Content:
De-embankment in the salt marshes of the island of Langeoog was carried out in 2004, thereby inducing an artificial transgression within an area of 2.2 km2. Material from three suspended matter traps (SMTs) located along a NS transect was collected monthly between January 2006 and February 2007. Besides geochemical (major and trace elements) and grain-size analyses, the duration and height of water cover were continuously measured by pressure gauges during the sampling period at two sites, thus revealing inundation frequency (max. 280 year-1) and level (max. 2.4 m). Generally, the silt-dominated SMT material exhibits a geochemical composition similar to that of suspended particulate matter from the adjacent Wadden Sea. However, distinctly increasing enrichments of TOC, P, Mn and Mo from the shoreline towards the higher salt marsh clearly indicate fractionation processes during material transport. Geochemical comparison with older Holocene coastal deposits reveals a mixture of brackish and tidal flat sediments, thus reflecting an early stage of sea-level rise and the development from a terrestrial towards a marine-dominated system. Sedimentation rates are higher than the local sea-level rise, as revealed by vertical salt marsh growth. Storm surges deliver the highest amounts of sediment and play an important role in salt marsh accumulation within the study area. Average accumulation rates of TOC (780 t year-1), P (54 t year-1) and Mn (5.2 t year-1) in the de-embanked area suggest that the former sand-dominated sediments currently receive significant amounts of reactive organic-rich material, thus fostering biogeochemical cycling.
Note:
(Y 897) Geo-marine letters 32(2012)1, S.49-60
In:
(Y 897) Geo-marine letters 32(2012)1, S.49-60
Language:
Undetermined
