Some applications of paleoecology to the management of tidal marshes

The shallow-water habitat is under increasing environmental pressures from accelerated sea-level rise and continual urban sprawl and will require well-informed management decisions to maintain its health into the future. One of the keys to the effective management of the shallow-water habitat is understanding the processes responsible for its development. Paleoecology has the potential to provide much insight into the development of the system, particularly when the impacts of accelerated sea-level rise on vegetation and sedimentation dynamics in tidal marshes is being considered. For example, a paleoecological comparison of tidal salt marshes to tidal freshwater marshes shows that rates of development will dictate the system's response to accelerated sea-level rise, with tidal freshwater marshes capable of transgressing landward more rapidly than their saline counterparts. Such information implies that management of the adjacent uplands is as important to the future of the system as management of the marsh itself. Therefore, it is important to consult paleoecological research when management strategies are being considered. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A01BY074 00010     

Evolution and stratigraphy of a regressive barrier/backbarrier complex: Kiawah Island, South Carolina

Analysis of 75 vibracores from the backbarrier region of Kiawah Island, South Carolina reveals a complex association of three distinct stratigraphic sequences. Beach ridge progradation and orientation-controlled backbarrier development during the evolution of Kiawah Island, and resulted in deposition of: (1) a mud-rich central backbarrier sequence consisting of low marsh overlying fine-grained, tidal flat/lagoonal mud; (2) a sandy beach-ridge swale sequence consisting of high and low marsh overlying tidal creek channel and point bar sand, and foreshore/shoreface; and (3) a regressive sequence of sandy, mixed, and muddy tidal flats capped by salt marsh that occurs on the updrift end of the island. Central backbarrier deposits formed as a result of the development of the initial beach ridge on Kiawah Island. Formation of this beach ridge created a backbarrier lagoon in which fine-grained estuarine and tidal flat mud accumulated. Washovers, oyster mounds, and tidal creek deposits form isolated sand and/or shell-rich lenses in the lagoon. Spartina alterniflora low marsh prograded into the lagoon as the tidal flats aggraded. Barrier progradation and sediment bar-bypassing at Stono Inlet created digitate beach ridges on the northeast end of Kiawah Island. Within the beach-ridge swales, tidal flats were disconformably deposited on shoreface and foreshore sand of the older beach ridges. Tidal creek drainage systems evolved to drain the swales. These rapidly migrating creeks reworked the tidal flat, foreshore, and shoreface sediments while redepositing a fining-upward sequence of channel lag and point bar deposits, which served as a substrate for salt marsh colonization. This resultant regressive sedimentary package marks the culmination of barrier island development and estuary infilling. Given enough time and sedimentation, the backbarrier sequence will ultimately prograde over the barrier island, reworking dune, beach, and foreshore sediments to form the upper sand-rich bounding surface of the barrier lithosome. Preservation of the regressive sequence is dependent upon sediment supply and the relative rate of sea-level rise, but the reworking of barrier islands by tidal inlets and migrating tidal creeks greatly alter and complicate the stratigraphic sequence.     

Flow paths of water and sediment in a tidal marsh: Relations with marsh developmental stage and tidal inundation height

This study provides new insights in the relative role of tidal creeks and the marsh edge in supplying water and sediments to and from tidal marshes for a wide range of tidal inundation cycles with different high water levels and for marsh zones of different developmental stage. Net import or export of water and its constituents (sediments, nutrients, pollutants) to or from tidal marshes has been traditionally estimated based on discharge measurements through a tidal creek. Complementary to this traditional calculation of water and sediment balances based on creek fluxes, we present novel methods to calculate water balances based on digital elevation modeling and sediment balances based on spatial modeling of surface sedimentation measurements. In contrast with spatial interpolation, the presented approach of spatial modeling accounts for the spatial scales at which sedimentation rates vary within tidal marshes. This study shows that for an old, high marsh platform, dissected by a well-developed creek network with adjoining levees and basins, flow paths are different for tidal inundation cycles with different high water levels: during shallow inundation cycles (high water level <0.2 m above the creek banks) almost all water is supplied via the creek system, while during higher inundation cycles (high water level >0.2 m) the percentage of water directly supplied via the marsh edge increases with increasing high water level. This flow pattern is in accordance with the observed decrease in sedimentation rates with increasing distance from creeks and from the marsh edge. On a young, low marsh, characterized by a gently seaward sloping topography, material exchange does not take place predominantly via creeks but the marsh is progressively flooded starting from the marsh edge. As a consequence, the spatial sedimentation pattern is most related to elevation differences and distance from the marsh edge. Our results imply that the traditional measurement of tidal creek fluxes may lead in many cases to incorrect estimations of net sediment or nutrient budgets.     

崇明东滩盐沼潮沟水动力过程观测与分析

2007年7月在上海崇明东滩盐沼内部采用复合测量手段进行了现场观测,对取得的盐沼水动力过程数据进行了较系统的分析。崇明东滩盐沼内部的观测及分析结果表明:(1)潮沟及盐沼表面对潮波产生严重阻尼作用,潮波传播至盐沼内部时,潮沟水位波动明显异于外海,水位上升极快,而下降慢。当潮沟有退水时,涨潮初期的当地水位上升并不是潮水进入潮沟的结果,而是流向相反的潮沟进口涨潮水和潮沟内退潮水形成的水位壅高;(2)潮波进入盐沼内部时,风具有一定作用,向岸风可抬高潮沟及盐沼内部水位,离岸风反之;(3)潮沟水流流速与潮沟水位变化率、外海潮位变化率都不存在相关关系;(4)潮沟水位低时,过流断面较小,涨潮水进入潮沟时,潮沟水一旦改变流向,就具备很高的流速并伴随流速峰值的出现。潮沟水向盐沼表面漫溢时,过流断面突变,潮沟流速出现峰值。由于潮沟退潮水位变化慢,盐沼表面水归槽时并没有产生潮沟流速峰值。根据崇明东滩观测结果,概括了盐沼水动力过程的影响因素,指出了以后研究应重视的问题。     

Tidal and Nontidal Oscillations in Elkhorn Slough,CA

Elkhorn Slough is a shallow, tidally forced estuary that is directly connected to Monterey Bay. It is ebb-dominated and, due to continued erosion, the tidal prism has tripled over the past 40 years. Water level measurements at four locations are used to examine tidal and nontidal oscillations in Elkhorn Slough. The tidal response of Elkhorn Slough differs from that of Monterey Bay primarily due to the generation of a relatively large number of shallow-water tidal constituents that are due to tidal distortion caused by friction along the bottom and lateral boundaries, intertidal storage, and nonlinear advection. The shallow-water constituents range from 3 to almost 15 cycles per day (cpd) and include a rich variety of overtides and compound tides, whose amplitudes generally increase toward the head of the slough. The tidal harmonics are seasonally dependent, with lower amplitudes during the fall and winter and higher amplitudes in summer. The tidal constituents were examined using two types of spectral decomposition, the conventional power spectrum and the more recent Hilbert spectrum. Unlike the power spectrum, the Hilbert spectrum does not reveal any harmonic structure in the data. Energy associated with tidal distortion in this case appears to be broadly distributed across the spectral continuum. At least four nontidal oscillations occur in Elkhorn Slough with frequencies of 26.0, 39.7, 52.7, and 66.9 cpd. The Hilbert spectrum reveals maxima at 26, 39.7, and 66.9 cpd, but not at 52.7 cpd, suggesting that it is harmonically related to the oscillation at 26.0 cpd. The nontidal oscillations fall into the range of frequencies associated with the natural oscillations of Monterey Bay. However, evolutionary power spectra indicate that they appear to be permanent features of the system and thus are not necessarily consistent with seiche-like oscillations that are often transient and subject to damping. These oscillations could be caused by several factors including edge waves along the coast of Monterey Bay, long-period surface waves of atmospheric origin that enter the bay from offshore, or breaking internal waves in and around the Monterey Submarine Canyon. In conclusion, detailed hydrodynamic models are needed to provide a better understanding of how tidal harmonics are generated and preserved in Elkhorn Slough, and to determine the origin of the natural oscillations in Monterey Bay.     

藏北雁石坪地区中侏罗统玛托组高频层序及海平面变化分析

西藏北部雁石坪地区晚巴柔—早巴通期玛托组是一个以砂岩、泥岩为主夹少量灰岩组成的混积型陆棚环境的沉积。含有介壳的凝缩段、下超面及沟蚀面,它们是划分体系域的关键界面。体系域具有二元结构特征,即海侵—高水位体系域,且TST沉积旋回厚度>HST,准层序类型有3种,分别是以砂岩为主的准层序、以泥岩为主的准层序和以潮坪体系向上变浅的准层序,准层序叠置构成进积型和退积型准层序组。采用沉积体系分析方法,初步建立研究区玛托组相对海平面变化曲线,并与藏南及全球海平面曲线进行对比分析,结合碳、氧同位素和磁化率资料,探讨研究区晚巴柔—早巴通期玛托组海平面变化控制因素。研究认为全球海平面变化控制了雁石坪地区晚巴柔早期海平面变化,而班公湖—怒江逢合带向北俯冲构造活动引起的区域洋盆容积变化是晚巴柔晚期—早巴通期海平面变化的主要因素。     

Mapping of the hyporheic zone around a tidal creek using a combination of borehole logging,borehole electrical tomography and cross-creek electrical imaging,New South Wales,Australia

A combination of electrical imaging carried out across a tidal creek and borehole electrical tomography between strings of electrodes installed in bores adjacent to the creek is used to establish the shape of the hyporheic zone beneath a tidal creek in a sand aquifer. The interpretations provided by the data inversions are checked against fluid electrical conductivity (EC) samples collected from bundled piezometers installed in the creek banks and from bulk EC measurements made using induction logs in bores on the creek banks. Extensive seepage into the base of the creek is identified from the electrical image and verified by independent measurements of hydraulic head and fluid EC. The Effective Medium Theory is used to derive values of fluid EC from bulk resistivity measurements obtained from the inversion process. The data show an extensive zone of mixing between seawater and rainwater recharge into the aquifer, with the shape of the hyporheic zone strongly influenced by regional groundwater discharge and the presence of a thin layer of cemented sands at a depth of 10 m. The combined interpretation demonstrates the importance of borehole control in the interpretation of electrical images measured from the surface over complex EC distributions. Electronic Publication     

开敞式潮滩-潮沟系统发育演变动力机制——Ⅰ.物理模型设计及潮沟形态

为研究潮沟发育演变动力机制,建立了以江苏中部粉砂淤泥质潮滩-潮沟系统为原型的降比尺物理模型,模拟在潮汐作用下,潮沟系统从平坦滩面逐渐形成、发育演变至动态平衡状态的过程,并分析了潮沟系统在不同阶段的形态特征。研究结果表明:潮沟系统发育速率先快后慢,最终达到动态平衡状态。采用潮沟发育各阶段潮沟系统的总长度与终态潮沟总长度的比值以及潮沟及其相邻处潮滩的高程变化速率两种方法,均可以衡量潮沟系统的发育程度。潮沟系统发育达到动态平衡后,各级潮沟个数占潮沟总数量的比例基本固定。潮沟的宽度、深度、宽深比均符合对数正态分布。潮沟的宽度与宽深比、深度与宽深比之间均具有幂函数关系。     

Tidal creek surface film structural and metabolic dynamics

Surface films on marsh creeks form water-air interfaces of high biological activity. The development, movement, deposition, and breakup of the tidal creek surface film in a naturalSpartima alterniflora-dominated salt marsh in Delaware were followed seasonally over tidal cycles. The metabolic activity, i.e., photosynthesis and respiration, of the surface film and underlying water were determined in the field at the time of peak film formation, just prior to high tide, and the particulate material and chlorophylla were quantified over the tidal cycles. The quantities of organic and inorganic components of the particulate material were all significantly higher in the surface film than in the underlying water (on a volume basis). Numbers of algal cells and quantities of chlorophyll were orders of magnitude greater in the surface film than in the water column. Photosynthesis and respiration were significantly higher in the surface film than in the underlying water. The spectrum of fatty acids was more diverse and their total content was significantly greater in the surface film than in the water column, indicating a concentrated food source contributed by the film as well as a biological richness of the film. When water in the creek flooded the marsh plain at high tide, film deposition was greatest on simulated creek bankS. alterniflora stems, compared to stems along rivulets in the marsh and those in the marsh plain. Using surface film dry weight measurements on an areal basis and film velocity in the creek, both measured throughout a tidal cycle during the summer, it was determined that approximately 12 kg (dry weight) of particulate material moved on the creek surface (2 m wide) past a given point on the flood tide, and 14 kg moved in the opposite direction on the ebb tide. The biological and physical data collected in this study illuminate the contribution of the surface film to the biological (food web) and physical (sediment transport and deposition) functions of a salt marsh.     

Estimating the net flux of nutrients between a salt marsh and a tidal creek

Statistical aspects of estimating net fluxes of nutrients between a salt marsh and a tidal creek on a tidal cycle basis and an annual basis are explored. For individual tidal cycles, the instantaneous flux of a nutrient is written in a constrained linear model as a function of time. The model is rewritten as an unconstrained model, and net flux is shown to be a linear combination of the parameters of the model. Standard linear models techniques can be used to make inferences about net fluxes on a tidal cycle basis. Considering a year as a finite population of tidal cycles, annual net flux can be estimated using a regression estimator. In the case of the flux of dissolved nitrite plus nitrate, the marsh was found to be a statistically significant sink for nitrogen (in this form) from adjacent tidal creeks.     

开敞式潮滩-潮沟系统发育演变动力机制——Ⅱ.潮汐作用

为研究潮汐作用下潮沟网络形成、演变规律,结合江苏沿海粉砂淤泥质潮滩实际情况,建立试验室物理模型,模拟具有一定坡度的潮滩在潮汐作用下的地形演变,分析了潮沟发育演变中的水沙运动规律,研究了潮差对于潮沟发育的影响。研究表明,潮沟发育过程受到床面坡度变化的影响,坡度均一的潮滩上,潮沟系统通过相邻小潮沟相互连接而形成,没有明显的潮沟头部溯源侵蚀现象;在潮汐作用下,涨潮初期和落潮后期水流流速较快,泥沙运动主要出现在这一阶段,在潮滩中部泥沙运动最为剧烈;潮差对于潮沟系统形态和结构的影响较小,潮滩排水路径长度与子流域面积呈幂函数分布,潮差越大则潮沟系统越早达到动态平衡,且具有更大的拓宽潮沟的作用。     

塔里木盆地柯坪地区中上寒武统白云岩沉积微相

在塔里木盆地西北缘柯坪地区的蓬莱坝剖面发现一套完整的寒武系白云岩地层,对其进行了系统的野外测量、岩性描述、样品采集和镜下观察,作出了完整的地层岩性沉积相综合柱状图,并对其进行沉积相、亚相和微相的分析.在该剖面中,识别出1种相——碳酸盐岩台地相,并进一步分为3种亚相和6种微相,分别为:开阔台地亚相(开阔潮坪、颗粒滩)、局...     

Carbonate ramp depositional systems from a late Jurassic epeiric platform (Iberian Basin, Spain): a combined computer modelling and outcrop analysis

No counterparts to epeiric-sea carbonate ramps are known in present-day environments. This hinders the interpretation of the factors controlling the growth and evolution of these depositional settings. In this study we analyse the facies and geometries of two Jurassic examples both from outcrop study and through computer modelling. This analysis is constrained by two important features of these Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian ramps: firstly, they are very well exposed, allowing accurate reconstruction of a 200-km section from proximal to distal ramp environments, and, secondly, a time framework for correlation, section reconstruction and modelling is provided by a well-defined ammonite biostratigraphy. The modelling results in a synthetic stratigraphy which closely matches the reconstructed cross-sections and, when integrated with the field study, constrains and provides additional quantitative data on the following aspects of carbonate ramp systems. Resedimentation by storms is an important process in maintaining the ramp profile through time. Down-ramp transport distances of between 25 and 40 km are indicated from the distribution of storm beds and shallow-water allochems and from model-matching known stratigraphic thicknesses and geometries. Modelling sediment production within the time constraints from the ammonite biozones indicates that shallow-water carbonate production was 1–2 orders of magnitude less than that predicted for present-day open-marine carbonate platforms. Deeper-water production rates were reduced by lesser amounts. These proportionally higher, outer-ramp production rates also help to maintain ramp geometries through time. The enigmatic slope crest of ramps is shown to result from a combination of higher, shallow-water production and erosion rates, together with loss of accommodation during highstands and high-stillstands in the modelled sea-level curves. The most parsimonious modelling of the two ramp sequences comes from a relative sea-level curve composed of a linear subsidence component superposed by 20- and 100-kyr cycles on a third-order cycle. The third-order cycles and their timing do not correspond to those of the Exxon curve.     

Multivariate analysis of heavy metal contents of sediments from Gumusler creek, Nigde, Turkey

In this study, heavy metal contents of samples from Gumusler creek in Turkey were studied and the metal contamination characteristics were investigated. In this respect, considering the pollutant sites in the area, systematic sediment samples were collected in a zone starting from the manifestation part of the water to the entrance of the Karasu creek in Gumusler town. Samples were taken from lower section of the river bed at 30 stations along Gumusler creek, 13 km in length and their heavy metal contents were analyzed with XRF Spectrometer. Correlation coefficients, element coefitic coefficient correlation, dendogram hierarchical cluster, model summary and Annova analysis statistical methods were applied to data. Strong positive correlations were determined for some elements which are believed to have possibly the same origin. In addition, mineralizations in the area are thought to cause variation in metal contents. Results of chemical analysis show that soil limit values and clark values were exceeded. The heavy metal accumulation in the creek is believed to be derived from non-operated Sb-Hg-W and Fe quarries.     

3D and 4D controls on carbonate depositional systems: sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic analysis of an attached carbonate platform and atoll (Miocene, Níjar Basin, SE Spain)

This study investigates the controls on three-dimensional stratigraphic geometries and facies of shallow-water carbonate depositional sequences. A 15 km² area of well-exposed Mid to Late Miocene carbonates on the margin of the Níjar Basin of SE Spain was mapped in detail. An attached carbonate platform and atoll developed from a steeply sloping basin margin over a basal topographic unconformity and an offshore dacite dome (Late Miocene). The older strata comprise prograding bioclastic (mollusc and coralline algae) dominated sediments and later Messinian Porites reefs form prograding and downstepping geometries (falling stage systems tract). Seven depositional sequences, their systems tracts and facies have been mapped and dated (using Sr isotopes) to define their morphology, stratigraphic geometries, and palaeo-environments. A relative sea-level curve and isochore maps were constructed for the three Messinian depositional sequences that precede the late Messinian evaporative drawdown of the Mediterranean. The main 3D controls on these depositional sequences are interpreted as being: (i) local, tectonically driven relative sea-level changes; (ii) the morphology of the underlying sequence boundary; (iii) the type of carbonate producers [bioclastic coralline algal and mollusc-dominated sequences accumulated in lows and on slopes of < 14° whereas the Porites reef-dominated sequence accumulated on steep slopes (up to 25°) and shallow-water highs]. Further controls were: (iv) the inherited palaeo-valleys and point-sourced clastics; (v) the amount of clastic sediments; and (vi) erosion during the following sequence boundary development. The stratigraphy is compared with that of adjacent Miocene basins in the western Mediterranean to differentiate local (tectonics, clastic supply, erosion history, carbonate-producing communities) versus regional (climatic, tectonic, palaeogeographic, sea-level) controls.     

Controls on salt marsh accretion: A test in salt marshes of Eastern Canada

We used¹³⁷Cs-dating to determine vertical accretion rates of 15 salt marshes on the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Accretion rates are compared to a number of factors assumed to influence vertical marsh accretion: rates of relative sea-level rise, climatic parameters (average daily temperatures and degree days) and latitude (related to insolation and day length), sediment characteristics (organic matter inventory, bulk, mineral, and organic matter density), distance of the core site from the nearest source of tidal waters, and the tidal range. Uniques to our study is a consideration of climatic parameters and latitude, which should influence organic matter production, and thus vertical accretion rates. Significant predictors of accretion rates (in order of importance) were found to be organic matter inventory, distance from a creek, and range of mean tides. Contrary to conclusions from previous studies, we found that accretion rates decreased with increasing tidal range, probably because we considered a wider span of tidal ranges, from micro- to macrotidal. Although four marshes with low organic matter inventories also show a deficit in accretion with respect to relative sea-level rise, organic matter is not limiting in two-thirds of the marshes studied, despite shorter growing seasons.     

Evaluation of impact of industrial effluents on intertidal sediments of a creek

A large amount of material in the form of industrial effluents and urban sewage containing metal contaminants directly enters Dudh creek. Metals on entering the creek tend to settle at the bottom and become part of the sediments. The distribution of metals with depth reflects changes in their supply as well as diagenetic modifications with time. In the present study, an attempt has been made to understand the impact of waste discharged from Tarapur Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation on Dudh creek. Two cores were collected, one close to the creek mouth and the other in the inner part of the creek. Sediment component, organic carbon and metal (vanadium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, manganese, iron and aluminium) analyses were carried out on the two cores. The variation in the distribution of sediment components with depth reflects changes in hydrodynamic condition of the creek over the years. Increase in concentration of most of the metals in the upper part of the cores indicates additional input in recent years. The core collected in the inner part of the creek showed higher metal and organic carbon concentration as compared to the downstream core. This was very well supported by distribution of points on an isocon plot. Enrichment factor and index of geoaccumulation were used to find the extent of pollution in sediments of the creek. Correlation and R-mode factor analysis have also been computed to understand the association and source of metal input in sediments of Dudh creek.     

Prediction of tidal excursion length in estuaries due to the environmental changes

Tidal excursion is an important parameter that indicates hydraulic and mixing characteristics of estuarine environments. Prediction of the tidal excursion length provides a proper tool for environmental management of estuaries. In this study, the governing equations of the salinity transport were scaled first to recognize the effective dimensionless parameters of tidal excursion length. Then, a laterally averaged two-dimensional numerical model called CE-QUAL-W2 was used as a virtual laboratory to simulate the salinity intrusion length. Existing field data of Limpopo estuary, as a case study, was used for calibration and verification of the model and reasonable agreement was observed between the model results and the field data. Finally, the verified model was used to assess the influences of the governing parameters. The results showed that simple power functions can be used to describe the effects of dimensionless parameters obtained by scaling of the governing equations. As a result, a new formula in form of a power function was derived to predict the tidal excursion length based on the geometric and hydrodynamic characteristics of alluvial estuaries. Comparison of the computed tidal excursion lengths using the derived formula with the observed measurements in several estuaries showed the robustness of the developed formula.     

开敞式潮滩-潮沟系统发育演变动力机制——Ⅲ.海平面上升影响

为研究海平面上升对潮滩-潮沟系统的影响,以江苏中部粉砂淤泥质海岸为原型,建立变态物理模型,模拟研究在不同海平面潮汐过程作用下的潮沟发育和演变过程,分析了潮滩淹没历时、排水密度、潮沟断面形态等特征参数变化规律。研究表明:潮沟在发育初期伸长速率高于拓宽速率,最终趋于动态平衡;海平面上升后,潮滩淹没历时增加,露滩时间缩短,归槽水对潮沟底床的塑造作用减弱;平均归槽水流长度和Horton排水长度均随海平面上升呈现出减小趋势,潮沟的排水能力增强;潮沟断面宽深比服从对数正态分布,随着海平面上升,潮沟断面面积和宽深比均呈现出增大趋势,宽深比分布范围变广。