Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Numerical Investigation Of Sediment Dynamics In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico In Connection With Hurricanes, Fluid Mud, Climate Change, And Biogeochemical Cycling, Zhengchen Zang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sediment transport and deposition in marginal seas is jointly controlled by many factors including hydrodynamics, fluvial inputs, and the characteristics of sediment particles. This dissertation study employs the coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-and-sediment transport modeling system (COAWST) to investigate the mechanism of sediment transport in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) on different temporal scales, as well as its interaction with biogeochemical processes.

First of all, a three-way coupled (atmosphere-wave-ocean) hurricane model reproduced the hydro- and sediment dynamics during hurricane Gustav (2008). Intensive alongshore and offshore currents were simulated on the eastern/western sectors of hurricane track, respectively. High suspended sediment concentration (SSC) was …

Assessing Morphodynamics Of The Lower Mississippi River From 1985 To 2015 With Remote Sensing And Gis Techniques, Bo Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Lower Mississippi River is one of the most highly engineered rivers in the world. The river is now completely regulated by a combination of levees, artificial cutoffs, bank revetments, and dike fields; however, the river engineering has also complicated the geomorphological response to the sediment brought in the river. This dissertation research examined morphodynamics of the middle portion of the Lower Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi (river kilometer: 737) to Red River Landing, Louisiana (river kilometer: 486) to elucidate river engineering effects on sediment transport, storage, and distribution. The Old River Control Structure (ORCS) diverts approximately 25% of the …

Particulate Inorganic Carbon Flux And Sediment Transport Dynamics In Karst: Significance To Landscape Evolution And The Carbon Cycle., Randall Lee Paylor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research focused on three areas of karst hydrogeology and sediment transport that have been poorly studied in the past: the role of particulate inorganic carbon transport in calculating carbon sink rates in karst; rapid changes in surface vs. subsurface sediment mixing in karst conduits; and comparison of landscape denudation calculations using dissolved carbonate load vs. total dissolved/sediment load. Carbonate bedrock weathering is a significant component of the atmospheric carbon sink. Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) in bed and suspended sediment load of karst waters is frequently dismissed as insignificant for calculating denudation and carbon transport/sink rates, but PIC flux has not …