Coastal peat‐beds and peatlands of the southern North Sea: their past, present and future

Abstract

Peat layers are well represented in the Holocene coastal deposits of the southern North Sea and provide evidence as to the extent and nature of the fens and bogs that occupied the region in the mid and late Holocene. While natural processes contributed to their demise, without human interference extensive areas of peatland would remain. We review the characteristics of the vegetation of these peatlands along with the processes that influenced their development. Spatial and temporal trends are explored through the use of palaeogeographic maps from three areas: the East Anglian Fenland, the Romney Marsh area and the Netherlands. The palaeoecological evidence indicates that eutrophic vegetation promoted by rising relative sea level (RSL) dominated in the mid Holocene, with a trend towards the development of oligotrophic and ombrotrophic vegetation in the late Holocene as the rate of RSL rise declined. Nevertheless, areas of eutrophic vegetation appear capable of long‐term stability with areas of fen woodland and herbaceous fen persisting at some locations for several thousand years in the mid and late Holocene. Areas of active peat growth in the region are now largely confined to small remnants within agricultural settings. To retain their characteristic biodiversity these remnants have been managed using traditional practices, although their small size and fragmented distribution limits their biodiversity value. Biodiversity concerns and the ecosystem services peatlands provide, notably carbon sequestration and flood attenuation, underlie recent restoration projects. These efforts are likely to receive additional impetus as a consequence of rising water levels, given projected rates of RSL rise. Future large‐scale restoration can be informed by a greater understanding of the processes that formed and sustained coastal peatlands in the past. We identify advances in palaeoenvironmental research that could enhance restoration efforts and help maximise the ecosystem services delivered through such projects.

System responses to Holocene relative sea-level rise and sediment supply in a macrotidal estuary

“…The basal peat in the lower portion of the Brough sequence is consistent with the presence of freshwater aquatic and eutrophic wetlands during the early to mid-Holocene (Metcalfe et al, 2000), with paludification initiated by RSL rise raising the local water table. The transition into silty-peat units, at c. 4000 cal years BP, and subsequent shifts into minerogenic silt-clay units, is consistent with the sedimentary succession seen in other Humber sequences (Long et al, 1998;Metcalfe et al, 2000), and elsewhere around the North Sea region (Waller and Kirby, 2021).…”

“…Anthropogenic activities become increasingly significant in the late-Holocene, with deforestation altering the sediment mobilisation within the Humber catchment (Beckett, 1981;Buckland and Sadler, 1985;Smith, 1958), and the Tees (Plater et al, 2000a(Plater et al, , 2000b, increasing the delivery of sediment supplied to coastal lowlands. The Humber and other southern North Sea regions have also experienced rapid changes during the last several centuries due to the land reclamation and management practices (Heathcote, 1951;Metcalfe et al, 2000;Sheppard, 1966;Waller and Kirby, 2021), resulting in a significant reduction in the area of intertidal and wetland environments and corresponding changes in tidal regime and resilience (Jickells et al, 2000;Metcalfe et al, 2000).…”

“…As modern rates of sea-level rise reach those experienced in the mid-Holocene in the Humber (Fox-Kemper et al, 2021;Long et al, 1998;Metcalfe et al, 2000;Palmer et al, 2018), conditions for peat accumulation may be met, and the development of coastal wetlands could feasibly occur in the Humber and potentially in other marcotidal, tide dominated estuaries under similar conditions. Waller and Kirby (2021) provide a summary of the potential opportunities of wetland restoration, and the multiple benefits and ecosystem services they provide as a potential sustainable management solution to future coastal change.…”

“…At the mid-late Holocene boundary, at 4200 years BP (Walker et al, 2012), the mean RSL rate continued to slow and the role of more regional and local mechanisms became dominant, with the relative importance of drivers varying spatially and temporally (Hamilton et al, 2019; Shennan et al, 2000; Waller and Kirby, 2021). Such drivers include changes in tidal range, sediment supply and compaction, as well as the role of human activity in the late Holocene, with peat sedimentation typically replaced by minerogenic sedimentation during this period, and a loss of coastal wetlands (Baeteman and Declercq, 2002; Pierik et al, 2017; Waller and Kirby, 2021).…”

A Thermal Study on Peat Oxidation Behavior in the Presence of an Iron-Based Catalyst

“…Peat is among the most commonly discussed types of fossil fuel alternatives for improving the world's production of hydrocarbons and fuels due to the shortage of unconventional hydrocarbon reserves [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Furthermore, the last two decades have witnessed a huge growth in fossil fuel demand and consumption which has resulted in insufficient supply from the oil market.…”