Wetland Shear Strength with Emphasis on the Impact of Nutrients, Sediments, and Sea Level Rise

Authors

David Curtis, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, United States.
Vijaikrishnah Elango, Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: saichand.chakka@unsw.edu.au.
Neeraj Saxena, Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: n.saxena@unsw.edu.au.
Vinayak Dixit, Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: v.dixit@unsw.edu.au.
James Loy, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, United States. Electronic address: jmloy@calpoly.edu.
Brian Wolshon, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, United States. Electronic address: brian@rsip.lsu.edu.
Joshua D. Kent, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, United States.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2018

Abstract

Storm-driven transport of MC252 oil, sand and shell aggregates was studied on a low-relief coastal headland beach in Louisiana, USA including measurement of alkylated PAHs and Illumina sequencing of intra-aggregate microbial populations. Weathering ratios, constructed from alkylated PAH data, were used to assess loss of 3-ring phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes relative to 4-ring chrysenes. Specific aggregate types showed relatively little weathering of 3-ring PAHs referenced to oil sampled near the Macondo wellhead with the exception of certain SRBs sampled from the supratidal environment and samples from deposition areas north of beach. Aggregates mobilized by these storm-driven washover events contains diverse microbial populations dominated by the class Gammaproteobacteria including PAH-degrading genera such as Halomonas, Marinobacter and Idiomarina. Geochemical assessment of porewater in deposition areas, weathering observations, and microbial data suggest that storm remobilization can contribute to susceptibility of PAHs to biodegradation by moving oil to beach microenvironments with more favorable characteristics. (149).

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Marine pollution bulletin

First Page

229

Last Page

239

Recommended Citation

Curtis, D., Elango, V., Saxena, N., Dixit, V., Loy, J., Wolshon, B., & Kent, J. D. (2018). Wetland Shear Strength with Emphasis on the Impact of Nutrients, Sediments, and Sea Level Rise. Marine pollution bulletin, 130, 229-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.03.008