Full Citation

Title: Coastal sedimentation across North America doubled in the 20th century despite river dams

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN:

ISSN: 2041-1723

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16994-z

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID: 32591539

Abstract: The proliferation of dams since 1950 promoted sediment deposition in reservoirs, which is thought to be starving the coast of sediment and decreasing the resilience of communities to storms and sea-level rise. Diminished river loads measured upstream from the coast, however, should not be assumed to propagate seaward. Here, we show that century-long records of sediment mass accumulation rates (g cm−2 yr−1) and sediment accumulation rates (cm yr−1) more than doubled after 1950 in coastal depocenters around North America. Sediment sources downstream of dams compensate for the river-sediment lost to impoundments. Sediment is accumulating in coastal depocenters at a rate that matches or exceeds relative sea-level rise, apart from rapidly subsiding Texas and Louisiana where water depths are increasing and intertidal areas are disappearing. Assuming no feedbacks, accelerating global sea-level rise will eventually surpass current sediment accumulation rates, underscoring the need for including coastal-sediment management in habitat-restoration projects.

Url: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16994-z

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Rodriguez, A. B.; McKee, B. A.; Miller, C. B.; Bost, M. C.; Atencio, A. N.

Periodical (Full): Nature Communications

Issue: 3249

Volume: 11

Pages: 1-9

Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Natural Resource Management, Population Data Science

Countries: