Clipmarks | Mississippi river delta Clips

Mississippi River Delta

Sat, 10 May 2008 14:18:51 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

The Mississippi River Delta

A relatively clear day over Louisiana shows this view of the Mississippi River Delta on May 4, 2008. This image was captured by the MODIS on the Terra satellite. The Mississippi River runs along the Louisiana/Mississippi border, which is why the border looks so squiggly. (The border is in black.) Also visible crossing Louisiana diagonally is the Red River.

The Mississippi River carries 500 million tons of sediment into the Gulf of Mexico each year. The brown sediment from the river, mixing with the blue waters of the Gulf is very visible in this image. Also visible off the Gulf is Lake Pontchartrain - which is nearly round in shape and near the Mississippi border. New Orleans (in gray pixels) sits just south of it.

Tags: places, mississippi river delta, modis

Dry, polluted, plagued by rats: the crisis in China's greatest river

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:09:41 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The waters of the Yangtze have fallen to their lowest levels since 1866, disrupting drinking supplies, stranding ships and posing a threat to some of the world's most endangered species.

Asia's longest river is losing volume as a result of a prolonged dry spell, the state media warned yesterday, predicting hefty economic losses and a possible plague of rats on nearby farmland.

the immediate concern is the Yangtze, which supplies water to hundreds of millions of people and thousands of factories in a delta that accounts for more than 40% of China's economic output. According to the Chinese media, precipitation and water levels are at or near record lows in its middle and upper stretches.

With the Yangtze three times as crowded with traffic as the Mississippi, conservationists fear the animals will be torn up by boat propellers or contaminated by more concentrated pollution from the 9,000 chemical plants along the Yangtze.

Tags: environment, water, i-drought, i-pollution, i-consequences

New Orleans...The New Atlantis?

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:30:51 GMT

clipped by: Cyndie

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

With predicted sea level rise, wetland loss, subsidence, and the absence of restoration programs, the future of New Orleans appears bleak. Research from University of New Orleans scientists examine the processes driving catastrophic coastal conditions and the breakdown of the Mississippi River Delta.

Tags: science, environment, new orleans

Louisiana Moving Down and South

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 02:11:17 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Louisiana Slip' Sliding Away?

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Study: Louisiana moving down and south

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U.S. geologists say they have determined Louisiana is subsiding vertically and moving southward in respect to North America.

A Louisiana State University-led team studied global positioning system data collected since 1995 and found Louisiana -- including New Orleans and the Mississippi River Delta -- are affected by the subsidence. They hypothesize that occurs, in part, because the area is situated on the hanging wall of a fault system that separates North America from deltaic sediments.

The scientists theorize the sediments and underlying bedrock are moving southward due to gravitational instabilities created by sediment of the Mississippi River Delta loading Earth's crust and mantle, and by rising sea levels during continental glacial retreat.

Since New Orleans and other communities of southeastern Louisiana devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita lie atop that active fault system, the researchers caution possible future motion of the area should be considered during the region's reconstruction.

The study by Roy Dokka of Louisiana State University, Giovanni Sella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Timothy Dixon of the University of Miami appears in the December issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

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NEW ORLEANS IS SINKING

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:27:28 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Wonder if anyone if FEMA or Bush administration ever read this article from 2001. Kind of freaky --- the date published is 9/11/01.

Clip Source: www.popularmechanics.com

NEW ORLEANS IS SINKING

Published on: September 11, 2001

BY JIM WILSON

They don't bury the dead in New Orleans. The highest point in the city is only 6 ft. above sea level, which makes for watery graves. Fearful that rotting corpses caused epidemics, the city limited ground burials in 1830. Mausoleums built on soggy cemetery grounds became the final resting place for generations. Beyond providing a macabre tourist attraction, these "cities of the dead" serve as a reminder of the Big Easy's vulnerability to flooding. The reason water rushes into graves is because New Orleans sits atop a delta made of unconsolidated material that has washed down the Mississippi River.

Think of the city as a chin jutting out, waiting for a one-two punch from Mother Nature. The first blow comes from the sky. Hurricanes plying the Gulf of Mexico push massive domes of water (storm surges) ahead of their swirling winds. After the surges hit, the second blow strikes from below. The same swampy delta ground that necessitates above-ground burials leaves water from the storm surge with no place to go but up.

The surge of a Category 5 storm could put New Orleans under 18 ft. of water.

Tags: new orleans, popular science, hurrican vulnerability