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Hydrologic parameters of salt marsh peat
Author(s) -
Knott Jayne Fifield,
Nuttle William Kensett,
Hemond Harold Field
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.3360010208
Subject(s) - marsh , salt marsh , hydrology (agriculture) , hydraulic conductivity , infiltration (hvac) , environmental science , sediment , peat , geology , wetland , soil science , soil water , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , oceanography , ecology , geography , biology , meteorology
Abstract Because of their profound influence on water movement and nutrient cycling in salt marshes, the two key physical properties of hydraulic conductivity and compressibility were studied in the Great Sippewissett Marsh and in the Ebben Creek Marsh in Massachusetts. Hydraulic conductivity was the most variable property: most frequently observed conductivities were of the order of 10 −3 cm s −1 in both marshes, but extremes ranged from about 10 −1 to 10 −5 cm s −1 . Compressibility was much less variable, and contributed of the order of 10 −3 cm −1 to the specific storativity of marsh sediment, making compression a major mechanism for changes in water storage in the sediment. Surface sediments frequently exhibited below‐average conductivity, in contrast to freshwater bog peats which are usually most conductive at the surface. These measured properties may be applied to estimate the importance of many critical processes, such as the extent of infiltration occurring on the marsh surface, the hydrologic influence of the tidally varying creeks, and the hydrologic response to spring‐neap tidal cycles.