17 Nearshore and Estuarine Research: Dynamics and Future Resiliency in the Coastal Zone

This session focuses on drivers of change in coastal environments as well as planning for future resiliency in tidal marshes, mudflats, estuaries, and barrier systems, including human activity impacts, sea level rise, & changing sediment supply.

Monday, 23 March 2026
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
CCC, Room 22/23

GeoMARSH: A Novel Approach for Salt Marsh Management within a Geologic Context

Paper number: 17-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:25 AM – 8:45 AM

Authors

Abstract

GeoMARSH, Geospatial Marsh Assessment and Ranking: Sediment Health, is a GIS-based data model that incorporates geologic and spatial data in salt marshes to quantitatively develop suitability and prioritization scores for decision makers now and in the future. Salt marshes are key ecosystems for coastal protection and many other benefits, but as sea levels rise and coastal development increases, many marshes are limited in their room to migrate, requiring a relatively small set of elevations and slopes with sufficient sediment availability to thrive without direct intervention. Using drone-based measurements of slope and elevation and sea-level rise projections to determine areas of accommodation space into which a marsh can migrate, GeoMARSH incorporates these metrics with field-based measurements of sediment availability, resulting in an easily-visualized online tool for municipalities and managers to efficiently and effectively prioritize areas for management both now and into the future. Examples from a study of four marshes in Chatham, Massachusetts, will be explored.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026NE-411442

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