ABSTRACT

The Mississippi coastal area is relatively undeveloped and has only recently begun to encounter serious conflicting demands on its natural resources. This delayed development presents a unique opportunity to continue the growth of the region with a minimum of environmental degradation. To assist in this it was necessary to conduct a first order inventory of the Mississippi coastal environment, and to determine the nature and distribution of land, mineral, water and energy resources, modern environments, and biologic assemblages.

Thirty-nine environmental geologic units (both subaerial and subaqueous) have been defined in the three Mississippi coastal counties. These units were grouped into three major systems: 1) Tertiary Upland Systems, 2) Pleistocene-Holocene Systems, and 3) Modern Systems. The Tertiary Upland Systems was confined to pre-Pleistocene "Citronelle" units. The Pleistocene-Holocene Systems was subdivided into Fluvial-Deltaic Systems and Strandplain Systems. Modern Systems, the largest, was subdivided into five subgroups: 1) Fluvial-Deltaic Systems, 2) Marsh-Swamp Systems, 3) Beach Ridge-Barrier Island Systems, 4) Subaqueous Systems and 5) Man-Made (Spoil and Madeland). The environmental geologic units of these respective groupings were delineated and presented on an Environmental Geologic Map of the Mississippi coastal zone (scale 1: 100,000).

Using the Environmental Geologic Map as a data base and incorporating additional information from numerous sources, ten specific information derivative maps were prepared: 1) Mineral and Energy Resources, 2) Physical and Engineering Properties, 3) Biologic Environments, 4) Active Processes, 5) Water Resources, 6) Current Land Use, 7) Natural Hazards, 8) Soils, 9) Topography and Bathymetry, and 10) Climatology and Salinity. These derivative maps compiled dispersed data into a form that is related to a single base, supplying specific data for coastal zone management, based upon unique criteria applicable to Mississippi.

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