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Consequences of sediment flux: escape or entrapment?
Nichols, Maynard M.
Nichols, Maynard M.
Abstract
Estuaries exhibit a full range of flux that extends from escape of sediment into the ocean to complete entrapment and storage within the system. The trapping efficiency of U.S. East Coast estuaries is compared with respect to long-term infilling and present- day flushing velocity , volumetric capacity , and circulatory mixing. It was found that entrapment prevails in many northern estuaries as a consequence of high volumetric capacity , low flushing velocity , and the nearly closed circulation. In many estuaries, channel deepening has reversed the " normal" trend of long-term infilling. Although dredging enhances circulatory entrapment, large-scale ocean dumping results in "escape" of sediment from estuaries. Consequently, man is changing the geologic role of many U.S. East Coast estuaries from a sink for fluvial and marine sediment to a source of sediment for the ocean.
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1986
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Physical Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles
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Virginia Institute of Marine Science