Abstract
A new, inexpensive method is proposed to measure permeability in natural sandy sediment with high spatial resolution. This methodology allows for a reconstruction of the vertical permeability anisotropy in natural sediments, with a depth resolution of a few millimeters. Thus, the possible intrusion depth of advective flow over the water-sediment interface of sandy sediments can be deduced. Shipboard measurements on five natural sandy sediment cores taken from North Sea sediments are used to demonstrate that both the direction and magnitude of the second-order permeability tensor can be calculated from direct measurements using this method. This presents a major improvement over previous methods particularly in the context of quantifying flow and reaction in permeable sediments.
Highlights
Recent evidence suggests that the sandy, permeable seabed is at least as important in biogeochemical cycling of organic matter as muddy, cohesive sediments
Shipboard measurements on five natural sandy sediment cores taken from North Sea sediments are used to demonstrate that both the direction and magnitude of the second-order permeability tensor can be calculated from direct measurements using this method
Low-standing stock of organics and inorganic byproducts of diagenesis found in permeable sediments, as opposed to larger reservoirs located in cohesive sediments, are being explained, not as a reflection of low biogeochemical activity, but instead by rapid turnover, aided by advective interfacial flow
Summary
Recent evidence suggests that the sandy, permeable seabed is at least as important in biogeochemical cycling of organic matter as muddy, cohesive sediments (see overview by Boudreau et al 2001). Shipboard measurements on five natural sandy sediment cores taken from North Sea sediments are used to demonstrate that both the direction and magnitude of the second-order permeability tensor can be calculated from direct measurements using this method.
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