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Response of marine deltaic surfaces to major earthquake uplifts in southcentral Alaska

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Abstract

Major earthquake uplifts in south-central Alaska of marine deltaic surfaces to an inter-tidal or supra-tidal status cause drastic shifts in processes and vegetation. To assess long-term ecosystem changes as a deltaic landscape converted from a tidal marsh to a supra-tidal wetland, we studied a four-stage chronosequence of deltaic surfaces (30-yr-old inter-tidal surface, 352-yr-old inter-tidal surface, 30-yr-old supra-tidal surface, and 280-yr-old supra-tidal surface). Plots were used to gather landform, soils, and vegetation information, and landform schematics and aerial photo interpretation were used to determine their spatial distribution. Succession progressed on inter-tidal surfaces from pioneer species (principallyCarex lyngbyaei) on newly uplifted mud flats, to a mature tidal marsh with channels, levees, and basins dominated byCarex lyngbyaei with thick root mats. Uplift of the mature tidal surface to a supra-tidal status allowed freshwater tolerant species (Equisetum fluviatile, Sphagnum spp.) to invade the basins, and trees and shrubs displaced herbaceous vegetation on levees. On the oldest supra-tidal surface, basins developed peatlands (Andromeda polifolia, Sphagnum spp.), and pH decreased. Levees supported trees or shrubs on mineral or peat soils. Vegetation zonation within a basin-levee complex was evident and repeated, with some variation, across the surfaces. At the landscape scale moving inland, gradients in vegetation occurred on all surface ages.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alaska Natural Heritage Program, University of Alaska Anchorage, 99501, Anchorage, Alaska, USA

    Keith Boggs

  2. U.S. Forest Service, Tongass National Forest, 99835, Sitka, Alaska, USA

    Michael Shephard

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  1. Keith Boggs
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Boggs, K., Shephard, M. Response of marine deltaic surfaces to major earthquake uplifts in southcentral Alaska. Wetlands 19, 13–27 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161729

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