The heterogeneity of mudflat erodibility

Zhu, Qin; Prooijen, Bram C. van; Maan, Cynthia; Wang, Zheng Bing; Yao, Peng; Daggers, Tisja D.; Yang, S.L.

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.106834

Cited by 27 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…A stabilization of 100–500% compared to non‐colonized sediment has been reported by many authors (Le Hir et al., 2007; Zhu et al., 2019), suggesting that the effect of EPS is more important than sediment cohesion (Malarkey et al., 2015). On intertidal flats, consideration of the stabilization by MPB is especially important when predicting morphological change (Zhu et al., 2019). However, we still lack understanding of the long‐term effects of MPB and how they contribute to anticipated changes in mud availability and bed accretion, including large‐scale morphological adaptation of estuaries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…This reduction in erodibility can lead to reduced sediment resuspension and transport in the water column (de Jonge, 2000;Staats et al, 2001). A stabilization of 100-500% compared to non-colonized sediment has been reported by many authors (Le Hir et al, 2007;Zhu et al, 2019), suggesting that the effect of EPS is more important than sediment cohesion (Malarkey et al, 2015). On intertidal flats, consideration of the stabilization by MPB is especially important when predicting morphological change (Zhu et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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What Came First, Mud or Biostabilizers? Elucidating Interacting Effects in a Coupled Model of Mud, Saltmarsh, Microphytobenthos, and Estuarine Morphology

Brückner

Braat

Schwarz

et al. 2020

Water Resources Research

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Mud accretion and establishment of biostabilizers, such as microphytobenthos and saltmarsh vegetation, govern the development of estuarine morphology. Mud facilitates saltmarsh survival and microphytobenthos growth, which in turn promotes sedimentation and reduces mud erosion. Consequently, an increasing extent and thickness of mud cover might lead to a stabilization of large-scale estuarine morphology. To disentangle the interactions between saltmarsh establishment, microphytobenthos colonization, and mud layer formation, we use our novel eco-morphodynamic model applied to the Western Scheldt estuary. Our model shows that presence of dynamic saltmarsh vegetation and microphytobenthos enhances predictions of mud location in the computations compared to field data. Saltmarsh establishment is partly determined by the antecedent mud content in the bed, resulting in varying emerging vegetation coverage between model experiments of a generic saltmarsh and a saltmarsh species that requires prior mud for establishment. In contrast to microphytobenthos enhancing seasonal mud accretion during their growth period, saltmarshes promote largest accretion when lower biomass and high water levels are present. Interestingly, thick long-term mud is enhanced despite the biostabilizers seasonal growth. The combination of saltmarsh and microphytobenthos leads to expanding saltmarsh cover and mud area. Generally, mud layer thickness is governed by the ratio of hydroperiod and maximum flow velocity that is mediated by the biostabilizers. On estuary scale, the presence of intertidal vegetation leads to increased mud volumes in the intertidal. Mud layers are enhanced in extent by a mud-dependent species and in thickness by a generic species. Thus, local biostabilization alters large-scale morphology controlling long-term estuarine development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

What Came First, Mud or Biostabilizers? Elucidating Interacting Effects in a Coupled Model of Mud, Saltmarsh, Microphytobenthos, and Estuarine Morphology

Brückner

Braat

Schwarz

et al. 2020

Water Resources Research

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“…This is consistent with the laboratory flume experiment of Neumeier et al () that suggests that biofilm‐inhabited sediments exhibit a critical BSS fourfold to tenfold higher than in bare sediments without any established biofilm. On the Kapellebank mudflat of the Western Scheldt Estuary (the Netherlands), Zhu et al () also report a critical BSS fivefold higher in a sediment inhabited by diatoms than in sediments without diatoms. The erosion threshold commonly follows the Chl a content in sediment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Impact of Chronic and Massive Resuspension Mechanisms on the Microphytobenthos Dynamics in a Temperate Intertidal Mudflat

et al. 2019

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Microphytobenthos (MPB) resuspension is a key mechanism in the transfer of organic matter from productive intertidal mudflats to terrestrial and marine systems. In this study, we infer on the contribution of physical and biological factors involved in the MPB resuspension. We use a physical‐biological coupled model forced by realistic meteorological and hydrodynamical forcings to simulate chronic (without any concomitant sediment resuspension) and massive (driven by bed failure) resuspension over a year. The model simulates mud surface temperature, MPB growth, and grazing by the gastropod Peringia ulvae. The model suggests that MPB resuspension is the highest in spring tides and at the flood beginning due to high current velocity and low water heights that promote waves‐sea bottom interactions. The seasonal export of MPB biomass is the highest in spring, up to threefold higher than in summer when the export is the lowest. The simulated seasonal dynamics of MPB resuspension results from the MPB biomass concentration in the sediment, physical disturbances, and the bioturbation activity by P. ulvae. Annually, 43% of the simulated MPB primary production is resuspended. The MPB resuspension (60.8 g C·m−2·yr−1) exceeds the loss by P. ulvae grazing (41.1 g C·m−2·yr−1). The model suggests that chronic and massive resuspension events are important in the synoptic to seasonal MPB dynamics in temperate intertidal mudflats. Accounting for such processes in the carbon budget assessment in the land‐ocean interface could bring new insights to our understanding of the role played by MPB in the coastal carbon cycle.

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“…8). Consequentially, changes in erodibility of the bed can follow 39 . Consistently across the intertidal flats in the Western Scheldt, the highest bed level variations (i.e., bed level dynamics) occurred generally at the lower parts of the flats (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, in other estuaries similarities in the likelihood distribution of the bed level dynamics across intertidal flats are expectable. Apart from gradients in sediment transport and the bed slope, bed level dynamics are also affected by aspects such as grain size variability 17 , 44 , benthos 45 – 47 , and bed erodibility 39 . Bed level dynamics may also follow from sediment transported through lateral circulation 48 , which is especially an important mechanism during fair weather in estuaries with highly turbid channels 49 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in storm-induced bed level dynamics across intertidal flats

Vet

Prooijen

Colosimo

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Hydrodynamic forces on intertidal flats vary over a range of temporal and spatial scales. These spatiotemporal inhomogeneities have implications for intertidal flat morphodynamics and ecology. We determine whether storm events are capable of altering the long-term morphological evolution of intertidal flats, and unravel the contributions of tidal flow, wind-driven flow, waves, and water depth on inhomogeneities in bed level dynamics (bed level changes over ~days) across these areas. We complement decades of bed level measurements on eight intertidal flats in two estuaries in the Netherlands with an extensive 1-month field campaign on one of those flats. Across this intertidal flat, the hydrodynamics and morphodynamics of a storm event were captured, including the poststorm recovery. We show that individual events can persistently alter the morphological evolution of intertidal flats; magnitudes of some bed level changes are even comparable to years of continuous evolution. The morphological impacts of events are largely controlled by the relative timing of the forcing processes, and not solely by their magnitudes. Spatiotemporal variations in bed level dynamics of intertidal flats are driven by a combination of: (1) the inhomogeneous distributions of the hydrodynamic forcing processes (including the under-explored role of the wind); and (2) the linear proportionality between bed level dynamics and the local bed slope.

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The heterogeneity of mudflat erodibility

Cited by 27 publications

References 80 publications

What Came First, Mud or Biostabilizers? Elucidating Interacting Effects in a Coupled Model of Mud, Saltmarsh, Microphytobenthos, and Estuarine Morphology

What Came First, Mud or Biostabilizers? Elucidating Interacting Effects in a Coupled Model of Mud, Saltmarsh, Microphytobenthos, and Estuarine Morphology

Impact of Chronic and Massive Resuspension Mechanisms on the Microphytobenthos Dynamics in a Temperate Intertidal Mudflat

Variations in storm-induced bed level dynamics across intertidal flats

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