Rivers6 min read
What a gravel bar records after a flood
An exposed gravel bar holds traces of material carried, deposited and left in place. Its stones tell a fuller flood story when read with the river's earlier shape and flow record.
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Coasts6 min read
The sediment budget of a living shoreline
A planted shore survives by more than holding its edge. Its marsh needs a continuing balance of incoming, trapped and lost sediment, measured across the whole coastal margin.
Rivers5 min read
The sediment a reservoir holds back
A reservoir slows a river enough to store sand, gravel and silt. That deposit takes up water-storage space and changes the supply reaching channels and coasts downstream; surveys show why the outcome differs from one dam to another.
Rivers5 min read
A river stone keeps only part of its journey
A round pebble has met other surfaces, but its smoothness is no odometer. Rock type, broken edges, intermittent floods and recycled gravel complicate the journey it seems to show.
Salt marshes6 min read
The mud beneath a salt marsh
A marsh gathers sediment from the tide and builds soil with roots. Measuring the new layer alone can miss whether the ground itself is gaining height.