Abstract New approaches to abundance surveying utilizing unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) are proving to be effective tools in marine and terrestrial environments. We explored UAV efficacy for surveys in the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), where relative abundance patterns of juvenile sharks and subsequent classifications of putative nursery areas based on environmental drivers are lacking. The UAV method allowed greater temporal and spatial coverage. We expanded classification of shark nursery habitat through mo…

Rare earth elements (REE) and Nd isotope compositions of surface and groundwaters from the Indian River Lagoon in Florida were measured to investigate the influence of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) on these parameters in coastal waters. The Nd flux of the terrestrial component of SGD is around 0.7±0.03 μmol Nd/day per m of shoreline across the nearshore seepage face of the subterranean estuary. This translates to a terrestrial SGD Nd flux of 4±0.2 mmol/day for the entire 5,880 m long shoreline of the studi…

Abstract Fluvial networks integrate, transform, and transport constituents from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. To date, most research on water quality dynamics has focused on process understanding at individual streams, and, as a result, there is a lack of studies analyzing how physical and biogeochemical drivers scale across fluvial networks. We performed tracer tests in five stream orders of the Jemez River continuum in New Mexico, USA, to quantify reach‐scale hyporheic exchange during two different seasona…

Abstract Salt marshes store large quantities of carbon in the form of buried organic matter (OM) and consequently play a major role in the global carbon cycle, yet vertical accretion and carbon burial rates (CBRs) can vary by orders of magnitude on small spatial scales. The goal of this study was to provide insight into carbon burial variability of a single tidal salt marsh. Six marsh sediment cores were collected along a tidal creek in the Big Bend of Florida from the mouth to the coastal forest within the marsh …

During the 1927 Mississippi flood, the levee was dynamited downstream of New Orleans creating a 2 km wide crevasse that inundated the Breton Sound estuary and deposited a crevasse splay of about 130 km2. We measured sediment deposition in the splay that consisted of a silty-clay layer bounded by aged peat below and living roots above. Based on coring, we developed a map of the crevasse splay. The clay layer ranged from 2 to 42 cm thick and occurred 24 to 55 cm below the surface. Bulk density of the clay layer decr…