Statistical analysis of the temporal and spatial controls on tidal signal preservation in late-Holocene tidal rhythmites, Romney Marsh, Southeast England

Abstract

A hierarchical series of tidal periodicities are preserved within laminated tidal flat deposits at the barrier/back-barrier interface of Romney Marsh and the Dungeness Foreland in southeast England. The sedimentary record of the tidal signature, extracted from variations in sand layer thickness, was found to be severely truncated with neap-spring periods typically represented by five or less sand layers and possibly only alternate neap-spring periods present. Despite the low number of sand layers deposited in these higher frequency tidal cycles, semi-annual periods are clearly preserved but tend to contain less than the expected 6 months of sedimentation. Annual accumulation rates of around 0.2-0.3 m/year are indicated. Local emplacement of storm beaches is considered to have created the protected conditions suitable for tidal rhythmite preservation. Ongoing foreland progradation and infilling eventually restricted tidal inundation to the point where distinct sand laminae were no longer deposited. Here, in contrast with other systems, accommodation space was not limiting and tidal flat elevation is reflected as a more subtle control on spatial changes in the resolution of the tidal signal.

Meso-scale barrier estuary disturbance, response and recovery behaviour: Evidence of system equilibrium and resilience from high-resolution particle size analysis

“…Particle size analysis has been used successfully to identify sub-annual variation in the hydrodynamic processes of estuarine environments (Allen, 1990, 2004; Allen and Dark, 2008; Allen and Haslett, 2002, 2006, 2007; Dark and Allen, 2005; Mohd-Lokman and Pethick, 2001; Plater et al, 2007, 2009; Stupples and Plater, 2007). In this paper, high-resolution particle size analysis is applied as a proxy for investigating regime shifts, equilibria and overall system resilience in the back-barrier lagoon and barrier estuary environment of Pescadero Marsh.…”

Mesoscale geomorphic change on barrier estuarine regime at the tropical coast of Chandipur, India: Evidence from assessment of grain-size distribution

“…Numerical modelling has been used to understand the vertical growth and evolution of marsh by minerogenic and organogenic sedimentation under relative sea level rise from the Severn Estuary, southwest Britain by Allen, 1990b;Allen, 1992;Fagherazzi et al, 2012. Analysis of particle size in estuarine environments has also successfully identi ed historical variation in deposition processes (Allen and Haslett, 2002;Allen, 2004;Allen and Haslett, 2006;Dark and Allen, 2005;Lecce and Pavlowsky, 2004;Stupples and Plater, 2007;Saha and Sinha, 2021;Su et al, 2016). Several researchers successfully applied high-resolution particle size measurement as a proxy for mesoscale hydrodynamic variability in an estuary barrier system (Clarke et al, 2014a;Lario et al, 2002;Spencer et al, 1998;Switzer et al, 2005).…”