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Sediments of the Tay Estuary. I. Bottom Sediments of the Upper and Upper Middle Reaches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

A. T. Buller  and
J. McManus
A. T. Buller
Affiliation:
Tay Estuary Research Centre, Newport on Tay
J. McManus
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Dundee.
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Synopsis

A lack of modern river-borne sediment and a steady supply of marine materials have led to the hypothesis that the upper Tay estuary is undergoing an erosive phase counterbalanced by a headward moving sheet of largely marine-derived sand presently occupying the upper-middle estuary. This primal division (based on sediment budget criteria) is also reflected in the bathymetry, distribution of sediment types, and sedimentary structures. The situation of two contrasting ‘phase zones’ juxtaposed within a relatively small area is ideal for an empirical and indirect analysis of the response of a wide variety of sediment types to the gross physical processes acting on them. The analysis takes the form of standard grain-size characterisations using conventional sedimentary statistics, supplemented by adaptations of C-M and QDa-Md diagrams transformed for display on distribution maps.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 75 , Issue 1-2: Physical and Biological Aspects of the Tay Estuary , 1975 , pp. 41 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1975

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