Dataset: Head of tide bottleneck of particulate material transport from watersheds to estuaries
Gregory B.
Noe
gnoe@usgs.gov
Scott H.
Ensign
author
Gregory B.
Noe
author
Cliff R.
Hupp
author
Katharine J.
Skalak
author
2020
We measured rates of sediment, C, N, and P accumulation at four floodplain sites spanning the nontidal through oligohaline Choptank and Pocomoke Rivers, Maryland, USA. Ceramic tiles were used to collect sediment for a year and sediment cores were collected to derive decadal sedimentation rates using 137Cs. The results showed highest rates of short- and long-term sediment, C, N, and P accumulation occurred in tidal freshwater forests at the head of tide on the Choptank and the oligohaline marsh of the Pocomoke River, and lowest rates occurred in the downstream tidal freshwater forests in both rivers. Presumably, watershed material was mostly trapped at the head of tide, and estuarine material was trapped in oligohaline marshes. This hydrologic transport bottleneck at the head of tide stores most available watershed sediment, C, N, and P creating a sediment shadow in lower tidal freshwater forests potentially limiting their resilience to sea level rise.
sediment transport
tidal freshwater river
tidal freshwater forested wetland
oligohaline marsh
carbon accumulation
This dataset is listed under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 and can be used with attribution. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Choptank River
-75.87874
-75.77746
39.014895
38.805915
Pocomoke River
-75.67843
-75.33607
38.239048
38.031472
ChoptankUpperTidal
-75.8288
-75.8288
38.93827
38.93827
ChoptankMiddleTidal
-75.8319
-75.8319
38.89963
38.89963
ChoptankLowerTidal
-75.8703
-75.8703
38.82333
38.82333
PocomokeUpperTidal
-75.3832
-75.3832
38.20018
38.20018
PocomokeMiddleTidal
-75.4696
-75.4696
38.12899
38.12899
PocomokeLowerTidal
-75.6499
-75.6499
38.04877
38.04877
ChoptankNontidal
-75.7859
-75.7859
38.99748
38.99748
PocomokeNontidal
-75.3646
-75.3646
38.22175
38.22175
2012
2012
Gregory B.
Noe
gnoe@usgs.gov
Ensign_et_al_2020_methods
methods information for study
Ensign_et_al_2020_methods.csv
column
,
study_id
Unique identifier for the study made up of the first author's family name, as well as the second author's or 'et al.' if more than three, then publication year spearated by underscores. See worksCited.bib for more detail.
string
Free text
coring_method
Code indicating what type of device was used to collect soil depth profiles.
string
piston corer
A device that extrudes core into tube upward with a plunger
roots_flag
Code indicating whether live roots were included or excluded from carbon assessments.
string
roots and rhizomes included
Roots and rhizomes were included in dry bulk density and or organic matter and carbon measurements
sediment_sieved_flag
Code indicating whether or not sediment was sieved prior to carbon measurements.
string
sediment not sieved
Sediment was not sieved prior to analysis for organics.
compaction_flag
Code indicating how the authors qualified or quantified compaction of the core.
string
compaction quantified
Compaction was quantified and corrected for in core based measurements
dry_bulk_density_temperature
Temperature at which samples were dried to measure dry bulk density. This can include either samples that were freeze dried or oven dried.
float
celsius
real
dry_bulk_density_sample_volume
Sample volume used for bulk density measurements, if held constant.
float
cubicCentimeter
real
dry_bulk_density_flag
Any notable codes regarding how the authors quantified dry bulk density.
string
air dried to constant mass
Methodology specified that samples were air dried to a constant mass
to constant mass
Bulk density methodology did not specify drying temperature or length, only that samples were dried to a constant mass
loss_on_ignition_temperature
Temperature at which samples were combusted to estimate fraction organic matter.
float
celsius
real
loss_on_ignition_time
Time over which samples were combusted to estimate fraction organic matter.
float
hour
integer
carbon_measured_or_modeled
Code indicating whether fraction carbon was measured or estimated as a function of organic matter.
string
measured
Fraction carbon was measured as opposed to modeled
carbonates_removed
Whether or not carbonates were removed prior to calculating fraction organic carbon.
string
FALSE
Carbonates were not removed before measuring organic carbon
fraction_carbon_method
Code indicating the method for which fraction carbon was measured or modeled (Note: regression based models are permitted, but the use of the Bemmelen factor [0.58 gOC gOM-1] is discouraged).
string
EA
Each sample presented was measured using Elemental Analysis
fraction_carbon_type
Code indicating whether fraction_carbon refers to organic or total carbon.
string
total carbon
Author specified that fraction carbon measurements were of total carbon.
cs137_counting_method
Code indicating the method used for determining radiocesium activity.
string
gamma
Gamma counting method used.
Ensign_et_al_2020_cores
cores information for study
Ensign_et_al_2020_cores.csv
column
,
study_id
Unique identifier for the study made up of the first author's family name, as well as the second author's or 'et al.' if more than three, then publication year spearated by underscores. See worksCited.bib for more detail.
string
Free text
site_id
Site identification code unique to each study.
string
Free text
core_id
Core identification code unique to each site.
string
Free text
core_year
Year of core collection
float
nominalYear
real
core_notes
Any other relevant submitter generated notes on how cores were collected.
string
Free text
core_latitude
Positional latitude of the core in decimal degree WGS84.
float
degree
real
core_longitude
Positional longitude of the core in decimal degree WGS84.
float
degree
real
core_position_method
Code indicating how latitude and longitude were determined.
string
handheld
Conventional Commercially available hand-held GPS
salinity_class
Code based on submitter field observation or measurement indicating average annual salinity (Note: Palustrine and freshwater should only include tidal wetlands, or wetlands that are potentially/formerly tidal but artificially freshened due to artificial tidal restrictions).
string
fresh
<0.5 ppt
oligohaline
0.5-5 ppt.
salinity_method
Indicate whether salinity_class was determined using a field observation or a measurement
string
measurement
Salinity observed from local instrument.
vegetation_class
Code based on submitter field observations or measurement indicating dominant wetland vegetation type.
string
emergent
Describes wetlands dominated by persistent emergent vascular plants
forested
Describes wetlands dominated by woody vegetation > 5 meters in height
vegetation_method
Indicate whether vegetation_class was determined using a field observation or a measurement
string
field observation
Vegetation inferred by field observation
inundation_class
Code based on submitter field observation or measurement indicating how often the coring location is inundated.
string
high
Study-specific definition of an elevation relatively high in the tidal frame, typically defined by vegetation type
mid
Study-specific definition of an elevation in the relative middle of the tidal frame, typically defined by vegetation type
inundation_method
Indicate whether inundation_class was determined using a field observation or a measurement
string
measurement
Inundation class assessed from elevation and nearby tide gauge or other similar method.
Ensign_et_al_2020_depthseries
depthseries information for study
Ensign_et_al_2020_depthseries.csv
column
,
study_id
Unique identifier for the study made up of the first author's family name, as well as the second author's or 'et al.' if more than three, then publication year spearated by underscores. See worksCited.bib for more detail.
string
Free text
site_id
Site identification code unique to each study.
string
Free text
core_id
Core identification code unique to each site.
string
Free text
depth_min
Minimum depth of a sampling increment.
float
centimeter
real
depth_max
Maximum depth of a sampling increment.
float
centimeter
real
dry_bulk_density
Dry mass per unit volume of a soil sample. This does not include ash free bulk density.
float
gramsPerCubicCentimeter
real
fraction_carbon
Mass of carbon relative to sample dry mass.
float
dimensionless
real
compaction_notes
Any submitter generated notes on compaction.
string
Free text
cs137_activity
Radioactivity counts per unit dry weight for radiocesium (137Cs).
float
becquerelsPerKilogram
real
becquerels per kilogram
cubic centimeter