Title: Assessing Marine-Sourced Sediment Supply and Its Influence on Salt Marsh Resilience to Sea Level Rise Using Satellite ObservationsSpeaker: Wenxiu Teng, PhD Candidate, UMass AmherstAbstract: Suspended sediment delivery is a key driver in the formation and maintenance of muddy coastal landscapes such as river deltas, mudflats, and tidal wetlands. While the critical role of riverine sediment in supporting tidal marsh resilience has been widely recognized, many marshes globally receive limited fluvial input. In these systems, marine-sourced sediments, delivered by waves and tides, may provide a crucial sediment supply that enhances marsh accretion and resilience to relative sea level rise. Directly measuring sediment dynamics in energetic coastal zones is challenging, and traditional satellite ocean color products, with coarse spatial resolution (~1 km), are insufficient for resolving nearshore processes at fine spatial scales. As a result, the contribution of marine sediments to marsh resilience has been underexplored. To fill this gap, this study: 1. Develops a particle composition-adaptive algorithm for high spatial resolution mapping of suspended sediments in global coastal waters using satellite observations; 2. Examines the role of marine-sourced sediment in supporting tidal marsh resilience across the Northeastern United States; 3. Analyzes global trends in coastal sediment availability and their implications for marsh vulnerability under accelerating sea level rise. Our results demonstrate the potential of satellite remote sensing to fill observational gaps and reveal the overlooked importance of marine sediment supply in maintaining tidal marsh resilience to sea level rise. This work provides new insights into sediment-driven marsh sustainability and offers a scalable approach to inform coastal restoration and climate adaptation efforts.

Fri, Apr 11Fri, Apr 18

Title: Three-Dimensional Shoaling and Breaking of Internal Waves and Future Oceanic Implications in the Internal Surf ZoneSpeaker: Dr. Shuwen Tan, assistant professor at the University of ConnecticutAbstract: The internal surf zone, characterized by internal waves confined by water depth, exhibits dynamics analogous to the surf zone of surface gravity waves, where the waves release most of their energy and momentum through turbulent mixing, and the loss of momentum drives currents. This seminar uses idealized numerical modeling to explore the three-dimensional shoaling and breaking of internal waves in the internal surf zone with a curvature/angle of shelf bathymetry and their impacts on wave characteristics, momentum, and energy fluxes, leading to along-shore variations in energy dissipation and current generation. First, I will discuss internal solitary waves interacting with a conical island inspired by Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea. The interaction of waves with the island results in significant energy dissipation, highest where waves directly impinge on the island and lowest on the opposite side. The curvature of the coastline excites barotropic flow, which is absent for a straight coastline. Next, we examine a straight coastline with internal waves incident at an angle. Preliminary results indicate that this configuration drives an along-shore current within the internal surf zone, analogous to the well-studied along-shore current driven by breaking surface waves. Finally, we will show that internal waves transport cooler, deeper waters into the internal surf zone, reducing warming by up to 2.3°C around the Dongsha Atoll compared to conditions without internal waves. This wave-modulated cooling is projected to continue in a warming ocean, serving as thermal refugia for benthic organisms.

The World Quantum Day, is an initiative from quantum scientists from 65+ countries, aiming at promoting the public understanding of Quantum Science and Quantum Technology around the World.On Friday, April 11, come join us for an afternoon of guest speakers from academia and industry to celebrate URI’s Quantum Computing Initiative!Speakers Include:David Biersach (Brookhaven National Lab)Dr. Tina-Louise Brower-Thomas (Howard)Dr. Ilya Safro (Delaware)Dr. Chris Lirakis (IBM Quantum)Pre-recorded remarks by Senator Jack ReedDr. Vincenzo Tamma (Portsmouth, UK)Dr. Suhail Zubairy (Texas A&M)

Join us for lunch as we create space to share your experiences on campus, discuss current events, and connect with other students. Lunch will be provided. Feel free to bring your own lunch as well.Fostering an inclusive and welcoming community is at the heart of the Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC) ‘s work. All events hosted by or in collaboration with the MSSC are open to the entire URI community. We are committed to making URI a place where everyone feels valued, included, and has a true sense of belonging. We look forward to welcoming you!Thursdays 12:30pm- 1:30pmDates:1/30, 2/13, 2/27, 3/27, 4/10,4/24Visit URInvolved for complete event details.

Come watch Rhody Baseball take on St. Bonaventure in their first game of the series! All game times are subject to change based on the weather.