Identifying high-level salt marshes using a palynomorphic fingerprint with potential implications for tracking sea level change

Palynomorph assemblages from South Carolina salt marshes were analyzed from high marsh, low marsh, and salt panne zones. High marsh zones, dominated by Juncus roemerianus, consistently had a distinctive palynomorphic signature, whereas this was not the case for assemblages from low marsh and salt panne zones.The Juncus environment was distinguishable from all others by the following parameters: 1) higher palynomorph diversity (nearly double the taxonomic diversity present in the other types), 2) the presence of a high percentage (over 10% of the palynomorph count) of Fungal Spore Type A, and 3) the presence of Atrotorquata lineata, a fungal species that was found solely in sediments beneath Juncus marshes. Locating the positions of Juncus environments in cores should allow one to trace the rise and fall of sea level over time.