Estuaries are sites of port, industrial, urban and recreational development and also important to many forms of animal life. They often form sinks for sediment and thus for contaminants associated with the sediment which arise from anthropogenic activities in their hinterland and along their shores. These contaminants can adversely affect estuarine ecosystems and are the subject of international agreements on environmental protection. For both of these reasons, it is important to increase our knowledge of the distribution, concentration, controlling influences on, and impacts of, estuarine contamination. Evidence from around the world shows that although estuaries are sinks for contaminants from the terrestrial environment, there is significant transport of marine material up-estuary as bed load sediment whilst fine-grained terrestrial material may be transported seawards in suspension. Major movement of contaminants from estuaries onto the continental shelf probably occurs only during floods and storms and, in general, the impact on shelf seas is relatively minor and confined to the coastal zone. The chief exception to this rule is in the Far East where sediment from major Chinese rivers may be dispersed up to 300 km across the shelf.

Estuaries as Repositories of Historical Contamination and their Impact on Shelf Seas

Abstract In order to determine the processes that have governed the accumulation and erosion of sediments in the Humber Estuary (English North Sea coast) through the Holocene, the character, volume and source of sediments were studied. Eight sediment suites were identified on the basis of chemostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy and mineralogy. The locally sourced, freshwater, Basal Suite is overlain by the Newland and Butterwick Suites, deposited between c. 8 and 7.4 cal. ka bp in brackish environments behind a morainic barrier at St Andrew’s Dock, Hull. These are overlain by the largely marine, saltmarsh sediments of the Garthorpe Suite, which in turn are overlain, with erosional contact, by the channel sandflat and mudflat deposits of the Saltend, Sunk Island and Skeffling Suites. Most of the Saltend Suite is likely to have been deposited since c. 4 ka ago, whilst the Sunk Island and Skeffling Suites are likely to have been deposited since Medieval times and from the late eighteenth century onwards, respectively, as indicated by their concentrations of anthropogenic metals. On the coast, the Spurn Suite consists of sediments, associated with a spit system, which are almost entirely marine in origin. The suites show a progressive increase in marine influence; sediments of the oldest suite being entirely from the terrestrial catchment, those of the younger suites from erosion of the North Sea floor and coast. The relationships between suites show that during the last 4 ka the geomorphological evolution of the estuary has been marked by widespread erosion episodes that have led to the partial removal or redistribution of earlier deposits. By modelling the volumes of the suites it can be shown that, of the total volume of the estuarine fill (9.6 km3), over half is likely to have been deposited during this period.

Holocene sediment storage in the Humber Estuary

Abstract The influences of sea-level, climate, human activity and coastal morphology on post-glacial sediment flux and deposition in the Tees Estuary were considered in a multidisciplinary investigation of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary record. The following tripartite division was identified using a combination of lithostratigraphic and geochemical data: a Late Glacial laminated clay providing evidence of a former proglacial lake and a proxy record of climate change; an early-mid-Holocene intercalated sequence of tidal silts and clays and peats; and a late Holocene succession characterized by increasing evidence of human activity and metal contamination. Sea-level change has been identified as the main control on sedimentation via decelerating sea-level rise and changing tidal dynamics between c. 8 and 3 ka bp. Climate controlled the sequence of rhythmite thickness in the Late Glacial clays, whilst increased wetness after c. 3 ka bp may have encouraged terrestrial sediment influx. Enhanced sediment supply to the coastal zone can also be attributed to increasing human activity in the catchment from the Bronze Age onward, first as a consequence of clearance, and subsequently as a result of mining and industrial expansion. Fine-grained sediment flux has almost exclusively been from the Tees catchment to the coast, extending offshore during rebound-induced collapse and erosion of the Late Glacial lake basin. The only notable onshore sediment flux has been the deposition of marine sands in the outer estuary between c. 6.5 and 3.5 ka bp.

Sediment provenance and flux in the Tees estuary: the record from the Late Devensian to the present

A noise impact assessment model for passive acoustic measurements of seabed gas fluxes

Fate of radium on the discharge of oil and gas produced water to the marine environment

The sea area around the United Kingdom is used for a wide range of human activities all of
which have a significant impact on the marine environment. The naturally-occurring
concentrations of chemical elements in sea-bed sediments may be enhanced by contaminants
introduced by input from rivers and the atmosphere and by more localised sources arising
from shipping operations, exploitation of oil and gas, and by direct discharges from drainage
systems, sewage outfalls, effluents from industry and waste' disposal at sea. It is therefore
important to identify components of sea-floor sediments which are due to the rocks or older
sediments from which they are derived, and those which are introduced into the environment.
This report presents regional geochemical data for a variety of sediment types occurring in
a wide range of environments. Samples have been collected offshore of the eastern coast of
the UK where major river systems which drain heavily populated and industrialised
catchment areas, such as the Thames, Humber and Tyne, flow into the North Sea, and on the
shelf west of Scotland where man's activities have had much less impact.
The data presented here provide a baseline for chemical element concentrations in sea-bed
sediments against which future work may be assessed. It should therefore be of significance
to a diverse range of interests including pollution control, fishing, natural resources, nature
conservation, shipping, tourism, recreation, and waste disposal management. In addition the
information will be of use to geologists in identifying the source of sea-bed sediments and
the underlying glacial deposits.

The geochemistry of sea-bed sediments of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf : the North Sea, Hebrides and West Shetland shelves, and the Malin-Hebrides sea area

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The geochemistry of sea-bed sediments of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf : the North Sea, Hebrides and West Shetland shelves, and the Malin-Hebrides sea area