Skip to main content

IMIS

A new integrated search interface will become available in the next phase of marineinfo.org.
For the time being, please use IMIS to search available data

 

[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Coastal marsh response to historical and future sea-level acceleration
Kirwan, M.; Temmerman, S. (2009). Coastal marsh response to historical and future sea-level acceleration. Quat. Sci. Rev. 28(17-18): 1801-1808. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.02.022
In: Quaternary Science Reviews. Pergamon Press: Oxford; New York. ISSN 0277-3791; e-ISSN 1873-457X, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Marine/Coastal; Brackish water; Fresh water

Authors  Top 

Abstract
    We consider the response of marshland to accelerations in the rate of sea-level rise by utilizing two previously described numerical models of marsh elevation. In a model designed for the Scheldt Estuary (Belgium–SW Netherlands), a feedback between inundation depth and suspended sediment concentrations allows marshes to quickly adjust their elevation to a change in sea-level rise rate. In a model designed for the North Inlet Estuary (South Carolina), a feedback between inundation and vegetation growth allows similar adjustment. Although the models differ in their approach, we find that they predict surprisingly similar responses to sea-level change. Marsh elevations adjust to a step change in the rate of sea-level rise in about 100 years. In the case of a continuous acceleration in the rate of sea-level rise, modeled accretion rates lag behind sea-level rise rates by about 20 years, and never obtain equilibrium. Regardless of the style of acceleration, the models predict approximately 6–14 cm of marsh submergence in response to historical sea-level acceleration, and 3–4 cm of marsh submergence in response to a projected scenario of sea-level rise over the next century. While marshes already low in the tidal frame would be susceptible to these depth changes, our modeling results suggest that factors other than historical sea-level acceleration are more important for observations of degradation in most marshes today.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors