Journal article
Late Holocene Marsh Expansion in Southern San Francisco Bay, California
Estuaries and coasts, v 36(3), pp 643-653
01 May 2013
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Currently, the largest tidal wetlands restoration project on the US Pacific Coast is being planned and implemented in southern San Francisco Bay; however, knowledge of baseline conditions of salt marsh extent in the region prior to European settlement is limited. Here, analysis of 24 sediment cores collected from ten intact southern San Francisco Bay tidal marshes were used to reconstruct spatio-temporal patterns of marsh expansion to provide historic context for current restoration efforts. A process-based marsh elevation simulation model was used to identify interactions between sediment supply, sea-level rise, and marsh formation rates. A distinct age gradient was found: expansion of marshes in the central portion of southern San Francisco Bay dated to 500 to 1500 calendar years before present, while expansion of marshes in southernmost San Francisco Bay dated to 200 to 700 calendar years before present. Thus, much of the tidal marsh area mapped by US Coast Survey during the 1853-1857 period were in fact not primeval tidal marshes that had persisted for millennia but were recently formed landscapes. Marsh expansion increased during the Little Ice Age, when freshwater inflow and sediment influx were higher than during the previous millennium, and also during settlement, when land use changes, such as introduction of livestock, increased watershed erosion, and sediment delivery.
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Details
- Title
- Late Holocene Marsh Expansion in Southern San Francisco Bay, California
- Creators
- Elizabeth Burke Watson - Environmental Protection AgencyRoger Byrne - University of California, Berkeley
- Publication Details
- Estuaries and coasts, v 36(3), pp 643-653
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 11
- Grant note
- US Environmental Protection Agency; United States Environmental Protection Agency Marine Conservation Biology Institute Archaeological Research Facility, U.C. Berkeley
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000318295300017
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84876847120
- Other Identifier
- 991019298704204721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Environmental Sciences
- Marine & Freshwater Biology