Search

This study presents a 5200-year history of coastal environmental changes and shoreline fluctuations based on a multi-proxy sedimentary record developed from the eastern end of Louisiana's Chenier Plain. Palynological, loss-on ignition, grain-size, and X-ray fluorescence data for a 525 cm sedimentary core indicate five stages of ecosystem development in the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge since the mid-Holocene. Between 5190 and 4240 cal yr BP, the relative sea-level was much lower than the present level, and our study area was occupied by a baldcypress swamp. When the Sale-Cypremont subdelta complex formed at a western position approximately 4600 years ago, our study area was transformed to a maritime forest about 4240–3440 cal yr BP, suggesting shoreline progradation. When the Mississippi River delta lobe switched to more easterly positions during the Teche, St. Bernard, Lafourche, and Plaquemine-Balize complexes, our study site was transformed back to a freshwater swamp between 3440 and 1520 cal yr BP and then to a coastal marsh between 1520 and 300 cal yr BP. After the Atchafalaya-Wax Lake subdelta complex formed at a more westerly position again, the modern-day beach form at 300 cal yr BP. These coastal ecosystem developments suggest that shoreline retreat started at ~3440 cal yr BP and persisted to the present day. In addition, evidence of at least four possible paleohurricane events was found during the late Holocene. Our multi-proxy record demonstrates that shoreline fluctuation in southwestern Louisiana was tied to the Mississippi River Delta Switch since the mid-Holocene. Shoreline progradation occurred during the Sale-Cypremont subdelta phase ~5200–3500 years ago, when the sediment supply was high. Retrogradation occurred after ~3500 cal yr BP when the Mississippi River subdelta complexes occupied more easterly position, resulting in diminished sediment supply. A significant increase in the delivery of water and total suspended sediment load from the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico is needed in order to sustain the southwestern Louisiana coastal wetlands. Unlabelled Image • Louisiana's Chenier Plain was strongly influenced by the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River course changes. • Ecosystems changed from swamp to maritime forest during 5200-3440 cal yr BP, and then to beach/dune after 3440 cal yr BP. • Shoreline retrogradation began at ~3440 cal yr BP as the Mississippi River outlet switched from west to east. • Holocene shoreline fluctuations of the Chenier Plain were tied to the Mississippi River Delta Switch and RSLR [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northern Gulf of Mexico shoreline is rapidly retreating, and coastal features of the abandoned Mississippi River delta complexes are eroding and subsiding. Bay Champagne is located in the Caminada-Moreau headland, a region located west of the currently active delta that has one of the highest rates of retreat and land loss globally. As a result, the shoreline at Bay Champagne has retreated more than two kilometers in the past 130 years, causing a gradual transition from a stable, circular freshwater lake to a frequently disturbed, semi-circular backbarrier lagoon. Analyses of clastic layers in a series of sediment cores collected at this site over the past decade indicate the lake was less perturbed in the past and has become increasingly more sensitive to marine incursion events caused by tropical cyclones as the shoreline retreated. Geochemical and pollen analyses of the cores also reveal profound changes in environmental and chemical conditions at Bay Champagne over the past century. Through relating stratigraphy to spatial changes observed from satellite imagery, this study establishes a timeline of the transition of Bay Champagne from an inland lake to a backbarrier environment, and demonstrated that these changes have not occurred at a constant rate. These results provide a case-study of changing local environmental conditions in response to rapid shoreline retreat, and therefore serve as a model for future coastal changes for Louisiana and other Gulf coastal areas. [Display omitted] • The shoreline at Bay Champagne (LA) retreated >2 km over the last century. • Maps and imagery detail a transition from freshwater lake to brackish lagoon. • Geochemical results from sediment cores also show a lake to lagoon transition. • Linking shore retreat with stratigraphy serves as a model for future changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]