The relationship between sediment and water quality and riverine sediment loads in the wave-dominated estuaries of southwest Western Australia

We examine surface sediment and water column total nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations for 12 estuaries with average water depths <4 m, and calculated sediment loads ranging from 0.2 to 10.8 kg m-2 year-1. Sediment total nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon concentrations vary inversely with sediment loads due to: (i) the influx of more mineral-rich sediment into the estuaries; and (ii) increasing sediment sulfidation. Sediment total organic carbon (TOC) : total sulfur (TS) and TS : Fe(II) ratios correlated to sediment loads because enhanced sedimentation increases burial, hence the importance of sulfate reduction in organic matter degradation. Curvilinear relationships were found between a weathering index and organic matter 13C in sediment, and sediment load. The rising phase of the curve (increasing weathering, lighter isotopic values) at low to intermediate loads relates to soil erosion, whereas regolith or bedrock erosion probably explains the declining phase of the curve (decreasing weathering, heavier isotopic values) at higher sediment loads. The pattern of change for water column total nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) with sediment loads is similar to that of the weathering index. Most water quality problems occur in association with soil erosion, and at sediment loads that are intermediate for the estuaries studied. Limited evidence is presented that flushing can moderate the impact of sediment loads upon the estuaries.

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Identification info

Date (Publication)
2004-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/69512

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf04044

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Radke, L.C.

 1
Author

Prosser, I.

 2
Author

Robb, M.

 3
Author

Brooke, B.

 4
Author

Fredericks, D.

 5
Author

Douglas, G.B.

 6
Author

Skemstad, J.

 7
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Custodian

EGD
Owner

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Custodian

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown
Keywords

  • External Publication

  • Scientific Journal Paper

Theme

  • water resources

  • erosion

  • coasts

  • geochemistry

  • marine

Keywords

  • AU-WA

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

  • Earth Sciences

Keywords

  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
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https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

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OnLine resource

Link to Publication

Link to Publication

Resource lineage

Statement

Unknown

Hierarchy level
Non geographic dataset
Other

External Publication

Description

Source data not available.

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/a05f7892-edcf-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

nonGeographicDataset

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/69512

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a05f7892-edcf-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-22T08:30:38
Date info (Creation)
2009-09-14T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

coasts erosion geochemistry marine water resources

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