2022 VA Coring

As sea levels rise, salt water extends further up tidal rivers. As sea-level rise accelerates, vegetation transitions are increasingly observed and USGS scientists are busy assessing those changes. In collaboration with scientists from the Florence Bascom Science Center, Environmental Geoscience staff visited 8 long-term research sites on the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers to collect soil cores. Currently, data from these cores is being used to determine how vegetation evolution linked to salinity changes is impacting accretion of organic matter and mineral sediment.