Advertisement

Aquatic Geochemistry

, Volume 22, Issue 4, pp 337–348 | Cite as

Direct and Indirect Effects of Estuarine Reclamation on Nutrient and Metal Fluxes in the Global Coastal Zone

  • T. D. Jickells
  • J. E. Andrews
  • D. J. Parkes
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

We demonstrate that land reclamation in estuaries is resulting in very large-scale loss of intertidal area and disconnection of stored sediment with the water column. This process is not just causing loss of estuarine ecosystem services, it is also having a major deleterious impact on the ability of estuaries to retain nutrients and trace metals. The global scale of loss of estuarine wetlands and subtidal sediments has reached the point where the impact of this loss of estuarine retention is likely to be affecting coastal seas worldwide and possibly global element cycles.

Keywords

Estuary Fluxes Nutrients Carbon Trace metals Managed realignment 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank the many students and colleagues who have collaborated in our work on coastal systems. This work is supported in part by the Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry Programme supported by NERC and DEFRA. We thank two reviewers for helpful comments that greatly improved this manuscript. We acknowledge the friendship, support, scholarship and joie de vivre of Tom Church which has illuminated our work and play over 35 years.

References

  1. Andrews JE et al (2006) Biogeochemical value of managed realignment, Humber estuary, UK. Sci Total Environ 371:19–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Andrews JE et al (2011) Sediment record and storage of organic carbon and the nutrient elements (N, P, and Si) in Estuaries and near-coastal seas. In: Wolanski E, Mclusky D (eds) Treatise on estuarine and coastal science. Academic Press, WalthamGoogle Scholar
  3. Boyd PW, Ellwood MJ (2010) The biogeochemical cycle of iron in the ocean. Nat Geosci 3:675–682CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Church TM (1986) Biogeochemical factors influencing the residence time of microconstituents in a large tidal estuary, Delaware Bay. Mar Chem 18:393–406CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Church TM et al (1996) Salt marshes: an important coastal sink for dissolved uranium. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60:3879–3887CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Claussen U et al (2009) Assessment of the eutrophication status of transitional, coastal and marine waters within OSPAR. Hydrobiologia 629:49–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Dai ZJ et al (2011) Variation of riverine material loads and environmental consequences on the Changjiang (Yangtze) estuary in recent decades (1955–2008). Environ Sci Technol 45:223–227CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. De Vriend HJ et al (2011) Eco-morphological problems in the Yangtze Estuary and the Western Scheldt. Wetlands 31:1033–1042CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Deek A et al (2013) N-2 fluxes in sediments of the Elbe Estuary and adjacent coastal zones. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 493:9–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Duarte CM et al (2008) The charisma of coastal ecosystems: addressing the imbalance. Estuaries Coasts 31:605CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Dyer KR (1997) Estuaries : a physical introduction, 2nd edn. Wiley, ChichesterGoogle Scholar
  12. Eisma D (1981) Supply and deposition of suspended matter in the North Sea. In: Nio S-D, Shüttenhelm RTE, Van Weering TjCE (eds) Holocene marine sedimentation in the North Sea basin. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford. doi: 10.1002/9781444303759.ch29 Google Scholar
  13. Fichez R et al (1992) Algal blooms in high turbidity, a result of the conflicting consequences of turbulence on nutrient cycling in a shallow-water estuary. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 35:577–592CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Fitzsimons MF et al (2011) The role of suspended particles in estuarine and coastal biogeochemistry. In: Wolanski E, Mclusky D (eds) Treatise on estuarine and coastal science. Academic Press, WalthamGoogle Scholar
  15. Galbraith ED et al (2013) The acceleration of oceanic denitrification during deglacial warming. Nat Geosci 6:579–584CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Galler JJ, Allison MA (2008) Estuarine controls on fine-grained sediment storage in the Lower Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. Geol Soc Am Bull 120:386–398CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Galy V et al (2015) Global carbon export from the terrestrial biosphere controlled by erosion. Nature 521:204–207CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Gislason SR et al (2006) Role of river-suspended material in the global carbon cycle. Geology 34:49–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Hopwood MJ et al (2015a) Glacial meltwater from Greenland is not likely to be an important source of Fe to the North Atlantic. Biogeochemistry 124:1–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Hilton RG et al (2015) Erosion of organic carbon in the Arctic as a geological carbon dioxide sink. Nature 524:84–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Hopwood MJ et al (2015b) Dissolved iron(II) ligands in river and estuarine water. Mar Chem 173:173–182CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Hou LJ et al (2009) Phosphorus speciation and availability in intertidal sediments of the Yangtze Estuary, China. Appl Geochem 24:120–128CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Howarth R et al (2011) Coupled biogeochemical cycles: eutrophication and hypoxia in temperate estuaries and coastal marine ecosystems. Front Ecol Environ 9:18–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Jeandel C, Oelkers EH (2015) The influence of terrigenous particulate material dissolution on ocean chemistry and global element cycles. Chem Geol 395:50–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Jickells TD, Weston K (2011) Nitrogen cycle—external cycling: losses and gains. In: Wolanski E, Mclusky D (eds) Treatise on estuarine and coastal science. Academic Press, WalthamGoogle Scholar
  26. Jickells T et al (2000) Nutrient fluxes through the Humber estuary-Past, present and future. Ambio 29:130–135CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Jickells TD et al (2005) Global iron connections between desert dust, ocean biogeochemistry, and climate. Science 308:67–71CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Jickells TD et al (2014) Nutrient transport through estuaries: the importance of the estuarine geography. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 150:215–229CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Klunder MB et al (2012) Dissolved iron in the Arctic shelf seas and surface waters of the central Arctic Ocean: impact of Arctic river water and ice-melt. J Geophys Res Ocean 117:C01027. doi: 10.1029/2011JC007133 Google Scholar
  30. Kraft JC et al (1992) Geologic and human-factors in the decline of the tidal salt-marsh lithosome: the Delaware estuary and Atlantic coastal zone. Sed Geol 80:233–246CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Lacan F, Jeandel C (2005) Neodymium isotopes as a new tool for quantifying exchange fluxes at the continent–ocean interface. Earth Planet Sci Lett 232:245–257CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Lohan MC, Bruland KW (2008) Elevated Fe(II) and dissolved Fe in hypoxic shelf waters off Oregon and Washington: an enhanced source of iron to coastal upwelling regimes. Environ Sci Technol 42:6462–6468CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Lotze HK et al (2006) Depletion, degradation, and recovery potential of estuaries and coastal seas. Science 312:1806–1809CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Luisetti T et al (2014) Coastal zone ecosystem services: from science to values and decision making; a case study. Sci Total Environ 493:682–693CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Mantoura RFC et al (1991) Ocean margin processes in global change : report of the Dahlem workshop on ocean margin processes in global change, Berlin, 1990, March 18–23, WileyGoogle Scholar
  36. Mcleod E et al (2011) A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2. Front Ecol Environ 9:552–560CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Milliman JD et al (1972) Sediments of continental margin off eastern United-States. Geol Soc Am Bull 83:1315CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Milliman JD et al (1985) Transport and deposition of river sediment in the Changjiang estuary and adjacent continental-shelf. Cont Shelf Res 4:37–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Millward GE (1995) Processes affecting trace-element speciation in estuaries: a review. Analyst 120:609–614CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Millward GE, Liu YP (2003) Modelling metal desorption kinetics in estuaries. Sci Total Environ 314:613–623CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. Mitsch WJ et al (2001) Reducing nitrogen loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin: strategies to counter a persistent ecological problem. Bioscience 51:373–388CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Moore WS, Shaw TJ (2008) Fluxes and behavior of radium isotopes, barium, and uranium in seven Southeastern US rivers and estuaries. Mar Chem 108:236–254CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Ng B et al (1996) Modelling contaminant geochemistry in estuaries. Water Res 30:63–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Nicholls RJ et al (1999) Increasing flood risk and wetland losses due to global sea-level rise: regional and global analyses. Global Environ Change 9(Suppl 1):S69–S87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Oelkers EH et al (2011) The role of riverine particulate material on the global cycles of the elements. Appl Geochem 26:S365–S369CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Oelkers EH et al (2012) Riverine particulate material dissolution in seawater and its implications for the global cycles of the elements. CR Geosci 344:646–651CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Parkes DJ (2003) Storage and cycling of organic carbon and nutrients in Holocene coastal sediments, PhD Thesis, University of East Anglia, UKGoogle Scholar
  48. Philipp KR (2005) History of Delaware and New Jersey salt marsh restoration sites. Ecol Eng 25:214–230CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Prastka K, Malcolm S (1994) Particulate phosphorus in the Humber estuary. Neth J Aquat Ecol 28:397–403CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Prastka K et al (1998) Has the role of estuaries as sources or sinks of dissolved inorganic phosphorus changed over time? Results of a K-d Study. Mar Pollut Bull 36:718–728CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Rabalais NN et al (2009) Global change and eutrophication of coastal waters. ICES J Mar Sci 66:1528–1537CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Radach G, Lenhart HJ (1995) Nutrient dynamics in the North-Sea: fluxes and budgets in the water column derived from ERSEM. Neth J Sea Res 33:301–335CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Ruttenberg KC (2003) The global phosphorus cycle. In: Turekian HDHK (ed) Treatise on geochemistry. Pergamon, OxfordGoogle Scholar
  54. Sanders RJ et al (1997) Nutrient fluxes through the Humber estuary. J Sea Res 37:3–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Seitzinger SP et al (2005) Sources and delivery of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to the coastal zone: an overview of Global Nutrient Export from Watersheds (NEWS) models and their application. Global Biogeochem Cycles 19:GB4S01. doi: 10.1029/2005GB002606 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Seitzinger SP et al (2010) Global river nutrient export: A scenario analysis of past and future trends. Global Biogeochem Cycles 24:GB0A08. doi: 10.1029/2009GB003587 Google Scholar
  57. Seitzinger S et al (2006) Denitrification across landscapes and waterscapes: a synthesis. Ecol Appl 16:2064–2090CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Statham PJ (2012) Nutrients in estuaries: an overview and the potential impacts of climate change. Sci Total Environ 434:213–227CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Syvitski JPM, Kettner A (2011) Sediment flux and the Anthropocene. Philos Trans R Soc Math Phys Eng Sci 369:957–975CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. Tappin AD (2002) An examination of the fluxes of nitrogen and phosphorus in temperate and tropical estuaries: current estimates and uncertainties. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 55:885–901CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Turner RE (1997) Wetland loss in the northern Gulf of Mexico: multiple working hypotheses. Estuaries 20:1–13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. Turner A, Millward GE (2002) Suspended particles: their role in estuarine biogeochemical cycles. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 55:857–883CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  63. Turner RE, Rabalais NN (2003) Linking landscape and water quality in the Mississippi river basin for 200 years. Bioscience 53:563–572CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  64. Turner RK, Schaafsma M (2015) Coastal zones ecosystem services. From science to values and decision making. Springer, Cham HeidelbergCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  65. Uncles RJ et al (2002) The dependence of estuarine turbidity on tidal intrusion length, tidal range and residence time. Cont Shelf Res 22:1835–1856CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Ussher SJ et al (2007) Distribution and redox speciation of dissolved iron on the European continental margin. Limnol Oceanogr 52:2530–2539CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  67. Van der Zee C et al (2007) Phosphorus speciation, transformation and retention in the Scheldt estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands) from the freshwater tidal limits to the North Sea. Mar Chem 106:76–91CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  68. Van Maren DS et al (2015) The impact of channel deepening and dredging on estuarine sediment concentration. Cont Shelf Res 95:1–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  69. Velde B et al (2003) Contrasting trace element geochemistry in two American and French salt marshes. Mar Chem 83:131–144CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  70. Viers J et al (2009) Chemical composition of suspended sediments in World Rivers: new insights from a new database. Sci Total Environ 407:853–868CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  71. Wang DQ et al (2007) Summer-time denitrification and nitrous oxide exchange in the intertidal zone of the Yangtze Estuary. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 73:43–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  72. Wang W et al (2014) Development and management of land reclamation in China. Ocean Coast Manag 102:415–425CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  73. Windom H et al (2000) Uranium in rivers and estuaries of globally diverse, smaller watersheds. Mar Chem 68:307–321CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  74. Winterwerp JC, Wang ZB (2013) Man-induced regime shifts in small estuaries-I: theory. Ocean Dyn 63:1279–1292CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  75. Winterwerp JC et al (2013) Man-induced regime shifts in small estuaries-II: a comparison of rivers. Ocean Dyn 63:1293–1306CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  76. Yang HY et al (2011) Impacts of tidal land reclamation in Bohai Bay, China: ongoing losses of critical Yellow Sea waterbird staging and wintering sites. Bird Conserv Int 21:241–259CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  77. Zhang J et al (2007) Nutrient gradients from the eutrophic Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary to the oligotrophic Kuroshio waters and re-evaluation of budgets for the East China Sea Shelf. Prog Oceanogr 74:449–478CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  78. Zhu ZY et al (2011) Hypoxia off the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary: oxygen depletion and organic matter decomposition. Mar Chem 125:108–116CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • T. D. Jickells
    • 1
  • J. E. Andrews
    • 1
  • D. J. Parkes
    • 1
  1. 1.School of Environmental SciencesUniversity of East AngliaNorwichUK

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options