Modeling Salinity Response to Relative Sea Level Rise in a Brackish Floodplain Region

Author(s):  
Robert L. Miller
2020 ◽  
Vol 644 ◽  
pp. 33-45
Author(s):  
JM Hill ◽  
PS Petraitis ◽  
KL Heck

Salt marshes face chronic anthropogenic impacts such as relative sea level rise and eutrophication, as well as acute disturbances from tropical storms that can affect the productivity of these important communities. However, it is not well understood how marshes already subjected to eutrophication and sea level rise will respond to added effects of episodic storms such as hurricanes. We examined the interactive effects of nutrient addition, sea level rise, and a hurricane on the growth, biomass accumulation, and resilience of the saltmarsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora in the Gulf of Mexico. In a microtidal marsh, we manipulated nutrient levels and submergence using marsh organs in which cordgrasses were planted at differing intertidal elevations and measured the impacts of Hurricane Isaac, which occurred during the experiment. Prior to the hurricane, grasses at intermediate and high elevations increased in abundance. After the hurricane, all treatments lost approximately 50% of their shoots, demonstrating that added nutrients and elevation did not provide resistance to hurricane disturbance. At the end of the experiment, only the highest elevations had been resilient to the hurricane, with increased above- and belowground growth. Added nutrients provided a modest increase in above- and belowground growth, but only at the highest elevations, suggesting that only elevation will enhance resilience to hurricane disturbance. These results empirically demonstrate that S. alterniflora in microtidal locations already subjected to submergence stress is less able to recover from storm disturbance and suggests we may be underestimating the loss of northern Gulf Coast marshes due to relative sea level rise.


Terra Nova ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Varekamp ◽  
E. Thomas ◽  
O. Plassche

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances E. Dunn ◽  
Philip S. J. Minderhoud

<p>As one of the largest deltas in the world, the Mekong delta is home to over 17 million people and supports internationally important agriculture. Recently deposited sediment compacts and causes subsidence in deltas, so they require regular sediment input to maintain elevation relative to sea level. These processes are complicated by human activities, which prevent sediment deposition indirectly through reducing fluvial sediment supply and directly through the construction of flood defence infrastructure on deltas, impeding floods which deliver sediment to the land. Additionally, anthropogenic activities increase the rate of subsidence through the extraction of groundwater and other land-use practices.</p><p>This research shows the potential for fluvial sediment delivery to compensate for sea-level rise and subsidence in the Mekong delta over the 21st century. We use detailed elevation data and subsidence scenarios in combination with regional sea-level rise and fluvial sediment flux projections to quantify the potential for maintaining elevation relative to sea level in the Mekong delta. We present four examples of localised sedimentation scenarios in specific areas, for which we quantified the potential effectiveness of fluvial sediment deposition for offsetting relative sea-level rise. The presented sediment-based adaptation strategies are complicated by existing land use, therefore a change in water and sediment management is required to effectively use natural resources and employ these adaptation methods. The presented approach could be an exemplar to assess sedimentation strategy feasibility in other delta systems worldwide that are under threat from sea-level rise.</p>


The Holocene ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Li ◽  
Cheng Zhu ◽  
Zhen Qin ◽  
Michael J Storozum ◽  
Tristram R Kidder

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Patrick Gold ◽  
James P. G. Fenton ◽  
Manuel Casas-Gallego ◽  
Vibor Novak ◽  
Irene Pérez-Rodríguez ◽  
...  

The island of Jamaica forms the northern extent of the Nicaraguan Rise, an elongate linear tectonic feature stretching as far as Honduras and Nicaragua to the south. Uplift and subaerial exposure of Jamaica during the Neogene has made the island rare within the Caribbean region, as it is the only area where rocks of the Nicaraguan Rise are exposed on land. Biostratigraphic dating and palaeoenvironmental interpretations using larger benthic foraminifera, supplemented by planktonic foraminifera, nannopalaeontology and palynology of outcrop, well and corehole samples has enabled the creation of a regional relative sea-level curve through identification of several depositional sequences. This study recognises ten unconformity-bounded transgressive-regressive sequences which record a complete cycle of relative sea level rise and fall. Sequences are recognised in the Early to ‘Middle’ Cretaceous (EKTR1), Coniacian-Santonian (STR1), Campanian (CTR1), Maastrichtian (MTR1-2), Paleocene-Early Eocene (PETR1), Eocene (YTR1-3) and Late Eocene-Oligocene (WTR1). These transgressive-regressive cycles represent second to fourth order sequences, although most tie with globally recognised third order sequences. Comparisons of the Jamaican relative sea-level curve with other published global mean sea-level curves show that local tectonics exerts a strong control on the deposition of sedimentary sequences in Jamaica. Large unconformities (duration >1 Ma) are related to significant regional tectonic events, with minor overprint of a global eustatic signal, while smaller unconformities (duration <1 Ma) are produced by global eustatic trends. The relatively low rates of relative sea-level rise calculated from the regional relative sea-level curve indicate that carbonate production rates were able to keep pace with the rate of relative sea-level rise accounting for the thick successions of Maastrichtian carbonates and those of the Yellow and White Limestone Groups. Carbonate platform drowning within the White Limestone Group during the Oligocene to Miocene is attributed to environmental deterioration given the low rates of relative sea-level rise.


2019 ◽  
pp. 103-126
Author(s):  
Stephen E. Darby ◽  
Kwasi Appeaning Addo ◽  
Sugata Hazra ◽  
Md. Munsur Rahman ◽  
Robert J. Nicholls

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-262
Author(s):  
Carolina Santana da Costa Santos ◽  
Fábio Ferreira Dias ◽  
Barbara Franz ◽  
Paulo Roberto Alves dos Santos ◽  
Thalita Da Fonseca Rodrigues ◽  
...  

Human activities change coastal ecosystems, but they are also altered by natural causes, such as the relative sea level rise. This work analyzes the influence of changes of the relative sea level at Guaratiba mangrove and Marambaia barrier island, in Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro State (SE, Brazil), based on photo interpretation. The objective of this study is to analyze the morphodynamics of Marambaia coastal sand barrier, estimating the rate of the shoreline change by mapping the vegetation line position, variations of dune extension and overwash processes. The Marambaia barrier island and Guaratiba mangrove are highly vulnerable to sea level rise. The mangrove is suffering pressure from the relative sea level rising and urbanization. The mangrove migration towards the continent is evident through the analyses of aerial images from 1976 to 2005. If the current erosion process continues in the Marambaia barrier island, a disruption in the central area of the sand bank should occur, which will create a new communication between Sepetiba Bay and the ocean. This break will change the present internal circulation of the bay and modify the ecosystems. Also considering the anthropic pressure, if the Marambaia barrier island breaks, the mangrove area will be reduced or disappear. The sea level rise and the sedimentation rate lowering will result in the migration and marine transgression in Marambaia barrier island and Guaratiba mangrove. EFEITOS DO AUMENTO RELATIVO DO NÍVEL DO MAR NA ILHA BARREIRA DE MARAMBAIA E DO MANGUEZAL DE GUARATIBA: BAÍA DE SEPETIBA (SE BRASIL) ResumoAs atividades humanas alteram os ecossistemas costeiros, mas estes também são alterados por causas naturais, como por exemplo, o aumento relativo do nível do mar. Este trabalho analisa a influência das mudanças relativas do nível do mar no manguezal de Guaratiba e na ilha barreira de Marambaia, na Baía de Sepetiba, localizada no Estado do Rio de Janeiro (SE, Brasil), com base na fotointerpretação. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a morfodinâmica da barreira costeira de areia de Marambaia, estimando a taxa de variação da linha de costa, mapeando a posição da linha de vegetação, variações da extensão dunar e os processos de overwash. A ilha barreira de Marambaia e o manguezal de Guaratiba são altamente vulneráveis à elevação do nível do mar. O manguezal está sofrendo pressão do aumento relativo do nível do mar e da urbanização. A migração do manguezal para o continente é evidente através da análise de imagens aéreas de 1976 a 2005. Se continuar o processo atual de erosão na ilha barreira de Marambaia, deverá ocorrer uma ruptura na área central do banco de areia, o que dará origem a uma nova comunicação entre a Baía de Sepetiba e a oceano. Essa quebra vai mudar a atual circulação interna da baía e modificar os ecossistemas. Se a ilha barreira de Marambaia se romper, a área de manguezal irá ser reduzida ou desaparecerá. Este efeito é tanto mais provável se for considerada também a pressão antrópica. A elevação do nível do mar e a redução da taxa de sedimentação resultarão na migração e transgressão marinha na barreira de Marambaia e no mangue de Guaratiba. Palavras-chave: Ilha da Barreira. Manguezal. Elevação do nível relativo do mar. Erosão costeira. Galgamento oceânico.


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