Sediment budget estimates for a highly impacted embayment with extensive wetland loss
Estuaries and Coasts
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Abstract
External sediment supply is an important control on wetland morphology and vulnerability to storms, sea-level rise, and land use change. Constraining sediment supply and net budgets is difficult due to multiple timescales of variability in hydrodynamic forcing and suspended-sediment concentrations, as well as the fundamental limitations of measurement and modeling technologies. We used two independent observational campaigns and one hydrodynamic modeling effort to estimate the sediment supply to Jamaica Bay, New York, USA, an urbanized embayment with a history of extensive wetland loss. We found that all three estimates indicate a net import to the system, ranging from 36 x 106 – 74 x 106 kg/y, with a mean estimate of 55,000 t/y +/- 31,000 t/y, which compares well with a prior estimate derived from radionuclide tracers. Net sediment import is controlled by flood-ebb asymmetry in bed shear stress, which results in higher suspended sediment concentrations on flood tide relative to ebb. This indicates a seaward source of sediment, likely offshore marine deposits and potentially sediment from the adjacent Hudson River-Estuary that is resuspended by waves in the coastal ocean. Despite the net sediment import, a simple sediment budget suggests that the rate of supply is not sufficient to maintain the present geomorphic planform of the system relative to sea-level rise. The convergent estimates from independent methods provide reasonable guidance as context for sediment-based restoration efforts.
Suggested Citation
Chant, R., Ralston, D.K., Ganju, N., Pianca, C., Simonson, A., Cartwright, R., 2021, Sediment budget estimates for a highly impacted embayment with extensive wetland loss: Estuaries and Coasts, v. 44, p. 608-626, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00784-3.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Sediment budget estimates for a highly impacted embayment with extensive wetland loss |
| Series title | Estuaries and Coasts |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12237-020-00784-3 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Publication Date | July 01, 2020 |
| Year Published | 2021 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Contributing office(s) | Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center |
| Description | 19 p. |
| First page | 608 |
| Last page | 626 |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| Other Geospatial | Grassey Bay, Jamaica Bay |