This post summarizes four recent salt marsh-focused projects, where our students and researchers used Trimble equipment.
This project examined the response of a salt marsh new tidal flow restoration. We assessed how much, and the processes by which sediment gets into this restored salt marsh on Cape Cod. Each sediment observation point had to be carefully surveyed, as the amount of sediment delivered to salt marshes is largely a product of their elevation within the tidal frame.
Project Contact: Brian Yellen, PhD. Massachusetts State Geologist, UMass Amherst, Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences
Trimble Tech Used: R 10, TSC-3
As a member of the Sedimentology and Coastal Dynamics Lab here at UMass Amherst, much of my research is focused on salt marshes in the Northeast US – namely, how they build in elevation (to keep pace with sea level rise) and their responses to restoration attempts. Over the past year, I have been working to create spatial models for the depths of salt marshes (aka peat thickness) across the region. The depth of a salt marsh heavily influences many fundamental salt marsh characteristics, such as how groundwater moves through the peat, sediment compaction, and resultant biogeochemistry. I use the Trimble R10 to gather the precise location and elevation data required to create these models. Here is a picture of me and a colleague conducting field work on a salt marsh in Maine!
Project Contact: Sintra Reves-Sohn, UMass Amherst, Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences
Trimble Tech Used: R 10, TSC-3
We used the Trimble R10 to collect location and elevation data for two projects: The first is Phoenix Susak’s Masters project, which focuses on salt marsh history and restoration. Salt marshes are valuable cultural, ecosystem, and carbon storage environments that have experienced rapid change over the past several centuries due to agricultural ditching and sea level rise. We use the Trimble R10 to mark the locations where we take sediment cores and surface sediment samples. These materials are then used to establish a history of marsh elevation and vegetation, which can inform researches on past land use and future restoration.
The second project is Ashlyn Oh’s Masters project, which focuses on tidal flats in the Gulf of Maine. Tidal flats are expansive environments that exist between high and low tide. This area is critical for migrating birds, spawning fish, and shellfish—particularly Maine’s famous tasty soft-shelled clams! Unfortunately, some tidal flats have seen precipitous declines in soft shell clam landing, potentially related to recent climate changes and invasive predators. We use the Trimble to accurately geolocate surface sediment samples and measure seasonal elevation changes that can tell us about the “health” of the sediment system. We also use the Trimble to study the hypsometry, or distribution of elevations, on each mudflat.
Project Contact: Phoenix Susak, Ashlyn Oh, UMass Amherst, Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences
Trimble Tech Used: R 10, TSC-3