Articles | Volume 9, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-413-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-413-2021
Research article
 | 
25 May 2021
Research article |  | 25 May 2021

Biophysical controls of marsh soil shear strength along an estuarine salinity gradient

Megan N. Gillen, Tyler C. Messerschmidt, and Matthew L. Kirwan

Related authors

Different coastal marsh sites reflect similar topographic conditions under which bare patches and vegetation recovery occur
Chen Wang, Lennert Schepers, Matthew L. Kirwan, Enrica Belluco, Andrea D'Alpaos, Qiao Wang, Shoujing Yin, and Stijn Temmerman
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 71–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-71-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-71-2021, 2021
Short summary
Temperature sensitivity of organic-matter decay in tidal marshes
M. L. Kirwan, G. R. Guntenspergen, and J. A. Langley
Biogeosciences, 11, 4801–4808, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-4801-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-4801-2014, 2014

Related subject area

Cross-cutting themes: Impacts of climate change on Earth surface dynamics
Storm surge frequency, magnitude, and cumulative storm beach impact along the U.S. east coast
Rachele Dominguez, Michael Fenster, and John McManus
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-656,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-656, 2024
Short summary
Spatially coherent variability in modern orographic precipitation produces asymmetric paleo-glacier extents in flowline models: Olympic Mountains, USA
Andrew A. Margason, Alison M. Anders, Robert J. C. Conrick, and Gerard H. Roe
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 849–863, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-849-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-849-2023, 2023
Short summary
Modeling deadwood for rockfall mitigation assessments in windthrow areas
Adrian Ringenbach, Peter Bebi, Perry Bartelt, Andreas Rigling, Marc Christen, Yves Bühler, Andreas Stoffel, and Andrin Caviezel
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 1303–1319, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1303-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1303-2022, 2022
Short summary
A 4000-year debris flow record based on amphibious investigations of fan delta activity in Plansee (Austria, Eastern Alps)
Carolin Kiefer, Patrick Oswald, Jasper Moernaut, Stefano Claudio Fabbri, Christoph Mayr, Michael Strasser, and Michael Krautblatter
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1481–1503, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1481-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1481-2021, 2021
Short summary
Current glacier recession causes significant rockfall increase: the immediate paraglacial response of deglaciating cirque walls
Ingo Hartmeyer, Robert Delleske, Markus Keuschnig, Michael Krautblatter, Andreas Lang, Lothar Schrott, and Jan-Christoph Otto
Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 729–751, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-729-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-729-2020, 2020
Short summary

Cited articles

Ameen, A. D., Kolker, A. S., and Taylor, C. M.: Vegetation and Shear Strength in a Delta-splay Mouth Bar, Wetlands, 37, 1159–1168, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0948-7, 2017. 
Barbier, E. B., Hacker, S. D., Kennedy, C., Koch, E. W., Stier, A. C., and Silliman, B. R.: The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services, Ecol. Monogr., 81, 169–193, https://doi.org/10.1890/10-1510.1, 2011. 
Baustian, J. J., Mendelssohn, I. A., and Hester, M. W.: Vegetation's importance in regulating surface elevation in a coastal salt marsh facing elevated rates of sea level rise, Global Change Biol., 18, 3377–3382, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02792.x, 2012. 
Bernik, B. M., Pardue, J. H., and Blum, M. J.: Soil erodibility differs according to heritable trait variation and nutrient-induced plasticity in the salt marsh engineer Spartina alterniflora, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 601, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12689, 2018. 
Brock, M. A., Nielsen, D. L., and Crossle, K.: Changes in biotic communities developing from freshwater wetland sediments under experimental salinity and water regimes, Freshwater Biol., 50, 1376–1390, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2005.01408.x, 2005. 
Download
Short summary
We measured the shear strength of marsh soils along an estuarine salinity gradient to determine salinity's influence on marsh erodibility. Our work is one of the first studies to directly examine the relationship between salinity and marsh erodibility. We find that an increase in salinity correlates with higher soil shear strength values, indicating that salt marshes may be more resistant to erosion. We also show that both belowground biomass and soil properties drive shear strength differences.