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Late Holocene Marsh Expansion in Southern San Francisco Bay, California

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Abstract

Currently, the largest tidal wetlands restoration project on the US Pacific Coast is being planned and implemented in southern San Francisco Bay; however, knowledge of baseline conditions of salt marsh extent in the region prior to European settlement is limited. Here, analysis of 24 sediment cores collected from ten intact southern San Francisco Bay tidal marshes were used to reconstruct spatio-temporal patterns of marsh expansion to provide historic context for current restoration efforts. A process-based marsh elevation simulation model was used to identify interactions between sediment supply, sea-level rise, and marsh formation rates. A distinct age gradient was found: expansion of marshes in the central portion of southern San Francisco Bay dated to 500 to 1500 calendar years before present, while expansion of marshes in southernmost San Francisco Bay dated to 200 to 700 calendar years before present. Thus, much of the tidal marsh area mapped by US Coast Survey during the 1853–1857 period were in fact not primeval tidal marshes that had persisted for millennia but were recently formed landscapes. Marsh expansion increased during the Little Ice Age, when freshwater inflow and sediment influx were higher than during the previous millennium, and also during settlement, when land use changes, such as introduction of livestock, increased watershed erosion, and sediment delivery.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Josh Borokowski, Lorraine Cassazza, Drisanna Watson, Ben Moorman, Kelly Lindblom, Julio Angulo, and Don Watson for assistance with core collection. Funding for radiocarbon dating was provided by a Stahl Grant from the Archaeological Research Facility, U.C. Berkeley, and from a Mia Tegner grant from the Marine Conservation Biology Institute. We thank Andrew Gray, David Rice, Chuck Striplen, and Noah Knowles for helpful discussions, and Brian Atwater for constructive suggestions. Help with graphics was provided by Patricia DeCastro. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. This is contribution number AED-11-088 of the Atlantic Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Although the information in this document has been funded wholly (or in part) by the US Environmental Protection Agency, it does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.

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  1. Atlantic Ecology Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, ORD-NHEERL, Narragansett, RI, 02882, USA

    Elizabeth Burke Watson

  2. Department of Geography, University of California Berkeley, 507 McCone Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Roger Byrne

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Watson, E.B., Byrne, R. Late Holocene Marsh Expansion in Southern San Francisco Bay, California. Estuaries and Coasts 36, 643–653 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-013-9598-z

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