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

这个为期两年的奖项为美法合作研究南美洲圭亚那-阿玛帕海岸亚马逊河沉积物积累的性质提供了支持。这项合作包括由德克萨斯农工大学的Mead Allison和巴黎南部大学的Frederic Baltzer领导的研究小组。该项目的目标是确定：(1)泥滩迁移和泥滩生长之间的相互作用如何控制阿马帕-圭亚那海岸的增生和侵蚀；(2)海岸红树林沼泽的补充、生长速度和生存如何依赖于这些机制。这些研究人员将在法属圭亚那进行一项联合实地研究，并汇集这些研究小组在以前的实地研究中收集的信息。美国调查人员为这次合作带来了沉积学、地质年代学和海洋地球物理学方面的专业知识。法国在红树林沼泽的生态学、植物学和沉积学研究方面的专门知识补充了这一点。该项目将促进对控制泥泞海岸系统演变的自然过程的理解。这些生态系统构成了世界海岸带的很大一部分，是在人类入侵下正在消失的重要栖息地。

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.