Faculty of Science
Department of Oceanography
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | CANADA B3H 4R2 | +1 (902) 494-3557

Bernard P. Boudreau

Department of Oceanography
Dalhousie University
1355 Oxford Street
PO BOX 15000
Halifax NS  B3H 4R2

Room 5611 LSC

Phone: (902) 494-8895
   Fax: (902) 494-3877
Email: bernie.boudreau@dal.ca

Education Background

  • PhD - Geology and Geophysics, Yale University
  • MPhil - Geology and Geophysics, Yale University
  • MS - Geology and Geophysics, Yale University
  • MS - Oceanography, Texas A&M University
  • BSc - Geology, University of New Brunswick

Awards and Honours

  • Associate Editor, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (1993-2002)
  • Associate Editor, Limnology and Oceanography (1993-1999)
  • Special Issue Co-Editor, American Journal of Science (Berner Volume)
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Member, Computers and Geoscience (1999-2010)
  • Associate Editor, L&O Fluids and Environments (2009-present)
  • Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, 1994-95
  • F. Mosey Visiting Scholar, University of Western Australia, June 2002
  • Faculty of Science Killam Professor (2009-2014)
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (inducted 2011)

Research Interests

  • Modelling of benthic processes and diagenesis
  • Sediment-water exchange and boundary layer processes
  • Mass transfer and reaction in porous media and in aqueous environments in general
  • Bioturbation and irrigation
  • Compaction and resuspension of sediments
  • Bubble formation and movement in sediments
  • Mathematical methods for the solution of reaction-transport equations

Boudreau, B.P. - 2011 - The mechanics of soft cohesive sediments - in Processes, Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediment, Reible, D., ed., Noblis., in press

Barry, M.A., Boudreau, B.P., and Johnson, B.D - 2011 - Gas Domes in Soft Cohesive Sediments - Geology, accepted November 2011

Johnson, B.D., Barry, M.A., Boudreau, B.P., Jumars, P.A., and Dorgan, K.M. - 2011 - Profiling fracture toughness in cohesive sediments - Geo-Marine Letters, 31, DOI 10.1007/s00367-011-0243-1

Barry, M.A., Boudreau, B.P., and Johnson, B.D. - 2011 - A new instrument for the in situ measurement of Young’s modulus in shallow coastal sediments - Geo-Marine Letters, submitted July 2011

Algar, C.K., Boudreau, B.P. and Barry, M.A. - 2011 - Release of Multiple Bubbles from Cohesive Sediments - Geophysical Research Letters, v. 38, L08606, doi:10.1029/2011GL046870

Algar, C.K., Boudreau, B.P. and Barry, M.A. - 2011 - Initial rise of bubbles in cohesive sediments by a process of viscoelastic fracture - Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, 116, B04207, doi:10.1029/2010JB008133

Meysman, F.J.R., Boudreau, B.P., and Middelburg, J.J. - 2010 - When and why does bioturbation lead to diffusive mixing? - Journal of Marine Research, 86, 881-920

Algar, C.K., and Boudreau, B.P. - 2010 - The stability of bubbles in a linear elastic medium: Implications for bubble growth in marine sediments - J. Geophys. Res.- Earth Surface, 115, F03012, doi:10.1029/2009JF001312

Barry, M.A., Boudreau, B.P. and Johnson, B.D. - 2010 - First-order description of the mechanical fracture behavior of fine-grained surficial marine sediments during gas bubble growth - J. Geophys. Res. - Earth Surface, 115, F04029, doi:10.1029/2010JF001833

Boudreau, B.P., Middelburg, J.J. and Meysman, F.J.R. - 2010 - Carbonate compensation dynamics - Geophysical Research Letters, 37, L03603, doi:10.1029/2009GL041847

Boudreau, B.P., Middelburg, J.J. and Meysman, F.J.R. - 2010 - Ongoing transients in carbonate compensation - Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 24, GB4010, doi:10.1029/2009GB003654

Boudreau, B.P., Arnosti, C., and Jørgensen, B.B. - 2008 - Organic matter decay - Science 319, Technical Comment 1616b (see: www.sciencemag.org)

Meysman, F.J.R., Malyuga, V.S., Boudreau, B.P., and Middelburg, J.J. - 2008 - Quantifying particle dispersal in aquatic sediments at short time scales: Model selection - Aquatic Biology 2, 239-254

Haeckel, M., Boudreau, B.P., and Wallmann, K. - 2008 - Bubble-induced porewater irrigation: A 3-D model for porewater mixing - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71, 5135-5154

Boudreau, B.P. - 2008 - Nodule morphology and growth model - Proc. US National Academy Science 105, E21

Meysman, F.J.R., Malyuga, V.S., Boudreau, B.P., and Middelburg, J.J. - 2008 - A general stochastic approach to particle dispersal in soils and sediment - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 72, 3460-3478

Huang, K., Boudreau, B.P., and Reed, D. - 2007 - Simulated fiddler-crab sediment mixing - Journal of Marine Research 65, 491-522

Meysman, F.R.J., Malyuga, V., Boudreau, B.P., and Middelburg, J.J. - 2007 - The influence of porosity gradients on mixing coefficients in sediments - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 71, 961-973

Algar, C.K. and B.P. Boudreau - 2009 - Transient growth of an isolated bubble in muddy, fine-grained sediments - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73, 2581-2591

Reed, D., Boudreau, B.P., and Huang, K. - 2007 - Transient tracer dynamics in a lattice-automaton model of bioturbation - Journal of Marine Research, 65, 813-833

Best, A., Richardson, M., Boudreau, B.P., Judd, A., Leifer, I., Lyons, A., Martens, C.S., Orange, D., and Wheeler, S. - 2006 - Shallow gassy marine sediments and their impact on society and global climate. - EOS, 87 (22), 213.

Reed, D., Huang, K., and Boudreau, B.P. - 2006 - Steady state tracer dynamics in a lattice-automaton model of bioturbation. - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 70, 5855-5867. 

Boudreau, B.P. and Meysman, F.J.R. - 2006 - Predicted tortuosity of muds. - Geology, 34, 693-696.

Dorgan, K.M., Jumars, P.A., Johnson, B.D., and Boudreau, B.P. - 2006 - Macrofaunal burrowing: The medium is the message. - Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review. 44, 85-121. CLC Press.

Jumars, P.A., Dorgan, K.M., Mayer, L.M., Boudreau, B.P., and Johnson, B.D. - 2006 - Material constraints on infaunal lifestyles: May the strong and the persistent forces be with you. - In: - Trace Fossils: Concepts, Problems, Prospects (W. Miller, III, Ed.), p. 441-456, Elsevier. 

Boudreau, B. P. - 2005 - Modelling mixing and diagenesis. - In: - Macro- and microorganisms in marine sediment (Kristingsen, E., Kostka, J., and Haese, R.H.,eds.), AGU Series "Coastal and Estuarine Studies" 60, p.323-340.

Meysman, F., Boudreau, B.P., and Middelburg, J.J. - 2005 - Modelling reactive transport in sediments subject to bioturbation and compaction. - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 222, 653-666.

Grigg, N.J., Boudreau, B.P., Webster, I.T. and Ford, P.W. - 2005 - The non-local model of porewater irrigation: limits to its equivalence with a cylinder diffusion model. - Journal of Marine Research, 63, 437-455.

Dorgan, K.M., Jumars, P.A., Johnson, B.D., Boudreau, B.P., and Landis, E. - 2005 - Burrowing by crack propagation: efficient locomotion through muddy sediments. - Nature, 433, 475.

Boudreau, B.P., Algar, C., Johnson, B.D., Croudace, I., Reed, A., Furukawa, Y., Dorgan, K.M., Jumars, P.A., Grader, A.S., and Gardiner, B.S. - 2005 - Bubble growth and rise in sediments. - Geology, 33, 517-520.

Boudreau, B.P. - 2004 - What controls the mixed-layer depth in deep-sea sediments? The importance of POC flux - COMMENT. - Limnol. Oceanogr. 49 ,620-622.

Boudreau, B.P., Meysman, F., and Middleburg, J.J. - 2004 - Multicomponent Ionic Diffusion in Porewaters- Revisited. - Earth Planetary Science Letters, 222 ,653-666.

Boudreau, B.P. - 2003 - Chemical Diffusion. - Encyclopedia of Sedimentology (G. Middleton, ed.), pp. 225-226.Elsevier.

Boudreau, B.P. - 2003 - Mixing Models. - Encyclopedia of Sedimentology (G. Middleton, ed.), pp. 450-451. Elsevier.

Meysman, F., Boudreau, B.P., and Middelburg, J.J. - 2003 - Relations between local, non-local, discreet and continuous models of bioturbation. - Journal of Marine Research, v. 61, 391-410.

Gardiner, B.S., Boudreau, B.P., and Johnson, B.D. - 2003 - Growth of disk-shaped bubbles in sediments by fracture. - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta v. 67, 1485-1494.

Mucci, A., Boudreau, B.P., and Guignard, C. - 2003 - Diagenetic mobility of trace elements in sediments covered by a flash flood deposit: Mn, Fe and As. - Applied Geochemistry v. 18, 1011-1026.

Gardiner, B.S., Boudreau, B.P., and Johnson, B.D. - 2003 - Diffusion-limited growth of a disk-shaped bubble. - Applied Mathematical Modelling v. 27, 817-829.

Choi, J., François-Carcaillet, F., and Boudreau, B.P. - 2002 - Lattice-automation bioturbation simulator (LABS): Implementation for small deposit feeders. - Computers and Geosciences, 28, 213-222.

Johnson, B., Boudreau, B.P., Gardiner, B., and Maass, R. - 2002 - Mechanical response of sediments to bubble growth. - Marine Geology, 187, 347-363.

Boudreau, B.P. et al. (14 co-authors) - 2001 - Permeable marine sediments; overturning an old paradigm. - EOS v. 82, 133-136.

Boudreau, B.P., Gardiner, B., and Johnson, B. - 2001 - Rate of growth of isolated bubbles in sediments with a distributed diagenetic source of methane. - Limnology and Oceanography, 46, 616-622. (See also the Erratum in the same issue)

Boudreau, B.P., Choi, J. and François-Carcaillet, F. - 2001 - Diffusion in a lattice-automation model of bioturbation by small deposit feeders. - Journal of Marine Research, 59, 749-768.

Thyne, G., Boudreau, B.P., Ramm, M. and Midtbø, R.E. - 2001 - Simulation of K-Spar dissolution and illitization in the Stratfjord formation, North Sea. - American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 85, 621-635.

Boudreau, B.P. - 2000 - The Mathematics of Early Diagenesis: From Worms to Waves. - Reviews in Geophysics, 38, 389-416.

Dade, B.D., Hogg, A., and Boudreau, B.P. - 2000 - Chapter 2, Physics of benthic boundary layers. - In: The Benthic Boundary Layer: Transport Processes and Biogeochemistry (Boudreau, B.P., and Jørgensen, B.B., eds), pp. 4-43. Oxford University Press.

Boudreau, B.P. - 2000 - Chapter 5, Solute transport in benthic boundary layers. - In: The Benthic Boundary Layer: Transport Processes and Biogeochemistry (Boudreau, B.P. and Jørgensen, B.B., eds), pp. 104-126. Oxford University Press.

Boudreau, B.P., and Jørgensen, B.B. - 2000 - Chapter 9, Diagenesis in the benthic boundary layer. - In: The Benthic Boundary Layer: Transport Processes and Biogeochemistry (Boudreau, B.P. and Jørgensen, B.B., eds), pp. 211-244. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511881-2

Boudreau, B.P. - 1999 - A theoretical investigation of the organic carbon-microbial biomass relation in sediments. - Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 17, 181-189.

Boudreau, B.P., and Bennett, R.H. - 1999 - New rheological and porosity equations for steady-state compaction. - American Journal of Science, 299, 517-528.

Boudreau, B.P. - 1999 - Metals and models: Diagenetic modelling in freshwater lacustrine sediments. - (Frey-Deevey Invited Review) Journal of Paleolimnology, 22, 227-251.

Gehlen, M., Mucci, A., and Boudreau, B.P. - 1999 - Modelling the distribution of stable carbon isotopes in porewaters of marine sediments. - Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66, 2763-2773.

Mulsow, S., Boudreau, B.P., and Smith, J.N. - 1998 - Bioturbation and porosity gradients. - Limnology and Oceanography, 43, 1-9.

Boudreau, B.P. - 1998 - Mean mixed depth of sediments: the wherefore and the why. - Limnology and Oceanography, 43, 524-526.

Canfield, D.E., Boudreau, B.P., Mucci, A., and Gunderson, J.K. - 1998 - The early diagenetic formation of organic sulfur in the sediments of Mangrove Lake, Bermuda. - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 62, 767-781.

Boudreau, B.P., Mucci, A., Sundby, B., Luther, G.W., and Silverberg, N. - 1998 - Comparative diagenesis at three sites on the Canadian continental margin. - Journal of Marine Research, 56, 1259-1284.