﻿544 
  Nichols: 
  The 
  vegetation 
  of 
  Connecticut 
  

  

  remains 
  of 
  salt 
  marsh 
  grass, 
  extending 
  upward 
  nearly 
  to 
  mean 
  high 
  

   tide 
  level; 
  (4) 
  a 
  layer 
  of 
  peat 
  made 
  up 
  largely 
  of 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  

   the 
  salt 
  meadow 
  grasses. 
  But 
  the 
  actual 
  examination 
  of 
  sections 
  of 
  

   salt 
  marsh 
  peat 
  along 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  coast 
  has 
  revealed 
  a 
  very 
  

   different 
  state 
  of 
  affairs. 
  Bartlett 
  ('09), 
  for 
  example, 
  describes 
  

   a 
  salt 
  marsh 
  near 
  Woods 
  Hole 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  salt 
  marsh 
  peat 
  near 
  

   the 
  surface 
  is 
  underlain 
  by 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  a 
  former 
  Chamaecyparis 
  

   bog, 
  the 
  stumps 
  of 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  trees 
  being 
  preserved 
  in 
  situ. 
  

   C. 
  A. 
  Davis 
  ('10) 
  reports 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Boston 
  the 
  peat 
  

   deposits 
  underlying 
  the 
  salt 
  marshes 
  likewise 
  consist, 
  in 
  many 
  

   cases, 
  of 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  fresh 
  water 
  vegetation; 
  in 
  other 
  cases 
  peat 
  

   deposits 
  composed 
  largely 
  of 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  salt 
  meadow 
  grasses 
  

   extend 
  from 
  the 
  surface 
  downward 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  below 
  that 
  of 
  

   mean 
  low 
  tide 
  level— 
  in 
  other 
  words, 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  many 
  feet 
  lower 
  

   than 
  tTiat 
  at 
  which 
  the 
  plants 
  which 
  formed 
  the 
  peat 
  could 
  possibly 
  

   have 
  grown. 
  In 
  no 
  case, 
  Davis 
  emphatically 
  states, 
  does 
  the 
  peat 
  

   show 
  the 
  hypothetical 
  arrangement 
  of 
  layers 
  specified 
  above. 
  

   The 
  peat 
  underlying 
  a 
  brackish 
  meadow 
  near 
  New 
  Haven, 
  and 
  

   sectioned 
  during 
  operations 
  for 
  brick 
  clay, 
  shows 
  similar 
  conditions 
  : 
  

   just 
  beneath 
  the 
  surface 
  (i) 
  a 
  thick 
  layer 
  of 
  Spartina 
  patens- 
  

   J 
  uncus 
  Gerardi 
  peat, 
  followed 
  in 
  order 
  below 
  by 
  (2) 
  a 
  layer 
  of 
  

   Distichlis 
  peat 
  and 
  (3) 
  a 
  layer 
  made 
  up 
  largely 
  of 
  cat-tai 
  and 
  fern 
  

   remains, 
  with 
  (4) 
  numerous 
  scattered 
  stumps 
  resting 
  In 
  place 
  on 
  

   the 
  underlying 
  gravelly 
  substratum, 
  about 
  five 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  

   present 
  mean 
  high 
  tide 
  level. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  foregoing 
  observations 
  it 
  is 
  clear 
  that 
  any 
  assumed 
  

   agreement 
  between 
  the 
  present-day 
  zonation 
  of 
  salt 
  marsh 
  associa- 
  

   tions 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  tide 
  levels 
  and 
  the 
  succession 
  of 
  plant 
  associa- 
  

   tions 
  which 
  has 
  ensued 
  during 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  marshes, 
  

  

  ^ 
  F 
  

  

  along 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  coast, 
  is 
  not 
  in 
  harmony 
  with 
  the 
  facts 
  as 
  

   recorded 
  by 
  the 
  underlying 
  peat 
  deposits, 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  these 
  records 
  

   have 
  been 
  made 
  available. 
  By 
  most 
  authors, 
  including 
  Ganong 
  

   ('03), 
  Penhallow 
  ('07), 
  Bartlett 
  ('09, 
  '11), 
  C. 
  A. 
  Davis 
  ('10), 
  

   Townsend 
  ('13), 
  and 
  Johnson 
  and 
  York 
  ('15), 
  this 
  discrepancy 
  is 
  

   explained 
  as 
  being 
  due 
  to 
  coastal 
  subsidence, 
  abundant 
  evidence 
  

   (botanical 
  and 
  otherwise) 
  tending 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  land 
  along 
  

   the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  has 
  been 
  gradually 
  sinking 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  a 
  foot 
  

   or 
  more 
  per 
  century. 
  It 
  is 
  quite 
  obvious 
  that 
  stibsidence 
  at 
  a 
  

  

  