CABESTAN: Measurements in the Canche estuary

Measurements of dissolved and gaseous exchanges carried out during immersion and emersion (high and low tide), under varying illumination conditions, were supplemented by geochemical analyses, spectral analyses, analysis of carbon accumulation in sediments, and the participation of fauna and flora in these exchanges, all of which are key elements in understanding the processes and balances in these intertidal systems.

This was also an opportunity to validate on site the complementary nature of the approaches used by the different project teams, and to discuss how to take account of spatial heterogeneity at various scales. Back in our respective laboratories, a large number of analyses remain to be carried out.

This first large-scale campaign as part of the Cabestan project will provide a unique database for this estuary, and will feed into discussions and sampling strategies within the project, focusing respectively on benthic (seabed) biogeochemical processes in surficial sediments and carbon fluxes at interfaces.