RAPID: Collaborative Research: Signature of the 2011 Flooding on the Mississippi Subaqueous Delta

密西西比河正在经历一场具有重大地质意义的历史性洪水。 洪水提供了一个很好的机会来记录与事件相关的沉积，并将其与飓风伊万，卡特里娜和丽塔的风暴沉积数据进行对比。 通过西南山口携带的大量沉积物可能会导致三角洲前缘的重力流，这可以通过重复取芯来记录。 这项研究将确定洪水对密西西比水下三角洲的地层签名，并将比较沉积学，放射化学和地球化学签名的最近的洪水沉积物的货架上与以前研究的飓风沉积物，以及检查地层的三角洲前洪水引起的沉积物重力流的证据。 该研究为研究主要河流系统向沿海海洋提供沉积物和溶质的关键过程提供了难得的机会。 这项工作的更广泛影响包括培训多达6名学生从事航海科学，了解重大洪水事件和沉积物运输对密西西比墨西哥湾海岸线的补给和侵蚀的重要性。

The Mississippi River is experiencing a historic flood of major geological significance. The flooding provides an excellent chance to document sedimentation associated with the event and contrast it with storm deposition data from hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, and Rita. It is possible that the massive sediment load carried through Southwest Pass will lead to gravity flows on the delta front that could be documented with repeat coring. This research will determine the stratigraphic signature of the flood on the Mississippi subaqueous delta and will compare the sedimentological, radiochemical, and geochemical signature of the recent flood deposits on the shelf with previously studied hurricane deposits as well as examine strata of the delta front for evidence of flood-induced sediment-gravity flows. The proposed research provides a rare opportunity to study the critical processes of sediment and solute supply to the coastal ocean for a major river system. Broader impacts of the work include the training of up to six students in seagoing science and understanding the importance of major flooding events and sediment transport in the replenishment and erosion of the Mississippi Gulf Coast coastline.