Watershed sediment cannot offset sea level rise in most US tidal wetlands
In: Science (Washington). American Association for the Advancement of Science: New York, N.Y. ISSN 0036-8075; e-ISSN 1095-9203, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Ensign, S.H.
- Halls, J.N.
- Peck, E.K.
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| Abstract |
Sea-level rise threatens to overtake coastal wetlands, but elevation-building processes, including deposition of sediments from upstream, can help keep wetlands above water. Ensign et al. investigated whether watershed sediment loads are enough to keep up with sea-level rise at US coasts (see the Perspective by Larsen and Milligan). Their model conservatively estimated that incoming sediment loads may be sufficient in the western Gulf of Mexico and Pacific coasts but insufficient in other regions where most watersheds are smaller. Local accretion is often higher than predicted from the model, suggesting an important role for biological processes to raise marsh elevation in the face of sea-level rise. —Bianca Lopez
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