A New Subsidence Map for Coastal Louisiana

Jaap H. Nienhuis¹, Torbjörn E. Törnqvist¹, Krista L. Jankowski¹, Anjali M. Fernandes², Molly E. Keogh¹

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118-5698, USA
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118-5698, USA, and Center for Integrative Geosciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA

Coastal Louisiana has experienced catastrophic rates of wetland loss over the past century, equivalent in area to the state of Delaware. Land subsidence in the absence of rapid accretion is one of the key drivers of wetland loss. Accurate subsidence data should therefore form the basis for estimates of and adaptations to Louisiana’s future. Recently, Jankowski et al. (2017) determined subsidence rates at 274 sites along the Louisiana coast. Based on these data we present a new subsidence map and calculate that, on average, coastal Louisiana is subsiding at 9 ± 1 mm yr⁻¹.

Manuscript received 23 Mar. 2017; Revised manuscript received 15 May 2017; Manuscript accepted 16 May 2017; Posted online 14 June 2017

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