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Two sediment cores were collected in a mangrove forest to construct geochronologies for the previous century using natural and anthropogenic radionuclide tracers. Both sediment cores were dated using (239+240)Pu global fallout signatures as well as (210)Pb, applying both the Constant Initial Concentration (CIC) and the Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) models. The (239+240)Pu and CIC model are interpreted as having comparable sediment accretion rates (SAR) below an apparent mixed region in the upper ∼5 to 10 cm. In contrast, the CRS dating method shows high sediment accretion rates in the uppermost intervals, which is substantially reduced over the lower intervals of the 100-year record. A local anthropogenic nutrient signal is reflected in the high total phosphorus (TP) concentration in younger sediments. The carbon/nitrogen molar ratios and δ(15)N values further support a local anthropogenic nutrient enrichment signal. The origin of these signals is likely the treated sewage discharge to Moreton Bay which began in the early 1970s. While the (239+240)Pu and CIC models can only produce rates averaged over the intervals of interest within the profile, the (210)Pb CRS model identifies elevated rates of sediment accretion, organic carbon (OC), nitrogen (N), and TP burial from 2000 to 2013. From 1920 to 2000, the three dating methods provide similar OC, N and TP burial rates, ∼150, 10 and 2 g m(-2) year(-1), respectively, which are comparable to global averages., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mangroves sediments contain large reservoirs of organic material (OM) as mangrove ecosystems produce large quantities and rapidly burial OM. Sediment accumulation rates of approximately 2.0 mm year(-1), based on (210)Pb(ex) dating, were estimated at the margin of two well-developed mangrove forest in southern Brazil. Regional data point to a relative sea level (RSL) rise of up to ∼4.0 mm year(-1). This RSL rise in turn, may directly influence the origin and quantity of organic matter (OM) deposited along mangrove sediments. Lithostratigraphic changes show that sand deposition is replacing the mud (<63 μm) fraction and OM content is decreasing in successively younger sediments. Sediment accumulation in coastal areas that are not keeping pace with sea level rise is potentially conducive to the observed shifts in particle size and OM content., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)