Land loss due to human-altered sediment budget in the Mississippi River Delta

Edmonds, Douglas A.; Toby, Stephan; Siverd, C. G.; Twilley, Robert R.; Bentley, Samuel J.; Hagen, Scott C.; Xu, Kehui

doi:10.1038/s41893-023-01081-0

Cited by 32 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The other 11 are in the Terrebonne and Barataria basins where some of the highest land loss rates are measured (Couvillion et al., 2017). In Terrebonne and Barataria, edge erosion could be a significant source of sediment for vertical accretion (Cortese & Fagherazzi, 2022; Edmonds et al., 2023; Sanks et al., 2020). It seems that sites with high tides and deep flooding could have higher vertical accretion because of additional sediment sources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One possibility is the local recycling of sediment from edge erosion of the wetland. Sanks et al (2020) speculated this could be a source of sediment, and Edmonds et al (2023) suggested that edge erosion may account for up to 80% of the mineral sediment in the Barataria Basin. Another possibility is that storms are the cause of the high vertical accretion.…”

Section: Variability Of Vertical Accretion Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beyond their ecological importance, these wetlands sequester atmospheric carbon and protect communities against hurricanes and tropical storms (Barbier et al., 2013; Cahoon et al., 2006; Turner et al., 2006) as well as provide economically important landscapes for tourism and fisheries. Whether these wetlands survive or disappear in the face of rising relative sea‐level comes down to sediment mass balance (Blum & Roberts, 2009; Brown et al., 2017; Edmonds et al., 2023; Sanks et al., 2020; White et al., 2019). The MRDP is currently experiencing a sediment deficit, which means there is not enough sediment input to the wetland surfaces to raise their elevations at the rate of relative sea level rise, and this results in land loss.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These three major causes can explain the land loss in the Barataria Basin, a part of the delta (Edmonds et al, 2023). Despite these humaninduced disruptions to the sediment transport pathways, land loss in the delta has significantly slowed down during the last 20 years (Blum et al, 2023;Couvillion et al, 2017;Edmonds et al, 2023;Roy et al, 2020;Sanks et al, 2020). Sanks et al (2020) showed that in some parts of the delta, sedimentation may be balancing relative sea level rise, though significant uncertainty remains because variability in sedimentation is substantial (Bianchette et al, 2015;Lane et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsurface fluid extraction may be significantly increasing relative sea level (Day et al., 2020; Kolker et al., 2011). These three major causes can explain the land loss in the Barataria Basin, a part of the delta (Edmonds et al., 2023). Despite these human‐induced disruptions to the sediment transport pathways, land loss in the delta has significantly slowed down during the last 20 years (Blum et al., 2023; Couvillion et al., 2017; Edmonds et al., 2023; Roy et al., 2020; Sanks et al., 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Machine Learning Predictions of Vertical Accretion in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

Chenevert,

Edmonds

2024

JGR Earth Surface

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Deltaic landscapes consist of vast wetland systems that rely on sedimentation to maintain their elevation and ecological communities against relative sea‐level rise. In the Mississippi River Deltaic plain, rising relative sea level and anthropogenic activities are causing land loss that will continue unless vertical accretion of sediment on the wetland surface is enough to fill the accommodation space. Even though the fate of the Mississippi Deltaic plain is tied directly to vertical accretion, there is not yet a clear understanding of the system‐wide controls on this process. Here, we investigate vertical accretion in coastal Louisiana using a data set of 266 stations from the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS). Using linear regression models, we analyze vertical accretion in freshwater‐intermediate, brackish, and saline marsh communities. Integrating results from these models into a Gaussian Process regression model, we predict controls on vertical accretion rates across the deltaic plain. Consistent with previous studies, our results suggest that tidal amplitude and flood depth are critical controls on vertical accretion. These effects are additive and marshes with high tidal amplitudes and flood depths experience the most vertical accretion. Interestingly, the normalized difference vegetation index is found to be important for predicting vertical accretion, but not because of an increase in biomass production, but because it records unique marsh communities and flooding regimes. This study emphasizes the importance of incorporating marsh specific information into predictive models for the vertical accretion of coastal wetlands and that better predictions of wetland accretion probably require denser observational data.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Variability Of Vertical Accretion Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Machine Learning Predictions of Vertical Accretion in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

Chenevert,

Edmonds

2024

JGR Earth Surface

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Sedimentology of a delta formed by agricultural river discharge into a flood‐control reservoir, Iowa

Streeter,

Schilling,

Stoeffler

et al. 2024

River Research & Apps

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River deltas are ecologically critical landscape components and are responsible as habitats for millions of people, wildlife, and plant communities. Deltas store vast quantities of eroded nutrient‐rich sediment and play a significant role in water quality management through nutrient cycling and storage. Many studies have been conducted in marine and tidal delta environments that characterize the sedimentology and geomorphic characteristics of these relatively young landscapes. However, little work has been completed in even younger inland reservoir deltas. This study characterized the sediments and geomorphology of the growing delta forming at the outlet of the Des Moines River into Red Rock Reservoir in south‐central Iowa and discussed the implications of the lower delta sediment and topographic characteristics in terms of sediment and nutrient storage, and the potential impact of the delta on other hydroecological factors. We found that the ca. 30‐year‐old lower delta is storing up to 60% of the contributing watershed's eroded sediment and total carbon, with total sediment depths of ca. 9 m across the 755‐ha area. Further, we identified two major geomorphic landscape positions within the lower delta that were categorized as distributary channels and delta plains. Sedimentological differences in these microscale landscape positions were identified. Sand content was greater at lowest distributary channel elevations and at the highest plain elevations whereas silt dominated the elevation range between these two extremes. The zone of silt accumulation corresponds to the range in elevation associated with normal lake level management. The silt‐dominated area is regularly inundated and covered with a variety of emergent vegetation and is the zone of critical importance for waterbird habitat and nutrient‐processing capacity.

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Rivers

Goudie

2023

Landscapes of the Anthropocene With Google Earth

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Land loss due to human-altered sediment budget in the Mississippi River Delta

Cited by 32 publications

References 41 publications

Machine Learning Predictions of Vertical Accretion in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

Machine Learning Predictions of Vertical Accretion in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

Sedimentology of a delta formed by agricultural river discharge into a flood‐control reservoir, Iowa

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