Environmental History of Estuarine Dissolved Oxygen Inferred from Trace-Metal Geochemistry and Organic Matter

dc.contributor.advisorGavin, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Geoffrey
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-01T15:28:10Z
dc.date.available2017-05-01T15:28:10Z
dc.date.issued2017-05-01
dc.description.abstractEnvironmental history recorded in sediments can reconstruct estuarine water quality metrics, such as dissolved oxygen, through the use of geochemical and biological proxies. I collected sediment cores from two locations in the Coos Bay Estuary, at South Slough and Haynes Inlet, spanning from ~1680 AD to the present. To address the historical record of water column oxygen in the estuary I measured a suite of geochemical proxies including organic matter, magnetic susceptibility, and redox-sensitive metals to calibrate against a detailed 15-year record of dissolved oxygen. High visual correlation of these proxies and recent water quality supports the interpretation of long-term water quality from sediment cores. Finally, my semi-quantitative analysis describes a complex history where potential low water quality has increased at South Slough, while decreasing or staying stable at Haynes inlet over the last 300 years, though erosion indicators profoundly increase at both sites across the Euro-Amercian settlement horizon. This history was explained in terms of changing land use (logging, splash dams) effects on erosion and organic matter loading, oceanic vs terrestrial water sources, and the role of the dredged Coos Bay channel affecting the replenishment of estuary water.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1794/22296
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Oregon
dc.rightsAll Rights Reserved.
dc.subjectEnvironmental historyen_US
dc.subjectEstuaryen_US
dc.subjectGeochemistryen_US
dc.subjectSedimentary proxiesen_US
dc.subjectWater qualityen_US
dc.titleEnvironmental History of Estuarine Dissolved Oxygen Inferred from Trace-Metal Geochemistry and Organic Matter
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
thesis.degree.disciplineDepartment of Geography
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Oregon
thesis.degree.levelmasters
thesis.degree.nameM.S.

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