Sediment transport and deposition in Long Island Sound.

This paper considers power sources for sediment movement, sediment sources and mode of supply, sediment transport, deposition and mass-balance for the estuary. Power sources are the tide, waves that affect the bottom down to about 18m, wind-driven currents which are weak near the bed, and river inflow causing an estuarine circulation. Rivers are the major source of sediment and of these the Connecticut River probably supplies 90%. Sand transports measured as sand wave advance are about 0.1m³/m width/day. The muddy bottom has a surface layer of faecal pellets c10cm thick, so sedimentary processes are dominated by bottom feeding organisms. The area appears to be a perfect sediment trap.-I.N.McCave