Is It Feasible to Build New Land in the Mississippi River Delta?

Kim, Wonsuck; Mohrig, David; Twilley, Robert R.; Paola, Chris; Parker, Gary

doi:10.1029/2009eo420001

Cited by 195 publications

(203 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…[12] The Wax Lake Delta receives between 25.6 and 38.4 Mt yr À1 of sediment, roughly 18% of which is sand [Kim et al, 2009]. Shoreline and land area estimates from a terrain model of the WLD by Fitzgerald [1998] and Roberts et al [2003] were used to calibrate a model of delta growth [Parker and Sequeiros, 2006].…”

Section: Delta Channel Network Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…River deltas react dynamically to both external and internal forcing [Heller et al, 2001;Sheets et al, 2002;Kim et al, 2006;Paola et al, 2011], strongly affecting human communities by their responses to contemporary and future environmental change [Syvitski and Saito, 2007;Syvitski et al, 2009]. Predictive understanding of delta evolution is therefore a valuable tool to forecast future deltaic change and for justifying delta stewardship strategies [Day et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2009;Paola et al, 2011].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aim of this study is to characterize channel network evolution of the WLD, a rapidly prograding river delta that nevertheless exhibits systematic channel widening and erosion into bedrock composed of consolidated mud. The WLD's progradation is especially important because it has occurred with little human modification after the initial dredging of its feeder channel, and is frequently cited as an analog for new land-building diversions considered for restoration of the greater Mississippi Delta [Kim et al, 2009;Allison and Meselhe, 2010;Paola et al, 2011;Allison et al, 2012]. We investigate channel network evolution on the WLD by measuring (1) the topographic and planimetric evolution of the Wax Lake Delta and its feeder channel over decadal scales, (2) the character of the channel bed, and (3) (Figure 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The morphology and evolution of channels on the Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana, USA

Shaw

Mohrig

Whitman³

2013

JGR Earth Surface

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105

108

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[1] River deltas are classic depositional systems, but a growing body of literature shows that their channel networks can be erosional. Furthermore, this erosion can attack channel beds of consolidated mud that acts as bedrock. To better understand the channel networks of natural deltas and engineered river diversions, we investigate bathymetric and planimetric change, bed cover, and sediment transport in the Wax Lake Delta (WLD) in coastal Louisiana, USA. Channels have eroded up to 40% of modern flow depth between the WLD's initiation in 1973 and 1999. Aerial image analysis shows that channels have widened by 11% between 1991 and 2009, forcing the downstream migration of islands. Channel beds are composed of 85-98% muddy bedrock, with the remainder covered by alluvial sands. Water velocity, grain size, and suspended sand concentration measurements during the 2009 spring flood show that almost all available grain sizes are transported in suspension. Flow was supply limited during this period, with the calculated sand concentration at the height of the bed load layer is 1-4 orders of magnitude smaller than predicted for saturated sand transport. We test "the cover effect" and "the tools effect" previously proposed for bedrock erosion in upland river channels. Bedrock erosion and alluvial cover are anti-correlated (the cover effect), but the observations do not closely follow previously proposed relationships. The difference in erosion rate between clear water and sand-rich water shows that abrasion by sand (the tools effect) accounts for 51% ± 56% of bedrock erosion when it is present.

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Section: Delta Channel Network Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The morphology and evolution of channels on the Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana, USA

Shaw

Mohrig

Whitman³

2013

JGR Earth Surface

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105

108

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“…Human activities have upset this balance in modern deltas, increasing effective sea level rise [Ericson et al, 2006] by enhancing naturally occurring subsidence and inhibiting delta plain deposition [Syvitski et al, 2009]. In the case of the Mississippi Delta, upstream sediment loss due to dams may preclude full restoration of the delta [Blum and Roberts, 2009], but diversions of the river could create significant land [Kim et al, 2009] and coastal habitat [Day et al, 2007].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[2] Efforts to combat land loss in coastal deltas focus on restoring the natural ecological and sedimentary processes [Kim et al, 2009]. Over geologic time, overbank deposition and channel switching (avulsion) distribute sediment across deltas [Roberts, 1997], building and maintaining land area in the face of relative sea level rise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delta allometry: Growth laws for river deltas

Wolinsky¹,

Edmonds

Martin³

et al. 2010

Geophysical Research Letters

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[1] Under projected scenarios of sea-level rise, subsidence, and sediment starvation many deltas around the world are expected to drown. Delta growth dynamics, which determine the ability of a delta to adapt to these changes, are poorly understood due to the difficulty of measuring change in slowly evolving landscapes. We use timeseries imagery of experimental, numerical, and field-scale deltas to derive four laws that govern the growth of riverdominated deltas. Land area grows at a constant rate in the absence of relative sea level change, while wetted area keeps pace, maintaining a constant wetted fraction over the delta surface. Scaling of edge-lengths versus areas suggests delta shorelines are nonfractal, even though the channel network is fractal. Consequently channel-edge length, which provides critical habitat, grows more rapidly than delta area. These laws provide a blueprint for delta growth that will aid in delta restoration and help predict how existing deltas will evolve. Citation: Wolinsky, M.

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Sediment transport and topographic evolution of a coupled river and river plume system: An experimental and numerical study

Chatanantavet

Lamb

2014

J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf.

108

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Sediment transfer from rivers to the ocean is the fundamental driver of continental sedimentation with implications for carbon burial, land use dynamics, and unraveling global climate change and Earth history from sedimentary strata. Coastal rivers are dynamically coupled to their offshore plumes at the river mouth creating regions of nonuniform flow that can dictate patterns of erosion and deposition both onshore and offshore. However, there are limited experimental and modeling studies on sediment transport and morphodynamics of coupled river and river plume systems and their response to multiple flood events. To address this knowledge gap, we developed a quasi-2-D, morphodynamic numerical model and conducted exploratory flume experiments in a 7.5 m long flume where a 10 cm wide river channel was connected to a 76 cm wide "ocean basin." Both the numerical model and the flume results demonstrate that (1) during low-discharge flows, backwater hydrodynamics cause spatial-flow deceleration and deposition in the river channel and the offshore plume area, and (2) during high flows the water surface is drawn down to sea level, resulting in spatial-flow acceleration and bed scour. During high-discharge flows, we also found that the offshore river plume self-channelized owing to both levee formation and bed scour. Our study suggests that coastal rivers may be in a perpetual state of morphodynamic adjustment and highlights the need to link rivers and river plumes under a suite of flow discharges to accurately predict fluvio-deltaic morphodynamics and connectivity between fluvial sediment sources and marine sinks.

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Is It Feasible to Build New Land in the Mississippi River Delta?

Cited by 195 publications

References 9 publications

The morphology and evolution of channels on the Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana, USA

The morphology and evolution of channels on the Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana, USA

Delta allometry: Growth laws for river deltas

Sediment transport and topographic evolution of a coupled river and river plume system: An experimental and numerical study

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