Study: Centuries of Sand to Grow Mississippi Delta | 2014-04-21 | Pollution Engineering

The wetlands of the Mississippi River Delta are slowly sinking and rapidly eroding, but new research from Rice University and the University of South Carolina has found the river's supply of sand -- the material engineers most need to rebuild the delta -- will stay constant for centuries.

The new study, which appears online this week in Nature Geoscience, is encouraging news for scientists and government officials who are working to shore up southeastern Louisiana's rapidly disappearing wetlands. The delta sinks each year as its soil settles and becomes more compact. While floodwaters from the untamed Mississippi River formerly provided a steady supply of sediment to counteract this subsidence, engineers have fought for nearly a century to contain the floods, which threaten the lives and livelihood of millions. Flood-control measures have eliminated about half of the annual supply of sediment that flows downriver, but the new study finds that sand -- they key ingredient for rebuilding marshlands -- is still abundant.

Study: Centuries of Sand to Grow Mississippi Delta | 2014-04-21 | Pollution Engineering