Effects of Reduced Shoreline Erosion on Chesapeake Bay Water Clarity

Description

Shoreline erosion supplies sediments to estuaries and coastal waters, influencing water clarity and primary production. Globally, shoreline erosion sediment inputs are changing with anthropogenic alteration of coastlines in populated regions. The Chesapeake Bay is a prime example of such a system where shoreline erosion accounts for a large proportion of sediments entering the estuary, and serves here as a case study for investigating the effects of changing sediment inputs on water clarity. In the Chesapeake Bay, long-term increases in shoreline armoring have contributed to decreased erosional sediment inputs to the estuary, changing the composition of suspended particles in surface waters. This study, published in Science of the Total Environment, examined the impact of shoreline erosion on water clarity using a coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model. 

Citation

Turner, J.S., P. St-Laurent, M.A.M. Friedrichs, and C.T. Friedrichs, 2021. Effects of reduced shoreline erosion on Chesapeake Bay water clarity. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145157