Assessing δ13C and C/N ratios from organic material in archived cores as Holocene sea level and palaeoenvironmental indicators in the Humber Estuary, UK

Lamb, Angela L.; Vane, Christopher H.; Gitau, Wilson; Rees, John; Moss‐Hayes, Vicky

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2007.06.012

Cited by 67 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…C due to plant type, sediment mixing, and decomposition (Lamb et al, 2007;Kemp et al, 2010). Following the methodology of Kemp et al (2010) core samples were treated with 5 % hydrochloric acid to remove carbonates, washed in distilled water, and dried before homogenization in an agate ball mill.…”

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Coastal subsidence in Oregon, USA, during the giant Cascadia earthquake of AD 1700

Hawkes

Horton

Nelson

et al. 2011

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Coastal subsidence in Oregon, USA, during the giant Cascadia earthquake of AD 1700

Hawkes

Horton

Nelson

et al. 2011

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…The ability to distinguish between sediments derived from salt-marsh and freshwater upland environments presents a means to use δ 13 C values as a sea-level indicator by recognition of these floral environments in organic sedimentary sequences (Wilson et al, 2005b;Lamb et al, 2007). This approach is applicable in study areas where C 3 and C 4 plants have existed (with different distributions) over the period under consideration (Wilson et al, 2005a) and requires an understanding of the influence of post-depositional diagenesis on measured δ 13 C values (DeLaune, 1986;Ember et al, 1987;Fogel et al, 1989).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…C values (Lamb et al, 2007). During early diagenesis following the plant's death, cellulose is decomposed by bacterial and fungal communities at a rate several times faster than lignin (Benner et al, 1987;Benner et al, 1991;Buchan et al, 2003), resulting in sediments 4‰ to 7‰ more depleted than living Spartina spp.…”

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“…Beyond the period of initial decomposition, several investigations have shown that bulk sediment δ 13 C values are incorporated into coastal sedimentary archives in a manner allowing reliable identification of floral zones after more than 3000 years (Byrne et al, 2001;Malamud-Roam and Ingram, 2004;Lamb et al, 2007). These studies suggested that fractionation of bulk sediment δ 13 C is most pronounced during the short period following deposition of dead plant material and that bulk sediment underwent little further change.…”

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Application of stable carbon isotopes for reconstructing salt‐marsh floral zones and relative sea level, New Jersey, USA

Kemp¹,

Vane²,

Horton³

et al. 2011

J Quaternary Science

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We investigated use of δ13C in bulk organic sediment to define the botanical origin of samples preserved in coastal sediment as a means to reconstruct relative sea level in New Jersey, USA. Modern transects at three sites demonstrated that low and high salt‐marsh floral zones dominated by C4 species (Spartina alterniflora and Spartina patens) were associated with sediment δ13C values between −18.9‰ and −15.8‰ and occurred from mean tide level (MTL) to mean higher high water (MHHW). Brackish transitional settings vegetated by Phragmites australis with Iva fructescens and Typha sp. (C3 species) and freshwater upland samples (C3 species) were characterized by bulk sediment δ13C values of −27.0‰ to −22.0‰ and existed above MHHW. Parallel transects at one site suggested that intra‐site variability was not discernible. The utility of δ13C values for reconstructing relative sea level in New Jersey is limited by an inability to differentiate between brackish sediments related to sea level and freshwater upland samples. To facilitate this distinction in a 4.4 m core, we used a multi‐proxy approach (δ13C values with presence or absence of agglutinated foraminifera) to recognize indicative meanings for four sample types. Sediment with δ13C values greater than −18.9‰ was derived from a vegetated salt‐marsh and formed between MTL and MHHW. Sediment with δ13C values less than −22.0‰ and containing agglutinated foraminifera formed in a brackish transitional zone between MHHW and highest astronomical tide (HAT). This is the narrowest elevational range of the four sample types and most precise sea‐level indicator. Sediment with δ13C values less than −22.0‰ and lacking foraminifera can only constrain the upper bound of former sea level. Samples with intermediate values (−22.0‰ to −18.9‰) formed between MTL and HAT. Using these indicative meanings and radiocarbon dates, we suggest that a transition from brackish to salt‐marsh δ13C values recorded in the core took approximately 350 years (from 1800 to 1450 cal. a BP). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…Stable carbon isotopes including δ 13 C (-26.1 to -27.8‰), high percentages of TOC (8.9 to 44.6%), total nitrogen (0.6 to 1.5%), and wood fragments within the soil suggest it is the AO horizon of an upland forest soil (e.g., Lamb et al, 2007;Hawkes et al, 2011). The soil is overlain by a grey mud from 0.74 to 0.58 m depth (Figure 4).…”

Section: Coseismic Subsidence During the Ad 1700 Earthquakementioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the use of microfossils to reconstruct great earthquakes at Cascadia

Engelhart

Horton

Nelson

et al. 2013

Geology

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The recent magnitude-9 (M9) earthquakes at subduction zones in Sumatra and Japan are focusing efforts to learn the history of infrequent earthquakes that are commonly accompanied by devastating tsunamis. The Pacific Northwest coastline along the 2 Cascadia subduction zone contains a sedimentary archive of past megathrust earthquakes.Where coastal stratigraphy records sudden subsidence due to relaxation of the overriding plate during rupture of the subduction fault, transfer functions can convert microfossil data into estimates of the amount of coseismic subsidence. Subsidence is then used in 3D elastic models of subduction-zone deformation to calculate earthquake magnitude. We tested this method with a simulated earthquake by "transplanting" a bed of modern high salt-marsh sediment into the low marsh, a vertical elevation change equivalent to coseismic subsidence of 0.62m. The transplanted bed was quickly buried by sediment and sampled for microfossils after five years. Our reconstruction of this simulated "coseismic" subsidence using our foraminiferal transfer function was 0.61m, which yields the same magnitude in deformation models. Our analyses also showed that sediment mixing could explain some occurrences of the "pre-seismic" microfossil signal inferred from prehistoric records in Cascadia and presented further evidence for sediment mixing from a record of the AD 1700 earthquake at the Coquille River, Oregon.

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Assessing δ13C and C/N ratios from organic material in archived cores as Holocene sea level and palaeoenvironmental indicators in the Humber Estuary, UK

Cited by 67 publications

References 46 publications

Coastal subsidence in Oregon, USA, during the giant Cascadia earthquake of AD 1700

Coastal subsidence in Oregon, USA, during the giant Cascadia earthquake of AD 1700

Application of stable carbon isotopes for reconstructing salt‐marsh floral zones and relative sea level, New Jersey, USA

Testing the use of microfossils to reconstruct great earthquakes at Cascadia

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