Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments Active
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 natural and human-driven changes.
Coastal resource managers face a wide range of problems related to sediment transport. Sediment management or questions related to sediment transport are involved in dredging operations, preventing or planning for coastal erosion, evaluation of the impacts of anthropogenic alterations on coastal ecosystems, restoration of coastal habitats, and planning for climate change. To address these questions, coastal managers typically require both site-specific information about sediment transport processes, and predictive models of the outcome of potential management actions.
Understanding of sediment transport processes and the ability to model sediment transport have advanced significantly in recent decades, but important limitations remain. It is still a common practice to report results of sediment transport modeling with limited or no calibration, due to lack of suitable data for calibration. The relative importance of factors governing sediment transport varies between coastal environments due to differences in both sediment properties and physical forcing. The development of robust models of sediment transport applicable to all aquatic environments, and the movement of sediment between them, requires data from a range of settings for testing.
Project Objectives
- to utilize USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program expertise to investigate problems in coastal sediment transport that are relevant to sediment management issues, including protection of coastal ecosystems, reducing the risk of natural hazards, and adapting to or predicting effects of climate change
- to utilize the results obtained in these studies to improve understanding of sediment transport processes, and incorporate this improved understanding in predictive models
- to conduct research and advise resource managers on the impacts of human activities and the effectiveness of restoration measures on river, estuarine, and marine habitats in collaboration with federal, state, and local agencies, and academic partners.
Current Research Topics
Click to learn more about our research:
- Drag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary
- Coastal watershed and estuary restoration in the Monterey Bay area
- Sediment transport in submarine canyons
- Columbia River estuary
- San Francisco Bay geomorphology
- Sediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay
- Transport of invasive microorganisms
Below are the study topics associated with this project.
Below are data sets associated with this project.
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Sediment Transport in San Francisco Bay
The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers deliver half the amount of sediment they did 50 years ago to San Francisco Bay. Just as sea-level rise is accelerating, the demand for sediment is growing.
Below are publications associated with this project.
A survey of benthic sediment contaminants in reaches of the Columbia River Estuary based on channel sedimentation characteristics
Earth is (mostly) flat: Apportionment of the flux of continental sediment over millennial time scales: COMMENT
Assessing grain-size correspondence between flow and deposits of controlled floods in the Colorado River, USA
Does centennial morphodynamic evolution lead to higher channel efficiency in San Pablo Bay, California?
Influence of history and environment on the sediment dynamics of intertidal flats
Sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System: An overview
Distribution of biologic, anthropogenic, and volcanic constituents as a proxy for sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System
The timing of sediment transport down Monterey Submarine Canyon, offshore California
Sediment geochemistry of Corte Madera Marsh, San Francisco Bay, California: have local inputs changed, 1830-2010?
Trends in the suspended-sediment yields of coastal rivers of northern California, 1955–2010
Fine-grained sediment dispersal along the California coast
Dispersal of fine sediment in nearshore coastal waters
Below are news stories associated with this project.
- Overview
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 natural and human-driven changes.
Coastal resource managers face a wide range of problems related to sediment transport. Sediment management or questions related to sediment transport are involved in dredging operations, preventing or planning for coastal erosion, evaluation of the impacts of anthropogenic alterations on coastal ecosystems, restoration of coastal habitats, and planning for climate change. To address these questions, coastal managers typically require both site-specific information about sediment transport processes, and predictive models of the outcome of potential management actions.
Understanding of sediment transport processes and the ability to model sediment transport have advanced significantly in recent decades, but important limitations remain. It is still a common practice to report results of sediment transport modeling with limited or no calibration, due to lack of suitable data for calibration. The relative importance of factors governing sediment transport varies between coastal environments due to differences in both sediment properties and physical forcing. The development of robust models of sediment transport applicable to all aquatic environments, and the movement of sediment between them, requires data from a range of settings for testing.
Project Objectives
- to utilize USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program expertise to investigate problems in coastal sediment transport that are relevant to sediment management issues, including protection of coastal ecosystems, reducing the risk of natural hazards, and adapting to or predicting effects of climate change
- to utilize the results obtained in these studies to improve understanding of sediment transport processes, and incorporate this improved understanding in predictive models
- to conduct research and advise resource managers on the impacts of human activities and the effectiveness of restoration measures on river, estuarine, and marine habitats in collaboration with federal, state, and local agencies, and academic partners.
Current Research Topics
Click to learn more about our research:
- Drag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary
- Coastal watershed and estuary restoration in the Monterey Bay area
- Sediment transport in submarine canyons
- Columbia River estuary
- San Francisco Bay geomorphology
- Sediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay
- Transport of invasive microorganisms
- Science
Below are the study topics associated with this project.
- Data
Below are data sets associated with this project.
- Multimedia
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Sediment Transport in San Francisco Bay
The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers deliver half the amount of sediment they did 50 years ago to San Francisco Bay. Just as sea-level rise is accelerating, the demand for sediment is growing.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 78A survey of benthic sediment contaminants in reaches of the Columbia River Estuary based on channel sedimentation characteristics
While previous studies have documented contaminants in fish, sediments, water, and wildlife, few specifics are known about the spatial distribution of contaminants in the Columbia River Estuary (CRE). Our study goal was to characterize sediment contaminant detections and concentrations in reaches of the CRE that were concurrently being sampled to assess contaminants in water, invertebrates, fish,AuthorsTimothy D. Counihan, Ian R. Waite, Elena B. Nilsen, Jill M. Hardiman, Edwin Elias, Guy Gelfenbaum, Steven D. ZauggEarth is (mostly) flat: Apportionment of the flux of continental sediment over millennial time scales: COMMENT
Recent synthesis of 10Be-derived denudation rates by Willenbring et al. (2013) suggests that the “flat” areas of the world, those with average slopes ofAuthorsJ.A. Warrick, John D. Milliman, D.E. Walling, R.J. Wasson, J.P.M. Syvitski, Stephen F. ArnoAssessing grain-size correspondence between flow and deposits of controlled floods in the Colorado River, USA
Flood-deposited sediment has been used to decipher environmental parameters such as variability in watershed sediment supply, paleoflood hydrology, and channel morphology. It is not well known, however, how accurately the deposits reflect sedimentary processes within the flow, and hence what sampling intensity is needed to decipher records of recent or long-past conditions. We examine these probleAuthorsAmy Draut, David M. RubinDoes centennial morphodynamic evolution lead to higher channel efficiency in San Pablo Bay, California?
Measured bathymetries on 30 year interval over the past 150 years show that San Pablo Bay experienced periods of considerable deposition followed by periods of net erosion. However, the main channel in San Pablo Bay has continuously narrowed. The underlying mechanisms and consequences of this tidal channel evolution are not well understood. The central question of this study is whether tidal chanAuthorsM. van der Wegen, Bruce E. JaffeInfluence of history and environment on the sediment dynamics of intertidal flats
Morphological trends of three distinct intertidal environments in South San Francisco Bay were investigated using a combination of measurement and modeling tools. Because of the inherent relationship between the physical environment and the sediment properties, the sediment properties provide a good indicator of morphologic trends. A significant finding of this study is that surface sediment erodiAuthorsCraig A. Jones, Bruce E. JaffeSediment transport in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System: An overview
The papers in this special issue feature state-of-the-art approaches to understanding the physical processes related to sediment transport and geomorphology of complex coastal-estuarine systems. Here we focus on the San Francisco Bay Coastal System, extending from the lower San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, through the Bay, and along the adjacent outer Pacific Coast. San Francisco Bay is an urbanizedAuthorsPatrick L. Barnard, David H. Schoellhamer, Bruce E. Jaffe, Lester J. McKeeDistribution of biologic, anthropogenic, and volcanic constituents as a proxy for sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System
Although conventional sediment parameters (mean grain size, sorting, and skewness) and provenance have typically been used to infer sediment transport pathways, most freshwater, brackish, and marine environments are also characterized by abundant sediment constituents of biological, and possibly anthropogenic and volcanic, origin that can provide additional insight into local sedimentary processesAuthorsMary McGann, Li H. Erikson, Elmira Wan, Charles L. Powell, Rosalie F. MaddocksThe timing of sediment transport down Monterey Submarine Canyon, offshore California
While submarine canyons are the major conduits through which sediments are transported from the continents out into the deep sea, the time it takes for sediment to pass down through a submarine canyon system is poorly constrained. Here we report on the first study to couple optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of quartz sand deposits and accelerator mass spectrometry 14C ages measured on bAuthorsThomas Stevens, Charles K. Paull, William III Ussler, Mary McGann, Jan-Pieter Buylaert, Eve M. LundstenSediment 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 Francisco Bay raise concern about continued tidal marshAuthorsRenee K. Takesue, Bruce E. JaffeTrends in the suspended-sediment yields of coastal rivers of northern California, 1955–2010
Time-dependencies of suspended-sediment discharge from six coastal watersheds of northern California – Smith River, Klamath River, Trinity River, Redwood Creek, Mad River, and Eel River – were evaluated using monitoring data from 1955 to 2010. Suspended-sediment concentrations revealed time-dependent hysteresis and multi-year trends. The multi-year trends had two primary patterns relative to riverAuthorsJ.A. Warrick, Mary Ann Madej, M. A. Goñi, R. A. WheatcroftFine-grained sediment dispersal along the California coast
Fine-grained sediment (silt and clay) enters coastal waters from rivers, eroding coastal bluffs, resuspension of seabed sediment, and human activities such as dredging and beach nourishment. The amount of sediment in coastal waters is an important factor in ocean ecosystem health, but little information exists on both the natural and human-driven magnitudes of fine-grained sediment delivery to theAuthorsJonathan A. Warrick, Curt D. StorlazziDispersal of fine sediment in nearshore coastal waters
Fine sediment (silt and clay) plays an important role in the physical, ecological, and environmental conditions of coastal systems, yet little is known about the dispersal and fate of fine sediment across coastal margin settings outside of river mouths. Here I provide simple physical scaling and detailed monitoring of a beach nourishment project near Imperial Beach, California, with a high portionAuthorsJonathan A. Warrick - News
Below are news stories associated with this project.