No abstract

In coastal marshes, low-permeability mud is often found overlying high permeability sandy deposits. A recently developed 3D creek-marsh model was used to investigate the effects of soil stratigraphy (a mud layer overlying a sandy-loam layer) on pore-water flow in the marsh.Simulation results showed significant modifications of tide-induced pore-water flow due to the layered soil. The presence of the lower sandy-loam layer with a relatively high hydraulic conductivity not only increased the pore-water flow speed but also changed the flow direction, particularly in the upper mud layer where enhanced vertical flow dominated. Particle tracking revealed large changes in the overall pore-water circulation pattern, and associated particle travel path and time due to the influence of the soil stratigraphy. While the amount of water exchange between the marsh soil and tidal water increased, the residence time of particles in both soil layers was reduced. Sensitivity analysis showed the importance of soil compressibility, capillary rise and hydraulic conductivity contrast between the soil layers in modulating the effect of soil stratigraphy. In particular, the total net influx and efflux across the marsh surface (including the creek/channel bank and bed) increased proportionally with the square root of the lower layer's hydraulic conductivity. These results demonstrated the interplay of tides, marsh topography and soil stratigraphy in controlling the pore-water flow characteristics, which underpin solute transport and transformation as well as the aeration condition in the marsh soil.  Flow in the two-layer marsh differs dramatically from that in a homogeneous marsh. The underlying sandy-loam layer modifies significantly the pore-water circulation. We examine effects of soil compressibility, capillarity and hydraulic conductivity.

Salt is a key solute in salt marshes and under the influence of evapotranspiration can accumulate to a high concentration level in the marsh soil and precipitate in the solid form to become a significant stressor for plants, affecting marsh plant productivity and ecological zonation. Numerical simulations of coupled pore water flow and salt transport were conducted to examine how spring-neap tides and evaporation combine to influence salt dynamics and distribution patterns in marshes. The salt pan formation was simulated with a sandy loam marsh soil subjected to a medium rate of potential evaporation. The critical condition for the salt pan formation was underpinned by hydraulic connection between the marsh surface and water table to sustain evaporation in the supratidal zone. Both low soil permeability and overly high potential evaporation were found to break the hydraulic connection. In this case, the surface soil salinity increased gradually over the intertidal zone to a maximum around the spring high tide mark followed by a rapid decrease to a lower constant level across the supratidal zone. This salinity distribution pattern has also been observed in the field. In both salt marshes with and without salt pans, excessive salt accumulated on the marsh surface due to evaporation was removed by tidally induced circulating flow and/or flow driven by density gradients associated with the accumulated salt. The salt dynamics and distribution patterns revealed here, especially the salt pan formation simulated for the first time, have important implications for studies of marsh plant growth and overall eco-functions.