Method for Estimating Materials Fluxes from Coastal Wetlands into the GreatLakes, with an Example from Lake Erie

摘要

A method is presented in detail for the quantitative estimation of the flux ofwater and dissolved or suspended materials through coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes where the juncture of the wetland and lake is constricted by a narrow opening. Application of the method requires frequent (e.g., hourly or daily) data on atmospheric deposition, precipitation, evaporation, upstream discharges from tributaries, wetland water level changes, and water chemistry data at upstream and downstream locations, as well as a detailed knowledge of wetland depth-area and depth-volume relationships. Data collected during October 1989 are used to demonstrate the method.