43
find such a place? In short, scientists must explore many salt marshes and that can
take time.
We might first look at maps and try to interpret the landscape to narrow down our
search, but after that we get boots on the ground (or in the mud; Fig. 3.5). At each
site we push a hollow tube (a corer) into the salt marsh below our feet and pull up a
cylinder of sediment that accumulated through time, with the oldest at the bottom
and the youngest at the top (Fig. 3.6). The sediment might be peat that formed when
salt marsh plants died but didn’t decay because of the water-logged conditions, or it
might be mud that was delivered by the daily tides. In some places you might see a
layer of sand, representing a time when a big, high-energy event (e.g., a hurricane)
impacted the site and had the energy to erode and redistribute this coarse sediment.
For many of us, this laborious and physically-demanding task is actually a highlight
of the year. Sure, the sun can be relentless, there are snakes, lunch is usually a soggy
sandwich, the black needle rush hurts, and you end up wet and dirty (the longer you
try to avoid it, the worse it feels when it inevitably happens), but on the plus side,
being outside in such a beautiful and peaceful place in the company of friends with
no email is wonderful (Fig. 3.5).
Sometimes, this type of fieldwork requires an exercise in logistics and some difficult living conditions. Conducting fieldwork in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands often
involves being dropped off by float plane, camping in areas where Kodiak bears
roam (Fig. 3.7), and working in a region where the weather can make a dramatic
turn for the worse (Fig. 3.8). On the plus side, wild-caught salmon for dinner is
often better than what is on the menu at home, especially when hungry after a long
Fig. 3.4 Scanning electron microscope image of a common species of salt-marsh foraminifer
(Trochammina inflata) collected in North Carolina. Most species of foraminifera that live on salt
marshes build a shell from tiny particles of sediment that are attached using an organic cement. The
structure and shape of the shell is characteristic of the species that constructed it. The foraminifer
lives inside the shell and interacts with the environment through the small opening visible in the
image. After the foraminifer dies, the shell is incorporated into the sediment and can be preserved
intact for thousands of years. At its widest point, this individual is about 0.3 mm wide. (Image by
A.C. Kemp)
3 Time and Tide Wait for No Man
find such a place? In short, scientists must explore many salt marshes and that can
take time.
We might first look at maps and try to interpret the landscape to narrow down our
search, but after that we get boots on the ground (or in the mud; Fig. 3.5). At each
site we push a hollow tube (a corer) into the salt marsh below our feet and pull up a
cylinder of sediment that accumulated through time, with the oldest at the bottom
and the youngest at the top (Fig. 3.6). The sediment might be peat that formed when
salt marsh plants died but didn’t decay because of the water-logged conditions, or it
might be mud that was delivered by the daily tides. In some places you might see a
layer of sand, representing a time when a big, high-energy event (e.g., a hurricane)
impacted the site and had the energy to erode and redistribute this coarse sediment.
For many of us, this laborious and physically-demanding task is actually a highlight
of the year. Sure, the sun can be relentless, there are snakes, lunch is usually a soggy
sandwich, the black needle rush hurts, and you end up wet and dirty (the longer you
try to avoid it, the worse it feels when it inevitably happens), but on the plus side,
being outside in such a beautiful and peaceful place in the company of friends with
no email is wonderful (Fig. 3.5).
Sometimes, this type of fieldwork requires an exercise in logistics and some difficult living conditions. Conducting fieldwork in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands often
involves being dropped off by float plane, camping in areas where Kodiak bears
roam (Fig. 3.7), and working in a region where the weather can make a dramatic
turn for the worse (Fig. 3.8). On the plus side, wild-caught salmon for dinner is
often better than what is on the menu at home, especially when hungry after a long
Fig. 3.4 Scanning electron microscope image of a common species of salt-marsh foraminifer
(Trochammina inflata) collected in North Carolina. Most species of foraminifera that live on salt
marshes build a shell from tiny particles of sediment that are attached using an organic cement. The
structure and shape of the shell is characteristic of the species that constructed it. The foraminifer
lives inside the shell and interacts with the environment through the small opening visible in the
image. After the foraminifer dies, the shell is incorporated into the sediment and can be preserved
intact for thousands of years. At its widest point, this individual is about 0.3 mm wide. (Image by
A.C. Kemp)
3 Time and Tide Wait for No Man