Reading Material On reserve in Ocean Fisheries library Oceanography Teaching Building Through the following web site https eres lib washington edu eres coursepage aspx cid 4291 page d ocs Type in your UW Net ID when prompted and accept the Copyright statement The Estuarine Environment from The World Ocean W A Anikouchine and R W Sternberg Prentice Hall River Deltas from The Coast of Puget Sound J P Downing Puget Sound Books River Deltas from Coasts Impact of sea level rise on fluvial and glacial valleys 20 000 y to 7 000 y ago valleys flooded all sediment trapped 7 000 y ago to present if little sediment supply estuaries and fjords still filling trapping mechanisms very important Chesapeake Bay if moderate sediment supply estuaries nearly full some sediment leaks to continental shelf Columbia River if much sediment supply estuaries full and sediment overflowing deltas build seaward Mississippi Delta Chesapeake and Delaware Bays Coastal Plain Estuaries Drowned river valleys Types of Estuaries Coastal Plain estuary drowned river valley V shape in cross section result of fluvial erosion horn shape i e triangular in map view water floods to topographic contour lines example Chesapeake Bay Fjord drowned glacial valley U shape in cross section deep result of glacial erosion shallow sill at mouth examples high latitudes Alaska Scotland Scandinavia Chile Types of Estuaries Types of Estuaries Bar built estuary lagoon sand spit or barrier island encloses embayment shallow example Willapa Bay Tectonic estuary down dropped basin due to plate tectonics located near ocean and seawater floods basin example San Francisco Bay not very common Estuarine Sedimentation relevant to rivers end of fluvial processes relevant to beaches traps or releases sediment to beach Sand supplied by rivers 10 transported as bedload trapped near head of estuary where gradient of river surface goes to zero sea level Mud supplied by rivers 90 transported as suspended load trapped throughout estuary critical processes water circulation particle flocculation Distinction between particle transport as bedload and suspended load Note that saltation is intermediate between bedload and suspended load Sediment Transport Bedload gravel 2 mm sand 2 mm to 0 064 mm or 64 microns particles bounce and roll along bottom relatively slow means of transport erosion depends on particle size Suspended load silt 0 064 mm to 0 004 mm 64 4 microns clay 0 004 mm 4 microns particles float with water relatively fast means of transport erosion depends on particle size and degree of consolidation Erosion curve for different grain sizes Velocity necessary to erode gravel and sand depends on grain size Velocity necessary to erode silt and clay depends on size but also the degree of consolidation Consolidation how much water has been removed from between particles Estuarine Circulation Salt wedge Estuarine Circulation Salt wedge fresh water at surface moving seaward boundary with underlying salt water halocline friction with salt water causes mixing some salt water carried seaward with fresh water new salt water moves landward near bottom therefore landward bottom current salt wedge Fjord circulation shallow sill inhibits exchange of deep water oxygen is consumed by animals in deep water behind sill anoxia absence of oxygen can develop and animals die Fjord Circulation Deep sill thorough mixing of deep water Shallow sill poor mixing of deep water Particle Flocculation Flocculation formation of aggregates from groups of silt and clay particles Electrical charges at surface due to breaks in mineral structure mostly negative charges fresh water particles repel each other brackish salt water particles attracted to each other form flocs Flocs are larger than particles and sink faster Silt and clay particles have platey shape particles join end to face forming card house structure sediment reaches bed of estuary with much water within flocs ultimately leads to consolidation of delta surfaces Floc Characteristics Individual silt and clay particles are platey in shape Flocs are formed with cardhouse structure Water separates particles Bed deposit initially has much space filled with water Turbidity Maximum Turbidity sediment in suspension Fluvial suspended particles carried seaward in surface water they flocculate and sink Estuarine suspended particles carried landward in bottom water They meet at the halocline and cause highest turbidity in estuary this is the turbidity maximum Base of turbidity maximum is where most particles deposit on bed Location of turbidity maximum moves upstream and downstream over hours due to tides over months due to seasonal changes in water discharge Ultimately muddy sediment deposits over most of estuary ESTUARIES ARE EXCELLENT SEDIMENT TRAPS Estuarine Circulation River Deltas Evolve from coastal plain estuaries Rivers with much sediment filled their estuaries during the past 7000 y sea level rise was slow estuaries are excellent sediment traps Infilled estuaries have triangular shape Greek letter from shape of Nile Delta Sediment supply must be able to overcome slow rise in sea level tectonic subsidence erosion by tides waves currents consolidation of sediment accumulating Nile Delta Flowing northward into Mediterranean Sea Two primary distributaries today Waves rework shoreline into cuspate shape Active portion of Mississippi Delta The shape is a bird foot delta Sedimentatio n is associated with individual distributary channels These form because tidal currents are very weak and waves Global Distribution of Deltas Location and Shape of Deltas Deltas found many places in world most common where river with much sediment enters protected setting e g small body of water Mediterranean Sea Gulf of Mexico Puget Sound behind island or reef Trinidad Great Barrier Reef behind seasonal sea ice Bering Sea Arctic Ocean Where river reaches sea level it divides into smaller distributary channels Shape of protrusion from shoreline depends on oceanographic processes weak waves and tidal currents each distributary channel builds seaward bird foot delta builds with delicate digitation strong waves longshore drift smears sediment along coast cuspate shape forms strong tidal currents distributary channels eroded and expanded islands formed between broad channels Deltaic Sedimentation Estuarine processes e g flocculation turbidity max displaced into ocean Topset uppermost region freshwater swamps brackish water marshes sandy channel floors
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