The development of the Princess Charlotte Bay chenier plain: New results and insights

Horne, Dylan; Lees, Brian; Cupper, Matthew L.; Fitzsimmons, Kathryn E.

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2015.03.004

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Anthony (1989) puts the base of cheniers in Sierra Leone between mean sea level and mean spring high tide. Studies from China indicate a base of cheniers near the mean high-tide level (Yan et al, 1989;Ying and Xiankun, 1989), while Horne et al (2015) show cheniers in Australia with a base 0.1-0.2 m above the mean spring low-tide level. On the other hand, Dougherty and Dickson (2012) use the contact between chenier beach sand and foreshore deposits as a sea-level indicator.…”

Section: Implications For Relative Sea-level Reconstruction From Chenmentioning

confidence: 97%

Late Holocene evolution of a coupled, mud-dominated delta plain–chenier plain system, coastal Louisiana, USA

Hijma

Shen

Törnqvist³

et al. 2017

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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Abstract. Major deltas and their adjacent coastal plains are commonly linked by means of coast-parallel fluxes of water, sediment, and nutrients. Observations of the evolution of these interlinked systems over centennial to millennial timescales are essential to understand the interaction between point sources of sediment discharge (i.e. deltaic distributaries) and adjacent coastal plains across large spatial (i.e. hundreds of kilometres) scales. This information is needed to constrain future generations of numerical models to predict coastal evolution in relation to climate change and other human activities. Here we examine the coastal plain (Chenier Plain, CP) adjacent to the Mississippi River delta, one of the world's largest deltas. We use a refined chronology based on 22 new optically stimulated luminescence and 22 new radiocarbon ages to test the hypothesis that cyclic Mississippi subdelta shifting has influenced the evolution of the adjacent CP. We show that over the past 3 kyr, accumulation rates in the CP were generally 0-1 Mt yr −1 . However, between 1.2 and 0.5 ka, when the Mississippi River shifted to a position more proximal to the CP, these rates increased to 2.9 ±1.1 Mt yr −1 or 0.5-1.5 % of the total sediment load of the Mississippi River. We conclude that CP evolution during the past 3 kyr was partly a direct consequence of shifting subdeltas, in addition to changing regional sediment sources and modest rates of relative sea-level (RSL) rise. The RSL history of the CP during this time period was constrained by new limiting data points from the base of overwash deposits associated with the cheniers.These findings have implications for Mississippi River sediment diversions that are currently being planned to restore portions of this vulnerable coast. Only if such diversions are located in the western portion of the Mississippi Delta plain could they potentially contribute to sustaining the CP shoreline. Our findings highlight the importance of a better understanding of mud-dominated shorelines that are often associated with major deltas, in light of the enormous investments in coastal management and restoration that will likely be made around the globe, now and especially later during this century.

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Section: Implications For Relative Sea-level Reconstruction From Chenmentioning

confidence: 97%

Late Holocene evolution of a coupled, mud-dominated delta plain–chenier plain system, coastal Louisiana, USA

Hijma

Shen

Törnqvist³

et al. 2017

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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Section: Implications For Relative Sea-level Reconstruction From Cheniersmentioning

confidence: 97%

Late Holocene evolution of a coupled, mud-dominated delta plain–chenier plain system, coastal Louisiana, USA

Hijma¹,

Shen²,

Törnqvist³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Major deltas and their adjacent coastal plains are commonly linked by means of coast-parallel fluxes of water, sediment, and nutrients. Observations of the evolution of these interlinked systems over centennial to millennial timescales are essential to understand the interaction between point sources of sediment discharge (i.e., deltaic distributaries) and adjacent coastal plains across large spatial (i.e., hundreds of kilometres) scales. This information is needed to constrain future generations of numerical models to predict coastal evolution in relation to climate change and other human activities. Here we examine the coastal plain adjacent to the Mississippi River Delta, one of the world’s largest deltas. We use a refined chronology based on 22 new optically stimulated luminescence and 22 new radiocarbon ages to test the hypothesis that cyclic Mississippi subdelta shifting has influenced the evolution of the adjacent Chenier Plain (CP). We show that over the past 3 kyr, accumulation rates in the CP were generally 0–1 MT yr−1. However, between 1.2 and 0.6 ka, when the Mississippi River shifted to a position more proximal to the CP, these rates increased to 2.9 ± 1.1 MT yr−1 or 0.5–1.5 % of the total sediment load of the Mississippi River. We conclude that CP evolution during the past 3 kyr was partly a direct consequence of shifting subdeltas, in addition to changing regional sediment sources and modest rates of relative sea-level rise. These findings have implications for Mississippi River sediment diversions that are currently being planned to restore portions of this vulnerable coast. Only if such diversions are planned in the western portion of the Mississippi Delta Plain they could potentially contribute to sustaining the CP shoreline.

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Eastern Cape York Peninsula Region

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2019

Australian Coastal Systems

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The development of the Princess Charlotte Bay chenier plain: New results and insights

Cited by 10 publications

References 21 publications

Late Holocene evolution of a coupled, mud-dominated delta plain–chenier plain system, coastal Louisiana, USA

Late Holocene evolution of a coupled, mud-dominated delta plain–chenier plain system, coastal Louisiana, USA

Late Holocene evolution of a coupled, mud-dominated delta plain–chenier plain system, coastal Louisiana, USA

Eastern Cape York Peninsula Region

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