Salt marsh surface survives true-to-scale simulated storm surges
Spencer, T.; Möller, I.; Rupprecht, F.; Bouma, T.J.; van Wesenbeeck, B.K.; Kudella, M.; Paul, M.; Jensen, K.; Wolters, G.; Miranda-Lange, M.; Schimmels, S. (2016). Salt marsh surface survives true-to-scale simulated storm surges. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 41: 543-552. dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.3867
In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms: the Journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group. John Wiley/Wiley: Chichester, Sussex; New York. ISSN 0197-9337; e-ISSN 1096-9837, more
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| Author keywords |
coastal wetland; surface elevation change; wetland soil stability; wave energy dissipation; wave flume experiment |
| Authors | | Top |
- Spencer, T.
- Möller, I.
- Rupprecht, F.
- Bouma, T.J., more
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- van Wesenbeeck, B.K.
- Kudella, M.
- Paul, M.
- Jensen, K.
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- Wolters, G.
- Miranda-Lange, M.
- Schimmels, S.
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| Abstract |
A full-scale controlled experiment was conducted on an excavated and re-assembled coastal wetland surface, typicalof floristically diverse northwest European saltmarsh. The experiment was undertaken with true-to-scale water depths and waves in alarge wave flume, in order to assess the impact of storm surge conditions on marsh surface soils, initially with three different plantspecies and then when this marsh canopy had been mowed. The data presented suggests a high bio-geomorphological resilienceof salt marshes to vertical sediment removal, with less than 0.6 cm average vertical lowering in response to a sequence of simulatedstorm surge conditions. Both organic matter content and plant species exerted an important influence on both the variability anddegree of soil surface stability, with surfaces covered by a flattened canopy of the salt marsh grass Puccinellia experiencing a lowerand less variable elevation loss than those characterized by Elymus or Atriplex that exhibited considerable physical damage throughstem folding and breakage. |
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