Toward a model of sedimentation in Kettle Creek and Silver Bay, Northern Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

Authors

  • Natalie A. Pitchford Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
  • Norbert P. Psuty Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901

Abstract

Estuarine sediment accumulations are a product of continental and marine processes. In Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, a micro-estuarine environment exists as a series of smaller estuaries along the western coast. This situation provides a microcosm for studying the interaction of sediment type as it relates to geomorphology and fluid flow within an estuary. Sediment sampling was conducted in Kettle Creek and Silver Bay over the past four years. By using GIS-plotted transects of sediment sampling and laboratory analyses of mean grain size and standard deviation, trends of sediment characteristics were established across the micro-estuaries.


Further data analysis using statistical and mapping software illustrate a pattern of spatial distribution and grouping of sediment types that was repeated in both Kettle Creek and Silver Bay. Fine silts (<63 m) accumulated in areas of fluvial input and throughout the middle of each micro-estuary, grading bayward to fine and then coarser sands along the coasts. Pleistocene relic sediments were found in isolated areas near the bay mouths of both Kettle Creek and Silver Bay. The spatial organization of morpho-sedimentary characteristics among the two micro-estuaries suggests a pattern may be repeated in other portions of the western margin of Barnegat Bay. This study establishes a replicable means of micro-estuarine analysis, with not only geomorphological, but ecological and biological implications as well.

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Published

2000-09-01

How to Cite

Pitchford, N. A. ., & Psuty, N. P. . (2000). Toward a model of sedimentation in Kettle Creek and Silver Bay, Northern Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. The Rutger Scholar, 2. Retrieved from https://rutgersscholar.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/scholar/article/view/30

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Articles