The occurrences of pollutants in salt marsh, especially metals, have been widely studied due to their adverse effects on ecosystem. However, most of the studies use single measurement to assess the metal contamination and ignore the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration. In this study, I conducted a high frequency sampling strategy to quantify the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration and characterize processes controlling it. 51 surface sediment samples were taken along two transects across a 0.5km2, similarly vegetated salt marsh island; the two transects are 800m apart and sampling interval is approximately 10m. It appears that physical processes and geomorphic structure exert important controls over spatial variations in metal concentrations in salt marsh surface sediment. Due to the hydrological conditions in subtidal channel, the studied salt marsh island is composed of new sediment, deposited less than 50 years ago Winyah bay input, and older sediment originally from the mature marsh. Multivariate statistical analyses reveal that older marsh and newer marsh have different controls on sediment metal distribution. Metal distribution in older marsh is significantly influenced by distance to creek, distance to subtidal channel and elevation. The spatial variability of metals is relatively small and the influence of sample location is not significant in new marsh. These observations suggest that spatial variability of metals is not negligible. Data collected at a single site are unlikely to provide representative results of metal availability over larger spatial scales. Therefore, studies on salt marsh sediment should explicitly consider the significant variability imposed by differing distance to creek, distance to sub-tidal channel, elevation, sub-tidal flow conditions, even over relatively small distances within a single marsh island.
","abstract_html":"<p>The occurrences of pollutants in salt marsh, especially metals, have been widely studied due to their adverse effects on ecosystem. However, most of the studies use single measurement to assess the metal contamination and ignore the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration. In this study, I conducted a high frequency sampling strategy to quantify the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration and characterize processes controlling it. 51 surface sediment samples were taken along two transects across a 0.5km<sup>2</sup>, similarly vegetated salt marsh island; the two transects are 800m apart and sampling interval is approximately 10m. It appears that physical processes and geomorphic structure exert important controls over spatial variations in metal concentrations in salt marsh surface sediment. Due to the hydrological conditions in subtidal channel, the studied salt marsh island is composed of new sediment, deposited less than 50 years ago Winyah bay input, and older sediment originally from the mature marsh. Multivariate statistical analyses reveal that older marsh and newer marsh have different controls on sediment metal distribution. Metal distribution in older marsh is significantly influenced by distance to creek, distance to subtidal channel and elevation. The spatial variability of metals is relatively small and the influence of sample location is not significant in new marsh. These observations suggest that spatial variability of metals is not negligible. Data collected at a single site are unlikely to provide representative results of metal availability over larger spatial scales. Therefore, studies on salt marsh sediment should explicitly consider the significant variability imposed by differing distance to creek, distance to sub-tidal channel, elevation, sub-tidal flow conditions, even over relatively small distances within a single marsh island.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chen, Si"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS","degree_level":"Campus Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Marine Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Raymond Torres"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:50Z","subjects":["Life Sciences","Distribution","Geomorphology","Metal","North Inlet Salt Marsh","Salt marsh"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2009, Si Chen"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/11","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Raymond Torres"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Chen, Si"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2010-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Marine Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Life Sciences","Distribution","Geomorphology","Metal","North Inlet Salt Marsh","Salt marsh"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2009, Si Chen"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/11"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The occurrences of pollutants in salt marsh, especially metals, have been widely studied due to their adverse effects on ecosystem. However, most of the studies use single measurement to assess the metal contamination and ignore the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration. In this study, I conducted a high frequency sampling strategy to quantify the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration and characterize processes controlling it. 51 surface sediment samples were taken along two transects across a 0.5km2, similarly vegetated salt marsh island; the two transects are 800m apart and sampling interval is approximately 10m. It appears that physical processes and geomorphic structure exert important controls over spatial variations in metal concentrations in salt marsh surface sediment. Due to the hydrological conditions in subtidal channel, the studied salt marsh island is composed of new sediment, deposited less than 50 years ago Winyah bay input, and older sediment originally from the mature marsh. Multivariate statistical analyses reveal that older marsh and newer marsh have different controls on sediment metal distribution. Metal distribution in older marsh is significantly influenced by distance to creek, distance to subtidal channel and elevation. The spatial variability of metals is relatively small and the influence of sample location is not significant in new marsh. These observations suggest that spatial variability of metals is not negligible. Data collected at a single site are unlikely to provide representative results of metal availability over larger spatial scales. Therefore, studies on salt marsh sediment should explicitly consider the significant variability imposed by differing distance to creek, distance to sub-tidal channel, elevation, sub-tidal flow conditions, even over relatively small distances within a single marsh island.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Spatial Variability of Metals and Organic Carbon In Salt Marsh Sediment"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Raymond Torres"],"dc:creator":["Chen, Si"],"dc:date.available":["2010-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The occurrences of pollutants in salt marsh, especially metals, have been widely studied due to their adverse effects on ecosystem. However, most of the studies use single measurement to assess the metal contamination and ignore the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration. In this study, I conducted a high frequency sampling strategy to quantify the spatial variability of sediment metal concentration and characterize processes controlling it. 51 surface sediment samples were taken along two transects across a 0.5km2, similarly vegetated salt marsh island; the two transects are 800m apart and sampling interval is approximately 10m. It appears that physical processes and geomorphic structure exert important controls over spatial variations in metal concentrations in salt marsh surface sediment. Due to the hydrological conditions in subtidal channel, the studied salt marsh island is composed of new sediment, deposited less than 50 years ago Winyah bay input, and older sediment originally from the mature marsh. Multivariate statistical analyses reveal that older marsh and newer marsh have different controls on sediment metal distribution. Metal distribution in older marsh is significantly influenced by distance to creek, distance to subtidal channel and elevation. The spatial variability of metals is relatively small and the influence of sample location is not significant in new marsh. These observations suggest that spatial variability of metals is not negligible. Data collected at a single site are unlikely to provide representative results of metal availability over larger spatial scales. Therefore, studies on salt marsh sediment should explicitly consider the significant variability imposed by differing distance to creek, distance to sub-tidal channel, elevation, sub-tidal flow conditions, even over relatively small distances within a single marsh island.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/11"],"dc:rights":["© 2009, Si Chen"],"dc:subject":["Life Sciences","Distribution","Geomorphology","Metal","North Inlet Salt Marsh","Salt marsh"],"dc:title":["Spatial Variability of Metals and Organic Carbon In Salt Marsh Sediment"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Marine Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Campus Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:50Z"}