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。洪水提供了一个极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，这可以通过重复取心来记录。这项研究将确定密西西比河水下三角洲洪水的地层特征，并将陆架上最近的洪水沉积物的沉积学、放射化学和地球化学特征与先前研究过的飓风沉积物进行比较，并检查三角洲前缘地层，寻找洪水引起的沉积物重力流的证据。提出的研究提供了一个难得的机会来研究一个主要河流系统的沉积物和溶质供应到沿海海洋的关键过程。这项工作的更广泛影响包括培训多达六名学生学习航海科学，并了解重大洪水事件和沉积物运输在密西西比墨西哥湾沿岸海岸线补充和侵蚀中的重要性。

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.