The purpose of this study, conducted in collaboration with Evamaria Koch at HPL and funded by the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, is to gain a better understanding of why some areas in Chesapeake Bay have relatively stable SAV beds, whereas others have experienced an historical decline. We expect that changes in sedimentary characteristics, particularly in the amount of fine and organic material, are partially responsible, and that an increase in these materials causes a concomitant decline in SAV distribution. The results of this study will help direct SAV restoration activities into areas with a greater chance of long-term success.
- Sediment and Nutrient Dynamics in the Corsica River
The Corsica River, located on the eastern shore of Maryland, has been targeted for restoration to help reduce the sediment and nutrient load that ultimately reaches Chesapeake Bay. This study provides preliminary data concerning the geochemical characteristics of recent sediments in the Corsica River to examine the past (~100-y) history of sediment and nutrient burial so that future changes related to the restoration efforts can be better understood. This study is a collaboration with Jeff Cornwell at HPL, with support from Maryland Sea Grant and the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at HPL (funded by the National Science Foundation and the Grayce B. Kerr Fund) and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
- Sedimentation Processes in Chesapeake Bay Coastal Environments
The Chesapeake Bay region hosts a variety of sedimentary environments. In this project, we examine processes in an eroding marsh system (located in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge) and in Maryland’s Coastal Bays. At Blackwater, our studies have emphasized the small-scale variability in sediment underlying the open-water area, known as Lake Blackwater. Sediment types range from fine-grained mineral sediment to porous, highly organic material representative of eroded marsh fragments. Sediments in the Coastal Bays are largely fluvial in origin, accreting at a rate similar to sea-level rise. Studies of modern sedimentation in these environments are on-going. Preliminary analyses were conducted in collaboration with Jeff Cornwell (Blackwater) and Judy O’Neill and Tim Carruthers (Coastal Bays) at HPL, with support from Maryland Sea Grant and the Research Experience for Undergraduates program.
- Event-Scale Sedimentation
In this study, we have taken a new approach to examine event-scale sedimentation that establishes a connection between water-column signals and changes in the seabed. The Po River (Italy) shelf is used as a case study due to the dominance of winter storm events on sediment transport and the availability of coincident measurements necessary for the analysis. This study involves comparison of sediment erosion/deposition observed in seabed cores and in the time-series record of an altimeter mounted on an instrumented bottom-boundary-layer tripod. It is a collaboration with Andrea Ogston at the University of Washington, supported by the Office of Naval Research
- Adriatic Sea Seabed Studies
This research, conducted as part of the EuroSTRATAFORM project supported by the Office of Naval Research, focuses on sedimentation processes in the Adriatic Sea. In this region, contrasting morphological deposits have developed despite similar sediment loading and dispersal mechanisms. This allows us to examine other factors that shape seabed deposits, giving us greater insight into how these processes might be preserved in the ancient sedimentary record