Research PapersDepositional variability of estuarine intertidal sediments and implications for metal distribution: An example from Moreton Bay (Australia)

- Sediment reworking and mixing occur at different depths (up to 80 cm).
- Vertical trends of Pb, Zn and Cd are associated to anthropogenic and natural sources.
- Sediment remobilization (e.g. dredging, storms) might induce metals redistribution.
- Intertidal sediment cores represent local sedimentation and metal accumulation.

This study examines the patterns of depositional variability, sediment geochemistry and metal distribution in intertidal areas of Moreton Bay, southeast Queensland, Australia. Recent concern over increasing human impact on the bay has generated the need to obtain evidence on how the disturbance of the depositional setting might affect the natural estuarine environment.Sediment stratigraphy, major, and trace element analyses of sediment cores show that the sedimentation pattern is unique to each intertidal site. Disturbed 210Pb and 137Cs activity profiles of some of the cores indicate that sediment reworking occurs across the intertidal flats up to a depth of at least 80 cm. With some notable exceptions, an accurate geochronology of the surface sediments could not be established due to low 210Pb activities and sediment mixing. Thus, an increase in Pb, Zn and Cu towards the surface sediments observed at various sites is attributed to both anthropogenic contribution following the rapid urban development in the last century and to post-depositional diagenetic processes, bioturbation and sediment re-suspension induced by tides, storms or floods. Sediment cores are representative only of the local sedimentation and may not always allow extensive correlation to larger areas. Vertical profiles of heavy metals reflect the different depositional environment controlled by the complex hydrodynamics of the bay. Local hydrologic, physical, and tidal conditions might induce metals redistribution at different scales. This information is of critical importance in view of sediment remobilization caused by future development such as dredging, intertidal areas reclamation or excavation of new navigational channels.