Sediments and Wetlands

Check out this article about the importance of catastrophic events. Marshes are low lying areas near the coast and as sea level rises marsh habitat is shrinking. The results of this study shed light on how floods impact wetlands, and how these effects might be harnessed to purposefully rebuild Louisiana's wetlands, which are sinking from compaction and growing smaller as sea level rises.

"The marshes may be able to maintain their surface area or height above sea level if they receive significant sediment, either from floods or hurricanes or normal fluvial processes," Horton said. "Ours is the only empirical study to obtain an estimate of how much sediment is deposited by a large-scale flood on the Mississippi."