The Mississippi River Delta Basin and Why We Are Failing to Save Its Wetlands
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Alexander the Great's Tombolos at Tyre and Alexandria, Eastern Mediterranean ⁎ N
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Geomorphology 100 (2008) 377–400 www.elsevier.com/locate/geomorph Alexander the Great's tombolos at Tyre and Alexandria, eastern Mediterranean ⁎ N. Marriner a, , J.P. Goiran b, C. Morhange a a CNRS CEREGE UMR 6635, Université Aix-Marseille, Europôle de l'Arbois, BP 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 04, France b CNRS MOM Archéorient UMR 5133, 5/7 rue Raulin, 69365 Lyon cedex 07, France Received 25 July 2007; received in revised form 10 January 2008; accepted 11 January 2008 Available online 2 February 2008 Abstract Tyre and Alexandria's coastlines are today characterised by wave-dominated tombolos, peculiar sand isthmuses that link former islands to the adjacent continent. Paradoxically, despite a long history of inquiry into spit and barrier formation, understanding of the dynamics and sedimentary history of tombolos over the Holocene timescale is poor. At Tyre and Alexandria we demonstrate that these rare coastal features are the heritage of a long history of natural morphodynamic forcing and human impacts. In 332 BC, following a protracted seven-month siege of the city, Alexander the Great's engineers cleverly exploited a shallow sublittoral sand bank to seize the island fortress; Tyre's causeway served as a prototype for Alexandria's Heptastadium built a few months later. We report stratigraphic and geomorphological data from the two sand spits, proposing a chronostratigraphic model of tombolo evolution. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Tombolo; Spit; Tyre; Alexandria; Mediterranean; Holocene 1. Introduction Courtaud, 2000; Browder and McNinch, 2006); (2) establishing a typology of shoreline salients and tombolos (Zenkovich, 1967; The term tombolo is used to define a spit of sand or shingle Sanderson and Eliot, 1996); and (3) modelling the geometrical linking an island to the adjacent coast. -
Shrub Swamp State Rank: S5 - Secure
Shrub Swamp State Rank: S5 - Secure cover of tall shrubs with Shrub Swamp Communities are a well decomposed organic common and variable type of wetlands soils. If highbush occurring on seasonally or temporarily blueberries are dominant flooded soils; They are often found in the transition zone between emergent the community is likely to marshes and swamp forests; be a Highbush Blueberry Thicket, often occurring on stunted trees. The herbaceous layer of peat. Acidic Shrub Fens are shrub swamps is often sparse and species- peatlands, dominated by poor. A mixture of species might typically low growing shrubs, along include cinnamon, sensitive, royal, or with sphagnum moss and marsh fern, common arrowhead, skunk herbaceous species of Shrub Swamp along shoreline. Photo: Patricia cabbage, sedges, bluejoint grass, bur-reed, varying abundance. Deep Serrentino, Consulting Wildlife Ecologist. swamp candles, clearweed, and Emergent Marshes and Description: Wetland shrubs dominate turtlehead. Invasive species include reed Shallow Emergent Marshes Cottontail, have easy access to the shrubs Shrub Swamps. Shrub height may be from canary grass, glossy alder-buckthorn, are graminoid dominated wetlands with and protection in the dense thickets. The <1m to 5 meters, of uniform height or common buckthorn, and purple <25% cover of tall shrubs. Acidic larvae of many rare and common moth mixed. Shrub density can be variable, loosestrife. Pondshore/Lakeshore Communities are species feed on a variety of shrubs and from dense (>75% cover) to fairly open broadly defined, variable shorelines associated herbaceous plants in shrub (25-75% cover) with graminoid, around open water. Shorelines often swamps throughout Massachusetts. herbaceous, or open water areas between merge into swamps or marshes. -
A National Survey of Willingness to Pay for Restoration of Louisiana’S Coastal Wetlands
America’s Wetland? A National Survey of Willingness to Pay for Restoration of Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands Final Project Report Department of Agricultural Economics Mississippi State University Revised April 1, 2013 Daniel R. Petrolia * Matthew G. Interis Joonghyun Hwang Mississippi State University Michael K. Hidrue University of Delaware Ross G. Moore USDA Farm Service Agency, Selmer, TN GwanSeon Kim University of Georgia *Corresponding Author: [email protected] The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to Kerry St. Pe and all the staff of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program for providing valuable information and their assistance in improving the quality of the survey instrument. This research was conducted under award NA06OAR4320264 06111039 to the Northern Gulf Institute by the NOAA Office of Ocean and Atmospheric Research, U.S. Department of Commerce; and supported by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education & Extension Service, Multistate Project W-2133 “Benefits and costs of Natural Resources Policies Affecting Public and Private Lands” (Hatch # MIS-033120). 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A nationwide survey was conducted in the summer of 2011 via Knowledge Networks to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for a large-scale restoration project in the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary in coastal Louisiana. A split-sample approach was used to administer both a binary-choice (contingent valuation) and multinomial-choice (choice experiment) version of the survey, with the latter used to estimate willingness to pay for increments in three specific wetland ecosystem services: wildlife habitat, storm surge protection, and fisheries productivity. A total of 3,464 respondents completed the valuation exercise, of which 3,228 (93%) had neither visited nor live/lived in the study region. -
Maritime Swamp Forest (Typic Subtype)
MARITIME SWAMP FOREST (TYPIC SUBTYPE) Concept: Maritime Swamp Forests are wetland forests of barrier islands and comparable coastal spits and back-barrier islands, dominated by tall trees of various species. The Typic Subtype includes most examples, which are not dominated by Acer, Nyssa, or Fraxinus, not by Taxodium distichum. Canopy dominants are quite variable among the few examples. Distinguishing Features: Maritime Shrub Swamps are distinguished from other barrier island wetlands by dominance by tree species of (at least potentially) large stature. The Typic Subtype is dominated by combinations of Nyssa, Fraxinus, Liquidambar, Acer, or Quercus nigra, rather than by Taxodium or Salix. Maritime Shrub Swamps are dominated by tall shrubs or small trees, particularly Salix, Persea, or wetland Cornus. Some portions of Maritime Evergreen Forest are marginally wet, but such areas are distinguished by the characteristic canopy dominants of that type, such as Quercus virginiana, Quercus hemisphaerica, or Pinus taeda. The lower strata also are distinctive, with wetland species occurring in Maritime Swamp Forest; however, some species, such as Morella cerifera, may occur in both. Synonyms: Acer rubrum - Nyssa biflora - (Liquidambar styraciflua, Fraxinus sp.) Maritime Swamp Forest (CEGL004082). Ecological Systems: Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Maritime Forest (CES203.261). Sites: Maritime Swamp Forests occur on barrier islands and comparable spits, in well-protected dune swales, edges of dune ridges, and on flats adjacent to freshwater sounds. Soils: Soils are wet sands or mucky sands, most often mapped as Duckston (Typic Psammaquent) or Conaby (Histic Humaquept). Hydrology: Most Maritime Swamp Forests have shallow seasonal standing water and nearly permanently saturated soils. Some may rarely be flooded by salt water during severe storms, but areas that are severely or repeatedly flooded do not recover to swamp forest. -
Rapids Lake, Louisville Swamp, And
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Forest Trail 0.6 mile loop urban influences. The Carver Rapids Unit, part of Parking Leaving from the asphalt trail below the Rapids the MN Valley State Recreation Area (DNR), is Chaska Unit Minnesota Valley Lake Education and Visitor Center, this mostly level located entirely within the Louisville Swamp Unit. Chaska Athletic Park (City of Chaska) trail courses through oak and hickory forest, with a See regulations issued by the DNR for this location. 725 W 1st St, Chaska, MN 55318 National Wildlife Refuge brief view of a slough connecting to Long Lake. View wood ducks in the slough and listen for frogs calling. Trail Descriptions Carver Riverside Park (City of Carver) State Trail Access 1.0 mi, one way 300 E Main St, Carver, MN 55315 North Hunter Lot Trail 1 mile, one way This straight, level trail goes 1 mile to a junction with Chaska, Rapids Lake & This trail is a mowed service road running from the the MN Valley State Trail to the north. Continue Bluff Park (City of Carver) parking lot on CR11 (Jonathan Carver Pkwy) to the west on the State Access Trail to join the Mazomani 102 Carver Bluffs Parkway, Carver, MN 55315 Louisville Swamp Units northeast, where it ends at the refuge boundary. Trail to the south and loop back to the parking area View native wildflowers, bur oaks, woodpeckers, and at W 145 St. Rapids Lake Unit Trail Map prairie skink in this restored oak savanna. Jonathan Carver Parkway North Hunter Lot MN Valley State Trail (DNR) 5.0 mi, one way 14905 Jonathan Carver Parkway/CR 11, Carver, MN Carver Creek Loop Trail 1.6 miles (loop) From north to south through the refuge, the trail 55315 This trail system has three entry points: Bluff Park, passes the State Access Trail then drops to cross a About the Chaska Unit Ash Street (downtown Carver), and the Rapids Lake bridge over Sand Creek. -
Wetland Habitats
Wetland Habitats 103 Wetlands Taste Test Teacher Instructions Focus/Overview Grade Level This lesson is designed to educate students about the different wetland Upper Elementary ecosystems found in Louisiana. The students will compare and contrast these different habitats using their sense of taste. Duration 50-55 minutes Learning Objectives The students will: Setting . Learn the definitions of a wetland and an ecosystem The classroom . Learn how various salinity levels define wetland habitats . Taste water samples with various salinity levels and determine Vocabulary what wetland habitat the water would likely have “come from” Habitat Wetland GLEs Salinity Science 4th – (SI-E-A1, A2, A3, B4) 5th – (SI-M-A1), (LS-M-C3) 6th – (SI-M-A1, A2, A3, A7, B5) English Language Arts 4th – (ELA-1-E5, E6) 5th – (ELA -4-M2) 6th – (ELA-1-M1), (ELA-7-M1), (ELA-4-M2) Materials List . Four 2-liter bottles (teachers or students should bring from home . Small disposable cups or Dixie cups (teacher provides) . Salt (teacher provides) . Water (teacher provides) Background Information We are able to taste things, because we have “taste buds” on our tongues. Taste buds are on the front, sides and back of the tongue. Taste buds allow us to determine if the food we eat is sweet, sour, bitter or salty. The front taste buds taste the salty/sweet foods, the back taste buds taste the bitter foods and the side taste buds taste the sour foods. The human tongue has almost 10,000 taste buds, and girls have more taste buds than boys. There are taste buds even on the roofs of our mouths! A habitat is defined as a location where plants and animals live. -
Subsurface Geology of Cenozoic Deposits, Gulf Coastal Plain, South-Central United States
REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHY AND _^ SUBSURFACE GEOLOGY OF CENOZOIC DEPOSITS, GULF COASTAL PLAIN, SOUTH-CENTRAL UNITED STATES V U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1416-G AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND MAPS OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Instructions on ordering publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with prices of the last offerings, are given in the current-year issues of the monthly catalog "New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey." Prices of available U.S. Geological Survey publications re leased prior to the current year are listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List." Publications that may be listed in various U.S. Geological Survey catalogs (see back inside cover) but not listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List" may no longer be available. Reports released through the NTIS may be obtained by writing to the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161; please include NTIS report number with inquiry. Order U.S. Geological Survey publications by mail or over the counter from the offices listed below. BY MAIL OVER THE COUNTER Books Books and Maps Professional Papers, Bulletins, Water-Supply Papers, Tech Books and maps of the U.S. Geological Survey are available niques of Water-Resources Investigations, Circulars, publications over the counter at the following U.S. Geological Survey offices, all of general interest (such as leaflets, pamphlets, booklets), single of which are authorized agents of the Superintendent of Docu copies of Earthquakes & Volcanoes, Preliminary Determination of ments. Epicenters, and some miscellaneous reports, including some of the foregoing series that have gone out of print at the Superintendent of Documents, are obtainable by mail from ANCHORAGE, Alaska-Rm. -
Exploring Our Wonderful Wetlands Publication
Exploring Our Wonderful Wetlands Student Publication Grades 4–7 Dear Wetland Students: Are you ready to explore our wonderful wetlands? We hope so! To help you learn about several types of wetlands in our area, we are taking you on a series of explorations. As you move through the publication, be sure to test your wetland wit and write about wetlands before moving on to the next exploration. By exploring our wonderful wetlands, we hope that you will appreciate where you live and encourage others to help protect our precious natural resources. Let’s begin our exploration now! Southwest Florida Water Management District Exploring Our Wonderful Wetlands Exploration 1 Wading Into Our Wetlands ................................................Page 3 Exploration 2 Searching Our Saltwater Wetlands .................................Page 5 Exploration 3 Finding Out About Our Freshwater Wetlands .............Page 7 Exploration 4 Discovering What Wetlands Do .................................... Page 10 Exploration 5 Becoming Protectors of Our Wetlands ........................Page 14 Wetlands Activities .............................................................Page 17 Websites ................................................................................Page 20 Visit the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s website at WaterMatters.org. Exploration 1 Wading Into Our Wetlands What exactly is a wetland? The scientific and legal definitions of wetlands differ. In 1984, when the Florida Legislature passed a Wetlands Protection Act, they decided to use a plant list containing plants usually found in wetlands. We are very fortunate to have a lot of wetlands in Florida. In fact, Florida has the third largest wetland acreage in the United States. The term wetlands includes a wide variety of aquatic habitats. Wetland ecosystems include swamps, marshes, wet meadows, bogs and fens. Essentially, wetlands are transitional areas between dry uplands and aquatic systems such as lakes, rivers or oceans. -
Peat Swamp and Lowland Forests of Sumatra (Indonesia)
Forest Area Key Facts & Peat Swamp and Lowland Carbon Emissions Forests of Sumatra (Indonesia) from Deforestation Forest location and brief description With an area of some 470,000 km2, Sumatra is Indonesia’s largest island, and the world’s sixth largest, supporting 40 million people. The lowland forests cover approximately 118,300 km2 of the eastern part of the island. These rainforests are characterized by large, buttressed trees dominated by the Dipterocarpaceae family, woody climbers and epiphytes. Figs are also common in the lowland forests. There are more than 100 fig species in Sumatra. According to the SPOT Vegetation 2006 data, the Sumatran peat swamp forests total approximately 33,600 km2. These forests are located on Sumatra’s eastern coast and boast the deepest peat in Indonesia. Over 30 per cent of Sumatra’s peat are over 4 metres deep. Most of the peat are in the Sumatran province of Riau (56.1 per cent of its total provincial area). Unique qualities of forest area Sumatra’s lowland forests are home to a range of species including: Sumatran pine, Rafflesia arnoldii (the world’s largest individual flower, measuring up to 1 metre wide), Amorphophallus spp. (world’s tallest and largest inflorescence flower measuring up to 2 metres tall), Sumatran tiger, orang utan, Sumatran rhinoceros, Sumatran elephant, Malayan tapir, Malayan sun bear, Bornean clouded leopard, and many birds and butterflies. Although Sumatra’s peat swamp forests do not support an abundant terrestrial wildlife, they do support some of the island’s biggest and • The forest sector accounts rarest animals, such as the critically endangered Sumatran tiger, and the for 85 per cent of Indonesia’s endangered Sumatran rhinoceros and Asian elephant. -
Life Cycle of Oil and Gas Fields in the Mississippi River Delta: a Review
water Review Life Cycle of Oil and Gas Fields in the Mississippi River Delta: A Review John W. Day 1,*, H. C. Clark 2, Chandong Chang 3 , Rachael Hunter 4,* and Charles R. Norman 5 1 Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA 2 Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA; [email protected] 3 Department of Geological Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea; [email protected] 4 Comite Resources, Inc., P.O. Box 66596, Baton Rouge, LA 70896, USA 5 Charles Norman & Associates, P.O. Box 5715, Lake Charles LA 70606, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (J.W.D.); [email protected] (R.H.) Received: 20 April 2020; Accepted: 20 May 2020; Published: 23 May 2020 Abstract: Oil and gas (O&G) activity has been pervasive in the Mississippi River Delta (MRD). Here we review the life cycle of O&G fields in the MRD focusing on the production history and resulting environmental impacts and show how cumulative impacts affect coastal ecosystems. Individual fields can last 40–60 years and most wells are in the final stages of production. Production increased rapidly reaching a peak around 1970 and then declined. Produced water lagged O&G and was generally higher during declining O&G production, making up about 70% of total liquids. Much of the wetland loss in the delta is associated with O&G activities. These have contributed in three major ways to wetland loss including alteration of surface hydrology, induced subsidence due to fluids removal and fault activation, and toxic stress due to spilled oil and produced water. -
Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Region SUMMARY of FINDINGS
WETLAND DETERMINATION DATA FORM – Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Region Project/Site: City/County: Sampling Date: Applicant/Owner: State: Sampling Point: Investigator(s): Section, Township, Range: Landform (hillslope, terrace, etc.): Local relief (concave, convex, none): Slope (%): Subregion (LRR or MLRA): Lat: Long: Datum: Soil Map Unit Name: NWI classification: Are climatic / hydrologic conditions on the site typical for this time of year? Yes No (If no, explain in Remarks.) Are Vegetation , Soil , or Hydrology significantly disturbed? Are “Normal Circumstances” present? Yes No Are Vegetation , Soil , or Hydrology naturally problematic? (If needed, explain any answers in Remarks.) SUMMARY OF FINDINGS – Attach site map showing sampling point locations, transects, important features, etc. Hydrophytic Vegetation Present? Yes No Is the Sampled Area Hydric Soil Present? Yes No within a Wetland? Yes No Wetland Hydrology Present? Yes No Remarks: HYDROLOGY Wetland Hydrology Indicators: Secondary Indicators (minimum of two required) Primary Indicators (minimum of one is required; check all that apply) Surface Soil Cracks (B6) Surface Water (A1) Aquatic Fauna (B13) Sparsely Vegetated Concave Surface (B8) High Water Table (A2) Marl Deposits (B15) (LRR U) Drainage Patterns (B10) Saturation (A3) Hydrogen Sulfide Odor (C1) Moss Trim Lines (B16) Water Marks (B1) Oxidized Rhizospheres along Living Roots (C3) Dry-Season Water Table (C2) Sediment Deposits (B2) Presence of Reduced Iron (C4) Crayfish Burrows (C8) Drift Deposits (B3) Recent Iron Reduction -
Coastal Plain of Georgia
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIBECTOK WATER-SUPPLY PAPER UNDERGROUND WATERS OF THE COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA BY L. W. STEPHENSON AND J. 0. VEATCH AND A DISCUSSION OP THE QUALITY OF THE WATERS BY R. B. DOLE Prepared in cooperation with the Geological Survey of Georgia WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1915 CONTENTS. __ Page. Introduction.............................................................. 25 Physiography.............................................................. 26 Cumberland Plateau.................................................... 26 Appalachian Valley.................................................... 27 Appalachian Mountains................................................ 27 Piedmont Plateau..................................................... 27 Coastal Plain........................................................... 28 General features................................................... 28 Physiographic subdivisions......................................... 29 Fall-line Mils................................................. 29 Dougherty plain............................................... 31 Altamaha upland............................................... 32 Southern limesink region...................................... 34 Okefenokee plain.............................................. 35 Satilla coastal lowland ......................................... 36 Minor features..................................................... 38 Terraces......................................................