Exploring the influence of biofilm on short‐term expansion and contraction of supratidal rock: an example from the Mediterranean |
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| Authors: | Jerome R Mayaud Heather A Viles Martin A Coombes |
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| Institution: | School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University, UK |
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| Abstract: | Previous geomorphological investigations using the traversing micro‐erosion meter (TMEM) have identified daily and hourly contractions and expansions of littoral rock on a range of lithologies. While organic influences on these patterns have been inferred, this has rarely been tested in a controlled way. Here, a TMEM was used to measure micro‐scale (<mm) topographic changes on supratidal limestone of the Massif des Calanques, southern France. Four TMEM monitoring sites (each 64 cm2) were set up in total, two in the Calanque de Morgiou and two in the Presqu'ile de Cassis. On both shores one TMEM bolt site was positioned on bare rock and the other on colonized rock. TMEM data were collected and the surface micro‐topography mapped for each site at two‐hourly intervals from early morning to late evening across one day in mid‐summer. Significant relative expansion and contraction was observed between measurement periods at all four sites, regardless of biofilm colonization (P < 0.001 in all instances), and sometimes between adjacent zones on the rock surface (at a scale of centimetres). Rock with and without biofilm behaved broadly similarly, but the magnitude of topographic change varied: average movement from one interval to the next was 0.03 mm on bare sites and 0.06 mm on biofilm‐colonized sites. As expected, patterns of surface change related largely to insolation, with greatest movement occurring in the morning and evening when thermal gradients were steepest. Interestingly, the presence of a biofilm intensified rock expansion, but delayed surface response to microclimatic variability. We largely attribute this effect to biofilm influences on surface albedo, and hypothesize that episodes of contraction and expansion are superimposed onto longer (annual to decadal) episodes of surface movement and downwearing. Short‐term TMEM studies therefore need to be coupled with longer‐term seasonal and annual measurements to improve understanding of rock surface dynamics. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | traversing micro‐erosion meter biogeomorphology rock breakdown biofilm |
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