Surface deposition and elevation change in five salt marshes, Humboldt Bay, CA, 2014-2019

Elevation change and surface deposition are important drivers of salt marsh ecological processes and represent two of the fundamental variables for determining marsh resilience to sea-level rise. Surface Elevation Tables with Marker Horizons (SET-MH) were used to measure plot-scale elevation change (SETs) and surface deposition (MHs) in five USGS study marshes located in Humboldt Bay, CA. SET-MHs were installed in 2014 (Mad River marsh and Manila marsh) and in 2015 (Jacoby marsh, White marsh, and Hookton marsh) and were measured during quarterly site visits. The SET-MH network includes two SETs and six MHs in each of the five study marshes. Measuring elevation change at the two SETs in each study marsh involves attaching a SET reader [...]