Autori: Bentley, S.J., Freeman, A.M., Willson, C.S., Cable, J.E., Giosan., L

Editorial: John W. Day, G. Paul Kemp, Angelina M. Freeman, David P. Muth, Springer, Perspectives on the Restoration of the Mississippi Delta, p.85-97, 2014.

Rezumat:

Management practices on the Mississippi River have reduced the amount of sediment in the river by approximately half. Some have questioned whether the current sediment load in the river is sufficient for restoration of the delta. The Mississippi River does not now, nor has it ever supplied enough sediment to continuously sustain the entire Mississippi Delta coastline. Nevertheless, the available sediment supply is still huge, and so we must use this valuable resource efficiently and effectively.

River diversions are structures designed to mimic the natural pattern of deltaic land formation by reconnecting the river to the coastal system. The suitability of diversions for land building has been the subject of vigorous scientific and policy debate. However, not all diversions are designed to build land. Other uses include salinity control and flood control. The land-building capacity of a diversion is fundamentally dependent on the supply of sediment and retention, versus the “sink” factors of subsidence, sea-level rise, and compaction. If supply exceeds sink factors, then land will build. Sediment diversions, designed to maximize sediment delivery, are being proposed as potentially important tools for land-building in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. Several current diversions show that such diversions can build land.

Cuvinte cheie: river diversion, sediment budget, sediment retention, delta cycle, land building // river diversion, sediment budget, sediment retention, delta cycle, land building

URL: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-94-017-8733-8