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Associate Professor Edward D Burton

Sea-level rise

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Seawater Inundation Of Coastal Floodplain Sediments: Short-Term Changes In Surface Water And Sediment Geochemistry, Vanessa Wong, Scott Johnston, Edward Burton, Phillip Hirst, Leigh Sullivan, Richard Bush, Mark Blackford Sep 2015

Seawater Inundation Of Coastal Floodplain Sediments: Short-Term Changes In Surface Water And Sediment Geochemistry, Vanessa Wong, Scott Johnston, Edward Burton, Phillip Hirst, Leigh Sullivan, Richard Bush, Mark Blackford

Associate Professor Edward D Burton

Coastal floodplains are highly vulnerable to seawater inundation as a result of storm surge and sea-level rise due to their low elevation and proximity to the coastline. Intact soil cores from a levee, acid-sulfate soil scald and four backswamp sites on a coastal floodplain in eastern Australia were inundated with artificial seawater treatments (0%, 50% and 100%) for 14 days to examine the short term consequences for surface water and floodplain sediment geochemistry. All sites displayed an initial decrease in surface water pH following inundation with 50% and 100% seawater. In addition, higher concentrations of trace metals (Al, Fe, Mn, …


Seawater-Induced Mobilization Of Trace Metals From Mackinawite-Rich Estuarine Sediments, Vanessa Wong, Scott Johnston, Edward Burton, Richard Bush, Leigh Sullivan, Peter Slavich May 2013

Seawater-Induced Mobilization Of Trace Metals From Mackinawite-Rich Estuarine Sediments, Vanessa Wong, Scott Johnston, Edward Burton, Richard Bush, Leigh Sullivan, Peter Slavich

Associate Professor Edward D Burton

Benthic sediments in coastal acid sulfate soil (CASS) drains can contain high concentrations (∼1–5%) of acid volatile sulfide (AVS) as nano-particulate mackinawite. These sediments can sequester substantial quantities of trace metals. Because of their low elevation and the connectivity of drains to estuarine channels, these benthic sediments are vulnerable to rapid increases in ionic strength from seawater incursion by floodgate opening, floodgate failure, storm surge and seasonal migration of the estuarine salt wedge. This study examines the effect of increasing seawater concentration on trace metal mobilization from mackinawite-rich drain sediments (210–550 μmol g−1 AVS) collected along an estuarine salinity …