Salt marshes accrete both organic and inorganic sediments. Here we present analytical and numerical models of salt marsh sedimentation that, in addition to capturing inorganic processes, explicitly account for above- and belowground organic processes including root growth and decay of organic carbon. The analytical model is used to examine the bias introduced by organic processes into proxy records of sedimentation, namely 137Cs and 210Pb. We find that accretion rates estimated using 210Pb will be less than accretion rates estimated using the 137Cs peak in steadily accreting marshes if (1) carbon decay is significant and (2) data for 210Pb extend below the 137Cs peak. The numerical model expands upon the analytical model by including belowground processes such as compaction and root growth, and by explicitly tracking the evolution of aboveground biomass and its effect on sedimentation rates. Using the numerical model we explore how marsh stratigraphy responds to sediment supply and the rate of sea-level rise. It is calibrated and tested using an extensive data set of both marsh stratigraphy and measurements of vegetation dynamics in a Spartina alterniflora marsh in South Carolina, USA. We find that carbon accumulation in marshes is nonlinearly related to both the supply of inorganic sediment and the rate of sea-level rise; carbon accumulation increases with sea-level rise until sea-level rise reaches a critical rate that drowns the marsh vegetation and halts carbon accumulation. The model predicts that changes in carbon storage resulting from changing sediment supply or sea-level rise are strongly dependent on the background sediment supply: if inorganic sediment supply is reduced in an already sediment poor marsh the storage of organic carbon will increase to a far greater extent than in a sediment-rich marsh, provided that the rate of sea-level rise does not exceed a threshold. These results imply that altering sediment supply to estuaries (e.g., by damming upstream rivers or altering littoral sediment transport) could lead to significant changes in the carbon budgets of coastal salt marshes. 相似文献
了解全新世的温度变化能为理解目前日益突出的全球变暖、评估未来全球气候变化给出重要的参考。在这项研究中,基于长江下游南漪湖沉积岩芯深度为0~450cm中161个样品的brGDGTs代用指标,对过去12.0ka的大气温度进行重建,以进一步深化对全新世温度变化的理解。发现湖泊周边土壤与湖泊沉积物brGDGTs分子组成存在显著差异:土壤以brGDGTs-Ⅰ系列为主,占到总比重的80%以上,计算得的MBT'5ME平均值为0.81;湖泊表层和柱状沉积物的brGDGTs分子组成更相似,其brGDGT-Ⅰ和brGDGT-Ⅱ分别为43%、48%和62%、35%,对应的MBT'5ME平均值分别为0.44和0.62,因此认为湖泊沉积物brGDGTs主要为自生来源,进而选用基于MBT'5ME的湖泊温度经验计算式进行古温度的重建。重建的南漪湖年均大气温度自12.0 ka B.P.以来变化范围为13.8~22.4℃,根据变化趋势,可以分为4个阶段:①阶段,早全新世(约12.0~8.2 ka B.P.),温度变化范围为15.1~20.6℃,属低温阶段;②阶段,中全新世(约8.2~6.0 ka B.P.),温度为16.8~20.0℃,为稳定高温阶段;③阶段,中晚全新世(约6.0~3.0 ka B.P.),温度为13.8~19.4℃,快速降温阶段;④阶段,晚全新世(约3.0 ka B.P.以来),温度在17.4~22.4℃,快速升温阶段。通过对比其他古气候记录,可以得到以下结论:长江下游地区在约12.0~8.2 ka B.P.时期温度变化主要受高纬度冰川残留的影响,为低温时期;在约8.2~6.0 ka B.P.时期的温度变化主要受到较强的太阳辐射量控制,属稳定高温期,对应全新世大暖期;约6.0 ka B.P.后,温度受到6.0~3.0 ka B.P.中低纬度冷事件以及上升温室气体辐射强迫共同影响,呈现先降后升的"V"型变化趋势。本研究表明长江下游地区自12.0 ka B.P.以来温度变化主要受全球温度变化控制,自晚全新世以来温室气体辐射强迫是影响其温度变化的主要因素。