Bainbridge, Zoe T., Olley, Jon M., Lewis, Stephen E., Stevens, Tom, and Smithers, Scott G. (2024) Tracing sources of inorganic suspended particulate matter in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, Australia. Scientific Reports, 14. 15651.

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Abstract

Water clarity on the inshore Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is greatly influenced by terrestrial runoff of suspended particulate matter (SPM). Catchment sediment tracing studies often do not extend into the marine environment, preventing the analysis of preferential marine transport. This study employs novel collection and sediment tracing techniques to examine the transport of the terrigenous ‘mineral’ component of plume SPM within the GBR lagoon for two flood events. Utilising geochemical, radionuclide and clay mineral analysis, we trace terrigenous mineral sediments > 100 km from the river mouth. We show that the SPM geochemistry is highly influenced by particle-size fractionation, desorption, and dilution within the plume, rendering traditional tracing methods unviable. However, the ratios of rare earth elements (REE) to thorium (Th) provide stable tracers of mineral SPM transported across the catchment to marine continuum and allow the identification of discrete catchment sources for each flood event. Plume sediment radionuclides are also stable and consistent with sub-surface erosion sources.

Item ID:	83251
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2045-2322
Keywords:	Sediment tracing, Fine sediment, Rare earth elements, Catchment to marine continuum, Terrigenous sediment, Subsoils, Suspended particulate matter (SPM)
Copyright Information:	© Te Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Date Deposited:	25 Jul 2024 00:50
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410404 Environmental management @ 60% 37 EARTH SCIENCES > 3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience > 370901 Geomorphology and earth surface processes @ 40%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180505 Measurement and assessment of marine water quality and condition @ 40% 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180601 Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems @ 30% 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180607 Terrestrial erosion @ 30%
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