Session Lead: Qubin Qin
Co-Lead(s): Jian Shen
Session Format: Oral presentations
Session Description:
Generated by various physical forcings (such as river discharge, tide, and wind), physical transport determines import, export, retention, and distribution of various substances (e.g., salt, nutrients, algae, dissolved oxygen, suspended solids) and contributes greatly to biogeochemical and ecological processes in estuarine and coastal ecosystems. The role of physical transport has been long recognized and transport timescales (residence time, age, flushing time) have been applied for quantifying the flushing effect by physical transport. However, due to the complexity of the nonlinear interactions between physical and biogeochemical processes, there still are major knowledge gaps in understanding the impacts of physical transport on estuarine and coastal ecosystems, its contribution to ecosystem resilience and restoration, and changes in responding to changes in land use, temperatures, and weather patterns. This session invites studies examining the contributions of physical transport to biogeochemical and ecological processes and its implications on ecosystem resilience and restoration, including but not limited to eutrophication, hypoxia, pelagic-benthic interactions, harmful algal blooms, and ocean acidification. Approaches based on numerical models, field observations, and remote-sensing methods are all welcome.
Presenters:
Pierre St-Laurent – Variability of the estuarine circulation inside tidal tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay
Jilian Xiong – Vertical Transport Timescale of Surface-Produced Particulate Material in the Chesapeake Bay
Jian Shen – Importance of transport timescales for understanding nutrient transport and hypoxia
Qubin Qin – Using timescales and a simplified model to understand how physical transport and environmental factors control phytoplankton dynamics in Chesapeake Bay
Nicole Cai – Impacts of sea-level rise on the material exchange between tidal marshes and the estuary
Elka Porter – Effect of tidal resuspension with oyster biodeposits on nutrient and oxygen dynamics
Stefenie Shenoy – Modeling the influence of on-bottom oyster aquaculture on farm hydrodynamics and biogeochemical cycling