US-France Cooperative Research: Effects of Amazon Sediment Migration on Mangrove Recruitment and the Geological/Geochemical Evolution of the Guianas-Amapa Coast, South America

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This two-year award provides support for US-France cooperative research on the nature of Amazon sediment accumulation along the Guianas-Amapa coast of South America. The collaboration involves the research groups led by Mead Allison of Texas A & M University and Frederic Baltzer of the University of Paris, Sud. The objectives of the project are to determine: (1) how the interplay between mudbank migration and mudcape growth controls accretion and erosion on the Amapa-Guianas coast and (2) how recruitment, growth rates, and survival of coast mangrove swamps are dependent on these mechanisms. The researchers will conduct a joint field study in French Guiana and bring together information collected by these research groups in previous field studies. The US investigators bring to this collaboration expertise in sedimentology, geochronology and marine geophysics. This is complemented by French expertise in ecological, botanical and sedimentological studies of mangrove swamps. The project will advance understanding of the natural processes that control the evolution of a muddy coastal system. These systems make up a significant proportion of the world's coast zones and are critical habitats that are disappearing under human encroachment.