Dataset for Surface elevation change dynamics in coastal marshes along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico: building knowledge to better anticipate effects of rising sea-level and intensifying hurricanes.

Maintaining and enhancing the ecological and economic contributions of coastal wetlands requires an advanced understanding of surface elevation dynamics that underpin the health of these wetland ecosystems. Coastal wetlands in Texas are particularly vulnerable to conversion to open water due to high rates of subsidence and relative sea-level rise, small tidal ranges, frequent hurricanes, and anthropogenic land-use changes that have affected freshwater and sediment delivery to the coast. The surface elevation table (SET)-marker horizon (MH) approach (SET-MH, together) is a method for quantifying net wetland surface elevation change while accounting for the relative contributions of various biological, geological, and hydrological processes that can occur within different segments of the soil profile (e.g., deep, shallow subsurface, and surface soil depths). This dataset includes surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) data collected between 2014 to 2019 and measurements of sediment deposition resulting from Hurricane Harvey from 14 different coastal marshes along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, within five National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) in Texas (USA).