Recovery Rate of a Salt Marsh From the 1700 CE Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake, Netarts Bay, Oregon

Since the 1700 CE Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and associated coseismic subsidence tsunami, vegetated intertidal habitats have reestablished across Pacific Northwest estuaries, yet timescales mechanisms of recovery are uncertain. We investigated timescale salt marsh reestablishment in Netarts Bay, Oregon following using a combination excess 210Pb, 14C, stratigraphic constraints, Bayesian age-depth modeling. Coseismic lowered area to low/mid marsh, which persisted for 200 years before transition modern high marsh. The now appears dynamic equilibrium with sea level rise. In addition serving as methodological proof concept dating past 300 years, these results provide insight into morphodynamic response large perturbations along tectonically active margins.