2003062516090300FALSE20030626090754002003062609090600{FB9408CD-6207-47F1-BBA8-8A103074E6EA}Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 8.2.0.700enThe dramatic loss of Louisiana's coastal wetlands and barrier shorelines is well recognized by government agencies, industries, universities, and the public. Between 1932 and 1990, the deltaic plain of the Mississippi River lost over 680,000 acres of land due to a complex suite of causes. Controversy and debate continues as to the causes of coastal land loss in Louisiana. Estimates of the human contribution of man to the land loss problem ranges between 10 percent and 90 percent (Britsch and Kemp, 1990; Penland et al., 1990, Penland et al., 1992; Turner, 1997). Several government agencies and industries have been targeted as the primary agent of coastal land loss including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the oil and gas industry. The role of natural processes and the multiple causality of the coastal land loss problem often have been overlooked (Boesch et al., 1994). In an effort to further our understanding and knowledge of the coastal land loss problem in Louisiana, the Gas Research Institute (GRI) sponsored a research project through the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) entitled "Natural and Human Causes of Coastal Land Loss in Louisiana" in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The study team consisted of scientists from GRI, ANL, Louisiana State University (LSU), University of New Orleans (UNO), USGS, USACE, and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON).
This study focused on three major land loss research tasks: 1.) Geologic Processes, 2.) Vegetative processes, and 3.) Spatial Geographical Information System (GIS) Analysis.
Through these research tasks, the objectives of this study are to quantify and rank the causes of coastal land loss within the Mississippi River delta plain in southeastern Louisiana. This study took advantage of continuing research by the USGS in framework geology and subsidence processes, and the USACE in GIS analysis, framework geology, and subsidence processes (Dunbar et al., 1990, Dunbar et al., 1992, Britsch and Dunbar, 1993; Williams et al., 1993). The geological processes task focused on the Holocene evolution of the Mississippi River delta plain in an effort to identify the regional geological controls on coastal land loss over the last 18,000 years. The vegetative processes task conducted field investigations into the role of salt-water intrusion and soil inundation in plant dieback. The GIS analysis task focused on quantifying the geomorphic forms and processes of coastal land loss using the USACE coastal land loss database. In this report, the results of the GIS geomorphic classification of coastal land loss are presented.To release a version of this report that can be utilized in GIS (shapefile).20010907Process Classification of Coastal Land Loss between 1932 and 1990 in the Mississippi River Delta Plain, southeastern Louisianala_process_change_cewcvector digital datahttp://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds79Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MAU.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Programhttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of00-418Shea Penland (UNO)Lynda Wayne (LSU)L.D. Britsch (USACOE)S. Jeffress Williams (USGS)Andrew D. Beall (UNO)Victoria Caridas Butterworth (Plaquemines Parish Govt.)Open File Report00-418S.J. WilliamsJ.M. ReidV. CrossC. Polloni2003Coastal Erosion and Wetland Change: Selected USGS Products1.0vector digital dataDigital Data Series79Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MAU.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Programhttp://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds79publication date19322000None planned-92.000057-88.81416030.49841728.914905-92.000057-88.81416028.91490530.498417Generalland lossgeomorphologymorphologyGISgeomorphicprocess classificationLouisianaMississippi RiverGeneralDelta PlainMississi River Delta PlainNoneNoneShapefileDr. Shea PenlandUniversity of New Orleans504-280-6325504-280-7936spenland@uno.eduCoastal Research Laboratorymailing and physical address2000 Lakeshore DriveNew OrleansLA70148USAProfessor, Director, Pontchartrain InstituteMicrosoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 8.2.0.700la_process_change_cewc-92.000057-88.8141630.49841728.9149051-92.000057-88.8141630.49841728.9149051enFGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial MetadataFGDC-STD-001-1998local timeJamey M. ReidU.S. Geological SurveyIT Specialist (Data Management)mailing and physical addressWoods Hole Field Center384 Woods Hole RoadWoods HoleMA025453-1598USA(508) 457-2204(508) 457-2310jreid@usgs.gov20030626http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.htmlESRI Metadata ProfileISO 19115 Geographic Information - MetadataDIS_ESRI1.0datasetDownloadable Data62.54262.542Dr. Shea PenlandUniversity of New OrleansProfessor, Director, Pontchartrain Institutemailing and physical addressCoastal Research Laboratory2000 Lakeshore DriveNew OrleansLA70148USA(504) 280-6325(508) 280-7936spenland@uno.edu002file://\\Thunder2\louisiana\LA_COVERS\Land_Loss\la_process_change_cewc.shpLocal Area Network62.542ShapefileVectorSimplePolygonFALSE86440TRUEFALSEGT-polygon composed of chains86440GCS_North_American_1983North American Datum of 1983Geodetic Reference System 806378137.000000298.257222Decimal degrees0.0000000.000000GCS_North_American_198386440morphology.dbfFeature Class86440Shapefile Attribute TableNoneFIDFIDOID400Internal feature number.ESRISequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.ShapeShapeGeometry000Feature geometry.ESRICoordinates defining the features.OBJECTIDOBJECTIDNumber10Code to designate geomorphic classUNO08GRIDCODEGRIDCODENumber16Level 1 description of geomorphic land lossUNOInterior LossDefinition of areas of loss that occur independent of existing water bodiesUNOLandAreas of no land loss between 1932 and 1990UNOShoreline LossAreas of loss that occur relative to existing water bodiesUNOLevel 1 description of geomorphic land lossUNOCLASSCLASSString40Level 2 description of geomorphic land lossUNOInterior ChannelNarrow, linear waterbodyUNOInterior PondEnclosed or semi-enclosed water body with minor connections to the existing drainage networkUNOLandAreas of no land loss between 1932 and 1990UNOShoreline BaySemi-enclosed waterbody with direct contact to the Gulf of MexicoUNOShoreline ChannelLinear waterbody that commonly connects other waterbodiesUNOShoreline GulfThe outer shelf facing the Gulf of MexicoUNOShoreline LakeEnclosed or semi-enclosed waterbody with no direct contact with the Gulf of MexicoUNOLevel 2 description of geomorphic land lossUNOPROCESSPROCESSString40Area of polygon in square metersUNO08565479158SQ__METERSQ__METERNumber195Area of polygon in acresUNO0211653ACREACRENumber195NEWFIELD1NEWFIELD1Number19Area of feature in internal units squared.ESRIPositive real numbers that are automatically generated.5NEWFIELD2NEWFIELD2Number195SHAPE_AREASHAPE_AREAFloat19Area of feature in internal units squared.ESRIPositive real numbers that are automatically generated.11SHAPE_LENSHAPE_LENFloat191120030626Received shapefiels from UNO, edited and completed metadata received from Andrew Beall20030625Jamey M. ReidU.S. Geological SurveyIT Specialist (Data Management)mailing and physical addressWoods Hole Field Center384 Woods Hole RoadWoods HoleMA025453-1598USA(508) 457-2204(508) 457-2310jreid@usgs.gov