Title:

Geotechnical Characteristics of Salt Marshes in Continental Climates

Salt marshes provide many benefits to the coastline such as reducing erosion, supporting numerous wildlife species, protecting inland areas from storm surges and stabilizing shorelines. New England marsh losses have been significant due to their vulnerability to climate change and sea level rise. The purpose of this study is to determine if the use of a Portable Free Fall Penetrometer (PFFP) can describe the geotechnical characteristics of salt marshes that contribute to salt marsh restoration. The field testing occurred in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire using the PFFP, blueDrop. The sites that contain more saturated ground surface as well as denser vegetation coverage produced graphs with multiple initial deceleration points showing two regions of impact as the blueDrop fell. This indicates that vegetation is potentially affecting the deceleration values recorded on the accelerometers as the penetrometer makes contact. The testing of vegetation effects is ongoing and is producing valuable data. If coherent data is able to be produced, then a correction factor can be applied to the original code to correct for soil resistance force on various vegetation types.

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