IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v6y2015i1d10.1038_ncomms7257.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The pervasive role of biological cohesion in bedform development

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Malarkey

    (School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University)

  • Jaco H. Baas

    (School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University)

  • Julie A. Hope

    (Sediment Ecology Research Group, School of Biology, University of St Andrews)

  • Rebecca J. Aspden

    (Sediment Ecology Research Group, School of Biology, University of St Andrews)

  • Daniel R. Parsons

    (Environment and Earth Sciences, University of Hull)

  • Jeff Peakall

    (School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds)

  • David M. Paterson

    (Sediment Ecology Research Group, School of Biology, University of St Andrews)

  • Robert J. Schindler

    (School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University)

  • Leiping Ye

    (Environment and Earth Sciences, University of Hull)

  • Ian D. Lichtman

    (School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University
    National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street)

  • Sarah J. Bass

    (School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University)

  • Alan G. Davies

    (School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University)

  • Andrew J. Manning

    (Environment and Earth Sciences, University of Hull
    School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University
    HR Wallingford)

  • Peter D. Thorne

    (National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street)

Abstract

Sediment fluxes in aquatic environments are crucially dependent on bedform dynamics. However, sediment-flux predictions rely almost completely on clean-sand studies, despite most environments being composed of mixtures of non-cohesive sands, physically cohesive muds and biologically cohesive extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) generated by microorganisms. EPS associated with surficial biofilms are known to stabilize sediment and increase erosion thresholds. Here we present experimental data showing that the pervasive distribution of low levels of EPS throughout the sediment, rather than the high surficial levels of EPS in biofilms, is the key control on bedform dynamics. The development time for bedforms increases by up to two orders of magnitude for extremely small quantities of pervasively distributed EPS. This effect is far stronger than for physical cohesion, because EPS inhibit sand grains from moving independently. The results highlight that present bedform predictors are overly simplistic, and the associated sediment transport processes require re-assessment for the influence of EPS.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Malarkey & Jaco H. Baas & Julie A. Hope & Rebecca J. Aspden & Daniel R. Parsons & Jeff Peakall & David M. Paterson & Robert J. Schindler & Leiping Ye & Ian D. Lichtman & Sarah J. Bass & Alan , 2015. "The pervasive role of biological cohesion in bedform development," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-6, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7257
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7257
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms7257
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms7257?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7257. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.