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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

20-Year Assessment Of Total Suspended Sediment (Tss) Variability In Barataria Bay From Modis Ocean Color Using A Combination Of Adaptive Semi-Analytical And Neural Network Algorithms, Bijaylaxmi Sahoo Apr 2023

20-Year Assessment Of Total Suspended Sediment (Tss) Variability In Barataria Bay From Modis Ocean Color Using A Combination Of Adaptive Semi-Analytical And Neural Network Algorithms, Bijaylaxmi Sahoo

LSU Master's Theses

Barataria Bay, a hydrologically dynamic basin in the northern Gulf of Mexico, exhibits a distinct spatio-temporal distribution of total suspended sediment (TSS). However, studies on sediment distribution are limited by availability of in-situ data as well as the limitation of ocean color algorithms for suspended sediments in shallow optically complex waters. Barataria Bay TSS concentration profile is complex, influenced in the upper basin by fresh water sources such as the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion, and in the lower bay by the river plume and marine influence near the mouth of the bay. To efficiently study the sediment dynamics in the …


Impact Of Oil And A Tropical Cyclone On An Omnivore And Herbivore Population In Salt Marshes Of Louisiana, Hannah K. Gordon Jul 2022

Impact Of Oil And A Tropical Cyclone On An Omnivore And Herbivore Population In Salt Marshes Of Louisiana, Hannah K. Gordon

LSU Master's Theses

Terrestrial arthropods are the ideal ecological indicators for the health of a salt marsh. Salt marshes are under extreme continuous stressors including climate change, land loss, oil spills, and tropical cyclones. Such stressors impact trophic and species level interactions, food resources, dispersal and population size of insects. In the present study, we collected terrestrial arthropods from eleven sites around Barataria Bay, five sites were oiled and five sites were unoiled, to determine the impact of the redistribution of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Site C6 was excluded from the oiled and unoiled data because it was in close …


Numerical And Field Study Of Tidal And Subtidal Dynamics In A Bar-Built Estuary: Barataria Bay, Gulf Of Mexico, Ali Reza Payandeh Jul 2021

Numerical And Field Study Of Tidal And Subtidal Dynamics In A Bar-Built Estuary: Barataria Bay, Gulf Of Mexico, Ali Reza Payandeh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated tidal and subtidal dynamics of water level, currents, and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in Barataria Bay, a shallow bar-built estuary of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. First, the local and remote wind forcing contribution on subtidal water level and current variability were examined using three different methods: (i) statistical analysis of observed data, (ii) an analytical model and (iii) a 2-D barotropic numerical model. Results suggested that the remote and local wind effects were equally important at the bay mouth, however local winds were the dominant forcing driver inside the bay. The amplitudes of subtidal fluctuations induced …


Hydrodynamics And Sediment Dynamics In A Receiving Basin For Sediment Diversion: A Case Study In Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Usa, Guandong Li Mar 2020

Hydrodynamics And Sediment Dynamics In A Receiving Basin For Sediment Diversion: A Case Study In Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Usa, Guandong Li

LSU Master's Theses

Barataria Bay is a receiving basin of Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion in Louisiana, USA. In this region the data of sediment transport and hydrodynamics are scarce but important for the design and planning of sediment diversion to be implemented in near future. Four-months bottom boundary layer observation was conducted to study winter and spring hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics in the bay. Hourly waves, tides, currents and bottom suspended sediment concentration were measured using multiple optical and acoustic sensors attached to two tripod platforms. High-temporal resolution data indicated that during winter, salinity at northern bay was mainly controlled by northerly wind during …


Sources And Chemical Stability Of Soil Organic Carbon Along A Salinity Gradient And A Chronosequence Of Created Brackish Marshes In Coastal Louisiana, Megan L. Kelsall Jul 2019

Sources And Chemical Stability Of Soil Organic Carbon Along A Salinity Gradient And A Chronosequence Of Created Brackish Marshes In Coastal Louisiana, Megan L. Kelsall

LSU Master's Theses

Tidal marshes have been recognized for providing a number of important ecological services including soil carbon sequestration. However, the loss of tidal marsh habitat due to climate change and anthropogenic stressors exposes previously stored soil organic carbon (SOC) to oxidation. The vulnerability of SOC to oxidation depends on its chemical stability and environmental conditions limiting decomposition. Labile organic carbon (LC), decomposes quickly unless abiotic conditions limit decomposition. Recalcitrant organic carbon (RC) decomposes slower and is stored for longer time periods. Predicting long-term storage of SOC is complicated by the potential for multiple SOC sources, differences in chemical stability, and variation …


A Geochronological And Stratigraphic Reconstruction Of The Middle Barataria Bay Receiving Basin, Joseph Ethan Thomas Hughes Jan 2016

A Geochronological And Stratigraphic Reconstruction Of The Middle Barataria Bay Receiving Basin, Joseph Ethan Thomas Hughes

LSU Master's Theses

Barataria Bay, one of the largest receiving basins for the Mississippi deltaic complex, is the location of a proposed river-sediment diversion for delta restoration. In order to determine how the sediment in the receiving-basin may respond to diversion flows, twenty-five sediment vibracores were collected from a 115 km2 study area located near Myrtle Grove and Bayou Dupont, southeast of New Orleans, LA. These cores were subject to multiple tests, including gamma bulk density scans, grain size analysis, and loss-on-ignition, in order to identify the lithology and stratigraphy. In addition, 137Cs and 14C dating techniques were employed in order to construct …


Quantitative Oil Source-Fingerprinting Techniques And Their Application To Differentiating Crude Oil In Coastal Marsh Sediments, Buffy Marie Meyer Jan 2016

Quantitative Oil Source-Fingerprinting Techniques And Their Application To Differentiating Crude Oil In Coastal Marsh Sediments, Buffy Marie Meyer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Oil source-fingerprinting is an environmental forensics technique that uses analytical chemistry to determine the origin of oil residues in environmental samples by comparison to a known or suspected source oil. Currently, the only standardized method for oil source fingerprinting is a qualitative approach that is very effective in almost every oil spill response situation. However, the need for quantitative oil source-fingerprinting methods to complement the qualitative determinations is extremely desired. The research herein aims to utilize data generated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) methodologies to test two different quantitative techniques: diagnostic biomarker ratio analysis and chemometrics. The most common crude …


Effect Of The Herbicide Atrazine On Phytoplankton, Water Quality, And Ecosystem Functions In Louisiana Estuaries, Alexis Victoria Starr Jan 2015

Effect Of The Herbicide Atrazine On Phytoplankton, Water Quality, And Ecosystem Functions In Louisiana Estuaries, Alexis Victoria Starr

LSU Master's Theses

Pesticides are used primarily for agricultural purposes in the US and while these chemicals provide many benefits, the inherent toxicity of the compounds pose a substantial risk to the environment. These chemicals may enter water bodies in areas with a high proportion of agricultural land use through surface run off, ground water discharge, and erosion, and negatively impact non-target aquatic organisms. As a result, Louisiana’s estuaries may be vulnerable to a variety of compounds, including the herbicide atrazine. Atrazine is used extensively throughout the Midwest and has been known to enter the Mississippi River through surface runoff and ground water …


Determination Of Predominant Species Of Oil-Degrading Bacteria In The Oiled Sediment In Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Lauren Nicole Navarre Jan 2014

Determination Of Predominant Species Of Oil-Degrading Bacteria In The Oiled Sediment In Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Lauren Nicole Navarre

LSU Master's Theses

The effects of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill on the bacterial communities in coastal sediments are relatively known but few studies have been published evaluating the impacts of the spill on oil-degrading bacterial populations in the salt marsh sediments of Barataria Bay, Louisiana. The aims of this study were to determine the effects of the oil spill on the microbial community in Barataria Bay, Louisiana through the determination of predominate species of oil-degrading bacteria in marsh sediments, and to determine how well certain bacterial isolates can degrade crude oil in the region by taking samples from three areas of …


A Comparison Of Finfish Assemblages On Subtidal Oyster Shell (Cultched Oyster Lease) And Mud Bottom In Barataria Bay, Louisiana, John Plunket Jan 2003

A Comparison Of Finfish Assemblages On Subtidal Oyster Shell (Cultched Oyster Lease) And Mud Bottom In Barataria Bay, Louisiana, John Plunket

LSU Master's Theses

Recent research suggests that oyster reefs provide unique three-dimensional hard bottom habitat for many fish species. Along the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, oyster shell bottoms are predominantly flat, subtidal and cultched, lacking the vertical relief and spatial heterogeneity provided by natural reefs. This study compared finfish assemblages, gut contents, and macroinvertebrate assemblages at subtidal oyster shell (cultched oyster lease) and mud bottoms in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Three mud and three shell sites were sampled on seven dates from October 2001 to October 2002, using gill nets and substrate trays. Data from the gill nets were used to …


The Ecology Of Two Estuarine-Dependent Tonguefishes, The Blackcheek Tonguefish (Symphurus Plagiusa) And The Offshore Tonguefish (S. Civitatium), In Coastal Louisiana, Theodore Scott Switzer Jan 2003

The Ecology Of Two Estuarine-Dependent Tonguefishes, The Blackcheek Tonguefish (Symphurus Plagiusa) And The Offshore Tonguefish (S. Civitatium), In Coastal Louisiana, Theodore Scott Switzer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The pattern and process of wetland loss in coastal Louisiana has the potential to influence the distribution and abundance of fishes and macroinvertebrates that utilize inshore estuarine habitat as nurseries during their early life histories. Current management plans designed to stabilize marsh elevations, such as freshwater diversions, may also influence the distribution and abundance of estuarine-dependent nekton. Given the importance of nursery function of inshore estuaries in coastal Louisiana, it is of interest to explore the response of estuarine-dependent organisms to environmental gradients. To this end I examined the ecology of two sympatric tonguefishes, the blackcheek tonguefish (Symphurus plagiusa) and …