Sediment transport in estuaries and other coastal systems can affect water quality and carbon budgets, as well as geomorphology. Observations show, for example, that resuspension of sediment and organic matter may reduce light attenuation, increase oxygen consumption, and redistribute material in estuaries. Yet, ocean models that incorporate both sediment transport and biogeochemical processes are rare. This motivated the development of a new coupled modeling approach that accounts for hydrodynamic, sediment transport, and biogeochemical processes within the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Using the coupled model, this presentation will focus on evaluating the effect of resuspension of oxygen dynamics in Chesapeake Bay. Ongoing work to analyze the effect of marsh edge erosion on carbon budgets and coastal geomorphology will also be discussed.

Julia Moriarty is a Research Oceanographer and Mendenhall post-doc with the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Her research interests focus on the transport and fate of sediment, organic matter, and other particles in coastal and marine environments, as well as developing new numerical modeling methods. Before coming to the U.S. Geological Survey, she completed her M.S. and Ph.D. at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary. She also holds a B.A. in Physics and a B.S. in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago.

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