Salt water intrusion also increases peat decomposition, which in turn decreases the capacity of these soils to sequester carbon, ultimately increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Loss of peat and subsequent land subsistence, further promote inland salt water migration and working land degradation.
Monitoring Seawater Intrusion
Some common approaches for monitoring, often used in combination are: measuring depth-to-water (groundwater levels) and hydrograph analysis; water quality sampling; and, geophysical logging.
The first physical formulations of saltwater intrusion were made by Willem Badon-Ghijben in 1888 and 1889 as well as Alexander Herzberg in 1901, thus called the Ghyben–Herzberg relation.