Coastal Louisiana in crisis: Subsidence or sea level rise?

González, Juan Luis Jiménez; Törnqvist, Torbjörn E.

doi:10.1029/2006eo450001

Cited by 83 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Despite its contribution towards understanding coastal vertical change, TR50 has been criticized for over-estimating regional subsidence rates [52,53]. Because leveling surveys primarily occurred along transportation corridors, critics contend that the findings in TR50 fail to represent vertical change within the intermediate coastal prairie and wetlands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Land Subsidence Rates and Their Implications for Land Loss in the Lower Mississippi River Basin

Zou

Kent

Lam

et al. 2015

Water

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High subsidence rates, along with eustatic sea-level change, sediment accumulation and shoreline erosion have led to widespread land loss and the deterioration of ecosystem health around the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB). A proper evaluation of the spatial pattern of subsidence rates in the LMRB is the key to understanding the mechanisms of the submergence, estimating its potential impacts on land loss and the long-term sustainability of the region. Based on the subsidence rate data derived from benchmark surveys from 1922 to 1995, this paper constructed a subsidence rate surface for the region through the empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) interpolation method. The results show that the subsidence rates in the region ranged from 1.7 to 29 mm/year, with an average rate of 9.4 mm/year. Subsidence rates increased from north to south as the outcome of both regional geophysical conditions and anthropogenic activities. Four areas of high subsidence rates were found, and they are located in Orleans, Jefferson, Terrebonne and Plaquemines parishes. A projection of future landscape loss using the interpolated subsidence rates reveals that areas below zero elevation in the LMRB will increase from 3.86% in 2004 to 19.79% in 2030 and 30.88% in 2050. This translates to a growing increase of areas that are vulnerable to land loss from 44.3 km 2 /year to 240.7 km 2 /year from 2011 to 2050. Under the same scenario, Lafourche, Plaquemines and Terrebonne parishes will experience serious loss of wetlands, whereas Orleans and Jefferson parishes will lose significant developed land, and Lafourche parish will endure severe loss of agriculture land.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Land Subsidence Rates and Their Implications for Land Loss in the Lower Mississippi River Basin

Zou

Kent

Lam

et al. 2015

Water

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“…En escenarios específicos como en bahías semicerradas o pequeños estuarios, incrementos en la rata de descarga de ríos pueden resultar en un aumento del nivel del mar [12][13] [14].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Efectos de la descarga estacional del Canal del Dique en el mecanismo de intercambio de aguas de una bahía semicerrada y micromareal: Bahía de Cartagena, Colombia

Babra¹,

Mestres

2012

BCCIOH

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Efectos de la descarga estacional del Canal del Dique en el mecanismo de intercambio de aguas de una bahía semicerrada y micromareal: Bahía de Cartagena, Colombia Effects of fluctuating river discharge on the water exchange mechanism of a semi-enclosed micro-tidal bay: Cartagena Bay, Colombia RESUMENLas características mareales de la Bahía de Cartagena (Colombia), su morfología y la fluctuación estacional del caudal de descarga del Canal del Dique modifican el mecanismo de intercambio de agua de la bahía con el mar abierto a través de dos entradas: Bocagrande y Bocachica. Con el fin de estudiar el proceso de intercambio de agua, tres escenarios diferentes fueron diseñados y numéricamente modelados, utilizando el Sistema de Modelación Regional del Océano (ROMS_AGRIF).Los resultados mostraron que las fluctuaciones del caudal de descarga del Canal del Dique modifican fuertemente el régimen de corrientes de flujo y reflujo a través de las entradas de la bahía. Considerando el incremento sostenido en la descarga del río (de bajo a alto caudal de descarga) a lo largo del año y la intensidad de la corriente promedio que fluye hacia afuera de la bahía (reflujo) a través de Bocagrande, esta corriente aumentó hasta un 60 %, mientras que las corrientes dirigidas hacia la bahía (flujo) a través de Bocachica, experimentaron variaciones entre el 23 % (en el sector profundo de la entrada-canal de navegación) y 50 % (en la sección de agua someras de esta entrada).Durante la época de alta rata de descarga del Canal del Dique, a través de la entrada de Bocagrande al noroeste de la bahía, el flujo de masas de agua es generalmente dirigida hacia afuera de la bahía. Esto es mayormente debido a la presencia de La Escollera, que se extiende entre la isla Tierrabomba y el continente, la cual actúa como una pared que previene el influjo de las aguas oceánicas densas sobre el fondo. Al mismo tiempo, el agua mezclada y menos densa en la superficie, es empujada fuera de la bahía por la corriente inducida por la descarga del Canal del Dique.Al suroeste de la bahía (Bocachica) se identifican dos regímenes de intercambio de masas. En la sección somera, cercana al continente, el régimen es similar al detectado en Bocagrande, y también al observado en las capas superficiales (0 a 6 m) sobre el canal navegable en Bocachica. En las capas profundas de este canal, el flujo de agua se dirige hacia la bahía.Palabras clave: Bahía de Cartagena, fluctuación estacional, intercambio de aguas, Sistema de Modelación Regional del Océano. ABSTRACTThe tidal characteristics of Cartagena Bay (Colombia), its morphology and the flow rate fluctuation of the Dique Channel discharge throughout the year, modify the water exchange mechanism of the bay with the open sea through two entrances (Bocagrande and Bocachica). In order to study the water exchange process, three different scenarios are designed and numerically modelled using the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS_AGRIF).The results show that fluctuations of the Dique Channel flow rate discharge strongly modif...

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“…Another 4500 km 2 of coastal wetlands could be lost over the next 50 years without significant preventive actions [30]. The proximal cause of land and wetland conversion to open water is relative sea level rise, a combination of increasing ocean volume and land subsidence.…”

Section: Coastal Louisiana: What Is Sustainable?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The proximal cause of land and wetland conversion to open water is relative sea level rise, a combination of increasing ocean volume and land subsidence. More fundamental causes include climate change, engineering of the Mississippi River, its distributaries and flood plain for navigation and flood control, and subsidence caused by tectonic forces with some contribution from petroleum extraction [28,30]. Over the past two decades, a series of plans has been developed and numerous projects have been undertaken in attempts to combat the losses.…”

Section: Coastal Louisiana: What Is Sustainable?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance and the Gulf of Mexico Coast: How Are Current Policies Contributing to Sustainability?

Jordan

Benson

2013

Sustainability

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The quality of life and economies of coastal communities depend, to a great degree, on the ecological integrity of coastal ecosystems. Paradoxically, as more people are drawn to the coasts, these ecosystems and the services they provide are increasingly stressed by development and human use. Employing the coastal Gulf of Mexico as an example, we explore through three case studies how government policies contribute to preventing, mitigating, or exacerbating the degradation of coastal ecosystems. We consider the effectiveness of the current systems, what alternate or additional policy solutions might be needed to ensure the sustainability of the region and its quality of life, and what this example can tell us about the sustainability of coastal systems globally. In our examples, among other aspects, policies that are proactive and networked governance structures are observed to favor sustainable outcomes, in contrast to reactive policies and hierarchical models of governance.

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Coastal Louisiana in crisis: Subsidence or sea level rise?

Cited by 83 publications

References 2 publications

Evaluating Land Subsidence Rates and Their Implications for Land Loss in the Lower Mississippi River Basin

Evaluating Land Subsidence Rates and Their Implications for Land Loss in the Lower Mississippi River Basin

Efectos de la descarga estacional del Canal del Dique en el mecanismo de intercambio de aguas de una bahía semicerrada y micromareal: Bahía de Cartagena, Colombia

Governance and the Gulf of Mexico Coast: How Are Current Policies Contributing to Sustainability?

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