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The fate of dumped sediments monitored by a high-resolution multibeam echosounder system, Weser Estuary, German Bight

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Abstract

With the development of high-resolution multibeam echosounder systems (MBES) for surveying shallow-water areas a new tool is available to monitor rapid changes in seabed morphology as, e.g., caused by the dumping of dredge spoil in coastal waters. In this study, four data sets of repeated bathymetric surveys with a MBES were processed and analyzed. The data were collected in a 1.94-km2 dumping site in the outer Weser Estuary (German Bight). Between June and December 1998, 2.6 million m3 of dredged sediment were deposited there. The bathymetric maps generated in the course of this study reveal features such as subaqueous dunes, scour holes, and mounds of dumped dredge spoil. The mean water depth decreased by about 1 m during the dumping period. Furthermore, difference grids showing changes in sediment volume allowed a calculation of the sediment budget for the monitored area. After a time period of only 5 months, 0.5 million m3 of the originally dumped 2.6 million m3 of dredge spoil had already been removed from the dumping site.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the local Waterways and Shipping Office (WSA) in Bremerhaven, which provided the raw data sets of the bathymetric surveys. C. Wienberg wishes to thank Dr. P. Blondel for his encouragement and helpful suggestions regarding the quality control of the sounding data during her stay at the University of Bath (UK). We thank Dr. K. Schrottke for her constructive comments and helpful discussion, and we are grateful to C. Scheurle and C. Seiter who commented on earlier versions of the manuscript. C. Wienberg and J. Dannenberg acknowledge financial support from the graduate program “Doktorandenkolleg – Lebensraum Nordseekueste” at the University of Bremen. This study was supported by the DFG Research Center Ocean Margins (Bremen, Germany).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany

    Claudia Wienberg & Dierk Hebbeln

  2. Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany

    Jens Dannenberg

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  1. Claudia Wienberg
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  2. Jens Dannenberg
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  3. Dierk Hebbeln
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Correspondence to Claudia Wienberg.

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Wienberg, C., Dannenberg, J. & Hebbeln, D. The fate of dumped sediments monitored by a high-resolution multibeam echosounder system, Weser Estuary, German Bight. Geo-Mar Lett 24, 22–31 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-003-0155-9

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