Effects of Low Tide Rainfall on Intertidal Zone Material Cycling

Author(s)

Raymond Torres
Miguel A. Goni
George Voulgaris, University of South Carolina - ColumbiaFollow
Charles R. Lovell, University of South Carolina - ColumbiaFollow
James T. Morris

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Sediment transport by rainfall-runoff processes is well documented for terrestrial landscapes but few studies have focused on rainfall-runoff effects in intertidal areas. Here we present geochemical analyses performed on sediment samples collected during low tide irrigation experiments, and tidal channel turbidity measurements taken during natural rainfall over North Inlet Marsh, South Carolina. Order of magnitude approximations indicate that a single 10 minute storm may entrain 8-15% of the local annual average sediment accumulation. This rainfall-entrained material is enriched in organic nitrogen and marine algal matter, and therefore of high nutritional quality.

Publication Info

Published in Coastal and Estuarine Studies, ed. Sergio Fagherazzi, Marco Marani, and Linda K. Blum, Volume 59, 2004, pages 93-114.

Rights

Torres, R., Goni, M. A., Voulgaris, G., Lovell, C. R., & Morris, J. T. (2004). Effects of low tide rainfall on intertidal zone material cycling. Coastal and Estuarine Studies, 59, 93-114.

© Coastal and Estuarine Studies 2004, American Geophysical Union