Estimation of Carbon Buried Under Seagrass Cast
Presentation Abstract
Seagrass has amassed on beaches during strong storms around the world. In the K’omoks estuary (49o 40 min North, 124o 57 min West) off east Vancouver Island, B.C., sloughed detrital material persists along an approximately 500 m long wrack line in the form of a large windrow probably because the hot and dry summers slow bacterial breakdown, its deposited above the high tide line on a gentle mostly vegetated slope and large storms that are capable of dislodging it are infrequent. Under this sloughed detritus for approximately 0.3 m alternating layers of silt/sand and dark material are evident. DNA evidence indicated the presence of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the cores and fronting wetland. Organic matter and carbon were measured and used to estimate the amount buried in the area. Future work will focus on using feldspar to examine burial rate and measuring the timing and amounts of new additions of detrital eelgrass.
Session Title
Climate change and ocean acidification
Conference Track
Salish Sea Snapshots
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Snapshot
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Marine debris--Carbon content--British Columbia--Courtenay River Estuary; Eelgrass--British Columbia--Courtenay River Estuary
Geographic Coverage
Courtenay River Estuary (B.C.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Estimation of Carbon Buried Under Seagrass Cast
2016SSEC
Seagrass has amassed on beaches during strong storms around the world. In the K’omoks estuary (49o 40 min North, 124o 57 min West) off east Vancouver Island, B.C., sloughed detrital material persists along an approximately 500 m long wrack line in the form of a large windrow probably because the hot and dry summers slow bacterial breakdown, its deposited above the high tide line on a gentle mostly vegetated slope and large storms that are capable of dislodging it are infrequent. Under this sloughed detritus for approximately 0.3 m alternating layers of silt/sand and dark material are evident. DNA evidence indicated the presence of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the cores and fronting wetland. Organic matter and carbon were measured and used to estimate the amount buried in the area. Future work will focus on using feldspar to examine burial rate and measuring the timing and amounts of new additions of detrital eelgrass.
Comments
Hi, This abstract is for Dr. Horgen of Project Watershed and the Blue Carbon Workshop