Among the world‘s ecosystems, estuaries have the highest total economic value per hectare. They are dynamic coastal biomes that provide a host of different goods and services to the surrounding terrestrial and aquatic environments and the people who utilise them. These goods and services include, inter alia, nursery areas for marine organisms, harvested natural resources (such as fish, shell-fish, bait organisms, reeds and mangroves), flood attenuation, water purification, nutrient and sediment sinks, waste disposal, transport, aesthetic beauty and areas for swimming, boating and fishing. Assessing the condition of estuaries is difficult as their state can change depending on what is being measured. Assessments have been carried out on the health of estuaries in South Africa with the results of these studies being used as inputs to the process of assessing the minimum water supply requirements for each estuary (ecological reserve) in order to maintain or improve its functionality. These ecological reserve requirements are assigned using Resource Directed Measures (RDM). These measures, however, have been criticised for being highly complex and too costly to implement for all South African estuaries within a reasonable time period. Another concern is that the levels of demand for recreational goods and services provided by the estuary are not taken into account when assessing estuarine value. It is important to understand that the use of estuaries for recreational purposes is inextricably linked to their health and sound ecological functioning. Although South African estuaries have been quite well buffered from impacts until only very recently, their use and pressures have escalated faster than what conservation authorities and policy makers have been prepared for over the last couple of decades. There is thus mounting pressure on estuaries as recreational outlets, which, in turn, has led to their functional deterioration as well as deterioration in the quality of the recreational experience as a whole. One implication for management is that more and more trade-offs have to be made in an attempt to balance the conservation and recreational use of estuaries.

Bibliography: pages 131-139. / The construction of bridge embankments and other physical obstacles in estuaries has often resulted in the redistribution of sediments, which ultimately leads to detrimental impacts in these environments. The aim of this study is to investigate how the sediment distribution and dynamics within a specific estuary, the Uilkraals estuary, have been affected by human disturbance; focusing on the impacts arising from construction of two temporary embankments and a permanent bridge and embankment. The Uilkraals estuary is situated in the south-western Cape, approximately 60 kilometres north-west of Cape Agulhas. Human impact has been extensive and engineering projects of various sizes and permanence have marked the recent history of this estuary. A bridge and embankment which cross the estuary 800 m from the mouth were built in 1973. In 1978 an embankment was built between the bridge and the estuary mouth. A second embankment which replaced the first in 1980, was removed before the end of that year. Extensive dune reclamation occurred on the left bank between 1938 and 1973. The techniques used in the study include: (i) a quantitative analysis of all available aerial photographs from 1938 to 1987 (ii) a ground survey and (iii) core and surface sediment sampling. The quantitative analysis reveals that the major changes in estuarine characteristics have been in response to human disturbance. The contour map and cross-sections drawn from the ground survey indicate a build-up of sediment downstream of the bridge and scouring of the channel upstream. The latter suggests the dominance of the flood-tidal current in the estuary. The core sediment analyses are unable to distinguish any real difference in the modes of sediment deposition on either side of the bridge embankment. The embankment has, however, affected deposition by acting as a "hydraulic shelter" to sediment accumulated downstream of the bridge during high run-off events and by initiating deposition of sediment upstream of the embankment. The surface sample analyses indicate that there has been an increase in flow velocities in the vicinity of the bridge since its construction and that the major agents which bring marine sediment into the estuary are flood-tidal currents and wind. It is concluded that the sediment distribution and dynamics of the Uilkraals estuary have been affected by human disturbance. Recommendations for future management of the estuary are that no further embankments should be constructed in the estuary and that the construction of a culvert or culverts under the existing bridge embankment would alleviate a number of problems presently experienced in the estuary.

No description available.

Water and waterfronts are appealing to almost any person, as a visitor or designer. This study challenges the author's design processes and understanding of the landscape as the sculpted meeting ground, intersecting human and natural physical processes. It progresses from assumptions through collaborated ideas of others in a literature review through case studies of various waterfront situations and finally to the design project of the Jones Point waterfront in Alexandria, Virginia. Here the intermingled aspects from cultural activities over time and local, physical movement of land by water are assessed to be revealed and enhanced for the visitor's benefit, use, and connection with place. For it is the author's belief that the landscape and space can be sculpted, experienced, and imagined for the purpose of connecting us to a larger framework of living systems on this planet and beyond. The design extends the city to the waterfront and vice versa with an understanding of both physical processes and cultural choices to the point of being unable to distinguish action from reaction. / Master of Landscape Architecture

No description available.

Ihis work on the Sado outer estuary (western coast of Portugal) considers its bio-sedimentary characterization, and evaluates the prevailing hydrophysical and sedimentary environmental conditions. The quality status of the estuary is discussed. The thesis is based on the analysis of superficial sediments and benthic macrofauna collected from 133 sites, and on hydrodynamical data obtained from a mathematical model. The environmental variables considered were the superficial sediment temperature, granulometry and organic matter content, together with the water current velocities, flow and shear stress. The macrofaunal characterization and the analysis of the state of disturbance was based on a study of the composition, structure and spatial distribution of faunal assemblages and their relationship to the prevailing environmental conditions. The Sado was shown to be inhabited by an abundant and diversified fauna with high biomass. Two major faunal assemblages have been identified, a marine and an estuarine community, separated by a transition region. The estuarine community comprises the majority of the area and contains important subdivisions. The regions identified have been shown either to be controlled by anthropogenic inputs or to reflect mainly the effects of natural forces. The main structuring factors influencing the benthos are the hydrodynamic conditions, coupled with sediment type, and organic matter of natural and anthropogenic origin. Sedimentary organic enrichment effects have been noted in all the areas studied and in general the Sado outer estuary reveals signs of eutrophic conditions. In the more disturbed regions the macrofauna data also suggest chronic toxicity effects. Although disturbance effects due to anthropogenic inputs are suggested through the biosedimentary approach, the estuary as a whole can not be considered badly polluted. However, defaunated, impoverished and over-enriched areas, appear as a result of localised severe pollution indicating the need to improve effluent treatment systems. The methodological approach followed in this study has been shown to be effective in assessing the quality status of the Sado outer estuary. Multivariate and direct gradient analysis proved to be very useful methods and a detailed analysis of the macrofaunal species has been shown to be effective in the detection of organic enrichment effects in some of the areas. The extreme aspects of the gradients were identified by all the analytical techniques, but the univariate methods were shown to be poor at discriminating the more subtle effects.

Characterized by high levels of terrestrial organic carbon inputs, estuaries and coastal marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on earth and significantly impact the global carbon cycle. Unfortunately, rates of natural organic matter (NOM) degradation in these environments are difficult to quantify directly due to the complex interaction between microbial respiration processes and abiotic reactions in these sediments, yet estuaries and marshes are considered both net sources and sinks of carbon. Typically carbon remineralization rates are determined by measuring total (TOU) and diffusive (DOU) oxygen uptake fluxes assuming oxygen is the ultimate oxidant. This assumption, however, requires any reduced metabolites produced during microbial respiration to be reoxidized by oxygen. In this study, voltammetric sensors were used to measure terminal electron acceptors or their reduced by-products. By simultaneously considering oxygen as well as anaerobic respiration accepting processes, this study demonstrates that oxygen does not function as the ultimate oxidant in coastal marine sediments due to precipitation and burial of reduced species. Furthermore, the biogeochemistry of coastal sediments is typically investigated ex situ after collection of sediment cores. However, coastal sediments are subject to complex subsurface hydrological forcing that cannot be accounted for with ex situ measurements. Consequently, in situ approaches are required to better understand the impact of physical processes on sediment biogeochemistry, and two novel in situ voltammetric systems were developed as part of this research. First, a new autonomous benthic lander equipped with a benthic chamber to measure TOU fluxes with a high temporal resolution and a potentiostat and micromanipulator to simultaneously acquire voltammetric depth profiles of the main redox species in pore waters was deployed in a pristine river-fed estuary to characterize the seasonal variability of coastal sediment biogeochemistry and examine the impact of riverine discharge on carbon remineralization processes. Simultaneously, a new electrochemical analyzer equipped with a solar and wind power charging system to ensure continuous monitoring capability and a VHF radio to transmit data was operated remotely via the internet from the Georgia Tech campus to investigate the dynamic coupling between hydrological, chemical, and biological processes in intertidal marsh sediments. Finally, new microelectrodes were deployed in microbial mats to examine the chemical and biological oxidation of sulfide with submillimeter resolution. Typically, only biological processes are considered to oxidize sulfide in these environments. Depth profiles during diel studies were able to demonstrate the formation of thiosulfate as an intermediate oxidation product of sulfide oxidation, suggesting that the chemical oxidation of sulfide is much more prevalent than previously recognized when compared to biological oxidation. Overall, using a novel in situ sampling technique with high temporal resolution, these studies confirm that biogeochemical processes in coastal sediments vary seasonally. More importantly, these studies also reveal that estuarine sediments are significantly influenced by riverine discharge, demonstrate that the biogeochemical response of these sediments to natural perturbations is rapid, and indicate that respiration processes in continental shelf sediments are controlled by a combination of temperature, supply of inorganic and organic substrates, and hydrological processes, which has important implications regarding the effect of climate change on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in these environments.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Ichthyology & Fisheries Science)) - Rhodes University, 2008.

Thesis (doctoral)--Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. [135]-144).