Book Description

This report presents the results of an investigation of relative sea level rise and delta-plain development in the Terrebonne Parish region of Louisiana, where rates of land loss and barrier island erosion are currently among the highest in the United States. Data from tide gage stations, geodetic leveling surveys, vibracores, and studies measuring cesium-37 activity in surface cores document a new chronology for the Terrebonne Parish region and reveal that, except immediately adjacent to the Atchafalaya delta complex, the current rates of wetland sedimentation are not sufficient to maintain the coastal marshes against the effects of relative sea level rise and subsidence. Over the next century, relative sea level in this region could rise 0.18-2.80 m, and the entire Terrebonne Parish delta plain faces catastrophic land loss and could not be converted to open water.