An Infiltrometer to Measure Seepage in Salt Marsh Soils

Abstract

This study considers the design, construction, and operation of a device for measuring how much water seeps across the surface of salt marsh soil as it is inundated by flooding tides. The device was used in Great Sippiwisset Marsh, Cape Cod. Preliminary results confirm that infiltration during flood tide is followed by widespread exfiltration, of comparable magnitude, during ebb. Total water flux decreased with increasing distance from adjacent creeks.

The infiltrometer quantifies water flux across the sediment interface under relatively undisturbed conditions and represents a definite step forward in studies of the seepage component of salt marsh water budgets.