Elevation and accretion dynamics at historical plots in the Biloxi Marshes, Mississippi Delta

Lane, Robert R.; Reed, Denise J.; Day, John W.; Kemp, G. Paul; McDade, Elizabeth Chinn; Rudolf, William B.

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106970

Cited by 5 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Harris et al (2020) estimated rates from <1 to 16 mm year −1 in the Lower Mississippi River Industrial Corridor. Overlapping results and the rationality of substantial spatial variability and uncertainty suggest that the results noted above may all be within an acceptable range of accuracy for the areas considered, and Lane et al (2020) offered a wide range of 17-125 mm year −1 in southeastern Louisiana uncompacted marshes. Zou et al (2016) found that subsidence will cause the below-sea-level areas in the lower Mississippi River basin to increase from about 4% in 2004 to 31% by 2050.…”

Section: Subsidencementioning

confidence: 85%

Present vs. Future Property Losses From a 100-Year Coastal Flood: A Case Study of Grand Isle, Louisiana

et al. 2021

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Louisiana, U.S.A., is among the world's most vulnerable places to coastal flooding. Increasing frequency/intensity of natural hazards under climate change scenarios is expected to exacerbate Louisiana's coastal flood risk. Although many factors are involved, land subsidence from marshland compaction and underground resource extraction, shoreline erosion accelerated by eustatic sea level rise (ESLR), and tropical-cyclone-induced storm surge are among the most important. While past research has focused on flood risk assessment and mitigation strategies, including climate change scenarios, few studies examine all of these factors collectively. This study shows present pluvial flood depth and the contributions of additional coastal subsidence and ESLR toward future (2050) pluvial flooding. Then, current tropical-storm-induced storm surge and future storm surge depth modeled by Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) under climate change scenarios are presented. Present and future 100-year pluvial flood and storm surge losses (separately, 2020$) to structures and their contents are estimated at the individual building level for Grand Isle, Louisiana, a barrier island town of ecological, economic, historical, recreational, cultural, and aesthetic treasure. Results suggest that the average 100-year pluvial flood depth in buildings will increase by 1.35 feet by 2050, with subsidence contributing over 82% of this total. Subsidence is projected to escalate structure and content losses by ~17% above losses in 2017, while ESLR may contribute ~3% above 2017 losses. A 100-year tropical-cyclone-induced storm surge event amid a “low” scenario of environmental change as defined by CPRA would increase Grand Isle's structure and content losses by 68–74% above the 2017 value by 2027, 141–149% by 2042, and 346–359% by 2067. The (“high”) scenario of environmental change would increase the 100-year storm surge losses by 85–91% above the 2017 value by 2027, 199–218% by 2042, and 407–415% by 2067. Outcomes from this study will offer a more realistic risk assessment model and will direct flood risk managers, property owners, and other stakeholders to build a comprehensive framework to minimize future flood risk in one of the most vulnerable sites in the U.S.A. to coastal flooding.

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Section: Subsidencementioning

confidence: 85%

Present vs. Future Property Losses From a 100-Year Coastal Flood: A Case Study of Grand Isle, Louisiana

et al. 2021

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“…As sub-aerial portions of the natural levees have sunk, they have loaded underlying pro-delta clays, contributing to the unusually high bearing strength of Biloxi Marsh soils compared to those of other Mississippi River Delta brackish and salt marshes. However, this skeletal channel network also introduces local variability into Biloxi Marsh subsidence rates as Lane et al [19] found at Stump and Blind Lagoons on a buried flank of the Bayou La Loutre natural levee (Figure S3).…”

Section: Geology Geophysics and Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In response, major Biloxi Marsh landowners (BLMC), and Lake Eugenie Land & Development, Inc., LKEU) have augmented an existing field research program to acquire post-MRGO data on local salinity, shoreline erosion, sediment supply and subsidence. The authors have participated in this work since 2017 [18,19], and seek here to integrate recent results with those acquired through more than 70 years of earlier Biloxi Marsh studies. Geological information reaching back to the 1930s is combined with a recent 3D seismic interpretation to provide a more complete picture of the inherent durability of the Biloxi Marsh.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Measurements were also made using fixed water level and salinity sensors adjacent to marsh study sites established in 2018 (Figure 2), while discrete measurements were made monthly at the Rounsefell stations [18]. In 2003 and 2004, researchers from the University of New Orleans (UNO) established multiple Sediment-Erosion Table (SET) field stations (Figure S3) in Stump and Blind "lagoons", two interior marshes in Bayou La Loutre levee flank depressions [19]. Similar stations were set up in early 2018 by the authors on the higher energy shorelines of Lake Borgne, Lake Robin, and Chandeleur Sound [18].…”

Section: Data Collected At Marsh and Water Quality Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Biloxi Marsh Lands Corporation (BLMC), a major landowner on the Biloxi Marsh peninsula, sponsored field research conducted by the authors in 2018. Results were released recently [18,19] and are now being used in a CPRA reassessment of Biloxi Marsh subsidence rates [17]. Here, we review this new information and how it fits into the multi-disciplinary tapestry of Biloxi Marsh studies published over nearly a century.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recovery and Restoration of Biloxi Marsh in the Mississippi River Delta

Kemp

McDade²,

Day

et al. 2021

Water

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The State of Louisiana is leading an integrated wetland restoration and flood risk reduction program in the Mississippi River Delta. East of New Orleans, Biloxi Marsh, a ~1700 km2 peninsula jutting 60 km north toward the State of Mississippi is one of few Delta wetland tracts well positioned to dissipate hurricane surge and waves threatening the city’s newly rebuilt hurricane flood defenses. Both its location on the eastern margin of the Delta, and its genesis as the geologic core of the shallow water St. Bernard/Terre aux Boeuf sub-delta, which was the primary Mississippi outlet for almost 2000 years, make Biloxi Marsh attractive for restoration, now that the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet deep-draft ship channel has been dammed, and 50 years of impacts from construction and operation have abated. Now, the cascade of ecosystem damage it caused can be reversed or offset by restoration projects that leverage natural recovery and increased access to suspended sediment from the Mississippi River. Biloxi Marsh is (1) geologically stable, (2) benefiting from increased input of river sediment, and (3) could be restored to sustainability earlier and for a longer period than most of the rest of the submerging Mississippi Delta. The focus of this review is on the Biloxi Marsh, but it also provides a template for regional studies, including analysis of 2D and 3D seismic and other energy industry data to explore why existing marshes that look similar on the ground or from the air may respond to restoration measures with different levels of success. Properties of inherent durability and resilience can be exploited in restoration project selection, sequencing and expenditure. Issues encountered and investigative methods applied in the Biloxi Marsh are likely to resonate across initiatives now contemplated to sustain valuable river deltas worldwide.

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Predicting changes in molluscan spatial distributions in mangrove forests in response to sea level rise

Wang

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Elevation and accretion dynamics at historical plots in the Biloxi Marshes, Mississippi Delta

Cited by 5 publications

References 42 publications

Present vs. Future Property Losses From a 100-Year Coastal Flood: A Case Study of Grand Isle, Louisiana

Present vs. Future Property Losses From a 100-Year Coastal Flood: A Case Study of Grand Isle, Louisiana

Recovery and Restoration of Biloxi Marsh in the Mississippi River Delta

Predicting changes in molluscan spatial distributions in mangrove forests in response to sea level rise

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