Land Subsidence Due to Decomposition of Organic Soils

The dominant cause of land subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is decomposition of organic carbon in the peat soils. Under natural waterlogged conditions, the soil was anaerobic (oxygen-poor), and organic carbon accumulated faster than it could decompose. Drainage of peat soils for agriculture led to aerobic (oxygen-rich) conditions. Under aerobic conditions, microbial activity oxidizes the carbon in the peat soil quite rapidly. Most of the carbon loss from the soil occurs as a flux of carbon-dioxide gas to the atmosphere.