Theses and Dissertations

Joseph French

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Skarke, Adam

Committee Member

Dyer, Jamie

Committee Member

Linhoss, Anna

Committee Member

Beebe, Alex

Date of Degree

5-1-2020

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geology

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

Rates of marsh wetland loss in the northern Gulf of Mexico are the highest observed in North America. Marsh terraces have been implemented over the last 30 years to address this loss. Marsh Terraces reduce fetch and resulting wave energy which, reduces rates erosion of sediments in coastal wetlands. This thesis evaluated marsh terraces by extensive data collection that will assess the spatiotemporal relationships between wind patterns, wave parameters, and sediment strength in water bodies modified with marsh terraces. Data collected during two four-month deployments captured the passage of 40 cold front storms and the passage of Hurricane Barry. Results indicated that the mean threshold for erosion for marsh platform and terraces (0.194 N/m2 and 0.500 N/m2) were often exceeded during the passage of cold front storms. Orientation to reduce the influence of these storms was determined to be 270/55 which is perpendicular to cold front associated winds.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/16690

Sponsorship

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (grant # NAS2000008944)

Comments

Cold Front||Wetland||Erosion||Marsh Terrace||Gulf of Mexico||Sediment

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