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GCAGS Transactions

Abstract


Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions
Vol. 53 (2003), Pages 143-144

Abstract: Wetland Loss and Previous HitBarrierNext Hit Shoreline Erosion Along the Plaquemines Previous HitBarrierNext Hit Shoreline

Paul Connor1, Andrew Beall1, Phil McCarty1, Shea Penland1, Karen Westphal2

ABSTRACT

Located within the Mississippi River Delta Plain along the coastal zone of Jefferson and Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, the Plaquemines Previous HitBarrierNext Hit Shoreline Complex (also known as the Barataria Previous HitBarrierNext Hit Shoreline) spans approximately 48-kilometers from West Grand Terre Island to Sandy Point, and forms the eastern flank of the Barataria Bight. The Previous HitbarrierNext Hit shoreline and back Previous HitbarrierNext Hit marshes provide unique habitats for coastal fisheries and wildlife in Louisiana and the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The Previous HitbarrierNext Hit shoreline also serves as a means of protection for wetlands and coastal communities against hurricane storm surge, tidal inundation, frontal passages, and wave action. Unfortunately, the Plaquemines Previous HitBarrierNext Hit Shoreline, and the associated wetlands, is one of the most rapidly eroding areas in Louisiana.

This study builds on a previous study of Previous HitbarrierNext Hit shoreline loss that examined Previous HitbarrierNext Hit shoreline loss between 1884 and 1988 (Williams et al., 1992). In 2000, the National Marine Fisheries Service, under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act, developed a plan to restore from five to ten miles along the Plaquemines Previous HitbarrierNext Hit shoreline. This study represents the current state of the shoreline as well as an update of shoreline loss rates from 1884-2000. Additionally, interior wetland changes have been determined between 1932 and 1990.

The rate of long-term (1884-2000) shoreline retreat along the Barataria shoreline ranges from 3.2 feet per year to 50.6 feet per year, averaging approximately 19.8 feet per year over the time period. The rate of short-term (1988-2000) shoreline retreat along the Barataria shoreline ranges from 4.8 feet per year to 115.4 feet per year, averaging approximately 29.5 feet per year over the time period. Approximately 37,402 acres of marsh have disappeared from the area immediately behind the Previous HitbarrierNext Hit shoreline between 1932 and 1990. The remaining wetlands behind the Previous HitbarrierTop shoreline are projected to be lost within the next 20 years.

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REFERENCES

Williams, S.J.; Penland, S.; and Sallenger, A.H. (eds). 1992. Atlas of Shoreline Changes in Louisiana from 1853 to 1989. U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series I-2150-A.

End_of_Record - Last_Page 144-------

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND ASSOCIATED FOOTNOTES

1 University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA; [email protected]

2 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

Copyright © 2004 by The Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies