Source partitioning of oxygen‐consuming organic matter in the hypoxic zone of the Chesapeake Bay

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 1801-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianzhong Su ◽  
Wei‐Jun Cai ◽  
Jean Brodeur ◽  
Najid Hussain ◽  
Baoshan Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Hypoxic Zone ◽  
Source Partitioning

scholarly journals Contributions of Organic and Mineral Matter to Vertical Accretion in Tidal Wetlands across a Chesapeake Bay Subestuary

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 751
Author(s):  
Jenny R. Allen ◽  
Jeffrey C. Cornwell ◽  
Andrew H. Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
210Pb Dating ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Mineral Matter ◽  
Tidal Wetlands ◽  
Vertical Accretion ◽  
Inorganic Matter

Persistence of tidal wetlands under conditions of sea level rise depends on vertical accretion of organic and inorganic matter, which vary in their relative abundance across estuarine gradients. We examined the relative contribution of organic and inorganic matter to vertical soil accretion using lead-210 (210Pb) dating of soil cores collected in tidal wetlands spanning a tidal freshwater to brackish gradient across a Chesapeake Bay subestuary. Only 8 out of the 15 subsites had accretion rates higher than relative sea level rise for the area, with the lowest rates of accretion found in oligohaline marshes in the middle of the subestuary. The mass accumulation of organic and inorganic matter was similar and related (R2 = 0.37). However, owing to its lower density, organic matter contributed 1.5–3 times more toward vertical accretion than inorganic matter. Furthermore, water/porespace associated with organic matter accounted for 82%–94% of the total vertical accretion. These findings demonstrate the key role of organic matter in the persistence of coastal wetlands with low mineral sediment supply, particularly mid-estuary oligohaline marshes.

scholarly journals Seabed Resuspension in the Chesapeake Bay: Implications for Biogeochemical Cycling and Hypoxia

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-122
Author(s):  
Julia M. Moriarty ◽  
Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs ◽  
Courtney K. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Light Attenuation ◽  
Sediment Resuspension ◽  
Nitrogen Dynamics ◽  
Biogeochemical Model ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

AbstractSediment processes, including resuspension and transport, affect water quality in estuaries by altering light attenuation, primary productivity, and organic matter remineralization, which then influence oxygen and nitrogen dynamics. The relative importance of these processes on oxygen and nitrogen dynamics varies in space and time due to multiple factors and is difficult to measure, however, motivating a modeling approach to quantify how sediment resuspension and transport affect estuarine biogeochemistry. Results from a coupled hydrodynamic–sediment transport–biogeochemical model of the Chesapeake Bay for the summers of 2002 and 2003 showed that resuspension increased light attenuation, especially in the northernmost portion of the Bay, shifting primary production downstream. Resuspension also increased remineralization in the central Bay, which experienced larger organic matter concentrations due to the downstream shift in primary productivity and estuarine circulation. As a result, oxygen decreased and ammonium increased throughout the Bay in the bottom portion of the water column, due to reduced photosynthesis in the northernmost portion of the Bay and increased remineralization in the central Bay. Averaged over the channel, resuspension decreased oxygen by ~ 25% and increased ammonium by ~ 50% for the bottom water column. Changes due to resuspension were of the same order of magnitude as, and generally exceeded, short-term variations within individual summers, as well as interannual variability between 2002 and 2003, which were wet and dry years, respectively. Our results quantify the degree to which sediment resuspension and transport affect biogeochemistry, and provide insight into how coastal systems may respond to management efforts and environmental changes.

scholarly journals Tracing the origin of the oxygen-consuming organic matter in the hypoxic zone in a large eutrophic estuary: the lower reach of the Pearl River Estuary, China

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 4085-4099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianzhong Su ◽  
Minhan Dai ◽  
Biyan He ◽  
Lifang Wang ◽  
Jianping Gan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Pearl River Estuary ◽  
Pearl River ◽  
Terrestrial Organic Matter ◽  
Hypoxic Zone

Abstract. We assess the relative contributions of different sources of organic matter, marine vs. terrestrial, to oxygen consumption in an emerging hypoxic zone in the lower Pearl River Estuary (PRE), a large eutrophic estuary located in Southern China. Our cruise, conducted in July 2014, consisted of two legs before and after the passing of Typhoon Rammasun, which completely de-stratified the water column. The stratification recovered rapidly, within 1 day after the typhoon. We observed algal blooms in the upper layer of the water column and hypoxia underneath in bottom water during both legs. Repeat sampling at the initial hypoxic station showed severe oxygen depletion down to 30 µmol kg−1 before the typhoon and a clear drawdown of dissolved oxygen after the typhoon. Based on a three endmember mixing model and the mass balance of dissolved inorganic carbon and its isotopic composition, the δ13C of organic carbon remineralized in the hypoxic zone was −23.2 ± 1.1 ‰. We estimated that 65 ± 16 % of the oxygen-consuming organic matter was derived from marine sources, and the rest (35 ± 16 %) was derived from the continent. In contrast to a recently studied hypoxic zone in the East China Sea off the Changjiang Estuary where marine organic matter dominated oxygen consumption, here terrestrial organic matter significantly contributed to the formation and maintenance of hypoxia. How varying amounts of these organic matter sources drive oxygen consumption has important implications for better understanding hypoxia and its mitigation in bottom waters.

Composition of Particulate Organic Matter in the Southern Chesapeake Bay: Sources and Reactivity

Estuaries ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Canuel ◽  
Andrew R. Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Particulate Organic Matter
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