Quantifying the effects of hydrodynamic variability on the Turbidity Maximum Zone of the Humber Estuary

Project Description

The Turbidity Maximum Zone (TMZ), forms at the interface of rivers and estuaries and controls the transfer of nutrients from land to sea. The Humber estuary is macrotidal with a substantial TMZ both in terms of sediment load and areal extent. Due to extensive farmland runoff, the estuary is hypernutrified, but remains non-eutrophic due to the high turbidity limiting available light. The Humber’s TMZ is formed at the low salinity end (~1 ppt), but its location can vary up to 15 km. This is due to fluvial and tidal flow forcing, although the interplay of these factors and how they may be affected by ongoing climate change is not well understood yet. This is important as future shifts in TMZ may increase light availability leaving the estuary vulnerable to eutrophication. The project will establish a sensor network along the estuary that will measure the spatiotemporal dynamics on the Humber’s TMZ and link them to changes of fluvial discharge and tidal conditions. This will provide fundamental understanding of the TMZ response to hydrodynamic forcing that will help us predict how the TMZ might adjust in the future for the Humber and other macrotidal estuaries globally.