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Mississippi River Delta Erosion

Less sediment is reaching areas that need it most in places like the barataria and breton basins.

Mississippi river delta erosion. Today the mississippi river deltas natural cycles of change and rebirth have been constricted by human activities such as leveeing of the river for navigation and flood control laying the groundwork for todays ecological collapse and land loss. Its evident that land loss extends beyond what we can see at the surface. This delta is located on the edge of the continental shelf of the gulf of mexico.

The problem is the deltas wetlands were and still are built and sustained by sediment delivered by the river. Louisiana has lost about 2000 square miles of coastline in the last 80 years according to estimates an area about the size of delaware. Leveeing of the river cut the tie between the sediment filled river and its delta stopping the cycle of new wetland growth.

The mississippi river delta formed over thousands of years as north americas mightiest river deposited sand silt and clay into the warm waters of the northern gulf of mexico. The mississippi river delta has lost approximately 1100 square miles of shoreline to erosion since the 1950s according to louisiana state university making it the worlds largest example of. Coastal erosion and seawater damage have a lot to do with.

These deltas are usually shaped like the greek symbol delta. One of the most significant causes of land loss is the straitjacketing of the lower mississippi river with huge levees to control the river and protect communities economic infrastructure and other resources from river flooding. Over the last few hundred years human alterations of the river system have contributed to the deltas collapse.

As its name would imply a wave dominated delta such as the mississippi river delta is created by wave erosion controlling where and how much river sediment remains in a delta once it has been dropped. Satellite image of the mississippi river delta showing sediment being wasted off the coast and into the gulf of mexico.

Long View Of The Mississippi River Delta Long View Of The Mississippi River Delta

Long View Of The Mississippi River Delta Source : earthobservatory.nasa.gov

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