Quantifying the contribution of sediment compaction to late Holocene salt-marsh sea-level reconstructions, North Carolina, USA

Matthew J. Brain; Andrew C. Kemp; Benjamin P. Horton; Stephen J. Culver; Andrew C. Parnell; Niamh Cahill

doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2014.08.003

Quantifying the contribution of sediment compaction to late Holocene salt-marsh sea-level reconstructions, North Carolina, USA

Matthew J. Brain^*, Andrew C. Kemp, Benjamin P. Horton, Stephen J. Culver, Andrew C. Parnell, Niamh Cahill

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Salt-marsh sediments provide accurate and precise reconstructions of late Holocene relative sea-level changes. However, compaction of salt-marsh stratigraphies can cause post-depositional lowering (PDL) of the samples used to reconstruct sea level, creating an estimation of former sea level that is too low and a rate of rise that is too great. We estimated the contribution of compaction to late Holocene sea-level trends reconstructed at Tump Point, North Carolina, USA. We used a geotechnical model that was empirically calibrated by performing tests on surface sediments from modern depositional environments analogous to those encountered in the sediment core. The model generated depth-specific estimates of PDL, allowing samples to be returned to their depositional altitudes. After removing an estimate of land-level change, error-in-variables changepoint analysis of the decompacted and original sea-level reconstructions identified three trends. Compaction did not generate artificial sea-level trends and cannot be invoked as a causal mechanism for the features in the Tump Point record. The maximum relative contribution of compaction to reconstructed sea-level change was 12%. The decompacted sea-level record shows 1.71mmyr^-1 of rise since AD 1845. © 2014 University of Washington.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	41-51
Journal	Quaternary Research
Volume	83
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2014.08.003
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2015
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation ( EAR 1402017 ) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NA11OAR4310101 ). We thank Don Barber, Reide Corbett, John Woods, Ane Garc\u00EDa-Artola, Hanna Thornberg, and Ray Tichenor for their help in the field; and Neil Tunstall, Alison George and Chris Longley for laboratory support. We are grateful to the US Fish and Wildlife service for permitting collection of sediment samples in the Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge (Special Use Permit 42530-12-004). This is a contribution to PALSEA2 and IGCP Project 588 \u201CPreparing for Coastal Change\u201D. The manuscript benefited from the thoughtful and productive comments of Robin Edwards and an anonymous reviewer.

Research Keywords

Post-depositional lowering
Salt-marsh peat
Tump Point

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title = "Quantifying the contribution of sediment compaction to late Holocene salt-marsh sea-level reconstructions, North Carolina, USA",

abstract = "Salt-marsh sediments provide accurate and precise reconstructions of late Holocene relative sea-level changes. However, compaction of salt-marsh stratigraphies can cause post-depositional lowering (PDL) of the samples used to reconstruct sea level, creating an estimation of former sea level that is too low and a rate of rise that is too great. We estimated the contribution of compaction to late Holocene sea-level trends reconstructed at Tump Point, North Carolina, USA. We used a geotechnical model that was empirically calibrated by performing tests on surface sediments from modern depositional environments analogous to those encountered in the sediment core. The model generated depth-specific estimates of PDL, allowing samples to be returned to their depositional altitudes. After removing an estimate of land-level change, error-in-variables changepoint analysis of the decompacted and original sea-level reconstructions identified three trends. Compaction did not generate artificial sea-level trends and cannot be invoked as a causal mechanism for the features in the Tump Point record. The maximum relative contribution of compaction to reconstructed sea-level change was 12%. The decompacted sea-level record shows 1.71mmyr-1 of rise since AD 1845. {\textcopyright} 2014 University of Washington.",

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Quantifying the contribution of sediment compaction to late Holocene salt-marsh sea-level reconstructions, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

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Research Keywords

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