EC41A:
Moving the Mississippi River Delta toward Long-Term Sustainability: Opportunities and Limitations I


Session ID#: 11321

Session Description:
The Mississippi River Delta (MRD) region contributes an estimated $45 billion in revenue annually and has a natural capital asset estimated $1.3 trillion. The existence of the economy and associated jobs are being threatened by the rapid coastal land loss. Solutions to the problems are complicated by many challenges including riverine sediment supply, sea level rise, and maintaining navigation safety, flood control, ecological integrity, energy security, and socioeconomic/cultural assets. Despite a large number of research in the past, fundamental questions remain – Do we have sufficient scientific knowledge about the MRD? What else must we know in order to develop a sustainable solution for saving the sinking coast? How can science and policy work together to support the solution? This session aims at bringing together the endeavors of research and practices on the Mississippi River Delta as a complex dynamical system between the natural and human environments. We encourage submissions reporting results from field, modeling, and synthetic studies concerning river hydrology, sediment transport, sedimentation, coastal wetlands, energy infrastructure, population dynamics, real estate development, and policy making in the vulnerable MRD. We especially encourage presentations that stimulate intellectual discussion and critical thinking pertinent to finding an answer to the above questions.
Primary Chair:  Yi-Jun Xu, Louisiana State University, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Chairs:  Nina Lam1, Christopher Swarzenski2 and Brian J. Marks1, (1)Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States(2)United States Geological Survey, Lower Mississippi Gulf Water Science Center, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Moderators:  Christopher Swarzenski, United States Geological Survey, Lower Mississippi Gulf Water Science Center, Baton Rouge, LA, United States and Yi-Jun Xu, Louisiana State University, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Christopher Swarzenski, United States Geological Survey, Lower Mississippi Gulf Water Science Center, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Index Terms:

4217 Coastal processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL]
4558 Sediment transport [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4815 Ecosystems, structure, dynamics, and modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
6349 General or miscellaneous [POLICY SCIENCES]
Co-Sponsor(s):
  • B - Biogeochemistry and Nutrients
  • HI - Human Use and Impacts
  • MG - Marine Geology & Sedimentology

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

EC41A-01
Morphodynamic Evolution of Yangtze (Changjiang) Estuary in Decadal-timescale: Alteration from Natural Processes to Human Interferences (88699)
Hualong Luan1,2, Pingxing Ding2, Jianzhong Ge2, Haibo Zong2 and Wang Zheng Bing1,3, (1)Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands, (2)East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, (3)Deltares, Delft, Netherlands
EC41A-02
Wetland accretion rates along coastal Louisiana: Spatial and temporal variability in light of Hurricane Isaac’s impacts (92892)
Thomas Anthony Bianchette1, Kam-Biu Liu1, Yi Qiang2 and Nina Lam2, (1)Louisiana State University, Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Baton Rouge, LA, United States, (2)Louisiana State University, Environmental Sciences, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
EC41A-03
Influences of Hurricanes, Floods, and Organic Production on River‐Delta Evolution (88967)
Crawford White and Samuel J Bentley, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
EC41A-04
Morphologic and Ecologic Analysis of a Proposed Network of Mississippi River Sediment Diversions (90562)
Ehab A Meselhe1, Melissa Millman Baustian2, Kazi M Sadid2, Fei Xing2, Katelyn Costanza2, Mead A Allison3, Elizabeth Jarrell4, Carol Parsons Richards4 and James Pahl4, (1)Water Institute of the Gulf, Baton Rouge, LA, United States, (2)The Water Institute of the Gulf, Baton Rouge, LA, United States, (3)Tulane University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA, United States, (4)Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
EC41A-05
Changing Course: The STUDIO MISI-ZIIBI Team_ NEW MISI-ZIIBI LIVING DELTA (90493)
JOHN Hoal, h3 studio, ST. LOUIS, MO, United States
EC41A-06
Changing Course - The Moffatt & Nichol Team Solution- A “Systems Approach” to a consolidated and sustainable Lower Mississippi River Delta. (89094)
Jonathan Paul Hird1, Robert Twilley2, Jeff Shelden1, Jeff Carney3, Ioannis Y Georgiou4 and Claire Agre5, (1)Moffatt & Nichol, (2)Louisiana State University, College of the Coast and Environment, Baton Rouge, LA, United States, (3)Louisiana State University, Coastal Sustainability Studio, Baton Rouge, LA, United States, (4)University of New Orleans, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Orleans, LA, United States, (5)West8, New York, NY, United States
EC41A-07
Changing Course - the Baird Team Solution: a Delta for All (88836)
Robert Bruce Nairn, Baird & Associates, Oakville, ON, Canada
EC41A-08
Dujiangyan: Could the ancient hydraulic engineering be a sustainable solution for Mississippi River diversions? (87919)
Yi-Jun Xu, Louisiana State University, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
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