Comparing the Yangtze and Mississippi River Deltas in the light of coupled natural-human dynamics: Lessons learned and implications for management

Geomorphology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 108075
Author(s):  
Weiguo Zhang ◽  
Y. Jun Xu ◽  
Leicheng Guo ◽  
Nina S.-N. Lam ◽  
Kehui Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Human Dynamics ◽  
River Deltas

scholarly journals Recovery and Restoration of Biloxi Marsh in the Mississippi River Delta

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 3179
Author(s):  
G. Paul Kemp ◽  
Elizabeth C. McDade ◽  
John W. Day ◽  
Robert R. Lane ◽  
Nancye H. Dawers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
The State ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Mississippi River Delta ◽  
Industry Data ◽  
River Deltas ◽  
2D And 3D ◽  
Restoration Measures ◽  
Different Levels

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.

DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TO USE IN-SITUBURNING TO RESTORE AN OILED INTERMEDIATE MARSH FOLLOWING HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (1) ◽  
pp. 545-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy A. Merten ◽  
C. B. Henry ◽  
Jacqueline Michel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Marsh Surface ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Monitoring Effort ◽  
Hurricanes Katrina And Rita

ABSTRACT In-situ burning was used to remove approximately 100–200 barrels (bbls) of Louisiana Sweet Crude (API 33.8) from an intermediate marsh of the Mississippi River delta oiled during the 2005 hurricanes. The marsh was heavily and moderately oiled (approximately 1.6–2.46 hectares and 5–6.5 hectares, respectively). Chevron conducted two burns on October 12 and 13, 2005, 6 weeks after the initial spill. A cooperative monitoring effort was established to quantitatively evaluate recovery in three areas:Oiled and burned;Oiled and unburned; andUnoiled and unburned. Chemical analyses demonstrated that marsh surface soil concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons declined at similar rates after eight and five months, respectively. A variety of operational and environmental requirements were needed for a successful burn. This paper will:Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the site for conducting a burn;Discuss the rapid decision-making process to approve the burn during significant post-hurricane response activities;Describe pre-, during- and post-burn operations and observations;Report lessons learned; andHighlight recovery endpoints measured during the monitoring study. This site represents a successful case study for using in-situ burn safely, effectively, and strategically.

scholarly journals A Review of How Uncertainties in Management Decisions Are Addressed in Coastal Louisiana Restoration

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1528
Author(s):  
Angelina Freeman ◽  
James Pahl ◽  
Eric White ◽  
Summer Langlois ◽  
David Lindquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Coastal Louisiana

Louisiana has lost over 4800 km2 of coastal land since 1932, and a large-scale effort to restore coastal Louisiana is underway, guided by Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. This paper reviews science-based planning processes to address uncertainties in management decisions, and determine the most effective combination of restoration and flood risk reduction projects to reduce land loss, maintain and restore coastal environments, and sustain communities. The large-scale effort to restore coastal Louisiana is made more challenging by uncertainties in sediment in the Mississippi River, rising sea levels, subsidence, storms, oil and gas activities, flood-control levees, and navigation infrastructure. To inform decision making, CPRA uses structured approaches to incorporate science at all stages of restoration project planning and implementation to: (1) identify alternative management actions, (2) select the management action based on the best available science, and (3) assess performance of the implemented management decisions. Applied science and synthesis initiatives are critical for solving scientific and technical uncertainties in the successive stages of program and project management, from planning, implementation, operations, to monitoring and assessment. The processes developed and lessons learned from planning and implementing restoration in coastal Louisiana are relevant to other vulnerable coastal regions around the globe.

Barrier island arcs along abandoned Mississippi River deltas

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 197-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shea Penland ◽  
John R. Suter ◽  
Ron Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
Barrier Island ◽  
Island Arcs ◽  
River Deltas

Water level management for enhanced fish and wildlife habitat production in Upper Mississippi River navigation pools : an Engineering with Nature® review of practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Theiling ◽  
Benjamin McGuire ◽  
Gretchen Benjamin ◽  
Dave Busse ◽  
Jon Hendrickson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Management ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
River System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Army Corps ◽  
Upper Mississippi River ◽  
Army Corps Of Engineers ◽  
Us Army

There is a long history of fish and wildlife management associated with Upper Mississippi River navigation dams owned and operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Many operational changes have been made to improve aquatic habitat, with recent emphasis on pool-scale drawdowns to enhance wetland benefits without affecting navigation or other uses. This special report describes projects successfully incorporating Engineering With Nature® principles in a review of the physical setting and historical fish and wildlife habitat management efforts using Upper Mississippi River System navigation dams. We reviewed 80 years of adaptation and lessons learned about how to integrate navigation operations and wildlife management. Several experiments have revealed the capacity to produce thousands of hectares of emergent and submersed aquatic plants, restoring much-needed riparian habitat for a variety of aquatic, wetland, and avian species.

The Effect of Exogenous Fluoride on the Calcium PUMP, Ciliary Activity, and Shell Formation of the Fingernail Clam, Musculium Transversum

1982 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 58-59
Author(s):  
Anthony Paparo ◽  
Judy A. Murphy ◽  
Robert Dean
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
Calcium Pump ◽  
Bottom Fauna ◽  
Ciliary Activity ◽  
Shell Formation ◽  
Middle Reach ◽  
Shell Matrix ◽  
Fingernail Clams ◽  
Ca Carbonate

In the mid-1950's, fingernail clams virtually disappeared from a 100-mile section of the IL River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, due to unknown causes. A survey of the bottom fauna of the IL River in 1979, revealed that the clams were still absent from the middle reach of the River, where they had been abundant prior to the die-off in the 1950's. Some factor(s) in the River currently prevent the clams from recolonizing areas where they were formerly abundant. Recently, clams exposed to fluoride developed abnormal grooves in the shell matrix. Fluorides are known to be protoplasmic poisons removing essential body calcium by precipitation. Since the shell consists primarily of Ca carbonate, this investigation examines the possible role of fluoride on shell formation and the poisoning of the Ca pump which can directly inhibit lateral ciliary activity on the gill.

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