Cyclic Changes in Interstitial Water Content, Atmospheric Exposure, and Temperature in a Marine Beach1

Abstract

Seasonal, tidal, and spring-vs.-neap changes in water content, atmospheric exposure, and temperature were studied within the interstices of a porous, semiprotected beach. Semidiurnal tides were nearly equal in amplitude and reached 120 cm from spring low to high. Overall mean grain size was 660 pm and mean sorting, 500 pm, with finer, better sorted, and more layered sand in the upper beach. Pore space averaged 36.5%.Water content at low tide reached minima of 10% pore-space saturation in shallow sands of the upper beach; most sand above the minimum water table lost >5Oo/o of its water. The upper beach drained more completely at ncap than at spring tides. Draining occurred more slowly than filling, and deeper sediments drained more slowly than shallow ones, resulting in a progressive landwarcl delay of up to 4 hr in the water table's "low tide." Little seasonal variation was noted. Beach temperatures were basically those of the sea surface, modified by duration of exposure. Temperatures of sea and water table followed a gradual cycle of seasonal change, averaging lC/week.Daily temperature variations exceeding 5C were confined to the upper 10 cm of sand in mid-and upper beach areas. long periods and produced thermal extrcmcs.

Physical and chemical changes in the foreshore of an estuarine beach: implications for viability and development of horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus eggs

“…Our results did not find a direct relationship between moisture and viability or development but moisture is a broad spatial control on temperature in the beach matrix. Changes in temperature will be greatest at low tide when there is greater likelihood of exposure to solar radiation (Pollock & Hummon 1971), but moisture retention and frequency of inundation will also have an influence on interstitial temperature (Li et al 2006). Significant differences in number of degree days above 15°C suggest that the differences in frequency of inundation and moisture retention capacity of the sediments influence interstitial temperature and in turn influence egg development.…”

“…Saturation of sediment may persist low on the foreshore during low water, but oxygen levels may be sustained by water moving through the sediment. Temperature within the top decimeters will change over the tidal cycle when the beach is exposed (Pollock & Hummon 1971). The elevation of the beach water table will influence the heating effect of solar radiation (and thus temperature) within the upper decimeters, but local moisture content may not be directly related to the beach water table elevation (Li et al 2006), particularly for finer sediments where a capillary fringe may develop and persist during low water (Atherton et al 2001).…”

Interstitial waters in marine and lacustrine sediments : A review

“…McKinney and Friedman 1967Friedman et al, 1968Kullenberg 1952Gorshkova 1957Bojanowski and Stefanica 1970Shishkina 1959aSharma 1970a, b Berner et al 1970Manheim 1966bCernock and Bryant 1969Kaplan and Presley 1969Manheim and Bischoff 1969Manheim and Sayles 1970, b Chan and Manheim 1970, b, c, 1972a, b Anon 1971aSayles and Manheim 1971Presley et al, 1967bBrooks et al, 1968Presley and Kaplan 1968Presley 1969Brooks et al, 1969Hendricks et al 1969Goldberg and Arrhenius 1958Bruyevich and Kulik 1967Harriss and Pilkey 1966Fanning and Schink 1969Bischoff and Ku 1970Sayles et ai. 1970aTageyeva 1965Li et al 1969Bischoff et al, in press Bruce 1928Reid 1932Emery and Foster 1948Isaacs and Bascom 1949Saunders et al, 1955Smith 1955, 1956Callame 1963Brafield 1964Scholl 1965Jansson 1967a, b Johnson 1967Friedman and Gavish 1970Pollock and Hummon 1971Emery and Rittenberg i952 Rit...…”

Sandy beaches: state of the art of nematode ecology

“…Since the first scheme of horizontal faunal zonation was published by Mortensen (1921), several attempts have been made to define well-demarcated zones in sandy-beach sediments, by using physical factors (Salvat 1964, Pollock and Hummon 1971, McLachlan 1980, macroinvertebrates (Dahl 1952, Salvat 1964, 1967, McLachlan and Jaramillo 1995, Defeo and McLachlan 2005, for a recent review) or meiofauna (Blome 1983, Rodriguez et al 2001, 2005a, Kotwicki et al 2005a, Gingold et al 2010, Maria et al 2013b.…”