Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Estimation Of Economic Risk From Coastal Natural Hazards In Louisiana, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Louisiana, U.S.A., is among the most vulnerable areas globally to coastal natural hazards, with risk vulnerability likely increasing. The risks associated with non-tropical-cyclone hazards in Louisiana’s coastal zone have been understudied. This research enhances present and future (i.e., 2050) Louisiana risk assessment using locally-weighted, model-based hazard frequency/intensity and population projections.

Results suggest that property risks associated with extreme cold temperature and tornado are and will remain costlier than those for hail and lightning. Property risks of extreme cold temperature and hail are projected to decrease with the expected warming temperatures, with those of all four of these hazards peaking in …

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 …

Linking Nitrogen Biogeochemistry To Different Stages Of Wetland Soil Development In The Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana, Kelly Marie Henry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive wetland loss and nutrient-enhanced eutrophication occur across the Mississippi River delta and include newly emergent landscapes, in the early stages of ecological succession, and older landscape formations, with fully developed ecological communities. Here I tested how the anthropogenic effects of a climate-induced vegetation shift, an oil spill, and nitrate-enrichment regulate the principal environmental factors controlling nutrient biogeochemistry in wetland soils at different stages of development throughout the Mississippi River delta. In the older, transgressing Barataria basin, there was no clear effect of the climate-induced species shift from Spartina alterniflora Loisel to Avicennia germinans L. on soil nutrient chemistry. Observed …