Backwater Control of the Morphodynamics of Delta Growth

三角洲生长形态动力学的回水控制

• 批准号: 1250045
• 负责人: John Shaw
• 金额: $ 8.5万
• 依托单位: Shaw John B
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1250045&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Backwater; Control; Morphodynamics; Delta; Growth

Dr. John Shaw has been granted an NSF Earth Sciences postdoctoral fellowship to determine the effect of backwater flow on the depositional environment of river deltas. This research and education plan will take place at the University of Wyoming. The investigation will include laboratory-scale experiments which facilitate detailed measurement of delta properties, and outcrop study of ancient delta deposits exposed in Wyoming and Utah. By forcing experimental deltas to build under a rigid lid rather than a free surface, experiments will more closely resemble the low-slope deltas found at the mouth of the Mississippi River, as opposed than steeper-slope commonly realized in delta experiments. Dr. Shaw and interested undergraduate and graduate students will take morphologic and stratigraphic relationships drawn from the experimental analysis and apply them to rock outcrops of river deltas, with the goal of quantifying the size and shape of ancient delta systems. As part of the educational component of the plan, Dr. Shaw will create an river delta exhibit for the University of Wyoming Geological Museum, using ancient delta formations found in Wyoming and specifically in nearby Native American Reservations.River deltas support large human populations that benefit from productive ecosystems and transportation corridors, but are at risk from the hazards of storms and land loss associated with relative sea level rise. By investigating the effect of important variables (channel depth and slope) on delta morphology and stratigraphy, we will gain further knowledge regarding the depositional architecture of deltas, and better insight into how they will change in the future.

约翰·肖博士被授予美国国家科学基金会地球科学博士后奖学金，以确定回水流动对河流三角洲沉积环境的影响。这项研究和教育计划将在怀俄明大学进行。调查将包括实验室规模的实验，以促进三角洲性质的详细测量，以及对怀俄明州和犹他州暴露的古代三角洲沉积物的露头研究。通过迫使实验三角洲在刚性盖下而不是自由表面下建造，实验将更接近于在密西西比河入海口发现的低坡度三角洲，而不是在三角洲实验中通常实现的陡坡。肖博士和感兴趣的本科生和研究生将从实验分析中得出形态和地层关系，并将其应用于河流三角洲的岩石露头，目标是量化古代三角洲系统的大小和形状。作为该计划教育部分的一部分，肖博士将为怀俄明大学地质博物馆（University of Wyoming Geological Museum）创建一个河流三角洲展览，利用在怀俄明发现的古代三角洲构造，特别是在附近的印第安人保留地发现的三角洲构造。河流三角洲支撑着大量人口，他们受益于生产性生态系统和交通走廊，但也面临着与海平面相对上升相关的风暴和土地流失的风险。通过研究重要变量（河道深度和坡度）对三角洲形态和地层学的影响，我们将进一步了解三角洲的沉积结构，并更好地了解它们在未来的变化。