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publications > paper > controls of suspended sediment concentration, nutrient content, and transport in a subtropical wetland
Controls of Suspended Sediment Concentration, Nutrient Content, and Transport in a Subtropical Wetland
Gregory B. Noe · Judson W. Harvey · Raymond W. Schaffranek · Laurel G. Larsen
[author information]
| © Society of Wetland Scientists 2009. Posted with permission; Wetlands (2010) 30:39-54.
Note: Paper is available from the Springer website (journal subscription is required)
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Abstract
Redistribution of largely organic sediment from
low elevation sloughs to higher elevation ridges is a leading
hypothesis for the formation and maintenance of the native
ridge and slough landscape pattern found in peat wetlands
of the Florida Everglades. We tested this redistribution
hypothesis by measuring the concentration and characteristics
of suspended sediment and its associated nutrients in
the flowpaths of adjacent ridge and slough plant communities.
Over two wet seasons we found no sustained
differences in suspended sediment mass concentrations,
particle-associated P and N concentrations, or sizes of
suspended particles between ridge and slough sites.
Discharge of suspended sediment, particulate nutrients,
and solutes were nearly double in the slough flowpath
compared to the ridge flowpath due solely to deeper and
faster water flow in sloughs. Spatial and temporal variations
in suspended sediment were not related to water velocity,
consistent with a hypothesis that the critical sheer stress
causing entrainment is not commonly exceeded in the
present-day managed Everglades. The uniformity in the
concentrations and characteristics of suspended sediment at
our research site suggests that sediment and particulate
nutrient redistribution between ridges and sloughs does not
occur, or rarely occurs, in the modern Everglades.
Keywords Entrainment · Everglades · Nitrogen · Particle · Phosphorus
Introduction >
(Received: 12 August 2008 / Accepted: 17 August 2009 / Published online: 9 December 2009)
G. B. Noe (*) · J. W. Harvey · R. W. Schaffranek · L. G. Larsen
U.S. Geological Survey, 430 National Center, Reston, VA 20192, USA
*e-mail: gnoe@usgs.gov
Related information:
SOFIA Project: Effect of Sheet Flow on Transport of Suspended Particles and Particle-Associated Nutrients in the Everglades Ridge and Slough Landscape: Phase II
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