Techniques for Assessing Historical, High-Resolution Records of Coastal and Estuarine Sediment Erosion, Transport and Sedimentation

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Techniques for Assessing Historical, High-Resolution Records of Coastal and Estuarine Sediment Erosion, Transport and Sedimentation RAIDING THE TOOLBOX – TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING HISTORICAL, HIGH-RESOLUTION RECORDS OF COASTAL AND ESTUARINE SEDIMENT EROSION, TRANSPORT AND SEDIMENTATION Emily Anne Elliott A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Marine Sciences. Chapel Hill 2017 Approved by: Brent A. McKee Antonio B. Rodriguez Harvey Seim Jaye Cable W. Joe Lambert © 2017 Emily Anne Elliott ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Emily A. Elliott: Raiding the toolbox – Techniques for Assessing Historical High-Resolution Records of Coastal and Estuarine Sediment Erosion, Transport and Sedimentation (Under the direction of Brent A. McKee and Antonio B. Rodriguez) Estuaries act as a buffers to material transport from terrestrial to oceanic environments. Characterizing mechanisms of erosion, transport and deposition within estuaries is crucial for understanding material flux to the marine environment and compositional transformations. However, obtaining multi-decadal high-resolution records of sediment flux, source, and composition within estuaries is a major challenge in coastal research due to dynamic processes that actively erode, resuspend and/or rework the sedimentary record. For this reason, estuarine sedimentology has dominantly focused on either long-term (decadal to millennial) records that show constant sedimentation rates often matching the rate of sea-level rise, or short-term (multi- year to decadal) studies that show variable sedimentation rates associated with events. This dissertation presents a monthly record of estuarine sedimentation that spans ~40 years within a highly accreting mini-basin, Cape Lookout Bight (CLB), NC, utilizing existing and newly-developed methods. This long-term high-resolution record is used to identify the dominant physical drivers of sediment flux within the estuary. Chapter 1 of this dissertation uses the lithologic and the long-term geochronology of this basin to determine its formation and sediment sources through time. Chapter 2 presents and tests the efficacy of a modified uni-directional time-integrated mass suspended-sediment sampler for use within the bi-directional flow of a tidal (estuarine) environment. Modified collectors are then used to verify the dominant estuarine sediment source to the CLB basin. Chapter 3 applies and iii tests different geochronological models for excess 210Pb within the estuarine system, showing the strengths and weaknesses of each model application within our system, and presents a method for applying tempestite horizons for increased resolution and accuracy of estuarine geochronologies. Finally, Chapter 4 uses this established high-resolution multi-decadal geochronology, along with historical physical data obtained for the system, to identify sediment source and drivers of sediment transport within the estuary to the coastal ocean through time. This study identifies multiple sedimentation events that are triggered by conditions that have a recurrence interval of ~1 year (+/- 0.5) and advances our understanding of how storms, and therefore climate change may impact sediment erosion, transport and deposition within the coastal zone. iv To the loves of my life, Mark Elliott and our beautiful children, Grace and Jacob; You are my joy, my love and my inspiration. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first thank my advisors, Dr. Brent McKee and Dr. Antonio Rodriguez, for their unwavering support and guidance throughout the dissertation process. When faced with both academic and life challenges, their willingness to come alongside me with patience, advisement and encouragement gave me the confidence and determination to follow this research through to completion. I am a better researcher and teacher for having been advised by them. I would also like to acknowledge the support of my additional doctoral dissertation committee members, Dr. Harvey Seim, Dr. Jaye Cable and Dr. Joe Lambert, whose time, patience, mentorship and sharing of expertise have proven invaluable in the success of this work and my growth as a researcher. This research was carried out with the financial support of the North Carolina Sea-Grant (2010-1707-01 E/GS-4F) and the UNC University Research Council (URC) Small Grants Program. My personal financial support was provided by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSFGRFP), the UNC Graduate School Dissertation Completion Fellowship, the Association for Women Geoscientists Chrysalis Scholarship and the UNC Department of Marine Sciences. Thanks also to the University of Alabama Stable Isotope Laboratory (ASIL), the UNC Environmental Sciences and Engineering (ESE) Design Center, and the UNC Joint Applied Math and Marine Sciences Fluids Lab (JFL), for providing time, design, analysis and subsidized sampling support. This dissertation represents the hard work of the many students and researchers who have dedicated their time and expertise to this research over the years. Thanks first of all to Dr. Anna vi Jalowska, who not only trained me in geochronological methodology, but mentored and supported me as a researcher, mother and friend throughout the dissertation process. Thanks also to Elaine Monbureau for her incredible support in both laboratory and field analysis, and whose friendship I deeply value. To Dr. Christopher Martens, Dr. Glenn Walters, Dr. Ethan Theuerkauf, Dr. Justin Ridge, Dr. Theresa O’Meara, Dr. Robin Mattheus, Dr. Maggie Esch, Dr. John Gunnell, Dr. Lisa Nigro, William Flowers, Sherif Ghobrial, Molly Bost, Anna Atencio, Patricia Rodriguez, Beth VanDussen, Glenn Safrit, and Jill Arriola for invaluable expertise and assistance in the lab and field. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to all of the faculty, staff and students of the UNC Department and Institute of Marine Sciences, whose guidance, support and friendship made my time at UNC so special. I want to thank my family and friends, especially my parents Nancy and Tony Timmons and my in-laws Marcia and Herschel Elliott, whose unconditional love and unwavering support have been a guiding force and source of strength. To my amazing husband, Dr. Mark Elliott, who has been my constant cheerleader and refuge throughout this process, and to our beautiful children, Grace and Jacob, who are the joy and inspiration in our lives. Finally, I would like to thank God for the incredible opportunity pursue work that I love with brilliant colleagues who are truly working to make this world better now and into the future. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………… xii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………….. xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ...........................................................................xv CHAPTER 1: THE UTILITY OF ESTUARINE BASINS FOR CONSTRUCTING MULTI- DECADAL, HIGH-RESOLUTION RECORDS OF SEDIMENTATION……………………... 1 1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………. 1 1.2 Study Area………………………………………………………………………….. 4 1.3 Methods……………………………………………………………………………... 6 1.3.1 Sampling and Grain-size Analysis……………………………………….. 6 1.3.2 Radioisotope Analysis……………………………………………………. 7 1.3.3 Aerial Photography and Bathymetry Analysis………………………….... 7 1.4 Results and Interpretation……………………………………………………………. 8 1.4.1. Lithologic Units………………………………………………………….. 8 1.4.2. Geochronometric Units (Pb-210)……………………………………….. 10 1.4.3. Geomorphologic Changes to Cape Lookout Bight, NC………………… 12 1.5 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………... 15 1.5.1 Phase 1 – Formation of Mini-Basin…………………………………... 15 1.5.2 Phase 2 – Storm Influence and Changing Sediment Source……………. 17 1.5.3 Phase 3 – Isolated Mini-Basin………………………………………….. 18 1.5.4 Implications for Paleotempestogy……………………………………… 22 viii 1.6 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………. 23 CHAPTER 2: A NOVEL METHOD FOR SAMPLING SUSPENDED SEDIMENT LOAD IN THE ESTUARINE ENVIRONMENT USING BIDIRECTIONAL TIME-INTEGRATED MASS-FLUX SEDIMENT (TIMS) SAMPLERS ……………………………………………... 26 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 26 2.2 Methods……………………………………………………………………………. 29 2.2.1 Sampler Design and Modifications……………………………………… 29 2.2.2 Fluid Dynamics………………………………………………………….. 32 2.2.3 Sampler Efficiency…………..…………………………………………... 36 2.3 Results……………………………………………………………………………… 38 2.3.1 Fluid Dynamics – Bi-Directional Flow Flume Experiment……………… 39 2.3.2 Fluid Dynamics – Uni-Directional Flow Dye Experiment………………. 39 2.3.3 Fluid Dynamics – Uni-Directional Flow Particle Image Velocimetry….... 40 2.3.4 Sampler Trapping Efficiency – Laboratory Assessment……………….... 43 2.3.5 Sampler Trapping Efficiency – Field Assessment…………………….…. 45 2.4 Discussion……………………………………………………………………….…. 47 2.4.1 Modified TIMS Design……………………………………………….…. 47 2.4.2 Laboratory Performance and Efficiency………………..…………….…. 50 2.4.3 Sediment Trapping Efficiency in the Estuarine Environment…………... 51 2.5 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………….... 52 CHAPTER 3: REFINING PB-210 AGE MODELS FOR USE IN ENERGETIC DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS BY INCLUDING TEMPESTITES………….……….. 55 3.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………....... 55 3.2 Background and Methods…………………………………………………………. 59 3.2.1 CIC Model………………………………………………………………. 59 ix 3.2.2 Application of CIC Model at CLB………………………………………. 61 3.2.3 CRS Model……………………………………..………………………... 62 3.2.4 Reference Date CRS Method – Hurricane Layer Application in CLB..… 63 3.2.5 Multi-Marker Reference Date CRS Model……………………..……….. 65 3.3 Results…………………………………………………………………….………... 67 3.3.1 CIC and CRS Reference Date
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