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Abstract We describe a procedure for rapid characterization of shallow-water, contaminated wetlands. Terrain-conductivity (TC), vertical-magnetic-gradiometry, and surface-water-chemistry data were obtained from a shallow-draft paddleboat operable in as little as 0.3 m of water. Measurements were taken every 2 s, with data-acquisition rates exceeding 10 km of line (12000 data points) per 8-hr field day. We applied this procedure to an urban wetland that is affected by point and nonpoint sources of pollution. We used a one-dimensional, laterally constrained inversion algorithm to invert the apparent-conductivity data set obtained from the TC survey and to create a pseudo-2D image of sediment conductivity. The continuously recorded surface-water depth and conductivity values were input as a priori information in the inversion. We used soil chemistry determined for 28 sediment samples collected from the site, as well as lithologic logs from across the wetland, to constrain interpretation of the geophysical data. The inverted sediment conductivity describes a pattern of contamination probably attributable to leachates from adjacent landfills and/or to saltwater ingress from a partial tidal connection that is not obvious in the surface-water data. Magnetic-gradiometry values and the in-phase component of an EM31 response both reflect primarily the distribution of junk metal associated with a legacy of illegal dumping. Historic aerial photographs suggest that this distribution reflects land-use history and defines the maximum previous extent of an adjacent landfill and a pattern of dumping correlated with historic roadways.