Abstract Detailed stratigraphic study, paleoenvironmental interpretation of tidal wetland facies based on macroflora and agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages, radiocarbon dating, and modern marsh accretion rates are used to reconstruct the late Holocene sea-level history of the Leipsic River valley. Transgressive valley-fill deposits of the Leipsic River valley consist of brown peat, olive-gray mud, and gray-brown muddy peat. These facies were deposited in brackish wetland environments, open-water subtidal environments, and modern salt-marsh environments, respectively. In the early Holocene the Leipsic River was a tributary to a major fluvial system, possibly the paleo–Delaware River. The Holocene transgression reached the area about 5,000 yr BP, when fringing tidal wetlands began to develop in both valleys, depositing brown peat. Rapidly rising sea level flooded the valley of the Leipsic River by 3,000 BP, turning it into an open-water estuarine environment. After 3,000 yr BP, the rate of the sea-level rise decreased, resulting in wide expansion of brackish wetlands in the Leipsic River valley and along the Delaware Bay coast. Tidal creeks migrating on the marsh paleosurface were eroding brown peat and depositing mud units at different depths. The brackish conditions persisted in the area until about 1,000 yr BP. One thousand years ago a change in the environments occurred when modern salt marshes began to replace the brackish wetlands. Sea level was approximately 12 m below modern MHW when the first emergent tidal wetlands were developed in the valley. By 4000 yr BP, rapidly rising sea level reached an elevation of 9 m below MHW. From 4000 to 2000 yr BP, sea level rose to an elevation of 3.5 m, and by 1000 yr BP it reached an elevation of about 3 m below the modern marsh surface. Salt marshes developed in the valley during the last 100 years with a vertical marsh accretion rate of 0.29 cm/yr. Twenty years ago, the marsh vertical accretion rate increased up to 0.46 cm/yr. These rates are comparable to the average rate of sea-level rise of 0.33 cm/yr measured by the tide gauge at Breakwater Harbor, Delaware. Thus, the salt marshes at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge are in a dynamic equilibrium with rising sea level.

Abstract Micropaleontology and biostratigraphy play vital roles for deciphering the stratigraphic record produced by changes in relative sea level, interpreting the history of global sea-level change, and testing models for the causes of sea-level fluctuations due to the variable influences of tectonics, glacio-eustasy, and climate. The stratigraphic architecture developed in response to changing eustasy, accommodation space, and sediment supply along continental margins, in epicontinental seas, and on carbonate platforms can be interpreted using the tools of marine micropaleontology. Microfossils provide chronostrati-graphic control and a wealth of paleoenvironmental information about depositional environments as well as postdepositional changes to those environments. Although industry micropal-eontology has taken a backseat to seismic stratigraphy as a fundamental exploration and correlation tool, academic micro-paleontology has stepped up to fill the void and provide valuable ground-truth data for the characterization and timing of sea-level change. At the national American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) meeting in 1999, held in San Antonio, Texas, the North American Micropaleontology Section (NAMS) of SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) sponsored a full-day technical session entitled “Paleobiological, Geochemical, and Other Proxies of Sea-Level Change.” The purpose of the session was to highlight the application of micropaleontology to the study and interpretation of stratigraphic sequences deposited during changes in sea level. Many of the abstracts presented at that meeting have been developed into the research articles contained in this volume. Eighteen articles spanning late Paleozoic to modern times, and representing siliciclastic, mixed siliciclastic–carbonate, and carbonate-dominated depositional systems are presented in this volume. The studies range