Sediment transport pathway in the back of a nearly semienclosed subembayment of San Francisco Bay, California

Time series measurements of current velocity, depth and suspended-solids concentration (SSC) were used to obtain suspended-solids fluxes (SSF) during the fall at central Honker Bay and Spoonbill Creek. A wind-induced shear stress increases SSF out of Honker Bay through Spoonbill Creek by combining two effects: (1) wind-wave resuspension of bed sediments, and (2) wind shear raises the water level at the Honker Bay. High SSC water advected from Honker Bay into the Sacramento River does not return on the following ebb tide, which creates the dispersive SSF. The total SSF was always out of Honker Bay during the fall suggesting that high metals and pesticides concentrations are not caused by transport through Spoonbill Creek into Honker Bay.