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Assessment Of Benthic Flux Of Dissolved Organic Carbon In Estuaries Using The Eddy Correlation Technique, Michael P. Swett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a water quality concern in estuarine environments, as DOC facilitates mobilization of metals and organics in sediments and leads to toxic disinfection byproducts during water treatment. Export of DOC from sediments can vary with changing environmental conditions, including wetland restoration and rising sea levels. Therefore, it is important to quantify flux of DOC across the sediment-water interface (SWI). Existing DOC flux measurement techniques, such as equilibrium dialysis, porewater extraction, and benthic chamber measurement, are intrusive to the sediment environment and underestimate flux by only capturing certain flux contributions. In this research, methods for estimating benthic …