A sediment budget for the Choptank River estuary in Maryland,U.S.A. |
| |
| Authors: | LA Yarbro PR Carlson TR Fisher JP Chanton WM Kemp |
| |
| Institution: | 1. University of Maryland, Horn Point Environmental Laboratories, Cambridge, MD 21613, U.S.A.;2. Marine Sciences Curriculum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, U.S.A. |
| |
| Abstract: | A sediment budget for the Choptank River, one of the three largest estuaries on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, was developed from measurements of sediment carried in upland runoff, shore erosion, sedimentation, and levels of suspended sediments in estuarine waters. Shore erosion was the major source of sediment (340 × 106 kg y?1), contributing seven times more sediment than upland runoff. Low relief, the rural character of the Coastal Plain drainage basin, and the susceptibility of poorly consolidated shoreline materials to erosion contributed to the dominance of shore erosion over runoff as a sediment source. Box modelling indicated a net annual flux (14–44 × 106 kg y?1) of sediment from the Choptank River to Chesapeake Bay. A mass balance estimate of sedimentation, calculated as the difference between total inputs and loss at the mouth of the estuary, (350 × 106 kg y?1) agreed well with an estimate based on 210Pb profiles (340 × 106 kg y?1) measured along the longitudinal axis of the estuary. Lead-210 sedimentation rates correspond to accumulation rates of 1·5–7·9 mm y?1. |
| |
| Keywords: | sediment budget estuaries suspended sediments runoff estuarine sedimentation Chesapeake Bay Maryland |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
