Holocene peat formation in the lower parts of the Netherlands

Pons, L.J.

doi:10.1007/978-94-015-7997-1_2

Cited by 42 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Beets and Van der Spek 2000; Berendsen and Stouthamer 2000;Vos 2015). When relative sea level rise decelerated during the late Holocene, primary marshes and mires started evolving into ombrotrophic peat domes (bogs dominated by Sphagnum spp) surrounded by minerotrophic fens composed of Phragmites, Carex, and occasional tree species such as Alnus (Verhoeven 1992;Pons 1992). Over the last 2,500 years, large storm surges breached the northern and southern parts of the coastal barrier.…”

Section: Geographical Setting and History Of The Dutch Coastal Plainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies used the extent of dykes and parcelling patterns to reconstruct peat bog colonization, and delineate the former peat bog area (Pons 1992); an example of this is given in Fig. 4.…”

Section: Creating a Historic Elevation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was assumed that the coastal plain of AD 1000 was still largely in equilibrium, so sedimentation and peat growth had been able to keep up with relative sea level rise until that time, and the entire surface elevation was above msl (cf. Pons 1992). Peatlands are complicated patchworks of different peat types depending on, among other factors, local hydrology, sediment inputs, vegetation succession and subsurface characteristics.…”

Section: Creating a Historic Elevation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Background image created with licensed ArcGIS® software, using imagery published by Aerodata/Cyclomedia on the ArcGIS online platform (powered by ESRI) Fig. 5 Reconstruction of the peat bogs and fens landscape around AD 800, based on palaeobotanical and palaeogeographic reconstructions (Pons 1992;Vos et al 2011;Vos 2015). The location of Fig.…”

Section: Mined Peatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is an abundance of data on the height of peat bogs in current peatlands (e.g., Borger 1992;De Bont 2008), and height estimates from palaeo-landscape reconstructions (Pons 1992;De Bont 2008), which was used to transform the historic peat landscape to the desired elevation model (DEM1000). It was conservatively assumed that all peat bogs had reached an elevation of 2 m amsl (i.e., 1.7 m above Dutch Ordnance Datum to correct for background subsidence), with a range of 1-4 m. The fact that bogs have slopes was not accounted for in this study.…”

Section: Creating a Historic Elevation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Double trouble: subsidence and CO2 respiration due to 1,000 years of Dutch coastal peatlands cultivation

Meulen²,

2016

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Coastal plains are amongst the most densely populated areas in the world. Many coastal peatlands are drained to create arable land. This is not without consequences; physical compaction of peat and its degradation by oxidation lead to subsidence, and oxidation also leads to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). This study complements existing studies by quantifying total land subsidence and associated CO 2 respiration over the past millennium in the Dutch coastal peatlands, to gain insight into the consequences of cultivating coastal peatlands over longer timescales. Results show that the peat volume loss was 19.8 km 3 , which lowered the Dutch coastal plain by 1.9 m on average, bringing most of it below sea level. At least 66 % of the volume reduction is the result of drainage, and 34 % was caused by the excavation and subsequent combustion of peat. The associated CO 2 respiration is equivalent to a global atmospheric CO 2 concentration increase of~0.39 ppmv. Cultivation of coastal peatlands can turn a carbon sink into a carbon source. If the path taken by the Dutch would be followed worldwide, there will be double trouble: globally significant carbon emissions and increased flood risk in a globally important human habitat. The effects would be larger than the historic ones because most of the cumulative Dutch subsidence and peat loss was accomplished with much less efficient techniques than those available now.

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Section: Geographical Setting and History Of The Dutch Coastal Plainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Creating a Historic Elevation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Creating a Historic Elevation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mined Peatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Creating a Historic Elevation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Double trouble: subsidence and CO2 respiration due to 1,000 years of Dutch coastal peatlands cultivation

Meulen²,

2016

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A new soil mechanics approach to quantify and predict land subsidence by peat compression

Koster

Erkens

Zwanenburg

2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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Land subsidence threatens many coastal areas. Quantifying current and predicting future subsidence are essential to sustain the viability of these areas with respect to rising sea levels. Despite its scale and severity, methods to quantify subsidence are scarce. In peat‐rich subsidence hot spots, subsidence is often caused by peat compression. We introduce the standard Cone Penetration Test (CPT) as a technique to quantify subsidence due to compression of peat. In a test in the Holland coastal plain, the Netherlands, we found a strong relationship between thickness reduction of peat and cone resistance, due to an increase in peat stiffness after compression. We use these results to quantify subsidence of peat in subsiding areas of Sacramento‐San Joaquin delta and Kalimantan, and found values corresponding with previously made observations. These results open the door for CPT as a new method to document past and predict future subsidence due to peat compression over large areas.

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