Suspended Solids Flux Between Salt Marsh and Adjacent Bay: A
Long-term Continuous Measurement
N.S. Suk, Q. Guo, and Norbert P. Psuty
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol. 49, 1999, pp. 61-81.
Abstract
The beneficial roles of coastal salt marshes have been well identified as a
storm surge protector, a nursery for young fish and a natural filter for
pollutants. However, the vectors of nutrients and suspended solids
exchanges between the salt marsh and the adjacent bay are not completely
known. In this study, suspended solids flux between a salt marsh at
Tuckerton, New Jersey, U.S.A. and Great Bay was continuously measured for an
extended period of time by an improved monitoring methodology. A field
infrared nephelometric turbidimeter was deployed to measure turbidity
continuously at the mouth of the tidal creek, and the measured turbidity data
were used to derive suspended solids concentrations. Current
velocity and water surface elevation was measured concurrently at the same
location. During the monitoring period form March to October 1996,
suspended solids were found to be imported into the salt marsh from the adjacent
bay. The small net import appeared to be inadequate for wetlands areal
viability when compared to the relative sea-level rise rates. Results of
this study suggested that a minimum of five water sample sets were needed to
establish a reasonably good overall TSS-turbidity regression relationship in
terms of flux quantification.
