Detecting the Delayed Signatures of Changing Sediment Supply in Salt-Marsh Landscapes: The Case of the Venice Lagoon (Italy)

Salt-marsh systems worldwide face threats from drowning and erosion, often exacerbated by insufficient sediment supply. A study on the Venice Lagoon reveals that vertical marsh growth can remain insensitive to increased sediment input due to a time lag caused by sediment stocking along pre-existing marsh margins, which leads to horizontal expansion rather than vertical accretion. When sediment input declines, wind waves redistribute stored sediments, enabling vertical growth. This delayed response underscores the complexity of tidal landscape dynamics and has critical implications for managing coastal ecosystems under natural and anthropogenic pressures. The research integrates sedimentological, geochronological, paleoecological, geophysical, and chemical analyses of marsh sediments accumulated over six centuries to unravel these depositional processes.

Roner, M., Ghinassi, M., Finotello, A., Bertini, A., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Donnici, S., Gilli, A., Vannacci, M., Vigliotti, L., Bellucci, L. G., Fedi, M., Liccioli, L., Tommasini, L., & D’Alpaos, A. (2021). Detecting the Delayed Signatures of Changing Sediment Supply in Salt-Marsh Landscapes: The Case of the Venice Lagoon (Italy). Frontiers in Marine Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.742603