The Near-1600 Dry/wet Knock-out: Linking Terrestrial and Near-shore Ecosystems

We present here a series of sediment mass accumulation rate (MAR) for the Santa Barbara Basin, California. The 1117-1992 series was computed from varve thickness and water content to account for the compaction trend. Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) was employed to investigate multi-annual oscillations, as was previously done on varve thickness alone (Biondi et al. 1997). Singular spectrum analysis revealed the same major oscillations identified in varve thickness, with periods of ~58, ~26.5, and ~12 years. The amplitude of those oscillations increased after 1600, and remained high for the following two centuries. Based on recent evidence that significant landscape changes can occur after periods of severe drought, it is possible that the late 1500s drought disrupted vegetation cover over large areas, allowing for major erosion during floods in the following years. The large influx of sediments and organic carbon to the near-shore basins could then have altered the structure of their sedimentary record for many years to follow.