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Carbon-Isotope, Diatom, and Pollen Evidence for Late Holocene Salinity Change in a Brackish Marsh in the San Francisco Estuary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Roger Byrne ,
B. Lynn Ingram ,
Scott Starratt ,
Frances Malamud-Roam ,
Joshua N. Collins  and
Mark E. Conrad
Roger Byrne
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, 501 McCone Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720
B. Lynn Ingram
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, 501 McCone Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720
Scott Starratt
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, 501 McCone Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720
Frances Malamud-Roam
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, 501 McCone Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720
Joshua N. Collins
Affiliation:
San Francisco Estuary Institute, 180 Richmond Field Station, 1325 South 46th Street, Richmond, California, 94804
Mark E. Conrad
Affiliation:
Center for Isotope Geochemistry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, 94720
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Abstract

Analysis of diatoms, pollen, and the carbon-isotopic composition of a sediment core from a brackish marsh in the northern part of the San Francisco Estuary has provided a paleosalinity record that covers the past 3000 yr. Changes in marsh composition and diatom frequencies are assumed to represent variations in freshwater inflow to the estuary. Three periods of relatively high salinity (low freshwater inflow) are indicated, 3000 to 2500 cal yr B.P., 1700 to 730 cal yr B.P., and ca. A.D. 1930 to the present. The most recent period of high salinity is primarily due to upstream storage and water diversion within the Sacramento–San Joaquin watershed, although drought may also have been a factor. The two earlier high-salinity periods are likely the result of reduced precipitation. Low salinity (high freshwater flow) is indicated for the period 750 cal yr B.P. to A.D. 1930.

Keywords

San Francisco EstuaryHolocenepaleosalinitypollendiatomscarbon isotopes
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 66 - 76
Copyright
University of Washington

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