The Effect of Increased Salinity and Temperature in Peat Soils from the Everglades: Implications for Biogenic Gas Production and Release Under a Sea Level Rise Scenario

Abstract:

Sea level rise (SLR) is an increasingly important topic for many low-lying coastal areas such as South Florida. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) projects that sea level change in South Florida, over the next 50 years, will increase between 0.1 and 0.6 meters. Given the low elevation and its shallow slope, the Everglades region is highly susceptible to changes in sea level. Based on the USACE SLR projections it seems inevitable that previously unexposed freshwater areas of the southern Everglades will become increasingly exposed to saline water. The effects of such saline water intrusion into the current C dynamics of the Everglades (particularly in terms of biogenic gas production and emissions, i.e. CH₄ and CO₂) is however uncertain. As previously proposed by others, increases in salinity in peat soils will result in dilation of pore spaces and thus increases in hydraulic conductivity, while limiting methanogenesis. However, increases in temperature may induce the opposite effect, particularly in terms of methanogenic activity. Previous studies investigating the effects of increased salinity on freshwater peat soils in the Everglades are very limited, and to our knowledge none have intended to monitor the internal gas dynamics within the peat matrix using an array of geophysical and hydrological methods such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), time-lapse photography, gas chromatography, and constant head permeameter tests. Preliminary laboratory results showed (1) a progressive decrease in gas content within the peat matrix (i.e. production) and gas releases once fluid conductivity is increased; (2) a progressive increase in hydraulic conductivity once fluid conductivity is increased; and (3) maximum gas releases detected during early stages of pore dilation (after increasing salinity) followed by a progressive decrease in gas release as salinity increased. This study has implications for better understanding how C dynamics in the Everglades may be affected by SLR.