Biological and Geochemical Data along Indian Point, Vermilion Bay, Louisiana

Introduction

Figure 1. Regional map showing the location of marsh push cores collected near Indian Point in Vermilion Bay, Louisiana. [Click to enlarge]

Feedbacks between sea level, extreme storm events, and coastal evolution are complex and still poorly constrained for many areas and scenarios. The coastal systems’ responses to sea level variations is expected to be non-linear, as numerous types of physical, chemical, and biological feedback exist that can exacerbate and abate changes in water levels (as shown in Donnelly and Bertness, 2001; Langley and others, 2009; Kirwan and Murray, 2008).  Likewise, extreme events have non-homogeneous effects on coastal systems (as shown in Morton and Barras, 2011; Nyman and others, 1995; Smith and others, 2013). The historical context in which sea level and storms affect a coastal system provides a key dataset for evaluating how a system responded and helps develop hypotheses and metrics for assessing how these systems might respond to persistent or changing conditions. A study was conducted to gather data for assessing such environmental change over the last 150 years in a coastal salt marsh adjacent to Vermilion Bay in southwest Louisiana. The study originated under the USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico-2 (NGOM2) project, but analysis continued under the Sea level and Storms Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines (SSIEES) project. The collected data presented as part of this report adds to a regional database of environmental change that can help researchers better understand the recent evolution of contrasting coastal systems.

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