A Close Coupling Between Salt Marsh Accretion Rates and Sea-Level Change Determined Through High Resolution Lead-210 Geochronologies: Evidence from Long Island, USA and Implications for Coastal Zone Change.

HR: 14:10h
AN: H23J-03 [Abstracts]
TI: A Close Coupling Between Salt Marsh Accretion Rates and Sea-Level Change Determined Through High Resolution Lead-210 Geochronologies: Evidence from Long Island, USA and Implications for Coastal Zone Change.
AU: * Kolker, A S
EM: kolker@msrc.sunysb.edu
AF: Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 United States
AU: Goodbred, S L
EM: steven.goodbred@vanderbilt.edu
AF: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University VU Station B #351805 2301 Vanderbilt Place , Nashville, TN 37235-1805 United States
AU: Hameed, S
EM: hameed@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
AF: Institute for Planetary and Terrestrial Atmospheres, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 United States
AU: Cochran, J K
EM: kcochran@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
AF: Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 United States
AB: Salt marshes in varied physiographic environments within the same region respond differently to similar climatic and meteorological forcings. Accretion rate geochronologies from four embayments in Long Island, NY, U.S.A., were determined using the naturally occurring radioisotope, ²¹⁰Pb. These sediment geochronologies were correlated to local climate proxies; a record of sea level from the Battery Park tide gauge proved most useful. Salt marsh accretion rates track changes in the tide gauge record on time scales of 2-5 years, which is a tighter coupling than reported in many previous studies. Accretion rates in an upper meso-tidal, low- fetch setting correlated with the position of annual mean sea level. In environments with lower tidal ranges and longer fetches changes in salt marsh accretion rates appear to track the annualized rate of mean sea-level change. Much of this short-term variability in the tide gauge record appears to be associated with meteorological forcings. This study presents a detailed framework for understanding coastal zone evolution over the past century. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the impacts of climate variability on coastal ecosystems may be as dependent on the geological surroundings as they are on the varying climatic parameters.
DE: 0442 Estuarine and nearshore processes (4235)
DE: 0497 Wetlands (1890)
DE: 1115 Radioisotope geochronology
DE: 1625 Geomorphology and weathering (0790, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1886)
DE: 1641 Sea level change (1222, 1225, 4556)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005