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Abstract: Morphological trends of three distinct intertidal environments in South San Francisco Bay were investigated using a combination of measurement and modeling tools. Because of the inherent relationship between the physical environment and the sediment properties, the sediment properties provide a good indicator of morphologic trends. A significant finding of this study is that surface sediment erodibility increases as the energy level in the environment increases. Conversely subsurface sediment erodibility shows a strong relationship to the long-term history of the site. The combination of the measured sediment properties, the history of deposition and erosion, and simple modeling of the physical environment illustrate the interaction of these properties such that an understanding of intertidal flat behavior is developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The papers in this special issue feature state-of-the-art approaches to understanding the physical processes related to sediment transport and geomorphology of complex coastal–estuarine systems. Here we focus on the San Francisco Bay Coastal System, extending from the lower San Joaquin–Sacramento Delta, through the Bay, and along the adjacent outer Pacific Coast. San Francisco Bay is an urbanized estuary that is impacted by numerous anthropogenic activities common to many large estuaries, including a mining legacy, channel dredging, aggregate mining, reservoirs, freshwater diversion, watershed modifications, urban run-off, ship traffic, exotic species introductions, land reclamation, and wetland restoration. The Golden Gate strait is the sole inlet connecting the Bay to the Pacific Ocean, and serves as the conduit for a tidal flow of ~8×109 m3/day, in addition to the transport of mud, sand, biogenic material, nutrients, and pollutants. Despite this physical, biological and chemical connection, resource management and prior research have often treated the Delta, Bay and adjacent ocean as separate entities, compartmentalized by artificial geographic or political boundaries. The body of work herein presents a comprehensive analysis of system-wide behavior, extending a rich heritage of sediment transport research that dates back to the groundbreaking hydraulic mining-impact research of G.K. Gilbert in the early 20th century. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hydrocarbon contaminants are ubiquitous in urban aquatic ecosystems, and the ability of some microbial strains to degrade certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is well established. However, detrimental effects of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination on nondegrader microbial populations and photosynthetic organisms have not often been considered. In the current study, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) biomarkers in the sediment record were used to assess historical impacts of petroleum contamination on microbial and/or algal biomass in South San Francisco Bay, CA, USA. Profiles of saturated, branched, and monounsaturated fatty acids had similar concentrations and patterns downcore. Total PAHs in a sediment core were on average greater than 20× higher above ∼200 cm than below, which corresponds roughly to the year 1900. Isomer ratios were consistent with a predominant petroleum combustion source for PAHs. Several individual PAHs exceeded sediment quality screening values. Negative correlations between petroleum contaminants and microbial and algal biomarkers – along with high trans / cis ratios of unsaturated FA, and principle component analysis of the PAH and fatty acid records – suggest a negative impacts of petroleum contamination, appearing early in the 20th century, on microbial and/or algal ecology at the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]