Sediments

NIWA’s research focuses on sediment sources and their impacts on the environment

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    Impacts of sediment on freshwater and estuarine and freshwater fish species

    These fact sheets bring together existing scientific information on these effects, along with expert scientific knowledge, in an easy-to-read format by community groups and land-water managers interested in protecting m­ahinga kai.
  • Understanding the threat of sea level rise to NZ’s wetlands

    Media release
    Specialised monitoring equipment has been installed in Bay of Plenty estuaries to understand whether our coastal wetlands can survive the threat of inevitable sea-level rise.
  • Survey provides snapshot of harbour’s health

    News article
    Greater Wellington Regional Council regularly assess sediment quality and seafloor community health in the subtidal areas of Te Awarua-o-Porirua (Porirua Harbour) and Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour).
  • Microplastics: a deeper problem than we thought?

    There is increasing global concern about the presence of plastic pollution in our oceans.
  • Keeping tabs on muddy waters

    Feature story
    Sam Fraser-Baxter heads out with a NIWA research team keeping a close eye on these vulnerable transition zones.
  • Norse goddess reveals seabed secrets

    Feature story
    A large, orange Scandinavian robot gives NIWA’s marine geologists an in-depth look at changes to the seafloor off Kaikōura.
  • NIWA science divers finish mud marathon

    Feature story
    Where there’s mud, there’s scientists. NIWA divers recently got down and dirty while completing a harbour-wide dive survey in the Wellington area.
  • Eutrophication Explorer

    A web application tool to explore monitoring data and model predictions related to stream and estuary eutrophication
  • Underwater robot getting close-up look at Kaikōura Canyon

    Media release
    A six-metre long orange underwater robot is flying through the Kaikōura Canyon for the next month collecting information on how the canyon has changed since the 2016 earthquake.
  • Suspended sediment dynamics in New Zealand Rivers

    Research Project
    Impacts of catchment characteristics on the timing of sediment delivery during runoff events.
  • Braided river morphodynamics and invasive exotic vegetation

    Research Project
    Braided rivers are an arena where woody weeds and floods are in constant competition with each other.
    Braided rivers naturally flood frequently, repeatedly mobilising their bed sediments and shifting their multiple channels.
  • Sedimentation effects

    Research Project
    A combination of field surveys and on-site observations are being used along with laboratory-based experiments to determine the effects of seabed disturbance on benthic life.