Abstract
Abstract. Many of the world's deltas – home to major population centers – are rapidly degrading due to reduced sediment supply, making these systems less resilient to increasing rates of relative sea-level rise. The Mississippi Delta faces some of the highest rates of wetland loss in the world. As a result, multibillion dollar plans for coastal restoration by means of river diversions are currently nearing implementation. River diversions aim to bring sediment back to the presently sediment-starved delta plain. Within this context, sediment retention efficiency (SRE) is a critical parameter because it dictates the effectiveness of river diversions. Several recent studies have focused on land building along the open coast, showing SREs ranging from 5 to 30 %. Here we measure the SRE of a large relict crevasse splay in an inland, vegetated setting that serves as an appropriate model for river diversions. By comparing the mass fraction of sand in the splay deposit to the estimated sand fraction that entered it during its life cycle, we find that this mud-dominated sediment body has an SRE of ≥ 75 %, i.e., dramatically higher than its counterparts on the open coast. Our results show that transport pathways for mud are critical for delta evolution and that SRE is highly variable across a delta. We conclude that sediment diversions located in settings that are currently still vegetated are likely to be the most effective in mitigating land loss and providing long-term sustainability.
Highlights
Most large rivers do not transport sufficient sediment to the coast to fill the accommodation that will be created on their delta plains due to rapid 21st century sea-level rise (Giosan et al, 2014)
Former channels can be identified as topographic ridges (Fig. 1b) that correspond to sandier ribbons in the subsurface (Fig. 4)
The late Holocene stratigraphic record of the Mississippi Delta shows that crevasse splay deposits consist of ∼ 95 % mud
Summary
Most large rivers do not transport sufficient sediment to the coast to fill the accommodation that will be created on their delta plains due to rapid 21st century sea-level rise (Giosan et al, 2014). This shortfall ensures a global retreat of deltaic coasts and presents an existential threat to some of the densest human populations, most valuable economic infrastructure, and most vibrant ecologies on Earth (Ericson et al, 2006; Giosan et al, 2014). Mud comprises 80 % or more of the incoming sediment load in most rivers (Giosan et al, 2014) and often dominates their delta-plain deposits
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