Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

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Geomorphology
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / g e o m o r p h

Sediment inlling and wetland formation dynamics in an active crevasse splay of the
Mississippi River delta
Donald R. Cahoon a,,1, David A. White b, James C. Lynch a,1
a
b

United States Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center, 700 Cajundome Boulevard, Lafayette, LA 70503, USA
Department of Biological Sciences, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 15 April 2010
Received in revised form 30 November 2010
Accepted 2 December 2010
Available online 13 December 2010
Keywords:
Crevasse splay
Mississippi River delta
Wetlands
Accretion
Shallow subsidence
Elevation

a b s t r a c t
Crevasse splay environments provide a mesocosm for evaluating wetland formation and maintenance
processes on a decadal time scale. Site elevation, water levels, vertical accretion, elevation change, shallow
subsidence, and plant biomass were measured at ve habitats along an elevation gradient to evaluate wetland
formation and development in Brant Pass Splay; an active crevasse splay of the Balize delta of the Mississippi
River. The processes of vertical development (vertical accretion, elevation change, and shallow subsidence)
were measured with the surface elevation tablemarker horizon method. There were three distinct stages to
the accrual of elevation capital and wetland formation in the splay: sediment inlling, vegetative colonization,
and development of a mature wetland community. Accretion, elevation gain, and shallow subsidence all
decreased by an order of magnitude from the open water (lowest elevation) to the forest (highest elevation)
habitats. Vegetative colonization occurred within the rst growing season following emergence of the mud
surface. An explosively high rate of below-ground production quickly stabilized the loosely consolidated subaerial sediments. After emergent vegetation colonization, vertical development slowed and maintenance of
marsh elevation was driven both by sediment trapping by the vegetation and accumulation of plant organic
matter in the soil. Continued vertical development and survival of the marsh then depended on the health and
productivity of the plant community. The process of delta wetland formation is both complex and nonlinear.
Determining the dynamics of wetland formation will help in understanding the processes driving the past
building of the delta and in developing models for restoring degraded wetlands in the Mississippi River delta
and other deltas around the world.
Published by Elsevier B.V.

1. Introduction
The 32,000 km2 Mississippi River delta consists of shallow estuaries,
wetlands, and distributary ridges that formed from six overlapping delta
lobes during the past 6000 years (Coleman et al., 1998). This area is an
ecologic and economic engine for the Gulf of Mexico region and the
United States as a whole (Twilley, 2007). The vast estuarine and wetland
area provides 30% of the US total sh catch and is a critical stopover
for neotropical migrating birds and waterfowl in the Central Flyway.
The wetlands store water, lter sediments and pollutants from the
water, help stabilize shorelines, and protect human settlements by
ameliorating storm surges associated with hurricanes. There is
extensive human settlement across the delta, including commercial
ports that handle more than 20% of the nation's foreign waterborne

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 301 497 5523; fax: +1 301 497 5624.
E-mail addresses: dcahoon@usgs.gov (D.R. Cahoon), dawhite@loyno.edu
(D.A. White), jclynch@usgs.gov (J.C. Lynch).
1
Present Address: United States Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center, c/o BARC-East, Building 308, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705,
USA.
0169-555X/$ see front matter. Published by Elsevier B.V.
doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.12.002

commerce. However, during the past few centuries, human use of the
Mississippi River watershed and its delta ecosystem has dramatically
altered the delta, causing a shift to the destructive phase of the delta
cycle (Coleman et al., 2008; Blum and Roberts, 2009) resulting in
extensive wetland loss and a growing demand to restore the delta
environment (Day et al., 2007).
Multiple factors are contributing to the deterioration of the delta.
Dams on the Mississippi River and its tributaries have reduced the
sediment load in the River by 48% (Syvitski et al., 2009; Blum and
Roberts, 2009) and ood protection levees prevent annual spring
ooding of the delta plain and most of the sediment entrained in the
river from reaching the delta plain wetlands. Construction of an
extensive network of canals for oil and gas exploration and navigation
has altered local hydrology within delta plain wetlands that has
contributed to the impounding of water and related stresses to the
marsh vegetation (Day et al., 2000; Ko and Day, 2004). In addition,
extensive sub-surface uid extraction, particularly oil and gas, has led
to accelerated subsidence from reservoir compaction and fault
reactivation across the delta plain (Morton and Bernier, 2010; Morton
et al., 2006). The synergistic effect of reduced sediment load, altered
local marsh hydrology, and accelerated subsidence has resulted in an

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D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

aggradation decit, where the delta plain wetlands are not keeping
pace with current sea-level rise rates, resulting in historically high rates
of wetland loss (Barras et al., 2003). Besides reducing the natural
resource value of the delta ecosystem, wetland loss also has increased
the vulnerability of the remaining wetlands and human settlements to
storm surge impacts (Barras et al., 2008; Day et al., 2007). This story of
delta destruction as a result of human alterations has been repeated at
many deltas around the world (Ericson et al., 2006; Coleman et al., 2008;
Syvitski et al., 2009). The Mississippi along with the Ganges, Irrawaddy,
Magdalena, Mekong, Niger, and Tigris deltas are considered in peril
of ooding as a result of reduction in aggradation plus accelerated
compaction overwhelming rates of global sea-level rise (Syvitski et al.,
2009).
A direct consequence of wetland loss in the delta plain is the loss of
wetland elevation capital (sensu Reed, 2002; Cahoon and Guntenspergen,
2010) and an increase in accommodation space. Thus the restoration of
the wetland ecosystem will require the restoration of the wetland
elevation capital through the accumulation initially of mineral sediments
to restore elevations to a level suitable to support emergent vegetation,
and then organic matter provided by plant growth; the process by which
the delta was formed historically. However, today the delta plain is largely
disconnected from the river and hence the increased accommodation
space remains unlled and devoid of vegetated marsh. One approach
proposed for restoring the wetlands is to reconnect the delta plain to the
river with sediment diversions that will mimic historic crevasse splay
processes (Day et al., 2007). Although there is not sufcient sediment to
restore the historical extent of delta plain wetlands with this approach
because of the reduced sediment load of the river (Blum and Roberts,
2009), smaller scale restoration is feasible (Day et al., 2007; Boyer et al.,
1997). To this end we evaluated splay development processes near the
mouth of the Mississippi River where active crevassing still occurs on a
small scale.
This study describes wetland formation and elevation dynamics
along an elevation gradient of an individual lobe of a developing
crevasse splay within the degraded Cubits Gap sub-delta complex. The
approach of substituting space (location on the elevation gradient) for
time (ecogeomorphic succession) allows us to assess marsh development processes from a comparison of subaqueous to recently emergent
(herbaceous marsh), to mature emergent (forest) habitats. Specically,
we analyze the role of hydrogeomorphic processes in the vertical
development of open water substrates (sediment inlling), that lead to
the accumulation of elevation capital and marsh formation (plant

colonization thresholds), and marsh maintenance (sediment trapping

by vegetation and plant organic matter accumulation in the soil).
Our objectives were to determine the rate of inlling and vertical
development of the splay habitats, the elevation gradient among these
habitats, and the rate at which shifts in habitat type occur (i.e., gradual
versus abrupt). Such an accounting of the acquisition of elevation
capital (relative to local sea level), and the rates at which it can be
gained during wetland formation and evolution from open water to
emergent marsh, is fundamental to understanding wetland change
in coastal Louisiana and to the development of wetland restoration
practices.
2. Regional setting
Subsidence rates in the Balize delta are considered to be the highest
on the Louisiana and Mississippi coast as a result of compaction of
thick, young Holocene sediment deposits (~100 m) and faulting and
exure of the underlying Pleistocene sediments at the seaward margin
of the delta (see reviews in Blum et al., 2008; Blum and Roberts, 2009).
However, there are few measurements of subsidence from this delta,
and those are not well constrained. Thus subsidence estimates range
from 10 to 30 mm/yr (e.g., Penland and Ramsey, 1990; Shinkle and
Dokka, 2004). When comparing the Balize delta to other regions of the
Louisiana coast, Blum and Roberts (2009, p. 489) do not provide an
estimate of the Balize subsidence rate. Rather they simply state it is
greater than the 68 mm/yr rate determined from the Grand Isle tide
gauge in the Lafourche delta. For the purposes of this study, we have
assigned to this region the conservative estimate of N10 mm/yr for
combined subsidence and eustatic sea-level rise.
The study region is located on the Cubits Gap sub-delta, which
roughly occupies the north-eastern quadrant of the MRD (Fig. 1). In
the 1800s sediment to this sub-delta gradually inlled the then
existing shallow seas between just north of Main Pass and Pass A
L'Outre (Otter Pass). Like all interior marshes in the MRD, this subdelta experienced deterioration and loss of its original marshes since
the 1950s as a result of high relative sea-level rise rates and elevation
decits that lead to the formation of huge shallow ponds in the
interior freshwater regions by the later 1970s (Coleman et al., 2008).
During sub-delta degradation, a second wetland growth phase can
occur at a much smaller scale than the entire sub-delta complex
through the formation of crevasse splays, which are also called
overbank splays (Coleman, 1988). These splays are depositional

LA

10 km
Fig. 1. Illustration of the active Balize delta of the Mississippi River showing land (stippled area) present in 1956 (A) and 1978 (B), modied from White (1993). The star in (B) marks
the large shallow pond where sediment inlling created the Brant Pass splay. The pond is located adjacent to Brant Pass between Main Pass to the north and Pass A L'Outre to the
south. The arrow in (A) points to the Head of Passes at river mile 0 and shows the main channel of the Mississippi River splitting into 3 principal distributary passes, from west to east,
Southwest Pass, South Pass, and Pass A L'Outre.

D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

forms that develop, depending on local conditions, from overtopping

or scouring of the natural levee resulting in a fan-shaped splay that
can mimic larger deltas (Coleman, 1988; Roberts, 1997). This study
took place in one of the largest shallow ponds formed in the sub-delta
complex on Brant Pass Splay, which began forming after a crevasse
opening along Brant Pass that appears in a 1978 photograph (Fig. 2).
Brant Pass is located on Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Coleman
(1988, pp. 3637) states the crevasse splay opened in 1975 and
rapidly began lling the pond. The Brant Pass Splay grew to a total
marshland area (excluding adjacent ponds) of 2 km2 by 1983 and to
approximately 5 km2 in 2000 (Fig. 2). Field measurements were
collected in the southern-most and largest splay lobe, which is the site
of a long-term vegetation study that was begun in 1983 (White, 1993,
2008; Fig. 3B). The southern lobe exists in the 1983 photograph
(Fig. 2). Thus when sampling began for this study in 1997 the lobe was
more than 14 years of age.
Among the vegetation associations and habitat settings on the
southern lobe, we identied in 1997 ve habitat types that typically
occur on most lobes of the Brant Pass Splay. In order of decreasing
elevation and age, they are forest, high marsh, low marsh, preemergent, and open water (Fig. 3). A woody community initially
dominated by Salix nigra (black willow) occurs on the highest
elevation, upstream region (i.e., at the head) of the lobe. As the
willows age and begin to die a mixed woody community composed
of species of Sesbania, Baccharis, and Iva develops with a ground
covering of several marsh species. From here on we refer to this as
forest habitat, which is the oldest splay habitat. Downstream from the
forest occurs the high marsh dominated by Schoenoplectus deltarum

59

(delta three-square), which is upslope from the adjacent low marsh

where the higher elevation areas are dominated by Sagittaria latifolia
(delta duck-potato) and the lower elevation areas by Sagittaria
platyphilla. When environmental conditions are right, an attenuated
elevation gradient and inundation pattern are created (White, 1993),
leading to the development of extensive monospecic marshes of
these 3 herbaceous species (Fig. 3A).
The habitats down slope from the low marsh are continually
ooded. We identied two habitats in this sub-aqueous environment:
pre-emergent and open water. The pre-emergent habitat represents
an older portion of the open water habitat where sediment inlling
has raised the substrate elevation to a level approximately half-way
between open water and low marsh (Fig. 3). The substrate of the open
water habitat is the lowest point on the elevation gradient and is the
youngest splay habitat in terms of crevasse sedimentation history.
Open water supports a submerged aquatic community of species in
the genera Najas, Ceratophyllum, Potomogeton, and Heteranthera
(Fig. 3). If the water is sufciently deep and with signicant current,
the open water habitat lacks submerged aquatic vegetation.
The elevation of the substrate and its effect on ooding controls
development of each of these plant communities of the splay lobe.
Therefore, it is the degree to which the elevation changes over distance
that determines the extent of each community type along a lobe. This
elevation and community type delity is not only shown down the lobes
of each splay but also across the lobes, i.e., perpendicular to the general
low water direction of current ow. Adjacent to the main feeder passes
and even smaller channel meanders there is natural levee, the highest
elevation that declines perpendicularly away from the source of water

Fig. 2. A time series of false-color aerial winter photographs of the study region showing the large, shallow pond adjacent to Brant Pass in 1978 and the growing crevasse splay in
1983, 1995, and 2000. The southern lobe of the splay, where this study was conducted, grew to over 3 km in length between 1983 and 2000. The red color indicates willow (Salix
nigra) forest canopy and the white to lightest blue color indicates mud surfaces during the winter senescence when aboveground marsh vegetation is absent. The star indicates
where D. White collected accretion and vegetation data from 1984 to 1990. In 1983, the star marked the location of mudat habitat, which by 1988 had become high marsh
habitat.

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D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

Fig. 3. (A) Conceptual diagram (not to scale) of a longitudinal prole of a typical lobe of the Brant Pass Splay identifying the elevation gradient across the woody, herbaceous and
aqueous communities as conceptualized in White (1993) and represented by forest, high marsh, low marsh, pre-emergent, and open water habitats. Note that the vertical dimension
is extremely increased relative to the horizontal scale. (B) Year 2000 image of the Brant Pass Splay study region showing the attenuated southern lobe and the location of the ve
sampling sites: AForest habitat (Salix nigra overstory with mixed sparse understory of the herbs of the High Marsh); BHigh Marsh habitat (Schoenoplectus deltarum-dominated);
CLow Marsh habitat (Sagittaria latifolia-platyphilla dominated); DPre-emergent habitat (on the verge of becoming a marsh with scattered patches of Low Marsh dominants or
submerged aquatics depending upon the degree of ooding); EOpen Water habitat (with occasional patches of submerged aquatics). The High Marsh, site B, corresponds with the
location of the star in Fig. 2.

ow (Fig. 4). This elevation change, however subtle, creates natural

shoreline-levee plant communities that would change into the typical
community down-slope or into the wetlands perpendicular from the
shoreline maintaining the same elevation/ooding community delity
for the down-lobe communities. The kind of shoreline levee community would depend upon its elevation still adhering to the general
elevation and community type delity relationship. This means that
along a lobe an atypical vegetation type along the down-current axis can
sometimes be found along a shoreline if past sedimentation events
created the atypical conditions. So, sometimes monospecic marshlands
of any of the dominant marsh species can be bordered along a higher
shoreline by a plant community typical of a higher elevation.
3. Materials and methods
In 1984, the environments of the young southern lobe included
an exposed mudat/pre-emergent habitat located adjacent and down
lobe of the high marsh habitat (star in the 1983 image of Fig. 2). In 1984,

White (1993) placed out 15 feldspar marker horizon plots (Cahoon and
Turner, 1989) down and across this mudat/pre-emergent environment that developed into high marsh by 1988 and later became Site B of
this study. Above-ground plant biomass was collected annually from
1984 to 1990 and belowground biomass collected annually from 1985 to
1989 (Table 1) along transects established on the mudat/pre-emergent
habitat and reported in White (1993). At each transect across the
lobe, ve 0.25 m2 plots were harvested at peak aboveground biomass
(late Augustearly September) both for above-ground and belowground plant material. The aboveground live material was clipped at
ground level and sorted by species, dried and weighed in the lab. The
substrates in the clipped plots were collected to a 3040 cm depth, well
below root and rhizome growth, washed of mud, and the remaining
below-ground material was dried and weighed with no attempt to sort
by plant species.
In 1997, ve sites were chosen for sampling (Fig. 3) to examine
marsh substrate elevation changes along the southern lobe and to
capture inter-site elevation relationships. Each of the ve sites was

D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

61

A
2nd Channel

Nascent Marsh

Main Feeder Channel

Substrate Surface

Base Water Level

B
Low Marsh

High Marsh

(Sagittaria)

(Scheonoplectus)

Main Feeder Channel

SET-MH Pipe and Platform

Filling Back Channel

C
Low Marsh

High Marsh

Main Feeder Channel

Shoreline - Levee
Highest Marsh
(Mixed grasses/forbes)
Fig. 4. A cross-section diagram (not to scale) of the southern lobe of Brant Pass splay at the High Marsh site (B in Fig. 3 and star in Fig. 2) showing a time series of habitat changes that
occurred beginning in 1984 (A) through 1997 and 2002 (B and C). The Nascent Marsh in A is mostly ooded and on the verge of becoming marsh. Note the early second feeder
channel on the backside of the lobe that became low marsh habitat (B and C). Note also the slight, but important, changes in substrate elevation that developed by 2002 (C),
especially the small natural berm habitat immediately adjacent to the shoreline that supports a mixed high marsh with only scattered patches of Schoenoplectus deltarum. Surface
elevation tablemarker horizon stations were established in this habitat in 1997.

collect multi-year, high resolution data on the relationship among

vertical accretion, elevation change, and shallow subsidence (Cahoon
et al., 1995, 1999, 2002). All stations were sampled approximately
three times per year over the course of the 5 year study until winter
2002. Additional marker horizons were added at some sites and an

located within a principal wetland community described above

(forest, high marsh, low marsh, pre-emergent, and open water). At
two random locations within each site, a single surface elevation table
bench mark and 3 marker horizon plots were established (Table 1).
The surface elevation tablemarker horizon method was used to

Table 1
Annual time line and locations of the methods.
Methodology

Aboveground biomass
Belowground biomass
Laser elevation surveys
Water level
Soil analysis
Marker horizon (accretion)
1984 Mudat
Forest 1b
Forest 2b
High Marshb
Low Marshb
Pre-emergentb
Open Water 1b
Open Water 2b
Surface elevation table (elevation)c
Forest
High Marsh 1
High Marsh 2
High Marsh 3
Low Marsh
Pre-emergent
Open Water
a

Year
84a

85a

86a

87a

88a

89a

90a

X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X

01

02

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X

X
X

X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X

X
X

Data were collected by White (1993) from mudat habitat indicated by the star in Fig. 2, 1983 photograph. The data were reanalyzed for this study.
For each habitat indicated in Fig. 3B, 6 marker horizons were established, 3 at each of 2 stations. Second sets of marker horizons were placed out at the Forest and Open Water
habitats after many of the original ones eroded away (i.e., Forest 2 and Open Water 2).
c
For each habitat indicated in Fig. 3B, a single surface elevation table was established at each of 2 stations. In the High Marsh, one of the two stations (High Marsh 1) eroded away
and was abandoned by the end of 1999. The second station (High Marsh 2) remained stable for the entire study. In 2000, a third station (High Marsh 3) was established to replace
High Marsh 1.
b

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D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

additional surface elevation table was added at the high marsh site
due to local erosion (Table 1). Consequently, some habitats have
multiple sets of marker horizons spanning different time periods such
that accretion measurement periods do not always match elevation
measurement periods.
Site elevation surveys were conducted in all ve sites along the full
length of the lobe on three dates (January 14, 1997, January 12, 1999,
and May 25, 2000) using two Spectraphysics Laserplane 800
laser levels (Table 1). Since there is no permanent bench mark in
this remote region only relative elevations of the 5 sites could be
determined. The separate surveys were made to determine if there
were any relative elevation changes among the sites and to obtain
most accurate estimates of the differences among the sites. Since
there were no inter-site shifts over this time period the three survey
results were averaged to obtain mean relative elevations for each of
the ve habitats.
During the summer of 1997, a second below-ground biomass
study was begun at all ve sites along the southern lobe and carried
out until summer 2000. At the end of each of 4 summers, substrate
samples were collected from a single transect of ve 0.25 m2 plots at
each of the ve sites and processed in the same manner as in the
1980's study except the sample weights were not pooled by age. It is
noteworthy that substrate sample depth in this later study did not
sample to the fullest below-ground biomass depth in the forest and
high marsh habitats because the roots and rhizomes had grown
deeper into the substrate after 10 years. Therefore these data should
be viewed as shallow root values (they likely are within 7585% of full
values) of late summer/early fall peak standing crop in g/m2.
In order to determine the characteristics of the sediments
delivered to the splay from the Mississippi River, soil samples were
collected annually at each of the ve sites from areas where vegetative
colonization had not occurred (Table 1). The procedures in Barnes
(1959) were used to determine particle size and loss on ignition of
the upper surface to 20 cm of each sample. Bulk densities were
determined by collecting a known volume of the substrate, then wet
and dry weight determined.
Hourly water level data was collected from January 1998 to
September 2000 (Table 1) using vented pressure transducers (5 psi)
and a continuously recording data logger (Easylogger 900, Wescor
Inc., Logan, UT). The water level recorder was located on the shoreline
adjacent to the forest site.
3.1. Statistical analyses
Surface elevation change data were expressed as cumulative
change for each pin of the surface elevation table over time, starting at
the initial, baseline measurement. Simple linear regressions were run
for each position of each surface elevation table, using the pins within

each position as replicates. Similarly, simple linear regressions were

run on accretion data from each individual marker surface, using
replicate observations as the error for each surface. Accretion data by
default is expressed as cumulative change. Linear slope estimates
were then used in mixed effects ANOVA models (SAS Proc Mixed) to
test two main hypotheses. The rst hypothesis involved comparing
elevation trends among the ve habitats. The second hypothesis
compared accretion trends to elevation trends for each habitat type
separately (ve model runs), in order to quantify shallow subsidence.
In both cases, two model structures were compared: 1) the full
model, specifying the nested error structure (individual bench
mark plots as samples, and positions within a surface elevation
table bench mark, or individual accretion surfaces, as subsamples),
and 2) the reduced model specifying only the positions within a
surface elevation table bench mark, or the individual accretion
surfaces. Since these two models are nested, their goodness of t
was compared using Akaike's Information Criterion adjusted for small
sample sizes. Data transformations of the slope data (log or square
root) were carried out as needed to resolve model assumptions. If a
data transformation was necessary, it was used for both models, to
enable comparisons of t. A non-linear change in elevation trajectory
was noted in several habitat sites over the last time interval (11/
2002). To estimate the inuence of this effect, separate elevation
change regressions were run on a truncated dataset which did not
include this last time interval (9/19977/2001). For testing the second
hypothesis, linear slope estimates corresponded to accretion and
elevation data during time periods over which both datasets were
intact. In other words, subsequent marker layer deployments were
not combined to create longer accretion datasets. Finally, since one
replicate surface elevation table bench mark in the high marsh site
was located in an area that later developed into a small feeder channel
as the result of a natural breach of a shoreline levee, the bench mark
was abandoned. A replacement bench mark was installed at a later
time, but the data were not used in these statistical models since its
data spanned a later and shorter time period. The high marsh site was
therefore represented by only one surface elevation table bench mark.
4. Results
4.1. Sediment inlling
The sediment inlling the pond at Brant Pass and accumulating
throughout the southern splay consisted mostly of ne sand (N70%)
with the remainder consisting of silts, clays and ne organics. Average
soil bulk densities were higher in the more mature parts of the splay,
with values b 1 g cm 3 in the subaqueous habitats (0.77 to 0.87 g cm 3)
and N1 g cm 3 in the subaerial habitats (1.11 to 1.16 g cm 3). The
elevation surveys conducted 22 to 25 years after the crevasse breach

Table 2
Comparison of average linear accretion and elevation change rates for each of ve habitat types at a crevasse splay in southeast Louisiana.
Site

Time seriesa

Accretion
(cm yr 1 SE)

Elevation change
(cm yr 1 SE)

Shallow subsidence (AE)

(cm yr 1 SE)

Prob N F

Revised RSLRc
(cm yr 1)

Forest
Forest
High Marshb
Low Marsh
Pre-emergent
Pre-emergent
Open Water
Open Water

9/977/01
7/9811/02
1/997/01
1/997/01
1/9912/01
1/9911/02
1/9710/00
1/997/01

0.64 0.07
0.85 0.20
5.87 0.66
1.63 0.2
3.77 0.01
4.50 0.02
8.77 1.13
9.36 3.07

0.07 0.06
0.64 0.18
5.97 0.66
0.05 0.20
3.55 0.22
3.88 0.14
6.82 0.99
3.83 0.12

0.57 0.12
0.22 0.06
0.10 0.00b
1.57 0.34
0.94 0.51
0.85 0.87
2.10 1.97
5.53 2.95

0.03
0.51
0.89
b 0.0001
0.71
0.12
0.85
0.13

N1.6
N1.2
N1.0
N2.6
N1.9
N1.8
N3.1
N6.5

ANOVA analysis conducted on log-transformed slope estimates.

Indicates signicance at P b 0.05.
indicates signicance at P b 0.0001.
a
The full statistical model was run for all time series except for the high and low marshes where the reduced model was applied.
b
Based on the one sampling station with a continuous 5-year record.
c
RSLR = Relative Sea-level rise, which is the combined estimates of subsidence and eustatic sea-level rise = N 10 mm/yr. Revised RSLR = RSLR + Shallow Subsidence.

D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

63

revealed an average elevation difference of 79 cm between soil surfaces

in the forest and the open water (~3.25 km distance between A and E in
Fig. 3), a 62 cm difference from the forest to the pre-emergent surface
(~3.0 km distance between A and D in Fig. 3), and a 36 cm difference
from the forest to the low marsh surface (~1.2 km distance from A to C in
Fig. 3). The elevation gradient, or slope, from the forest soil surface to the
open water bottom (AE in Fig. 3) is about 24 cm/km, about 21 cm/km
from the forest to pre-emergent surfaces (AD in Fig. 3), and about
30 cm/km for the emergent, vegetated wetland surfaces (BC in Fig. 3).
A comparison of accretion and elevation change across the
different habitats of the lobe indicates that the rate of bay inlling
and elevation gain was not linear through time (Table 2, Fig. 5). The
rate of sediment inlling measured as vertical accretion over articial
soil marker horizons was inversely proportional to soil elevation
levels within the tidal frame of the splay, with annual rates of 9.4 cm
for open water, 3.8 cm for pre-emergent, 1.6 cm for low marsh, 5.9 cm
for high marsh, and 0.6 cm for forest habitats (Table 2, Fig. 5). The rate
for the high marsh (Fig. 5B) does not t the expected relationship with
relative site elevation (it is nearly 4-fold greater than the adjacent
downstream low marsh environment) because of the breach of the
shoreline levee that occurred shortly after initiating measurements in
this habitat. The breach scoured out a small feeder channel directly
through one of the high marsh sampling stations, which had to be
abandoned. Indeed, the elevation trend for both stations in the high
marsh was negative and marker horizons were eroded away during
channel formation (1997 to 1999). However, both accretion and
elevation were strongly positive after channel formation when
enhanced channel ows through the shoreline levee delivered
sediment directly to the interior marsh surface (1999 to 2002;
Fig. 5B). New marker horizons established at this site after channel
formation quickly became buried and remained stable for the
duration of the study. So even though the high marsh has a higher
relative elevation than the open water and mudat sites, its vertical
accretion rate is comparable to these lower elevation sites because of
the sediments shunted across lobe through the new channel
eventually past the low interior marsh to open water at the lowest
end of the elevation gradient. The associated sediment load of this
across lobe ow pattern is much less than the load carried down the
lobe parallel to the shoreline because of the large difference in volume
of ow (size of feeder channels) between the two directions. These
realities are corroborated by the very low elevation change (below the
trend at all other sites) at the low marsh site and the very high (above
the trend) elevation change at the high marsh site (Table 2).
A plot of vertical accretion against relative site elevation
(excluding the high marsh site) reveals that for each 1 cm decrease
in site elevation there is a 9.8 0.20 mm/yr increase in vertical
accretion down the full length of the lobe (Fig. 6). Since suspended
sediment supply is not limiting in this environment, the variation
in sediment deposition is driven by variation in ooding levels that
are inversely correlated with elevation. In 1999, the forest site was
ooded only 6% of the time during the highest tides and thus had the
lowest accretion rate (Table 3, Fig. 5). The high and low marshes were
ooded 50% and 94% of the time, respectively, and had intermediate
accretion rates. The open water site was permanently ooded and had
the highest accretion rate.
The open water and pre-emergent habitats showed different
temporal patterns of sedimentation (Fig. 5D, E). The open water
habitat exhibited uniformly high rates of sedimentation throughout
the study. In contrast, the pre-emergent habitat exhibited little to no
sedimentation for 1.5 years, then a springtime sedimentation event
(~1.41.5 cm), followed by a 2-year period of little to no sedimentation, another springtime sedimentation event (~1.01.1 cm), and
then another period of little to no sedimentation.
Fig. 5. Surface elevation and accretion changes at the ve habitat sites of the southern
lobe: forest, high marsh, low marsh, pre-emergent, and open water.

64

D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

Fig. 6. Accretion and surface elevation change regressed against relative site elevation.
The High Marsh habitat data were not included in the analysis. See Table 2 for a
description of the sampling intervals at each site and Table 4 for the actual site
elevations.

Of the 15 marker horizon plots established in October 1984, 7 plots

were never recovered or disappeared in less than 6 months and thus
were not analyzed. The results from the remaining plots reveal that
a major sedimentation event of about 1314 cm occurred on the
mudat during the spring oods of 1985 (Fig. 7). This rapid sediment
deposition raised the soil elevation to a height sufcient to support
marsh plant species dominated by Schoenoplectus deltarum as
indicated by the rapid increase in aboveground plant biomass from
b100 g/m2 in 1984 to N800 g/m2 in 1987 and below-ground plant
biomass from b100 g/m2 in 1985 to 2200 g/m2 in 1986 (Fig. 7).
Below-ground biomass then declined during the next two years until
it leveled off by 1989. Following the conversion from mud at to
marsh habitat, the annualized rate of vertical accretion slowed from
21.5 1.7 cm/yr (R2 = 0.99) in the spring of 1985 to 1.4 0.6 cm/yr
(R2 = 0.72) for the period from summer 1985 to winter 1987.
The loss of marker horizons in the 1980s and the need to reestablish marker horizons at several sites in the 1990s (Table 1, Fig. 5)
are indicative of the highly dynamic processes of sediment deposition
and erosion in this splay environment. The occurrence of erosion
indicates that our measurements of vertical accretion from marker
horizons are biased upward because eroded surfaces are not factored
into the accretion rate. Thus all accretion measures should be
considered maximum estimates for this environment.
4.2. Subsidence and surface elevation change
Similar to vertical accretion, surface elevation change measured
over the period for which vertical accretion data were available

Fig. 7. Accretion, and above-ground and below-ground biomass at the site indicated by the
star in Fig. 21983. In 1984 the site was mudat. After the spring 1985 sedimentation
event (inlling), the site was colonized by emergent vegetation and converted to low
marsh habitat, at which time the sedimentation rate decreased (maintenance). By 1988,
this site had become high marsh (site B in Fig. 3).

(~3 years) was inversely proportional to soil elevation levels within

the tidal frame of the splay. Annual rates were 3.8 cm for open water,
3.6 cm for pre-emergent, 0.05 cm for low marsh, 5.9 cm for high
marsh, and 0.07 cm for forest habitats (Table 2, Fig. 5). For each 1 cm
decrease in site elevation there is a 0.84 0.19 mm/yr increase in
elevation change down the full length of the lobe (Fig. 6). For the
entire 5-year study, surface elevation change was inversely proportional to site elevation with annual rates of 5.5 cm for open water,
3.9 cm for pre-emergent, 0.3 cm for low marsh, 4.4 cm for high marsh,
and 0.6 cm for forest habitats (Table 4). Surface elevation change at
the high marsh site did not t the relationship with site elevation
for the same reason as vertical accretion. However, surface elevation
change was consistently lower than vertical accretion at all sites, with
the exception of the atypical high marsh site where it was equal,
indicating the occurrence of shallow subsidence in the lobe. Elevation
gain was signicantly lower than accretion for the vegetated forest
and low marsh sites (Table 2). Differences between accretion and
elevation were comparable or greater in the open water and preemergent sites compared to vegetated sites, but were not signicant.
In general, the rate of shallow subsidence (calculated as accretion
minus elevation) decreased along the elevation gradient from the
aquatic (N5 cm/yr) to herbaceous to forested (b1 cm/yr) habitats
(Fig. 6, Table 2).
Below-ground biomass increased signicantly from the aquatic
sites (open water and pre-emergent) to the herbaceous marshes
to the forest (Fig. 8). Below-ground biomass was b80 g/m2 in the
sparsely vegetated open water and pre-emergent sites, ranged from
600 to 1600 g/m2 in the herbaceous marshes, and reached a peak of
N3000 g/m2 in the forest.

Table 3
Hydroperiod for 5 sites on the southern lobe of Brant Pass splay, 1999.
Variable

Total hoursa
Flood events
Flooded hours
Time ooded (%)
Longest ood (h)
Mean ood
depth (cm)
a

Site
Forest

High
Marsh

Low
Marsh

Pre-emergent

Open
Water

8143
50
494
6.07
77
3.67

8143
180
4090
50.23
795
6.31

8143
66
7672
94.22
4656
16.53

8143
3
8134
99.89
7959
28.24

8143
1
8143
100.00
8143
77.01

Start date = Jan. 26, 1999; stop date = Jan 1, 2000; length of record = 340 days.

Table 4
Elevation trajectories over the 5 years of the study for each habitat type. Site elevation is
relative to the level of the water bottom in the Open Water habitat.
Site

Site elevation (cm)

Elevation change (cm yr 1 SE)

Forest
High Marsh
Low Marsh
Pre-emergent
Open Water

79
73
43
17
0

0.6 0.3
4.4 0.6a
0.3 0.2
3.9 0.6
5.5 0.7

The elevation trajectory for the high marsh is based on only one sampling station.

D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

Fig. 8. Below-ground biomass at each of the ve habitats along the southern splay lobe,
19972000.

5. Discussion
5.1. Elevation capital and wetland formation
Delta lobes, sub-deltas, and crevasse splays experience three phases
of growth and abandonment: rapid growth with stable to increasing
river discharge, relative stability as discharge begins to wane, and
abandonment, after which subsidence dominates vertical development
(Roberts, 1997). The Brant Pass Splay has experienced the rst two
phases, and is likely in the beginning of the third phase. The high
suspended sediment concentrations in the Mississippi River and the
rapid rate of sediment inlling through the 1975 crevasse at Brant Pass
more than compensated for both the high rates of regional subsidence
and the local shallow subsidence (Figs. 5 and 6, Table 2) related to
substrate compaction through sediment overburden and consolidation
of newly deposited sediments (Cahoon et al., 2000). The shallow
open water habitat of the original ~8 km2 pond of the 1970s converted
to a vegetated crevasse splay in less than 10 years, and expanded to
more than 5 km2 in size and lled much of the pond in less than
25 years. As the splay developed, the rate of accumulation of elevation
capital and the elevation gradient decreased as the hydrologic gradient
became reduced. This can be deduced from an evaluation of the aerial
photographs from the 1980s and our empirical data from the late
1990s. The negative feedback relationship between site elevation and
the rate of vertical development is similar to that reported for estuarine
(Temmerman et al., 2004) and back-barrier (Pethick, 1981) tidal
marshes, where young low marsh surfaces accumulate quickly and
asymptotically up to an equilibrium level around mean high water level
and higher marsh surfaces accumulate much slower. In the case of the
Brant Pass splay environment, the sequence is from shallow open water
to forested wetland habitats, and the sequence occurs on a sub-decadal
timescale. Indeed, Coleman (1988, p. 37) suggests that crevasse splays
like Brant Pass are rarely active for more than 10 to 15 years, Roberts
(1997, p. 614) suggests no more than 23 decades, and can result in up
to a 3-meter thick sedimentary deposit.
Initially, rapid sediment inlling raised the elevation of the
substrate to a level that supported willow forest in b8 years (compare
1978 and 1983 images in Fig. 2) and the gradient from forest to open
water spanned no more than 0.5 km. The steepness of the gradient led
to abrupt changes among plant communities and the absence of a low
marsh habitat (D. White, personal observation, 1984). The marsh was
situated between the forest and a young mudat community on the
accreting newly emergent substrate of the elongating lobe. This marsh
became dominated by Schoenoplectus deltarum and the young mudat

65

community that had colonized the new sub-aerial surface became

dominated by a mixture of herbaceous species (White, 1993). On
this steep gradient, the large 1985 sedimentation event led to the
abrupt conversion of the mudat to high marsh by 1988. The large
1985 sedimentation event was related to an unusually high spring
Mississippi River discharge and concomitant high sediment load. This
spring event was one of the four largest during the 18 year period from
1984 to 2002 (Fig. 2 in Blum and Roberts, 2009, p. 489). Additionally,
there was likely a greater accommodation space in 1985 on the steep
gradient of the young splay, which allowed for the greater increase in
elevation. This area was still high marsh (i.e., had not become forest)
when we began sampling in 1997, and remained high marsh for the
duration of our study. So clearly the rate of elevation and habitat
change on the higher portions of the lobe slowed during the late 1980s
and the 1990s.
As the splay matured and the mid and outer reaches of the pond
lled, the slope became more attenuated and the gradient shallower
as the lobe grew to several kilometers in length (e.g., compare aerial
photos in Fig. 2). Coincident with the attenuation of the slope in the
1990s, a distinct low marsh community of Sagittaria spp. developed
between the high marsh and mudat. It later replaced the herbaceous
mixture of species as the gradient lessened even more. This gradual
leveling rst became evident as the near monospecic Sagittaria
latifolia low marsh community was replaced by Sagittaria platyphilla
on only the lower portions between the shallow water edges of the
open water, which we subsequently named pre-emergent. In 1997,
we identied only an extended pre-emergent habitat (the area
between sites C and D in Fig. 3B) fronting the low marsh habitat with
no mudat habitat present.
Not surprisingly, the rate of accumulation of elevation capital also
varies among the habitats. The high sediment concentrations in the
Mississippi River ensure that sedimentation in the open water areas of
the pond remains comparatively high year after year. The high, linear
rates of sediment inlling in the open water habitat contrast with the
pre-emergent habitat where the accretionary response slows and
becomes more variable. This shallower sub-aqueous habitat is
apparently more sensitive to changes in Mississippi River discharge
and sediment load than the open water habitat as indicated by the
spring sedimentation events separated by 12 year periods of little
sediment deposition (Fig. 5D). Thus, in the 25-year old splay, the
conversion of pre-emergent to low marsh habitat apparently occurs
through the cumulative effects of modest biennial or triennial spring
sedimentation events. This is not to say that the conversion to
low marsh could not occur abruptly as a result of a single, large
sedimentation event (e.g., a storm or historic river ood) as occurred
in the 10-year old splay in 1985 when the mudat habitat converted
to low marsh after a 1314 cm spring sedimentation event. In
addition to the down-lobe pattern of increasing elevation capital
with decreasing elevation (Fig. 6), the data from the high marsh
(Site B), where a breach in the shoreline levee introduced sediments
to the back-marsh that caused a sharp increase in the accretion rates,
suggests that the accretion rate decreases with distance from the
shoreline levee, as has been reported for other estuarine tidal marshes
(Reed et al., 1999; Temmerman et al., 2004).
The development of vegetated marsh marks an important transition point in the accretionary development of the splay. Although
river-born sediment inlling caused the initial increase in substrate
elevation that led eventually to wetland formation, now both mineral
sediment deposition and plant organic matter accumulation in the
soil contribute to further increases in elevation. The rate of accrual of
elevation capital in all of the emergent vegetated habitats (i.e., the low
and high marsh, the forest habitat) slows dramatically compared to
the rates of the subaqueous habitats, in large part because of their
higher elevation and the subsequent reduction in the frequency,
depth and duration of ooding. Vertical development of the substrate
is now inuenced by the trapping of sediment by the vegetation when

66

D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

the marsh surface is ooded and the accumulation in the soil of plant
organic matter that consists primarily of roots and rhizomes in this
high energy environment where surface litter is washed away (Reed,
2002; Rybczyk and Cahoon, 2002).
Given the reduction in ooding and sediment delivery to these
higher-elevation habitats, the role of below-ground biomass in
maintaining soil volume and elevation capital in these habitats is
critical (Figs. 7 and 8). During the rst year of vegetative colonization
from 1985 to 1986, below-ground biomass increased more than one
order of magnitude (Fig. 7) as a result of root growth by a rapidly
increasing number of new plants (as deduced from the increase in
above-ground biomass) invading an unoccupied niche (i.e., a bare
sediment surface at an elevation suitable for emergent plant
establishment and growth). We propose the following mechanism
to explain the initial phase of marsh formation (i.e., conversion of
mudat to low marsh).
During the rst year of colonization of this empty niche, plant
density is increasing rapidly and root growth rates are high because the
plants are allocating resources to root growth in order to scavenge for
nutrients. At the same time, mortality rates of the new, young root tissue
are low. This unique circumstance accounts for the explosive rate of
accumulation of below-ground biomass, which quickly helps to stabilize
the sub-aerial muddy substrate vulnerable to erosion by waves and
storms. As the niche lls and the plant community matures during the
next 23 years, plant colonization slows and root mortality and
decomposition increase, resulting in a gradual decline in below-ground
biomass. Over time, the low and high marsh habitats continue to accrue
elevation relative to sea level, albeit at a much slower rate. Indeed, the
marsh that began to form in 1985 was not fully developed until 1988
(White, 1993). We hypothesize that the high marsh replaces the low
marsh, and the forested wetland replaces the high marsh by a process
Morris (2006) refers to as geomorphological displacement. That is, the
invading species modies its environment and raises the elevation to a
level that excludes the original species. The upper limit to the acquisition
of elevation capital is determined by the optimum growth range of
the vegetation at a site (Morris et al., 2002), which is directly related
to the tidal range at that site (McKee and Patrick, 1988; Kirwan and
Guntenspergen, 2010).
The forest site represents the highest elevation and level of maturity
for this lobe environment. At this mature stage of development, the
maintenance of intertidal elevations is controlled by the feedbacks
and adjustments among plant biomass density, sedimentation, and
the local rate of relative sea-level rise (Reed, 2002; Morris, 2007). Has
the acquisition of elevation capital ceased at this mature site such that
vertical development of the substrate only counterbalances the local
processes of subsidence and sea-level rise, which conservatively is
N10 mm/yr? We hypothesize that the forest site is still acquiring
elevation capital for two reasons. The rate of elevation change (6 mm/yr,
Table 4) lags behind the relative sea-level rise rate and the forest is
beginning to convert to herbaceous marsh, indicating that the marsh
elevation is becoming lower relative to local sea level. In addition,
relative sea-level rise rates estimated from tide gauges do not include
the subsidence that occurs above the base of the piling to which the tide
gauge is attached. However, it is for that portion of the substrate above
the base of the piling that the SET-MH technique measures shallow
subsidence (Cahoon et al., 1999; Rybczyk and Cahoon, 2002). Adding
our estimates of shallow subsidence to the N10 mm/yr rate derived from
the tide gauges effectively makes the revised relative sea-level rise rate
at the forest site N1216 mm/yr (Table 2). These data indicate that
relative sea-level rise is outpacing wetland vertical development in
the mid to outer reaches of the splay, suggesting that accrual of elevation
capital is continuing in an attempt to ll the accommodation space.
Given the reduction in hydrologic efciencies of this mature crevasse
splay, it is unlikely that the mid to outer reaches of the splay will attain
an elevation where the rate of accrual of elevation capital is zero (i.e.,
the accommodation space is lled completely) before the degradation

phase of the delta cycle begins, if it has not already begun. In contrast,
the forest habitats on the oldest lobes of the splay adjacent to the
crevasse opening (see 2000 image in Fig. 2) were stable and healthy at
this time. This suggests that these oldest forest settings are still accruing
elevation capital or are in equilibrium (i.e., zero accrual) with relative
sea-level rise.
5.2. Implications for wetland sustainability
The processes of growth and development of a crevasse splay
provide an analog for the key factors controlling wetland formation and
sustainability across major delta lobes. In a mature marsh, the important
role of vegetative biomass in maintaining elevation capital has several
implications for wetland sustainability. A mature vegetated substrate
provides some resistance to erosion caused by high-magnitude, lowfrequency (acute) events (e.g., hurricanes) through the properties of
vegetated substrates to bind soil and bafe storm surges (Cahoon,
2006), and resilience to low-magnitude, high frequency (chronic)
events (e.g., sea-level rise) through vegetation trapping of sediments
(Gleason et al., 1979) and accumulation of organic matter in the soil
(Nyman et al., 2006). Also, models predict that if inorganic sediment
supply decreases or sea-level rise accelerates in an already sedimentpoor marsh, some marshes can maintain elevation by increasing plant
production and organic carbon storage, at least until the rate of sea-level
rise exceeds some critical threshold (Mudd et al., 2009).
Stabilization of elevation capital by vegetation means that wetland
elevation is vulnerable to environmental factors that inuence plant
production, including eutrophication of the local water body, elevated
concentrations of atmospheric CO2, herbivory, re, and increased
ooding. These factors can have either a positive or negative effect on
elevation. For example, increased above-ground growth related to N
and P fertilization can lead to increased sediment trapping capacity
(Morris et al., 2002), and elevated atmospheric concentrations of CO2
can lead to increased root growth and elevation gain in some species
(Langley et al., 2009; Cherry et al., 2009). Conversely, nitrogen
enrichment can negate, at least in part, the stimulatory effect of CO2
on root growth and elevation gain (Langley et al., 2009), and cause a
reduction in below-ground production and negative elevation
trajectories in mangrove forests where elevation gain occurs primarily
through accumulation of root matter (McKee et al., 2007). Grazing by
nutria in a brackish marsh can cause a reduction in below-ground
production that leads to decreased elevation (Ford and Grace, 1998).
Burning of a brackish marsh can cause an increase in the volume of
root biomass that leads to increased elevation (Cahoon et al., 2004).
Plant production by Spartina alterniora increases as the elevation
of the salt marsh becomes lower within its optimum growth range,
and then decreases as elevations approach the minimum depth at
which vegetation can grow (Morris et al., 2002). Lastly, death of the
vegetation leads to root decomposition and rapid peat collapse, and
rapid conversion of the wetland back to mudat or shallow open
water habitat (Cahoon et al., 2003; Morris et al., 2002).
6. Conclusions
Small crevasse splay environments provide a mesocosm for
evaluating wetland formation and maintenance processes (from
subtidal through to mature marsh habitats) on a decadal time-scale.
There are three distinct phases to the accrual of elevation capital and
wetland formation: sediment inlling, vegetative colonization,
and development of a mature wetland community. Mineral sediment
inlling initially leads to rapid increases in elevation relative to sea
level and creates a distinct elevation gradient. Rates of inlling slow
and become non-linear as elevation increases. When elevation
increases to within the intertidal zone and the mud surfaces become
sub-aerial, vegetative colonization occurs within the rst growing
season. An explosively high rate of belowground root production

D.R. Cahoon et al. / Geomorphology 131 (2011) 5768

quickly stabilizes the loosely consolidated sub-aerial sediments.

The accrual of elevation capital slows dramatically in this marsh
environment. Vertical development is now driven by sedimenttrapping by the vegetation and accumulation of plant organic matter
in the soil. The rate of accrual of elevation capital continues to slow as
elevation increases and marsh converts to forest. All three phases
occur rapidly (b8 years) during initial splay formation. Then as the
pond lls and the hydrologic gradient becomes reduced, the rate of
accrual of elevation capital and the maturation of the wetland
community slows. Indeed, the high marsh that formed in 1988 just
13 years after the crevasse opening was still high marsh in 2003.
Given the mature stage of the splay (i.e., the size of the splay relative
to the receiving pond), this high marsh environment may never
become a forested wetland.
The formation of vegetated communities marks an important stage
in splay development and stability. The presence of vegetated marsh
stabilizes the loosely consolidated sediment. Furthermore, vertical
development and survival of the marsh now depend upon the health
and productivity of the plant community. This may not be of critical
importance in a short-lived crevasse splay (b30 years) where subsidence soon dominates vertical development after marsh formation.
However, in large delta lobes and other non-deltaic wetlands, the role of
plant productivity in vertical development can be critical for wetland
sustainability. To improve projections of wetland sustainability, further
research is needed on the environmental factors (e.g., storms,
disturbance, eutrophication, increased temperatures, and changes in
precipitation and river ows) and their interaction with the plant
community dynamics and physical processes within the marsh that
control elevation change throughout all landscape scales (single lobe to
full delta) in the life of a delta. Both wetland formation and maintenance
processes are complex and non-linear.
Acknowledgements
We thank T. Crane, L. Wilkinson, R. Holland, B. Segura and B. Perez
for their help with eld work and sample processing in the lab.
J. Harris and the staff of the Delta National Wildlife Refuge provided
invaluable logistical support for this project. P. Hensel provided
statistical advice and support. Use of trade, product, or rm names
does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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