The Skallingen spit, Denmark: birth of a back-barrier saltmarsh

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Skallingen spit, Denmark

T2 - birth of a back-barrier saltmarsh

AU - Bartholdy, Jesper

AU - Brivio, Lara

AU - Bartholdy, Anders

AU - Kim, Daehyun

AU - Fruergaard, Mikkel

PY - 2018/4/1

Y1 - 2018/4/1

N2 - The formation and evolution of a modern saltmarsh platform on the barrier spit Skallingen in the northernmost part of the Wadden Sea was investigated through historical map records, 12 orthophotos covering the period from 1945 to 2012, sediment cores and cross-sectional creek profiles. The barrier spit, which constitutes the foundation of the saltmarsh platform, formed in about 50 years in the seventeenth century. After its formation the spit was left as a bare sandflat for about 200 years. Along with the development of foredunes, an increased availability of fine-grained sediment and establishment of vegetation in the beginning of the 1890s, the saltmarsh area formed in about 100 years, while the development of a large system of saltmarsh creeks took place in just ca. 50 years. The development of the drainage network, saltmarsh creek morphology and sedimentology during the saltmarsh formation are described in detail and analysed with special attention to the transformation rate from bare sandflat to a genuine vegetation-covered back-barrier saltmarsh.

AB - The formation and evolution of a modern saltmarsh platform on the barrier spit Skallingen in the northernmost part of the Wadden Sea was investigated through historical map records, 12 orthophotos covering the period from 1945 to 2012, sediment cores and cross-sectional creek profiles. The barrier spit, which constitutes the foundation of the saltmarsh platform, formed in about 50 years in the seventeenth century. After its formation the spit was left as a bare sandflat for about 200 years. Along with the development of foredunes, an increased availability of fine-grained sediment and establishment of vegetation in the beginning of the 1890s, the saltmarsh area formed in about 100 years, while the development of a large system of saltmarsh creeks took place in just ca. 50 years. The development of the drainage network, saltmarsh creek morphology and sedimentology during the saltmarsh formation are described in detail and analysed with special attention to the transformation rate from bare sandflat to a genuine vegetation-covered back-barrier saltmarsh.

U2 - 10.1007/s00367-017-0523-5

DO - 10.1007/s00367-017-0523-5

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85029475236

SN - 0276-0460

VL - 38

SP - 153

EP - 166

JO - Geo-Marine Letters

JF - Geo-Marine Letters

IS - 2

ER -