Sediment transport pathways and acoustic floor classification of a coastal lagoon: Case study the Pappas lagoon NW Peloponnesus, Greece

Fifty seven (57) surface sediment samples were collected from the floor of the Pappas lagoon and analyzed for their grain size, following standard laboratory techniques and clay minerals using XRD. The gain size trend analysis identified the dominant sediment pathways and directional trends which could be related to the predominant wind direction and the sediment influx through the inlets of the lagoon. The geographic distribution of clay minerals appears zonal character points a local source from the terrains fringing the lagoon. The acoustic data, collected by means of a 100 kHz side scan sonar system and classified into six acoustic classes, using SonarClass classification. arc correlated well with the predominant surface sediment types. and thus the spatial distribution of the classes can be considered to represent the spatial pattern of sedimentary assemblages.