Organic soil subsidence

Stephens, John C.; Allen, L. H.; Chen, Ellen

doi:10.1130/reg6-p107

Cited by 90 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…3.7) are not very different from the relations reported for the drained subtropical Everglades peatlands in Florida on the basis of long-term field experiments (Stephens et al, 1984; Fig. 5), or by Couwenberg et al (2010) in a review of limited data for SE Asia.…”

Section: Subsidence Rates In Relation To Water Table Depth and Other mentioning

confidence: 48%

“…(Sub-) Speir (1969) calculated that oxidation accounted for 78 % of subsidence in the Everglades peatlands over a period of more than 50 yr since drainage; this was confirmed by CO 2 flux measurements at the same sites (Neller, 1944) and under laboratory conditions (Volk, 1973). In a reassessment of the same data, Stephens et al (1984) estimated that the increase in BD in field plots reported by Neller (1944) explained only 10 to 15 % of subsidence, implying that 85 to 90 % could be attributed to carbon loss. Deverel and Rojstaczer (1996) and Deverel and Leighton (2010) found that oxidation accounted for 68 % of subsidence in Californian peatlands more than 70 yr after drainage, based on CO 2 flux measurements and a carbon balance model.…”

Section: Determining the Carbon Loss From Oxidation As A Percentage mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In peatland areas as different as the Fenlands of the UK, the Netherlands, Venice Lagoon in Italy, the Everglades and Sacramento Delta in the United States and Lake Hula in Israel, a total subsidence of 200 to 600 cm occurred over 40 to 130 yr, bringing surface levels close to or below sea level (Schothorst, 1977;Hutchinson, 1980;Stephens et al, 1984;Hambright and Zohary, 1998;Gambolati et al, 2003;Deverel and Leighton, 2010). In all of these cases, peat oxidation is reported to be the main cause of subsidence.…”

Section: A Hooijer Et Al: Subsidence and Carbon Loss In Drained Tromentioning

confidence: 99%

“…100 % oxidation, at up to one third of the subsidence monitoring locations where peat was thin at the start of monitoring. Couwenberg et al (2010) assumed a minimum oxidation percentage of 40 %, but this was based mostly on studies in temperate climates whereas others (Volk, 1973;Stephens et al, 1984;Brady, 1997) have shown that peat oxidation increases at higher temperatures, causing a doubling of subsidence rate for every 10 • C increase. Assuming an average peat surface temperature of 10 • C in temperate peatlands and 30 • C in the tropics, the oxidation rate would be expected to be four times higher in the latter and make up a far larger proportion of subsidence.…”

Section: Determining the Carbon Loss From Oxidation As A Percentage mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Subsidence and carbon loss in drained tropical peatlands

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Conversion of tropical peatlands to agriculture leads to a release of carbon from previously stable, longterm storage, resulting in land subsidence that can be a surrogate measure of CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. We present an analysis of recent large-scale subsidence monitoring studies in Acacia and oil palm plantations on peatland in SE Asia, and compare the findings with previous studies. Subsidence in the first 5 yr after drainage was found to be 142 cm, of which 75 cm occurred in the first year. After 5 yr, the subsidence rate in both plantation types, at average water table depths of 0.7 m, remained constant at around 5 cm yr −1 . The results confirm that primary consolidation contributed substantially to total subsidence only in the first year after drainage, that secondary consolidation was negligible, and that the amount of compaction was also much reduced within 5 yr. Over 5 yr after drainage, 75 % of cumulative subsidence was caused by peat oxidation, and after 18 yr this was 92 %. The average rate of carbon loss over the first 5 yr was 178 t CO 2eq ha −1 yr −1 , which reduced to 73 t CO 2eq ha −1 yr −1 over subsequent years, potentially resulting in an average loss of 100 t CO 2eq ha −1 yr −1 over 25 yr. Part of the observed range in subsidence and carbon loss values is explained by differences in water table depth, but vegetation cover and other factors such as addition of fertilizers also influence peat oxidation. A relationship with groundwater table depth shows that subsidence and carbon loss are still considerable even at the highest water levels theoretically possible in plantations. This implies that improved plantation water management will reduce these impacts by 20 % at most, relative to current conditions, and that high rates of carbon loss and land subsidence are inevitable consequences of conversion of forested tropical peatlands to other land uses.

show abstract

Section: Subsidence Rates In Relation To Water Table Depth and Other mentioning

confidence: 48%

Section: Determining the Carbon Loss From Oxidation As A Percentage mentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: A Hooijer Et Al: Subsidence and Carbon Loss In Drained Tromentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Determining the Carbon Loss From Oxidation As A Percentage mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Subsidence and carbon loss in drained tropical peatlands

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Numerous peatlands have subsided due to drainage followed by shrinkage and accelerated decomposition of organic matter in the newly oxidizing environment (Stephens et al 1984). Nirei et al (2012) have shown, earthquakes and tsunamis can have drastic impacts on stratigraphic formations of anthropogenic ground.…”

Section: Mobility and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diachronous beginnings of the Anthropocene: The lower bounding surface of anthropogenic deposits

Edgeworth

Richter

Waters

et al. 2015

The Anthropocene Review

138

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

A method for characterizing desiccation-induced consolidation and permeability loss of organic soils

Arnold

Ghezzehei

2015

Water Resour. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A new method was developed to measure soil consolidation by capillary suction in organic soils. This method differs from previous methods of measuring soil consolidation in that no external load is utilized and only the forces generated via capillary suction consolidate the soil matrix. This limits the degree of consolidation that can occur, but gives a more realistic ecological perspective on the response of organic soils to desiccation in the field. This new method combines the principles behind a traditional triaxial cell (for measurements of volume change), a pressure plate apparatus, (to facilitate drainage by capillary suction), and the permeameter, (to measure saturated hydraulic conductivity) and allows for simultaneous desaturation of the soil while monitoring desiccation-induced volume change in the soil. This method also enables detection of historic limit of dryness. The historic limit of dryness is a novel concept that is unique to soils that have never experienced drying since their formation. It is fundamentally equivalent to the precompression stress of externally loaded soils. This method is particularly important for forecasting structural and hydrologic changes that may occur in soils that were formed in very wet regimes (e.g., wet meadows at the foot of persistent snowpacks and permafrost peats) as they respond to a changing climate.

show abstract

Organic soil subsidence

Cited by 90 publications

References 0 publications

Subsidence and carbon loss in drained tropical peatlands

Subsidence and carbon loss in drained tropical peatlands

Diachronous beginnings of the Anthropocene: The lower bounding surface of anthropogenic deposits

A method for characterizing desiccation-induced consolidation and permeability loss of organic soils

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About