Late Quaternary Sea-Level Change and Crustal Rise at Boston, Massachusetts, with Notes on the Autocompaction of Peat

Kaye, Clifford A.; Barghoorn, Elso S.

doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1964)75[63:lqscac]2.0.co;2

Cited by 210 publications

(84 citation statements)

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“…As pointed out by Stevenson and others [24], long-term accretion rates are influenced by the length of the record over which they are integrated. This point is, perhaps, obvious since Kaye and Barghoorn [25] pointed out the problems of autocompaction in peats. However, even in such a comparatively short period as 200 years, the Nanticoke marshes demonstrate that vertical accretion rates can vary widely, generally increasing toward the surface.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Accretion rates in brackish marshes of a Chesapeake Bay estuarine tributary

Kearney

Ward

1986

Geo-Marine Letters

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Vertical accretion rates were determined for brackish marshes in an estuarine tributary on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay. These rates determined on the basis of the peak phase of early European settlement as recorded in pollen spectra of the marsh sediments range between 0.18 to 0.74 cm yr * over approximately the last 194 years and generally decrease down the estuary. More recenl accretion rates (estimated from changes in pine pollen concentration) appear to have accelerated, exceeding the present local rate of sea level rise. The implications for using estuarine marsh accretion rates as surrogates for changes in sea level are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Accretion rates in brackish marshes of a Chesapeake Bay estuarine tributary

Kearney

Ward

1986

Geo-Marine Letters

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“…Nearly 50 years ago, Kaye and Barghoorn (1964) described quantitatively the autocompaction of marsh soils that results in a change in level of the marsh surface. The implications of their findings are twofold.…”

Section: Wetland Elevation Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Relative Sea-Level Rise and Submergence Potential at a Coastal Wetland

Cahoon

2014

Estuaries and Coasts

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A tide gauge records a combined signal of the vertical change (positive or negative) in the level of both the sea and the land to which the gauge is affixed; or relative sealevel change, which is typically referred to as relative sea-level rise (RSLR). Complicating this situation, coastal wetlands exhibit dynamic surface elevation change (both positive and negative), as revealed by surface elevation table (SET) measurements, that is not recorded at tide gauges. Because the usefulness of RSLR is in the ability to tie the change in sea level to the local topography, it is important that RSLR be calculated at a wetland that reflects these local dynamic surface elevation changes in order to better estimate wetland submergence potential. A rationale is described for calculating wetland RSLR (RSLR wet ) by subtracting the SET wetland elevation change from the tide gauge RSLR. The calculation is possible because the SET and tide gauge independently measure vertical land motion in different portions of the substrate. For 89 wetlands where RSLR wet was evaluated, wetland elevation change differed significantly from zero for 80 % of them, indicating that RSLR wet at these wetlands differed from the local tide gauge RSLR. When compared to tide gauge RSLR, about 39 % of wetlands experienced an elevation rate surplus and 58 % an elevation rate deficit (i.e., sea level becoming lower and higher, respectively, relative to the wetland surface). These proportions were consistent across saltmarsh, mangrove, and freshwater wetland types. Comparison of wetland elevation change and RSLR is confounded by high levels of temporal and spatial variability, and would be improved by co-locating tide gauge and SET stations near each other and obtaining longterm records for both.

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“…The emphasis here clearly is upon physiographic "stage" and not finite "age" of the marsh in question. Numerous Pacific coast marshes are no more than 100 to 200 years old (Macdonald and Barbour, 1974;Macdonald, 1977a), whereas thick peat accumulations at places in Massachusetts are approximately 4000 years old (Redfield, 1972); some may be more than 5500 years old (Kaye and Barghoorn, 1964).…”

Section: Marsh Maturationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, freezing of the marsh surface retards biological decomposition and physical erosion of the substrate, which also enhances peat accumulation. Because peat is the most compressible of all natural sediments and may even compress under its own weight (autocompaction; see Bloom, 1964;Kaye and Barghoorn, 1964), thick accumulations may build up over a relatively short period of time. Even this peat contains considerable inorganic sediment, however (Ibid.…”

Section: Atlantic Marsh Sedimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%