In this study, we investigated sedimentation differences between two distinctive cold seasons, in terms of hydmmeteorological and hydrodynamic conditions, in a coastal area of the Northern Baltic Sea in 2018-2020. A combination of sediment trap data, hydmmeteorological data and hydrodynamic modelling provided a unique set-up to discover differences in sedimentation rates and compositions. Our study shows that the averaged sedimentation accumulation rate (SAR) was nearly three times higher during warmer cold season (30.9 g m(-2) day(-1)), characterised by higher precipitation, especially rain and discharge, as well as snowless and open water conditions, compared to regular cold season (10.6 g m(-2) day(-1)). While sedimentation was higher during the warmer season, the mean sediment grain size (D-50) was higher during the regular cold season with permanent snow and ice cover. Similarly, while sediments of the regular cold season were organically rich, the total amount of organic matter accumulation was larger during the warmer cold season. Sediments consisted mostly of elastic matter (85-89%), of which the mean grain size varied from clay to fine silt (0.3-3.0 mu m). Sedimentation differences between the cold seasons can be explained by differences in precipitation, river flow, wind-induced resuspension and a low air pressure system forcing sea level changes. Sedimentation differences along the study bay were found to be connected to channel cross-sectional area and flow conditions caused by river input and sea level changes.

The influence of lake restoration efforts on lake bottom-water conditions and varve preservation is not well known. We studied varved sediments deposited during the last 80 years along a water-depth transect in the Enonsaari Deep, a deep-water area of the southernmost Enonselka Basin, Lake Vesijarvi, southern Finland. For the last few decades, the Enonselka Basin has been subject to ongoing restoration efforts. Varve, elemental, and diatom analyses were undertaken to explore how these actions and other human activities affected varve preservation in the Enonsaari Deep. In contrast to most varved Finnish lakes, whose water columns have a natural tendency to stratify, and possess varve records that span thousands of years, varve formation and preservation in Lake Vesijarvi was triggered by relatively recent anthropogenic stressors. The multi-core varve analysis revealed that sediment in the Enonsaari Deep was initially non-varved, but became fully varved in the late 1930s, a time of increasing anthropogenic influence on the lake. The largest spatial extent of varves occurred in the 1970s, which was followed by a period of less distinguishable varves, which coincided with diversion of sewage from the lake. Varve preservation weakened during subsequent decades and was terminated completely by lake aeration in the 2010s. Despite improvements in water quality, hypolimnetic oxygen depletion and varve preservation persisted beyond the reduction in sewage loading, initial aeration, and biomanipulation. These restoration efforts, however, along with other human actions such as harbor construction and dredging, did influence varve characteristics. Varves were also influenced by diatom responses to anthropogenic forcing, because diatoms form a substantial part of the varve structure. Of all the restoration efforts, a second episode of aeration seems to have had the single most dramatic impact on profundal conditions in the basin, resulting in replacement of a sediment accumulation zone by a transport or erosional zone in the Enonsaari Deep. We conclude that human activities in a lake and its catchment can alter lake hypolimnetic conditions, leading to shifts in lake bottom dynamics and changes in varve preservation.

Sediment resuspension is a frequent phenomenon in coastal areas and a key driver for many ecosystem functions. Sediment resuspension is often linked to biological and anthropogenic activities, which in combination with hydrodynamic forcing initiate sediment erosion and resuspension, if the erosion threshold (tau(c)) is exceeded. Despite its importance to ecosystem functions very few studies have provided measurements on natural assemblages for subtidal sediments. The aim of this study was to determinate key environmental variables regulating sediment resuspension potential across a sedimentary gradient in a subtidal coastal environment. In order to explore this, we sampled 16 sites encompassing a wide variety in environmental variables (e.g., grain size distribution, macrofaunal communities, vegetation) in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea. A core-based erosion device (EROMES) was used to determine sediment resuspension potential measures of erosion threshold, erosion rate (ER), and erosion constant (m(e)). Based on abiotic and biotic properties sampled, sediments diverged into two distinct groups; cohesive (muddy) and noncohesive (sandy) sediments. Results showed that abiotic sediment properties explained 38-53% and 15-36% of the total variation in resuspension potential measures in muddy and sandy sediments, respectively. In cumulative models, biota accounted for 12-26% and 6-24% to the total variation in muddy and sandy sediments, respectively. Sediment erodibility and resuspension potential of natural sediments is highly variable from local habitats to a larger seascape scale. Our results underline the importance of biota to resuspension potential measures in spatially variable environments.