Vertical fluxes of particulate matter in Aarhus Bight, Denmark

Sediment traps, transmissometer readings and sediment core-dating have been used to describe sediment dynamics within a shallow micro-tidal coastal environment, characterized by intense resuspension. od to separate the downward fluxes of primary settling matter and resuspended sediments is proposed. It is shown that these fluxes can be separated during periods when a marked pycnocline exists in the water column, preventing resuspended sediment from reaching the sediment traps above the pycnocline. At such times it is possible to make quantitative calculations of the flux of primary settling matter at the sediment-water interface. greement between particulate fluxes calculated on the basis of sediment trap measurements and accumulation rates determined from Pb-210 core dating have been obtained in this study, supporting the idea of using sediment trap measurements to calculate sediment accumulation at the bottom.