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Effects of Geomorphology on the Distribution of Metal Abundance in Salt Marsh Sediment

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of salt marsh geomorphology on the distribution of surface metal content. Surface sediment samples (46) were taken along two transects across an intertidal salt marsh island. Abundance of Ca, Al, Fe, Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, As, and Zr vary up to 300 % with statistically significant differences along transects and between transects. Along transect, metal abundances are strongly influenced by elevation and distance from the subtidal channel. Between transects, salt marsh morphodynamics, relative marsh age, and water sources seem to affect metal distribution. These observations lead us to hypothesize that at least three scales of variability can be expected for assessing salt marsh sediment metal distributions. Larger-scale variations associated with salt marsh sediment sources and age, and another related to local salt marsh geomorphic structure. Therefore, studies that characterize salt marsh metal loading should explicitly consider the variability imposed over a range of spatial scales.

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Acknowledgment

This research was funded by NSF Grant OCE-0628372. We thank all the staff and faculty in the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences for their support of field facilities. We are grateful of Dr. Miguel Goni in Oregon State University COAS for his support in field sampling. We thank Dr. Gene Yogodzinski and his lab members in USC Department of Earth and Ocean Science for their generous lab support. Dr. Timothy Shaw and Dr. Howie Scher provided helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.

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  1. Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, 701 Sumter St, EWS 617, Columbia, SC, USA

    Si Chen & Raymond Torres

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  1. Si Chen
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Correspondence to Si Chen.

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Chen, S., Torres, R. Effects of Geomorphology on the Distribution of Metal Abundance in Salt Marsh Sediment. Estuaries and Coasts 35, 1018–1027 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9494-y

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