Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Incorporating Temporal And Spatial Variability Of Salt-Marsh Foraminifera Into Sea-Level Reconstructions, Jennifer S. Walker, Niamh Cahill, Nicole S. Khan, Timothy A. Shaw, Don C. Barber, Kenneth G. Miller, Robert E. Kopp, Benjamin P. Horton

Geology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Foraminifera from salt-marsh environments have been used extensively in quantitative relative sea-level reconstructions due to their strong relationship with tidal level. However, the influence of temporal and spatial variability of salt-marsh foraminifera on quantitative reconstructions remains unconstrained. Here, we conducted a monitoring study of foraminifera from four intertidal monitoring stations in New Jersey from high marsh environments over three years that included several extreme weather (temperature, precipitation, and storm surge) events. We sampled four replicates from each station seasonally (four times per year) for a total of 188 samples. The dead foraminiferal assemblages were separated into four site-specific assemblages. After …