The Herring River estuary in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has been tidally restricted for more than a century by a dike constructed near the mouth of the river. Upstream from the dike, the tidal restriction has caused the conversion of salt marsh wetlands to various other ecosystems including impounded freshwater marshes, flooded shrub land, drained forested upland, and brackish wetlands dominated by Phragmites australis. This estuary is now managed by the National Park Service, which plans to replace the aging dike and restore tidal flow to the estuary. To assist National Park Service land managers with restoration planning, the U.S. Geological Survey collected fourteen sediment cores from different ecosystems within the tidally restricted Herring River estuary (four sites) and an estuary in Wellfleet Harbor near the Herring River dike (three sites) between 2015 and 2017. Collected cores were up to 70 cm in length with dry bulk density ranges from 0.03 to 2.39 grams per cubic centimeter and carbon content 0.23% to 46.25%. Land surface elevation was measured at each site (ranging from -0.149 meters to 1.494 meters relative to NAVD88) to determine the boundaries for each site within current tidal conditions. Gamma counting results for excess lead-210 were used to construct Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) age models to age-date individual depth intervals in the cores. Additionally, gamma counting results for other radionuclides, particularly cesium-137 gave further insight to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed during the past century. This dataset can help evaluate differences among the varied ecosystems and vegetation types to make predictions about potential changes as tidal restoration commences in the Herring River estuary.

The accretion history of fringing microtidal salt marshes located on the south shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was reconstructed from sediment cores collected in low and high marsh vegetation zones. The location of these marshes within protected embayments and the absence of large rivers on Cape Cod result in minimal sediment supply and a dominance of organic matter contribution to sediment peat. Age models based on 210-lead and 137-cesium were constructed to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed over the past century. The continuous rate of supply age model was used to age date 11 cores (10 low marsh and 1 high marsh) across four salt marshes. Both vertical accretion rates and carbon burial increased from 1900 to the years of collection, 2013 and 2014. Elevation of the marsh surface was measured to evaluate where the marsh falls within the current tidal frame. The historic marsh surface elevation was then reconstructed from the calculated age of each depth interval and its elevation, assuming that elevations within this shallow zone (less than 30 centimeters) have been preserved for the past century.

Nineteen sediment cores were collected from five salt marshes on the northern shore of Cape Cod where previously restricted tidal exchange was restored to part of the marshes. Cores were collected in duplicate from two locations within each marsh complex: one upstream and one downstream from the former tidal restriction (typically caused by an undersized culvert or a berm). The unaltered, natural downstream sites provide a comparison against the historically restricted upstream sites. The sampled cores represent a chronosequence of restoration occurring between 2001–10. Collected cores were up to 168 cm in length with dry bulk density ranging from 0.04 to 2.62 grams per cubic centimeter and carbon content 0.12 % to 48.91 %. Land surface elevation was measured at each site (ranging from 0.484 meters to 1.51 meters relative to NAVD88) to determine the boundaries of each site within current tidal conditions. Gamma counting results for excess lead-210 were used to construct Constant Rate of Supply age models to date individual depth intervals in the core. Additionally, gamma counting results for other radionuclides, particularly cesium-137, gave further insight to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed during the past century. Carbon isotopes were measured to evaluate organic matter source.

Coastal wetlands are major global carbon sinks; however, quantification of carbon flux can be difficult in these heterogeneous and dynamic ecosystems. To characterize spatial and temporal variability in a New England salt marsh, static chamber measurements of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes were compared among major plant-defined zones (high marsh dominated by Distichlis spicata and a zone of invasive Phragmites australis) during 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. Two sediment cores were collected in 2015 from the Phragmites zone to support previously reported core collections from the high marsh sites (Gonneea and others 2018). Collected cores were up to 70 cm in length with dry bulk density ranges from 0.04 to 0.33 grams per cubic centimeter and carbon content 22.4 to 46.6 percent. Gamma counting results for excess lead-210 were used to construct Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) age models to age-date individual depth intervals in the cores. Additionally, gamma counting results for other radionuclides, particularly cesium-137 gave further insight to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed during the past century. Gonneea, M.E., O'Keefe Suttles, J.A., and Kroeger, K.D., 2018, Collection, analysis, and age-dating of sediment cores from salt marshes on the south shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, from 2013 through 2014: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7H41QPP.

Coastal wetlands are major global carbon sinks; however, quantification of carbon flux can be difficult in these heterogeneous and dynamic ecosystems. To characterize spatial and temporal variability in a New England salt marsh, static chamber measurements of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes were compared among major plant-defined zones (high marsh dominated by Distichlis spicata and a zone of invasive Phragmites australis) during 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. Two sediment cores were collected in 2015 from the Phragmites zone to support previously reported core collections from the high marsh sites (Gonneea and others 2018). Collected cores were up to 70 cm in length with dry bulk density ranges from 0.04 to 0.33 grams per cubic centimeter and carbon content 22.4 to 46.6 percent. Gamma counting results for excess lead-210 were used to construct Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) age models to age-date individual depth intervals in the cores. Additionally, gamma counting results for other radionuclides, particularly cesium-137 gave further insight to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed during the past century. Gonneea, M.E., O'Keefe Suttles, J.A., and Kroeger, K.D., 2018, Collection, analysis, and age-dating of sediment cores from salt marshes on the south shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, from 2013 through 2014: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7H41QPP.

Extended time-series sensor data were collected between 2012 and 2016 in surface water of a tidal salt-marsh creek on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The objective of this field study was to measure water chemical characteristics and flows, as part of a study to quantify lateral fluxes of dissolved carbon species between the salt marsh and estuary. Data consist of in-situ measurements including salinity, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, redox potential, fluorescent dissolved organic matter, turbidity, chlorophyll and dissolved carbon dioxide (pCO2). Surface water flow, water level and water elevation data were also measured. The data provided in this release represent a compiled data set consisting of multiple sensor deployments between 2012 and 2016.

Saline tidal wetlands are important sites of carbon sequestration and produce negligible methane (CH4) emissions due to regular inundation with sulfate-rich seawater. Yet, widespread management of coastal hydrology has restricted vast areas of coastal wetlands to tidal exchange. These ecosystems often undergo impoundment and freshening, which in turn cause vegetation shifts like invasion by Phragmites, that affect ecosystem carbon balance. Understanding controls of carbon exchange in these understudied ecosystems is critical for informing climate consequences of blue carbon restoration and/or management interventions. Here we present measurements of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, along with ancillary meteorological data, collected from coastal wetlands across Cape Cod to evaluate the effect of hydrological management and salinity on carbon exchange in coastal wetlands.

The accretion history of fringing salt marshes in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, was reconstructed from sediment cores. Age models, based on excess lead-210 and cesium-137 radionuclide analysis, were constructed to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed during the past century. The Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) age model was used to date six cores collected from three salt marshes. Both vertical accretion rates and carbon burial increased from 1900 to 2016, the year the data were collected. Cores were up to 90 cm in length with dry bulk density ranging from 0.07 to 3.08 grams per cubic centimeter and carbon content 0.71 % to 33.58 %.

The accretion history of fringing salt marshes in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, was reconstructed from sediment cores. Age models, based on excess lead-210 and cesium-137 radionuclide analysis, were constructed to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed during the past century. The Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) age model was used to date six cores collected from three salt marshes. Both vertical accretion rates and carbon burial increased from 1900 to 2016, the year the data were collected. Cores were up to 90 cm in length with dry bulk density ranging from 0.07 to 3.08 grams per cubic centimeter and carbon content 0.71 % to 33.58 %.

Sediment cores were collected from three sites within the Plum Island Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research (PIE-LTER) domain in Massachusetts to obtain estimates of long-term marsh decomposition and evaluate shifts in the composition and reactivity of sediment organic carbon in disturbed marsh environments. Paired sediment cores were collected from three sites on the marsh platform and from three ponds; these cores were about 100 and 50 centimeters in length, respectively. The marsh sites had similar elevations, at about 1.41 to 1.51 meters relative to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988, and similar salt marsh grass communities, dominated by Spartina patens, S. alterniflora, and Distichlis spicata. Permanently inundated ponds within each site had comparable depths (0.24–0.30 meters) but varied in size (between 643 and 7,149 square meters; Spivak et al., 2017, 2018). The U.S. Geological Survey analyzed radioisotope concentrations for lead-210, radium-226, cesium-127, and beryllium-7 from six marsh cores and three pond cores to develop an age model for each core. This data release includes calculated percent dry bulk density and raw radioisotope data for these cores. Spivak, A.C., Gosselin, K., Howard, E., Mariotti, G., Forbrich, I., Stanley, R., and Sylva, S.P., 2017, Shallow ponds are heterogeneous habitats within a temperate salt marsh ecosystem: Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 122(6), 1371-1384. Spivak, A. C., Gosselin, K. M., and Sylva, S.P., 2018, Shallow ponds are biogeochemically distinct habitats in salt marsh ecosystems: Limnology and Oceanography, 63(4), 1622-1642.