Subsided wetlands in other subduction Figure 21 . Plot of most recently buried wetland paleosubsidence estimates and wetland core site to trench distances with a linear estimate included. Points include 0.5 m error bars. However, climatic and tidal variations that affect plant and diatom assemblages might preclude the use of historically subsided wetlands from other subduction zone settings as quantitative analogs to the Cascadia margin. These values differ by a factor of 2.5.
Tidal ranges are important in controlling the vertical separation between plant communities.
Therefore, small amounts of subsidence at Seaside are possibly magnified by the small tidal ranges there. Problems also exist with using modern wetland analogs from Cascadia bays. Modern undisturbed wetlands are difficult to find in many Oregon bays. Often the best modern wetland sites are not adjacent to cutbanks or core sites documenting the most recent buried wetland event. Furthermore, the modern wetland sites might experience slightly different tidal ranges, sedimentation rates, and exposure to wind waves than the pre-subsided wetland sites.