Collaborative Research: Sediment Transport and Storage in Tidal Floodplain Waterbodies

牛弓湖、河外海湾、采石场和其他死水环境在许多潮汐河流的泛滥平原上很常见，并为大量细粒度存储提供了必要的容纳空间。这项以过程为基础的研究将定量地评估这些潮滩水体的填充方式。该项目的动机是这些环境在沉积物和相关污染物的储存中发挥的重要作用，以及这些未被充分研究的系统对当地生态系统和人口的广泛意义。本研究的总体目标是：1)量化潮汐泛滥平原水体中控制运输和捕获时间和规模的主要过程；2)评价这些环境在河流蓄水量中的作用？S细粒沉积收支；3)评估沉积物和相关污染物储存速率如何随土地利用变化、工业发展和潮汐影响而变化。康涅狄格河的下游是潮汐河的例证，具有突出的潮汐泛滥平原水体，将作为我们的现场。我们的研究方法结合了水柱观测、数值模型模拟和广泛的取芯活动，旨在涵盖所有必要的主要空间和时间尺度，以约束细粒度的捕获和存储。与世界各地的低洼海岸线相似，美国东海岸有丰富的潮汐河流和边缘潮汐环境。这个项目将获得关于沉积物和相关重金属污染物如何在这些潮汐环境中分布的重要信息。这项研究的另一个重要意义是，我们的现场（康涅狄格河）是东北地区最大的河流系统，是美国环境保护局指定的14条美国遗产河流之一，是美国仅有的26个被联合国认定为具有国际意义的湿地之一，也是世界自然保护区的40个湿地之一。最后的好地方？在西半球由大自然保护协会指定的教育拓展包括本科生在高中课堂上的演讲，以及高中生在夏季与研究团队一起进行为期六周的实习的机会。我们将利用该项目的资助培养一名博士生。

Oxbow lakes, off-river coves, quarries and other backwater environments are common along the floodplain of many tidal rivers, and provide the accommodation space necessary for significant amounts of fine-grained storage. This process-based study will quantitatively evaluate the manner in which these tidal floodplain waterbodies infill. The project is motivated by the important role these environments play in the storage of sediments and associated contaminants, and the broad significance of these understudied systems to local ecosystems and human populations. The overarching goals of this study are to: 1) quantify the dominant processes governing the timing and magnitude of transport and trapping within tidal floodplain waterbodies; 2) evaluate the role these environments play in the storage of a river?s fine grained sedimentary budget; and 3) assess how sediment and associated contaminant storage rates vary in response to land-use changes, industrial development, and tidal influence. The lower reach of the Connecticut River exemplifies a tidal river with prominent tidal floodplain waterbodies and will serve as our field site. Our research approach combines water column observations, numerical model simulations, and an extensive coring campaign, and is designed to encompass all of the primary spatial and temporal scales necessary to constrain fine-grained trapping and storage.Similar to low-lying coastlines around the world, the east coast of the U.S. is rich with tidal rivers and fringing tidal settings. This project will gain essential information on how sediment and associated heavy metal contaminants are distributed within these tidal environments. The study has additional significance in that our field site (the Connecticut River), is the largest river system in the northeast, one of only 14 American Heritage Rivers designated by the U.S. EPA, among only 26 U.S. wetlands recognized for international significance by the United Nations, and among 40 of the ?Last Great Places? in the Western Hemisphere designated by The Nature Conservancy. Educational outreach includes undergraduate presentations to high school classes, and the opportunity for high school seniors to work with the research team over a six-week internship in the summer. We will train one Ph.D. student with funding from this project.