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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2025-6029</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Worms or storms? Distinguishing bioturbation from physical mixing using multiple tracers</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kooistra</surname>
<given-names>Tjitske J.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2366-4099</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>de Boer</surname>
<given-names>Anna-Maartje</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7359-6939</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Bouma</surname>
<given-names>Tjeerd J.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Pannozzo</surname>
<given-names>Natascia</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8082-9251</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Pearson</surname>
<given-names>Stuart G.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3986-4469</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>van der Spek</surname>
<given-names>Ad</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7131-4363</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>de Stigter</surname>
<given-names>Henko</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4878-6546</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wallinga</surname>
<given-names>Jakob</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-3066</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Witbaard</surname>
<given-names>Rob</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Soetaert</surname>
<given-names>Karline</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Korringaweg 7, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Wageningen University and Research, Soil Geography and Landscape group &amp; Netherlands Centre for Luminescence dating, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, the Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Deltares, Boussinesqweg 1, 2629 HV Delft, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Ocean Systems, Landsdiep 4 1797 SZ &apos;t Horntje, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>05</day>
<month>12</month>
<year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2025</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>39</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2025 Tjitske J. Kooistra et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-6029/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-6029/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-6029/egusphere-2025-6029.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-6029/egusphere-2025-6029.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>&lt;span&gt;Sediment transport and seabed composition can both be influenced by bioturbation and hydrodynamically driven sediment mixing and deposition. In a dynamic intertidal environment, it is challenging to distinguish the relative contribution of both processes. We aim to unravel their relative importance by combining several tracers, each having its own specific timescale and target particle size. We combined (1) &lt;sup&gt;210&lt;/sup&gt;Pb that quantifies long-term (years&amp;ndash;decades) mixing of fine sediment fractions with (2) Chlorophyll-&lt;em&gt;a&lt;/em&gt; and (3) luminophores that both quantify short-term mixing of fine sediment fractions (days&amp;ndash;weeks), and (4) multi-grain quartz and single-grain feldspar luminescence dating, which use the bleaching of sand grains&amp;rsquo; inherent luminescence signal by light to assess mixing of sand and thereby quantifies long-term mixing. Single grain feldspar luminescence is here for the first time applied in the intertidal environment. We compare results for a sandy and a muddy intertidal flat at the island of Texel (Wadden Sea, the Netherlands), each with their own characteristic benthic community. Recent bioturbation became apparent from Chlorophyll-&lt;em&gt;a&lt;/em&gt; and luminophore profiles: particles were rapidly reworked to a depth of decimetres. &lt;sup&gt;210&lt;/sup&gt;Pb also suggested mixing and non-local exchange of particles by bioturbation. Luminescence age distributions suggest that quartz luminescence signals were fully reset upon recent deposition, while bioturbation enhanced resetting of feldspar luminescence signals. Coarse- and fine-grained tracer profiles show the differential behaviour and reworking of the mud and sand fraction within the sediment matrix: as expected with particle-selective bioturbation, mud is preferentially bioturbated and infiltrates passively, while sand grains have a higher ability to conserve layering. Single-grain feldspar luminescence is a promising technique to demonstrate the long-term reworking of sand grains, however, in young and dynamic environments, a combination of tracers remains necessary to inform on the origin of mixing. &lt;/span&gt;</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="39"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek</funding-source>
<award-id>grant no. 17600: “Tracking Ameland Inlet Living Lab Sediment (TRAILS)”</award-id>
<award-id>grant no. 21026: “Revealing Hidden Networks of Coastal Sediment Pathways”</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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