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USGS scientists have been studying land subsidence in California for more than 60 years.
Beginning in the late 1800s, the nutrient-rich peat soils of more than 60 islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were cleared of vegetation and dewatered to make way for agriculture. Drainage, wind, and agricultural practices cause degradation of the peat soils releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Soil degradation has in turn caused the islands to subside below sea level by 9 to 26 feet or more. Recent USGS research has focused on how the peat soils were created and ways to mitigate or reverse soil degradation through engineering. For example, on deeply subsided Twitchell Island in the Delta, USGS spearheaded the creation of an experimental wetland that, through the growth of marsh plants, sequestered/stored carbon through the accumulation of peat sediments and reversed subsidence.
USGS scientists have been studying land subsidence in California for more than 60 years.
Beginning in the late 1800s, the nutrient-rich peat soils of more than 60 islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were cleared of vegetation and dewatered to make way for agriculture. Drainage, wind, and agricultural practices cause degradation of the peat soils releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Soil degradation has in turn caused the islands to subside below sea level by 9 to 26 feet or more. Recent USGS research has focused on how the peat soils were created and ways to mitigate or reverse soil degradation through engineering. For example, on deeply subsided Twitchell Island in the Delta, USGS spearheaded the creation of an experimental wetland that, through the growth of marsh plants, sequestered/stored carbon through the accumulation of peat sediments and reversed subsidence.