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CCRU logoCambridge Coastal Research Unit (CCRU)

Providing highest quality scientific research to underpin sustainable coastal management

 

Marsh surface sedimentation and elevation changes

Marsh surface sedimentation and elevation changes

Measurements using sedimentation-erosion-table, Scolt Head Island
Measurements using sedimentation-erosion-table, Scolt Head Island

The CCRU has considerable experience in monitoring sedimentation rates on wetland surfaces using a variety of techniques. An experimental comparison of different methods for estimating vertical marsh growth was initiated in 1994, using sites in Norfolk and Essex in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey and Louisiana Universities' Marine Consortium. Research on Scolt Head Island, North Norfolk, UK, using marker horizons on the marsh surface to record subsequent depositional increments at regular intervals, dates back to the 1930s and 1940s. The regular measurements of marsh surface accretion and elevation change are an on-going research activity at the CCRU. In addition, short-term, tidal sedimentation patters have also been studied using sediment traps deployed on the marsh surface. This technique has successfully been applied to mature, natural marshes, in Norfolk, and to a young, newly created salt marsh that forms part of a managed realignment scheme, in Essex on the UK East coast.