Final Report for Understanding Sediment Availability to Reduce Tidal Marsh Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise in the Northeast
Dates
Publication Date
2022-10-11
Citation
Woodruff, Jonathon, 2022, Final Report for Understanding Sediment Availability to Reduce Tidal Marsh Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise in the Northeast
Summary
Tidal marshes along the Northeast U.S. Atlantic coastline are a valuable natural resource threatened by historical activities, coastal development, and sea level rise. Given their importance, billions of dollars have recently been allocated for tidal marsh restoration and creation. However, it remains unclear where and under what conditions restoration efforts are most likely to succeed. A critical factor controlling marsh survival and adaptability to rising sea level is an adequate supply of sediment for supporting upward growth of marshes, yet sediment availability and the factors that control its delivery remain poorly constrained. The primary goal of this project was to identify the primary sediment sources and mechanisms of delivery [...]
Summary
Tidal marshes along the Northeast U.S. Atlantic coastline are a valuable natural resource threatened by historical activities, coastal development, and sea level rise. Given their importance, billions of dollars have recently been allocated for tidal marsh restoration and creation. However, it remains unclear where and under what conditions restoration efforts are most likely to succeed. A critical factor controlling marsh survival and adaptability to rising sea level is an adequate supply of sediment for supporting upward growth of marshes, yet sediment availability and the factors that control its delivery remain poorly constrained. The primary goal of this project was to identify the primary sediment sources and mechanisms of delivery to marshes and to quantity how resultant deposition varies within the Northeastern, U.S. Atlantic coastline. To meet this goal, we collected instrumental observations and field samples from a network of nine study marshes across the region. Our results identify marshes supported by sediment from both land and marine sources and help. These results establish constraints on the amount of sediment reaching different marshes and describe how it is distributed spatially within those marshes. We have developed a simple method for quantifying sediment accumulation in marshes and applied this to the development of a model that can predict patterns and amounts of marsh sedimentation from readily available geospatial data.
