Sediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay
Science Center Objects
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Objectives
Investigate mechanisms of sediment transport from shoals to channels
Investigate resuspension dynamics in subtidal and intertidal shoals, and determine critical shear stresses for these environments
Investigate wave evolution in the shallows, because of its critical importance to sediment resuspension
Investigate wave attenuation in marshes
Investigate transport of sediment between mudflats and marshes
Produce data sets for calibration of and comparison with sediment transport models, including wave parameters, suspended sediment concentration, and sediment flux.
Accomplishments
Four large deployments (30-40 instruments at 5-8 stations) measuring waves, currents, turbulence, and suspended sediment concentration have been completed: two in South San Francisco Bay, focused on exchange between shoal and channel, in collaboration with UC Berkeley; and two in San Pablo Bay, focused on transport between intertidal and subtidal regions, as part of a post-doctoral research project. See a video on this project. A smaller deployment in Corte Madera Bay was also completed, focused on wave attenuation in the shallows, as part of a larger San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission project.
Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments
Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to...
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Date published: January 1, 2021Status: ActiveSediment transport in submarine canyons
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
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Date published: December 31, 2020Status: ActiveSediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Jessie Lacy -
Date published: December 31, 2020Status: ActiveSan Francisco Bay geomorphology
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Bruce Jaffe -
Date published: December 31, 2020Status: ActiveDrag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary
Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport is part of the Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments project.
Contacts: Jessie Lacy -
Date published: July 27, 2020Status: ActiveCoastal watershed and estuary restoration in the Monterey Bay area
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Amy EastAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: December 9, 2019Status: ActiveTransport of invasive microorganisms
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Mary McGann -
Date published: July 15, 2019Status: ActiveColumbia River estuary
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Guy GelfenbaumAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Seasonal variation in sediment delivery across the bay-marsh interface of an estuarine salt marsh
Sediment transport across bay–marsh interfaces depends on wave energy, vegetation, and marsh-edge morphology, and varies over a range of timescales. We investigated these dynamics in a tidal salt marsh with a gently-sloped, vegetated edge adjacent to northern San Francisco Bay. Spartina foliosa (cordgrass) inhabits the lower marsh and Salicornia...
Lacy, Jessica R.; Foster-Martinez, Madeline R.; Allen, Rachel (Contractor); Ferner, Matthew C.; Callaway, John C. Seasonal, spring-neap, and tidal variation in cohesive sediment transport parameters in estuarine shallows
Numerical models for predicting sediment concentrations and transport rely on parameters such as settling velocity and bed erodibility that describe sediment characteristics, yet these parameters are rarely probed directly. We investigated temporal and spatial variation in sediment parameters in the shallows of San Pablo Bay, CA. Flow, turbulence...
Allen, Rachel; Lacy, Jessica R.; Mark T. Stacey; Variano, Evan A Measuring settling velocity in a strongly tidal estuary
Predicting sediment transport in estuarine systems requires understanding sediment settling velocity, its range of fluctuations, and the shortcomings of the tools to measure it. Previous studies have used Laser In-Situ Scattering and Transmissometry (LISST) instruments to measure particle size and Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADV) to return...
Allen, Rachel; Lacy, Jessica R.; Variano, Evan A The influence of neap-spring tidal variation and wave energy on sediment flux in salt marsh tidal creeks
Sediment flux in marsh tidal creeks is commonly used to gage sediment supply to marshes. We conducted a field investigation of temporal variability in sediment flux in tidal creeks in the accreting tidal marsh at China Camp State Park adjacent to northern San Francisco Bay. Suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), velocity, and depth were...
Lacy, Jessica R.; Ferner, Matthew C.; Callaway, John C. Wave attenuation across a tidal marsh in San Francisco Bay
Wave attenuation is a central process in the mechanics of a healthy salt marsh. Understanding how wave attenuation varies with vegetation and hydrodynamic conditions informs models of other marsh processes that are a function of wave energy (e.g. sediment transport) and allows for the incorporation of marshes into coastal protection plans. Here,...
Foster-Martinez, Madeline R.; Lacy, Jessica R.; Ferner, Matthew C.; Variano, Evan A.
Bathymetric survey and digital elevation model of Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a bathymetric survey in Little Holland Tract, a flooded agricultural tract, in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the “Delta”) during the summer of 2015. The new bathymetric data were combined with existing data to generate a digital elevation model (DEM) at 1-meter resolution. Little...
Snyder, Alexander G.; Lacy, Jessica R.; Stevens, Andrew W.; Carlson, Emily M. Wave attenuation in the shallows of San Francisco Bay
Waves propagating over broad, gently-sloped shallows decrease in height due to frictional dissipation at the bed. We quantified wave-height evolution across 7 km of mudflat in San Pablo Bay (northern San Francisco Bay), an environment where tidal mixing prevents the formation of fluid mud. Wave height was measured along a cross shore transect (...
Lacy, Jessica R.; MacVean, Lissa J. Mechanisms of sediment flux between shallows and marshes
We conducted a field study to investigate temporal variation and forcing mechanisms of sediment flux between a salt marsh and adjacent shallows in northern San Francisco Bay. Suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), tidal currents, and wave properties were measured over the marsh, in marsh creeks, and in bay shallows. Cumulative sediment flux in...
Lacy, Jessica R.; Schile, L.M.; Callaway, J.C.; Ferner, M.C. Model-based interpretation of sediment concentration and vertical flux measurements in a shallow estuarine environment
A one-dimensional numerical model describing tidally varying vertical mixing and settling was used to interpret sediment concentrations and vertical fluxes observed in the shoals of South San Francisco Bay by two acoustic Doppler velocimeters (ADVs) at elevations of 0.36 m and 0.72 m above bed. Measured sediment concentrations changed by up to 100...
Brand, Andreas; Lacy, Jessica R.; Gladding, Steve; Holleman, Rusty; Stacey, Mark T. Lateral baroclinic forcing enhances sediment transport from shallows to channel in an estuary
We investigate the dynamics governing exchange of sediment between estuarine shallows and the channel based on field measurements at eight stations spanning the interface between the channel and the extensive eastern shoals of South San Francisco Bay. The study site is characterized by longitudinally homogeneous bathymetry and a straight channel,...
Lacy, Jessica R.; Gladding, Steve; Brand, Andreas; Collignon, Audric; Stacey, Mark T. Interactions between waves, sediment, and turbulence on a shallow estuarine mudflat
Measurements were collected on a shallow estuarine mudflat in northern San Francisco Bay to examine the physical processes controlling waves, turbulence, sediment resuspension, and their interactions. Tides alone forced weak to moderate currents of 10–30 cm s-1 in depths of 0–3 m, and maintained a background suspension of 30–50 mg L21 of fine...
MacVean, Lissa J.; Lacy, Jessica R.
Sediment geochemistry of Corte Madera Marsh, San Francisco Bay, California: have local inputs changed, 1830-2010?
Large perturbations since the mid-1800s to the supply and source of sediment entering San Francisco Bay have disturbed natural processes for more than 150 years. Only recently have sediment inputs through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta) decreased to what might be considered pre-disturbance levels. Declining sediment inputs to San...
Takesue, Renee K.; Jaffe, Bruce E.-
Date published: January 26, 2021Hydrodynamic and sediment transport data from San Pablo Bay and Grizzly Bay, California, 2019
USGS scientists collected hydrodynamic and sediment-transport data at shallow water sites in San Pablo Bay and Grizzly Bay, in northern San Francisco Bay between June and November 2019. The data were collected to determine hydrodynamic forcing, bed roughness, suspended-sediment concentration, and physical properties of the sediment bed. This data release includes hydrodynamic and sediment...
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Date published: August 17, 2020Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion derived data products from UAS survey of the Liberty Island Conservation Bank Wildlands restoration site, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, October 2018
Unmanned aerial systems were used to acquire high-resolution imagery of the Liberty Island Conservation Bank Wildlands restoration site in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta in California, with the goal of using structure-from-motion photogrammetric techniques to derive a digital surface model, orthomosaic imagery, and a topographic point cloud. The survey was conducted using two Department of...
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Date published: July 5, 2020Bed sediment properties in Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, 2014 to 2019 (ver. 2.0, May 2020)
Bed sediments were collected in two submerged agricultural tracts. Samples were analyzed for grain size distribution, bulk density, or both, from multiple locations during surveys from 2014-2019. This effort was part of a large study to investigate how shallow water habitats in the Delta function and whether they provide good habitat for native fish species, including the Delta smelt.
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Date published: May 18, 2020Sediment transport and aquatic vegetation data from three locations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, 2017 to 2018
We measured currents, suspended-sediment concentration, bed sediment characteristics, and vegetation biomass density in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in 2017-2018, as part of a project investigating the influence of invasive aquatic vegetation on flow and sediment flux. This data release includes data from three sites: Lindsey Slough, Middle River, and lower Mokelumne River.
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Date published: February 24, 2020Bathymetry, topography, and acoustic backscatter data, and a digital elevation model (DEM) of the Cache Slough Complex and Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
This data release presents bathymetric and topographic data from surveys performed between 2017 and 2018 in the Cache Slough Complex and the Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel (DWSC), northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. The shallow, highly vegetated aquatic habitats of this region necessitated a variety of survey platforms and techniques. In the deeper channels, swath...
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Date published: January 1, 2019Hydrodynamic and sediment transport data from San Pablo Bay (northern San Francisco Bay), 2011-2012
The U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments. During each deployment, time
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Date published: December 26, 2017Hydrodynamic and sediment transport data from San Pablo Bay and China Camp marsh (northern San Francisco Bay), 2013-2016
The USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay (SP) and sediment exchange between bay shallows and the tidal salt marsh in China Camp State Park (CMC) in a series of deployments between December 2013 and June 2016. This data release includes two related groups of data sets, one for SP and one for CMC.
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Date published: December 21, 2016Wind-wave and suspended-sediment data from Liberty Island and Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Investigate the influence of wind waves on sediment dynamics in two flooded agricultural tracts. Part of a large interdisciplinary study led by the USGS and funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to investigate how shallow-water habitats in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta function and whether they provide good habitat for native fish species, including the Delta smelt.
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Date published: January 1, 2016Digital elevation model of Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, 2015
This product is a digital elevation model (DEM) for the Little Holland Tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California based on U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-collected elevation data, merged with existing topographic and bathymetric elevation data. The USGS collected topographic and bathymetric elevation data in 2015, using a combination of methods. Topographic and shall
Turbid Bay: Sediment in Motion
USGS scientists from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center explore how sediment moves across San Francisco Bay tidal flats. The research team deploys a suite of large instrumented tripods to record sediment movements over a six-week period in early 2011. Answers from this work will help determine whether deposition of sediment at high tide is occurring quickly