Commentary: Variability in Shelf Sedimentation in Response to Fluvial Sediment Supply and Coastal Erosion Over the Past 1,000 Years in Monterey Bay, CA, United States

Response: Commentary: Variability in Shelf Sedimentation in Response to Fluvial Sediment Supply and Coastal Erosion Over the Past 1,000 Years in Monterey Bay, CA, United States

“…Furthermore, the alternative transport mechanisms proposed by Warrick et al (2019) are inconsistent with our data based on the following arguments:…”

“…While there are other potential shelf sources for "littoral" material, we feel that coastal areas provide the combination of source and setting where this material is most likely to be remobilized. Warrick et al (2019) also argue our study did not provide a credible transport mechanism. Sediment transport analyses were beyond this study's focus, which was to interpret sedimentary deposits in cores.…”

“…We thank Warrick et al (2019) for their interest in our Monterey Bay (MB) research (Carlin et al, 2019) and welcome the opportunity to further clarify components of our work. Warrick et al (2019) contend that our conclusion that changes in the littoral sand fraction (LSF; %sand fraction >180 µm) reflect coastal erosion was "speculative at best, and very likely incorrect" and offered alternative sources and mechanisms to explain the data.…”

“…We thank Warrick et al (2019) for their interest in our Monterey Bay (MB) research (Carlin et al, 2019) and welcome the opportunity to further clarify components of our work. Warrick et al (2019) contend that our conclusion that changes in the littoral sand fraction (LSF; %sand fraction >180 µm) reflect coastal erosion was "speculative at best, and very likely incorrect" and offered alternative sources and mechanisms to explain the data. We counter that, while our conclusion was speculative, it was consistent with our empirical data, and the alternative explanations they presented are no more viable than those we explored in our original publication (Carlin et al, 2019).…”

“…First, Warrick et al (2019) argue there are other shelf features that could be a source for "littoral" sand as opposed to coastal erosion such as bedrock reef aprons, rippled-scour depressions (RSD), sand waves, and the outer shelf. We contend it is not certain that littoral-sized material is remobilized from these features, and for the sake of brevity will focus on RSDs as Rosenberger et al (2019) found that remobilization from RSDs in <25 m water depth was primarily limited to the fine-grained cap (fine sands and silts) not the coarser sediment.…”