MSCI 620B - Coastal Environments II

Fall, every three years (1) Kuehl.

Field experience examining modern and ancient coastal environments. Course rotates annually among three field environments. A 4-5 day field trip during the second half of the semester will be conducted to one of the three field areas each year.

Mississippi Delta: This course will examine the intersection of humans and natural processes at the mouth of the largest river system in North American, the Mississippi Delta. Students will review the classic and modern literature on deltaic processes and wetlands issues of coastal Louisiana. A 4-5 day field trip to the delta will examine the range of extant environments from the New River control structure, through the swamps and wetlands to the nascent Atchafalaya delta, the future major lobe of the Mississippi River system. Class and field discussions will detail the geological and biological processes that conspire to create one of the world’s great delta systems, and explore the results of human modifications in this sensitive and highly dynamic setting.