The utility of estuarine settling basins for constructing multi-decadal, high-resolution records of sedimentation

Elliott, Emily; McKee, Brent A.; Rodriguez, Antonio B.

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2015.06.002

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…From 1946 to 2009 the Core Banks Site had an average ocean-facing shoreline erosion rate of 0.64 m/yr (http://ncdenr.maps.arcgis.com). The beach site at Shackleford Banks is located adjacent to Cape Lookout Bight, an embayment that formed in the 1960s through anthropogenically-induced spit migration to the north-northwest (Wells, 1988;Elliott et al, 2015). The spit extends to within 1.5 km south of the site and refracts ocean waves.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of beach state and the timing of pre-storm surveys in determining the accuracy of storm impact assessments

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of beach state and the timing of pre-storm surveys in determining the accuracy of storm impact assessments

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Estuaries are sediment sinks for many U.S. Atlantic Coast rivers, potentially archiving and preserving records of both natural (Elliott et al 2015) and anthropogenic Canuel 2000, 2002;Hubeny et al 2018) changes in sediment accumulation for millennia (Meade 1982;Slattery and Phillips 2011). However, preservation of these records can be complicated by mixing due to waves, tides, and bioturbation, and sediment deposition may be punctuated in response to tidal-channel formation and closure (Fruergaard et al 2011).…”

Section: Proximal Human and Natural Influences On Estuarine Sediment mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As with studies of terrestrial sediment export, investigations of local anthropogenic and natural impacts on sedimentation records and processes within estuaries have also often focused on sediment-rich coastal plain settings (e.g., Tambroni and Seminara 2006;Mattheus et al 2009;Elliott et al 2015). However, extensive local anthropogenic changes also occurred in paraglacial estuaries during the historical period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary

Shawler

Hein

Canuel

et al. 2019

Anthropocene Coasts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Land clearing, river impoundments, and other human modifications to the upland landscape and within estuarine systems can drive coastal change at local to regional scales. However, as compared with mid-latitude coasts, the impacts of human modifications along sediment-starved formerly glaciated coastal landscapes are relatively understudied. To address this gap, we present a late-Holocene record of changing sediment accumulation rates and sediment sources from sediment cores collected across a tidal flat in the Merrimack River estuary (Mass., USA). We pair sedimentology, geochronology, bulk- and stable-isotope organic geochemistry, and hydrodynamic simulations with historical data to evaluate human and natural impacts on coastal sediment fluxes. During the 17th to 19th centuries, accumulation rates increased by an order of magnitude in the central tidal flat, likely in response to enhanced delivery of terrestrial sediment resulting from upland deforestation. However, the overall increase in accumulation (0.56–2.6 mm/year) within the estuary is subtle and spatially variable across the tidal flats because of coincident anthropogenic land clearing and dam building, upland sediment storage, and estuarine hydrodynamics. This study provides insight into the response of formerly glaciated fluvial-coastal systems to human modifications, and underscores the role of estuarine environmental conditions in modifying upland signals of land-use change.

show abstract

“…Carbon export from backbarrier‐marsh shoreline and ocean shoreline erosion, therefore, must also be included in the transgressive island carbon budget. Backbarrier marshes erode in response to waves and currents that are amplified by human disturbances (e.g., boat wakes and installation of hard structures), strong winds, and storm events [ Riggs and Ames , ; Mattheus et al ., ; Timmons et al ., ; Mariotti and Carr , ; Elliott et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placing barrier‐island transgression in a blue‐carbon context

Theuerkauf

Rodriguez

2017

Earth's Future

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Backbarrier saltmarshes are considered carbon sinks; however, barrier island transgression and the associated processes of erosion and overwash are typically not included in coastal carbon budgets. Here, we present a carbon‐budget model for transgressive barrier islands that includes a dynamic carbon‐storage term, driven by backbarrier‐marsh width, and a carbon‐export term, driven by ocean and backbarrier shoreline erosion. To examine the impacts of storms, human disturbances and the backbarrier setting of a transgressive barrier island on carbon budgets and reservoirs, the model was applied to sites at Core Banks and Onslow Beach, NC, USA. Results show that shoreline erosion and burial of backbarrier marsh from washover deposition and dredge‐spoil disposal temporarily transitioned each site into a net exporter (source) of carbon. The magnitude of the carbon reservoir was linked to the backbarrier setting of an island. Carbon reservoirs of study sites separated from the mainland by only backbarrier marsh (no lagoon) decreased for over a decade because carbon storage could not keep pace with erosion. With progressive narrowing of the backbarrier marsh, these barriers will begin to function more persistently as carbon sources until the reservoir is depleted at the point where the barrier welds with the mainland. Undeveloped barrier islands with wide lagoons are carbon sources briefly during erosive periods; however, at century time scales are net carbon importers (sinks) because new marsh habitat can form during barrier rollover. Human development on backbarrier saltmarsh serves to reduce the carbon storage capacity and can hasten the transition of an island from a sink to a source.

show abstract

The utility of estuarine settling basins for constructing multi-decadal, high-resolution records of sedimentation

Cited by 6 publications

References 44 publications

The role of beach state and the timing of pre-storm surveys in determining the accuracy of storm impact assessments

The role of beach state and the timing of pre-storm surveys in determining the accuracy of storm impact assessments

Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary

Placing barrier‐island transgression in a blue‐carbon context

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About