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Previous research efforts have shown that fish and macroinvertebrates are responsive to fine sediment in streambeds. Excess fine sediment (<2mm in diameter) impairs over 40,000 miles of streams in the U.S., degrading habitat quality for many aquatic species. Embeddedness (emb, %), a measure of fine sediment in gravel bed streams, is negatively correlated with bankfull shear velocity (u*, m/s). This relationship can be modeled by emb = au*b, with baseline coefficient values of a = 10 and b = –1. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the applicability of this relationship across the U.S., to begin to quantify the variation of embeddedness in time, and to determine the applicability of embeddedness as a habitat metric for lotic biota. The areas that were studied included Stroubles Creek at the Virginia Tech Stream Lab, the Upper Roanoke River Basin in southwest Virginia, and Level II and III ecoregions nationwide with the U.S. EPA National Rivers and Streams Assessment dataset. Nationally, measurements of embeddedness were higher than modeled in areas with higher sediment supply, and lower than modeled in regions with low fine sediment supply. By calculating shear velocity through remotely sensed channel geometry metrics, embeddedness may be predicted throughout a stream network. Various biotic metrics were found to be correlated to embeddedness, with regional variation. Burrowing macroinvertebrate taxa, which may use increased sand to escape predation, increased with increasing embeddedness while the number of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (EPT) taxa, the number of lithophilic spawning fish, and the number of salmonid taxa decreased with increasing embeddedness. Highly embedded substrate is generally considered poor habitat, which was supported by a trend of decreasing intolerant fish taxa with increasing embeddedness. Richness (total number of taxa) did not show a significant correlation, indicating that embeddedness, and fine sediment in general, is not necessarily an impairment to all stream habitat, but is impactful for particular taxa. / Master of Science / Previous research has shown that fish and macroinvertebrates are responsive to fine sediment in streambeds. Excess fine sediment (sand, silt, and clay) impairs over 40,000 miles of streams in the U.S., degrading habitat quality for many aquatic species. Embeddedness (emb, %), a measure of fine sediment in gravel bed streams, decreases with increasing bankfull shear velocity (u*, m/s), a measure of a stream's ability to move a particular size of sediment. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between embeddedness and shear velocity in varying areas, to begin to quantify the variation of embeddedness in time, and to determine the applicability of embeddedness as a habitat metric for stream biota. The areas that were studied included Stroubles Creek at the Virginia Tech Stream Lab, the Upper Roanoke River Basin in southwest Virginia, and Level II and III ecoregions nationwide with the U.S. EPA National Rivers and Streams Assessment dataset. Nationally, measurements of embeddedness were higher in areas that may have higher sediment supply, and lower in regions with low fine sediment supply. By calculating shear velocity with remotely available stream data, embeddedness may be predicted throughout a stream network and compared with biota in those locations. Various biotic metrics were found to be correlated to embeddedness, with regional variation. Burrowing macroinvertebrate taxa, which may use increased sand to escape predation, increased with increasing embeddedness while the number of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (EPT) taxa, the number of lithophilic spawning fish, and the number of salmonid taxa decreased. Highly embedded substrate is generally considered poor habitat, which was supported by a trend of decreasing intolerant fish taxa with increasing embeddedness.

Lakes are a significant source of the powerful greenhouse gas methane (CH4) globally. Methaneis produced through microbial processes in anoxic sediments. Methane emission from lakes ishighly variable in space and time. Consequently, is it difficult to predict the methane production rate and at present time it cannot be predicted from sediment characteristics. Therefore, methane production in the sediment of contrasting Swedish lakes was investigated, in order to find out if methane production rate can be related to sediment characteristics, and if a predictive model that recently was developed for Brazilian reservoirs is applicable to Swedish lakes. For this, sediment cores were collected from six lakes, differing in their sediment characteristics and geographical position as well as one river. The sediment cores were sliced into one centimetre thick layers. The different layers were incubated and methane production rate was measured. The sediment layers were also analysed for water content, median grain size, total nitrogen and carbon content as well as age. The influence of sediment age and C:N ratio as predictors for methane production were tested with a mixed linear model and a non-linear model. Both models showed that age had a significant effect on methane production rate (p &lt; 0.001). The C:N ratio also had a statistically significant effect on methane production rate only shown with the non-linear model, however this effect was weak. Applying the recently published predictive model for methane production rate in Brazilian reservoir sediments to this data from the Swedish lakes, provided a good prediction of methane production rate in the nutrient-rich Swedish lakes, however it overestimated the methane production rate of the humic-rich boreal lakes and sediment older than 50 years. In summary, a model using age as predicting factor was developed fitting all the studied Swedish lakes. In addition, the predictive model developed in Brazilian reservoirs for the methane production rate was valid only for the studied nutrient-rich Swedish lakes and the studied oligotrophic Swedish lakes.

Microplastics (MPs) are small pieces of plastic material including tyre wear particles (TWPs) smaller than 5000 µm. One of the primary pathways through which MPs including TWPs enter aquatic and marine environments is stormwater runoff from urban areas. The aim of this thesis is to advance the knowledge of MPs found in sediments from gully pots and stormwater ponds, as well as increase the understanding of and assess one of the sources of secondary MPs, i.e. UV-degradation of four commonly found plastic litters. To advance the knowledge, an experimental approach was used where results from a laboratory study and two field studies where synthesized.  UV-degradation of macroplastic litter (a bag, wrapper, cup lid, and bottle) into MP was studied in a laboratory experiment, highlighting one of the sources of MPs in urban environments. MPs generated using accelerated UV-degradation with three exposure times (corresponding to ¼, 1 and 2 years outdoors in Sweden) were quantified with micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (µFTIR). In the field studies sediment samples were collected form 29 gully pots and six stormwater ponds in urban areas in Sweden, in order to investigate MP composition and concentrations. All sediment samples were analysed with regards to MPs (non-carbon black) using µ-FTIR, enabling the assessment of MP concentrations by number, mass as well as particle size. Using the same method (µFTIR) enabled comparison of the results between the laboratory and field studies. As a complement carbon-black MPs were analysed in gully pot sediments and TWPs in pond sediments using Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR)-FTIR and Pyrolysis-GC-MS respectively.   MPs were detected in all sediment samples, indicating that both gully pots and ponds temporarily trap MPs through sedimentation, thus they were not transported further downstream. Polypropylene (PP), EPDM (gully pots) and TWPs (ponds) were among the most commonly detected polymer type in sediment samples. The laboratory study showed that common plastic litters degrade due to UV- exposure (with the PP- wrapper being most prone to degradation), highlighting PP as a possible source of MPs in stormwater. The majority of (non-black) MPs, by number, were in the size range 126 - 250 µm in gully pot sediments, in contrast to pond sediments the majority were smaller than 100 µm. These results indicates that larger MP particles tend to settle early in the urban drainage system for example in gully pots, while smaller particles may be transported further downstream via stormwater, for example reaching ponds and mainly settle in pond sediment  Evaluating MP concentrations and composition with regards to polymer type and particle size in gully pot and stormwater pond sediments and common sources one of the source of MPs in the urban environment has advanced the understanding for example a commonly detected type (PP) and what MP sizes that tend to settle in the different studied storm water management facilities i.e., gully pots and ponds.

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<P> Natural organic matter (NOM) on the surface of resuspended particles influences the partition of metal ions between free dissolved organic matter (DOM), and the particulate species. It also affects the size distribution of floes under agitation. Equilibrium between dissolved organic and particulate organic matter should, therefore, be an important indicator for predicting metal ion exchange. </p> <p> We examined the exchange of cadmium along a pH edge and compared aqueous, organic, and particulate forms of the metal ion in reactors containing either settled or resuspended sediments. A pH edge profile between 3 and 8 shows two regions of speciation: above and below pH 6.2, which corresponds to a 1 : 1, H : Cd exchange. At low pH, cadmium remains in the free form when sediments are settled, but, upon resuspension, about half of it transfers to the dissolved organic and particulate forms. On the other hand, at high pH, all cadmium is particulate in both cases. In both cases there is also a release of DOM centred at pH 6.2, followed by readsorption at higher pH values. </p> <p> The interesting finding is that cadmium binding on particles appears independent of the surge in DOM, as though cadmium is weakly bound to DOM and strongly bound to particles. We can assume that two types of organic matter exist, one dissolved, one particulate. </p> <p> To fix size distribution, the sediment/metal ion mixture was put in a Couette flocculator and subjected to a uniform shear stress. Then, the partitioning of the metal ions between the solution and sediment phases was determined. A distribution coefficient, KD was calculated for each metal ion. A correlation between log KD and log K (hydrolysis constant) was apparent, and our data was consistent with the reported metal ion binding to both sediments and artificial surfaces. We envision that organic matter accumulating on the particle creates a polyelectrolyte domain responsible for greater binding capacity. We propose that an increase in metal ion binding with increasing particle size is due to this polyelectrolyte effect, where binding is governed by particle volume, and not surface area. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> This study describes the analysis of orientation of elongate quartz grains in massive turbidite sandstones from the Chetco Formation (Jurassic) of southwestern Oregon. Inferences on depositional fabric of this resedimented facies are made.</p> <p> Grain orientation in the plane parallel to bedding is generally not highly significant statistically, and current direction, supplied by imbrication, is not persistent vertically through the beds. However, a rotation pattern of current direction in each bed is detected.</p> <p> Variations in orientation distribution could represent variations in sediment concentration of the flow and in the rate of deposition.</p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

The environmental impacts of agricultural non-point source pollution, due in part to the intensification of agriculture to meet the nutritional needs of a growing population, indicate a need for the further implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) that can mitigate soil erosion and reduce the export of sediment and nutrients to receiving waters. Water and Sediment Control Basins (WASCoBs) and cover crops are both considered effective in-field BMPs that have been utilized by landowners to reduce soil and nutrient losses from fields. While each of these BMPs has been individually researched for their impacts on soil and water quality, there is little existing research that examines the impact of WASCoBs paired with cover crops on water quality. This study compared four sub-watersheds on the same field near Atterberry, Illinois: 1) a basin drained by a WASCoB, 2) a basin drained by a WASCoB and planted with a cover crop, 3) a basin drained by an ephemeral gully and planted with a cover crop, and 4) a control basin drained by an ephemeral gully. Runoff samples were collected from these watersheds and analyzed for total phosphorus, dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), ammonium-nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen, and total suspended solids (TSS). Nutrient and sediment concentrations were used along with the discharge and duration of runoff events in order to determine event loads for each watershed. The WASCoBs utilized in this study were able to trap 97.3-99.2% of total phosphorus, 84.3-94.4% of DRP, 51.4-78.6% of ammonium-nitrogen, 11.8-56.3% of nitrate-nitrogen, and 98.68-99.21% of TSS. The cover crop treatments in this study did not show a significant impact on water quality, which was likely attributed to poor establishment of the cover crop. These results suggest that early planting is critical for maximizing cover crops establishment and benefit. Reductions in nutrient and sediment loads in this study suggest that WASCoBs have the potential to reduce the discharge of nutrients and sediment to waterways, indicating that their continued implementation may help to accomplish water and soil conservation goals.

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