Fluxes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from marine sediments represent a poorly constrained component of the oceanic carbon cycle that may affect the concentration and composition of DOC in the ocean. Here we report the first in situ measurements of DOC fluxes from continental margin sediments (water depths ranging from 95 to 3,700 m), and compare these fluxes with measured benthic fluxes fro...

The optical properties of shallow water coastal environments are a complex function of physical and biogeochemical processes occurring both in sediments and in the water column. Developing models of the optical properties of these environments requires further knowledge of the processes affecting light alteration and modification by biogeochemical reactions in the surficial sediments and at the...

A laboratory based microcosm study was undertaken to determine the persistence of the faecal indicator organism Escherichia coli in coastal recreational water and sediment under varying environmental conditions. Intact sediment cores were taken from three distinct coastal sites in the Adelaide metropolitan area and the overlying water was inoculated with known concentrations of E. coli. The con...

We examined the isotopic compositions of fatty acids, sterols, and hydrocarbons isolated from three coastal macrophytes (Z&era marina, Spartina alternifora, and Juncus roemerianclfs) in order to investigate the relative contribution of these vascular plants as sources of organic matter in coastal sediments such as Cape Lookout Bight, North Carolina. On average, lipid biomarker compounds extract...

Experimental scallop fishing was carried out using towed commercial dredges on sediments deposited by unattached coralline algae in order to quantify their sensitivity to damage from current fishing practices. These biogenic sediments are patchily distributed in European coastal waters (to -30 m depth around the UK and to -120 m in the Mediterranean) and are of international conservation import...

As plastic production increases, so to do the threats from plastic pollution. Microplastics (defined as plastics <5mm) are a subset of marine debris about which we know less than we do of larger debris items, though they are potentially ubiquitous in the marine environment. To quantify the distribution and change in microplastic densities through time, we sampled sediment cores from an estuary ...

Quantifying the amount of cesium incorporated into marine sediments as a result of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident has proven challenging due to the limited multi-core sampling from within the 30 km zone around the facility; the inherent spatial heterogeneities in ocean sediments; and the potential for inventory fluctuations due to physical, biological, and chemical ...

Sediment samples from the coastal area of Asaluyeh harbor were collected during autumn and spring 2015. The acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) and simultaneously extracted metals (SEMs) were measured to assess the sediment quality and potential ecological risks. The average concentrations (and relative standard deviation (RSD)) of AVS in the industrial sediments were 12.32 μmol/g (36.91) and 6.34 μmol...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of metal concentrations in clam organs to monitor metal contamination in coastal sediments. The concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn were measured in the kidneys, gonads, mantles, gills, digestive gland, and hearts of the infaunal clam Amiantis umbonella collected from a contaminated site near desalination and power plant discharges, ...

Details are given in this paper of the development of a numerical model for describing the bacterial transport processes in estuarine and coastal waters. The transport of enteric bacteria is influenced by many physical, chemical and biological factors, including both the suspended and bed sediments. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have shown that generally the sediments contain...