、悬浮体浓度、沉积物粒度组成及陆源有机碳埋藏的空间分布格局均显示,闽江入海泥沙主要分布在闽江河口附近海域,其中粗颗粒泥沙在水动力的作用下主要堆积在河口水下三角洲平原及前缘,细颗粒泥沙主要堆积在水下三角洲前缘斜坡及前三角洲附近海域,仅有少量细颗粒泥沙沿岸向外输运并沿途沉积,与大河流—宽陆架系统及中小型山溪性河流—窄陆架系统显著不同。河口人类活动及极端事件通过改变沉积物组成、环境动力、入海泥沙通量等方式对河流—陆架系统的“源—汇”过程产生显著影响。在当前流域来沙量锐减、河口地区海砂开采等人类活动强度增大的情况下,有必要加强相关研究。  相似文献   

13.
Deltas are important coastal sediment accumulation zones in both marine and lacustrine settings. However, currents derived from tides, waves or rivers can transfer that sediment into distal, deep environments, connecting terrestrial and deep marine depozones. The sediment transfer system of the Rhone River in Lake Geneva is composed of a sublacustrine delta, a deeply incised canyon and a distal lobe, which resembles, at a smaller scale, deep‐sea fan systems fed by high discharge rivers. From the comparison of two bathymetric datasets, collected in 1891 and 2014, a sediment budget was calculated for eastern Lake Geneva, based on which sediment distribution patterns were defined. During the past 125 years, sediment deposition occurred mostly in three high sedimentation rate areas: the proximal delta front, the canyon‐levée system and the distal lobe. Mean sedimentation rates in these areas vary from 0·0246 m year?1 (distal lobe) to 0·0737 m year?1 (delta front). Although the delta front–levées–distal lobe complex only comprises 17·0% of the analysed area, it stored 74·9% of the total deposited sediment. Results show that 52·5% of the total sediment stored in this complex was transported toward distal locations through the sublacustrine canyon. Namely, the canyon–levée complex stored 15·9% of the total sediment, while 36·6% was deposited in the distal lobe. The results thus show that in deltaic systems where density currents can occur regularly, a significant proportion of riverine sediment input may be transferred to the canyon‐lobe systems leading to important distal sediment accumulation zones.  相似文献   

14.
Although general trends in transgressive to highstand sedimentary evolution of river‐mouth coastlines are well‐known, the details of the turnaround from retrogradational (typically estuarine) to aggradational–progradational (typically coastal/deltaic) stacking patterns are not fully resolved. This paper examines the middle to late Holocene eustatic highstand succession of the Po Delta: its stratigraphic architecture records a complex pattern of delta outbuilding and coastal progradation that followed eustatic stabilization, since around 7·7 cal kyr bp . Sedimentological, palaeoecological (benthic foraminifera, ostracods and molluscs) and compositional criteria were used to characterize depositional conditions and sediment‐dispersal pathways within a radiocarbon‐dated chronological framework. A three‐stage progradation history was reconstructed. First, as soon as eustasy stabilized (7·7 to 7·0 cal kyr bp ), rapid bay‐head delta progradation (ca 5 m year?1), fed mostly by the Po River, took place in a mixed, freshwater and brackish estuarine environment. Second, a dominantly aggradational parasequence set of beach‐barrier deposits in the lower highstand systems tract (7·0 to 2·0 cal kyr bp ) records the development of a shallow, wave‐dominated coastal system fed alongshore, with elongated, modestly crescent beaches (ca 2·5 m year?1). Third, in the last 2000 years, the development of faster accreting and more rapidly prograding (up to ca 15 m year?1) Po delta lobes occurred into 30 m deep waters (upper highstand systems tract). This study documents the close correspondence of sediment character with stratal distribution patterns within the highstand systems tract. Remarkable changes in sediment characteristics, palaeoenvironments and direction of sediment transport occur across a surface named the ‘A–P surface’. This surface demarcates a major shift from dominantly aggradational (lower highstand systems tract) to fully progradational (upper highstand systems tract) parasequence stacking. In the Po system, this surface also reflects evolution from a wave‐dominated to river‐dominated deltaic system. Identifying the A–P surface through detailed palaeoecological and compositional data can help guide interpretation of highstand systems tracts in the rock record, especially where facies assemblages and their characteristic geometries are difficult to discern from physical sedimentary structures alone.  相似文献   

15.
Late Quaternary sequence stratigraphy of Lake Malawi (Nyasa), Africa   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
High resolution seismic data, multichannel seismic data and sediment cores were used to examine the Songwe Sequence, the uppermost of four depositional sequences identifiable on multichannel seismic data from Lake Malawi (Nyasa). The sequence has a maximum thickness of about 115 m in two areas of the lake, but is typically less than 70 m thick over most of the basin. The sequence is distributed along the entire length of the 560 km long lake, and is concentrated in three main depocentres. 14C age dates from sediment piston cores are extrapolated to provide an age estimate of about 78 000 yr bp for the oldest sediments within the Songwe Sequence. In the North and Central bathymetric basins of the lake, high resolution seismic data indicate a dynamic depositional environment, dominated by turbidity and mass flow deposits. Seismic data from the southern basin show acoustically transparent sediments with relatively low amplitude internal reflections, indicative of pelagic and hemipelagic sedimentation. In many areas the Songwe Sequence is underlain by a pronounced angular unconformity, suggestive of a significant, prolonged, low lake stage prior to deposition of the sequence. Seismic reflectors within the Songwe Sequence can be correlated to younger low lake stages identified from sediment core data. Major late Quaternary low lake level stages in Lake Malawi, interpreted from features identified in the seismic data and sediment core analyses, are tentatively interpreted at 6000 to 10 000 yr bp , 28 000 to >40 000 yr bp , and prior to 78 000 yr bp . Budget calculations indicate mean sediment concentrations from catchment runoff during the period of deposition of the Songwe Sequence to be about 190 mg 1−1, comparable to estimates of modern rainy season discharges from the major river systems. Erosion rates within the drainage basin are estimated to be higher than the African average by a factor of three or more, probably due to the high relief within the Lake Malawi catchment.  相似文献   

16.
One of the most critical problems facing many deltaic wetlands is a high rate of relative sea-level rise due to a combination of eustatic sea-level rise and local subsidence. Within the Rhône delta, the main source of mineral input to soil formation is from the river, due to the low tidal range and the presence of a continuous sea wall. We carried out field and modeling studies to assess the present environmental status and future conditions of the more stressed sites, i.e.,Salicornia-type marshes with a shallow, hypersaline groundwater. The impacts of management practices are considered by comparing impounded areas with riverine areas connected to the Rhône River. Analysis of vegetation transects showed differences between mean soil elevation ofArthrocnemum fruticosum (+31.2 cm),Arthrocnemum glaucum (+26.5 cm), bare soil (+16.2 cm), and permanently flooded soil (?12.4 cm). Aboveground and belowground production showed that root:shoot ratio forA. fruticosum andA. glaucum was 2.9 and 1.1, respectively, indicating more stressful environmental conditions forA. glaucum with a higher soil salinity and lack of soil drainage. The annual leaf litter production rate of the two species is 30 times higher than annual stem litter production, but with a higher long-term decomposition rate associated with leaves. We developed a wetland elevation model designed to predict the effect of increasing rates of sea-level rise on wetland elevation andSalicornia production. The model takes into account feedback mechanisms between soil elevation and river mineral input, and primary production. In marshes still connected to the river, mineral input decreased quickly when elevation was over 21 cm. Under current sea-level rise conditions, the annual amount of riverine mineral input needed to maintain the elevation of the study marshes is between 3,000 and 5,000 g m?2 yr?1. Simulations showed that under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change best estimate sea-level rise scenario, a mineral input of 6,040 g m?2 yr?1 is needed to maintain marsh elevation. The medium term response capacity of the Rhône deltaic plain with rising sea level depends mainly on the possibility of supplying sediment from the river to the delta, even though the Rhône Delta front is wave dominated. Within coastal impounded marshes, isolated from the river, the sediment supply is very low (10 to 50 g m?2 yr?1), and an increase of sea-level rise would increase the flooding duration and dramatically reduce vegetation biomass. New wetland management options involving river input are discussed for a long-term sustainability of low coastal Mediterranean wetlands.  相似文献   

17.
In an attempt to more fully understand the dissolved inorganic nitrogen dynamics of the Neuse River estuary, 15NH4 + and 15NO3 ? uptake rates were measured and daily depth-integrated rates calculated for seven stations distributed along the salinity gradient. Measurements were made at 2–3-wk intervals from March 1985 to February 1989. Significant dark NH4 + uptake occurred and varied both spatially and seasonally, accounting for as much as 95% of light uptake with the median being 33%. Apparent NH4 + uptake ranged from 0.001 μmol N 1?1 h?1 to 4.2 μmol N 1?1 h?1, with highest rates occurring during late summer-fall in the oligohaline estuary. Apparent NH4 + uptake was significantly related to NH4 + concentration (p<0.01); however, the regression explained <3% of the variation. Daily-integrated NH4 + uptake ranged from 0.1 mmol N m?2 d?1 to 133 mmol N m?2 d?1 and followed the trend of apparent uptake. Annual NH4 + uptake of the estuary was significantly lower in 1988 than for any other year. Dark uptake of NO3 ? was only 14% of maximum light uptake. Apparent NO3 ? uptake rates ranged from 0.001 μmol N 1?1 h?1 to 1.84 μmol N 1?1 h?1 with highest rates occurring in the oligohaline estuary. Apparent NO3 ? uptake was significantly related to NO3 ? concentration (p<0.01); however, the regression explained <5% of the variation. In general, NO3 ? uptake was only 20% of total dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) uptake. Daily-integrated NO3 ? uptake ranged from 0.1 mmol N m?2 d?1 to 53 mmol N m?2 d?1 and followed similar patterns of apparent uptake. Annual NH4 + uptake was 11.39 mol N m?2 yr?1, 10.28 mol N m?2 Yr?1, 10.93 mol N m?2 yr?1, and 7.38 mol N m?2 yr?1, and 1.84 mol N m?2 yr?1, with the 4-yr mean being 10.0. Annual NO3 ? uptake was 3.12 mol N m?2 yr?1, 3.40 mol N m?2 yr?1, 1.96 mol N m?2 yr?1, and 1.84 mol N m?2 yr?1, with the 4-yr mean being 2.6. The total annual DIN uptake was more than twice published estimates of phytoplankton DIN demand, indicating that there is an important heterotrophic component of DIN uptake occurring in the water column. The extrapolation of nitrogen demand from primary productivity results in serious underestimates of estuarine nitrogen demand for the Neuse River estuary and may be true for other estuaries as well.  相似文献   

18.
AMS 14C ages of post-glacial core sediments from the subaqueous Yangtze delta, along with sedimentary structures and distributions of grain size, pollen spores, and dinoflagellate cysts, show an estuarine depositional system from 13 to 8.4 cal ka BP and a deltaic system from 5.9 cal ka BP to the present. The estuarine system consists of intertidal to subtidal flat, estuarine, and estuarine-front facies, characterized by sand–mud couplets and a high sedimentation rate. The deltaic system includes nearshore shelf and prodelta mud featured by lower sedimentation rate, markedly fewer coastal wetland herbaceous pollens, and more dinoflagellate cysts. We explain the extremely high sedimentation rate during 9.2–8.4 cal ka BP at the study site as a result of rapid sea-level rise, high sediment load due to the unstable monsoonal climate, and subaqueous decrease of elevation from inner to outer estuary. A depositional hiatus occurred during 8.2–5.9 cal ka BP, the transition from estuarine to deltaic system, caused possibly by a shortage of sediment supply resulting from delta initiation in paleo-incised Yangtze valley and strong tidal or storm-related reworking in offshore areas. The subsequent development of deltaic system at the study site indicates accelerated progradation of Yangtze delta post-5.9 cal ka BP.  相似文献   

19.
A 4·7 km2 field of sediment waves occurs in front of the Slims River delta in Kluane Lake, the largest lake in the Yukon Territory. Slims River heads in the Kaskawulsh Glacier, part of the St Elias Ice Field and discharges up to 400 m3 s?1 of water with suspended sediment concentrations of up to 7 g l?1. The 19 km long sandur of Slims River was created in the past 400 years since Kaskawulsh Glacier advanced and dammed the lake and the sandur has advanced into Kluane Lake at an average rate of 48 m a?1. However, this rate is decreasing as flow is diverted from Slims River because of the retreat of the Kaskawulsh Glacier. The sandur and a road constructed on the delta remove coarse‐grained sediment, so the river delivers dominantly mud to the lake. Inflow during summer generates quasi‐continuous turbidity currents with velocities up to 0·6 m s?1. The front of the delta consists of a plane surface sloping lakeward at 0·0188 (1·08°). A field of sediment waves averaging 130 m in length and 2·3 m in amplitude has developed on this surface. Slopes on the waves vary from ?0·067 (?3·83°, i.e. sloping in the opposite direction to the regional slope) to 0·135 (7·69°). The internal structure of the sediment waves, as documented by seismic profiling, shows that sedimentation on the stoss portion of the wave averages 2·7 times that on the lee portion. Rates of sediment accumulation in the wave field are about 0·3 m a?1, so these lacustrine waves have formed in a much shorter period of time (less than 200 years) and are advancing upslope towards the delta much more quickly (1 to 2 m a?1) than typical marine sediment waves. These waves formed on the flat surface of the lake floor, apparently in the absence of pre‐existing forms, and they are altered and destroyed as the wave field advances and the characteristics of the turbidity currents change.  相似文献   

20.
Calculations by others of the preindustrial deposition of inorganic nitrogen from the atmosphere in the area of Narragansett Bay compared with recent measurements suggest that this flux has increased almost 15 times over natural background. On the basis of modern studies of the export of nitrogen and phosphorus from temperate forests, the prehistoric watershed also probably contributed very little reactive N or P to the bay. New information from undisturbed old-growth forests suggests that most of the N that was exported from the watershed was probably associated with refractory dissolved organic matter and thus contributed little to the fertility of the bay. The largest source of reactive dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (DIP) for Narragansett Bay under prehistoric conditions was the coastal ocean water entrained in the bay in estuarine circulation. The total input of DIN to this estuary has increased about five-fold and the input of total DIP has approximately doubled as a result of human activities. Recent ecosystem-level experiments using large (13 m3, 5 m deep) mesocosms designed as living models of Narragansett Bay showed that the primary production of phytoplankton in the bay is limited by the supply of DIN and that annual phytoplankton production is strongly correlated with the rate of input of DIN. The relationship between DIN input and annual phytoplankton production in the mesocosms is consistent with observations published by others working in 10 different natural marine systems, and a functional regression of the field and experimental data provides a tool to calculate the rate of prehistoric phytoplankton production that would have been associated with the prehistoric DIN input estimates. The result of this calculation suggests that phytoplankton production in the bay has approximately doubled (from about 130 g C m?2 yr?1 to 290 g C m?2 yr?1 for a baywide average) since the time of European contact. It also seems likely that seagrasses and macroalgae once made a much larger contribution to total system production than they do today.  相似文献   

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