Quantifying large‐scale historical formation of accommodation in the Mississippi Delta

Large volumes of new accommodation have formed within the Mississippi Delta plain since the mid‐1950s in association with rapid conversion of coastal wetlands to open water. The three‐dimensional aspects and processes responsible for accommodation formation were quantified by comparing surface elevations, water depths, and vertical displacements of stratigraphic contacts that were correlated between short sediment cores. Integration of data from remotely sensed images, sediment cores, and water‐depth surveys at 10 geologically diverse areas in the delta plain provided a basis for estimating the total volume of accommodation formed by interior‐wetland subsidence and subsequent erosion. Results indicate that at most of the study areas subsidence was a greater contributor than erosion to the formation of accommodation associated with wetland loss. Tens of millions of cubic meters of accommodation formed rapidly at each of the large open‐water bodies that were formerly continuous interior delta‐plain marsh. Together the individual study areas account for more than 440 × 10⁶ × m³ of new accommodation that formed as holes in the Mississippi River delta‐plain fabric between 1956 and 2004. This large volume provides an estimate of the new sediment that would be needed just at the study areas to restore the delta‐plain wetlands to their pre‐1956 areal extent and elevations. Published 2010. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Comparing carbon accumulation in restored and natural wetland soils of coastal Louisiana

Louisiana's chronic wetland deterioration has resulted in massive soil organic matter loss and subsequent carbon release through oxidation. To combat these losses, and reestablish ecosystem function, goods, and services, many restoration projects have been constructed or planned throughout coastal Louisiana. There are significant data gaps and conflicting results regarding wetland contributions to global warming, especially related to carbon sequestration in restored wetlands. An exceptionally large data set was used to derive carbon accumulation rates from key soil characteristics and processes. Assessments and comparisons of bulk density, organic matter, total carbon, vertical accretion (short- and longer-term), and carbon accumulation rates were made across time (chronosequence) and space (i.e., coastwide, watershed basins, and vegetation zones). Carbon accumulation rates in the Louisiana coastal zone were generally correlated to hydrogeomorphology, with higher rates occurring in zones of high river connectivity or in swamp or higher salinity tolerant marsh. On average, naturally occurring wetlands had higher carbon accumulation rates than restoration sites. Although some restoration measures were higher, and most showed increasing carbon accumulation rates over time. Results demonstrate that although wetland restoration provides many ecosystem benefits, the associated carbon sequestration may also provide useful measures for climate change management.     

Delta formation processes at the Mississippi River mouth

Specific processes of delta formation at the Mississippi River mouth are discussed. In the last 7000–8000 years, a series of large deltaic lobes was formed in succession at the Mississippi River mouth under the condition of high river sediment runoff and stabilization of the ocean level after its sudden postglacial rise. In the mid-XX century, the formation of a new deltaic lobe began at the Atchafalaya Branch mouth. Over the last centuries, the processes of delta formation at the Mississippi River mouth slowed down as a result of the river sediment runoff decrease after flow regulation of the Missouri and Arkansas tributaries; in some parts of the deltaic plain, these processes gave way to degradation of marshes and seashore erosion under the impact of intense land subsidence. The current processes of delta formation are under the great influence of local economic activities.     

Pre‐ and post‐impoundment nitrogen in the lower Missouri River

Large water‐sample sets collected from 1899 through 1902, 1907, and in the early 1950s allow comparisons of pre‐impoundment and post‐impoundment (1969 through 2008) nitrogen concentrations in the lower Missouri River. Although urban wastes were not large enough to detectably increase annual loads of total nitrogen at the beginning of the 20^th century, carcass waste, stock‐yard manure, and untreated human wastes measurably increased ammonia and organic‐nitrogen concentrations during low flows. Average total‐nitrogen concentrations in both periods were about 2.5 mg/l, but much of the particulate‐organic nitrogen, which was the dominant form of nitrogen around 1900, has been replaced by nitrate. This change in speciation was caused by the nearly 80% decrease in suspended‐sediment concentrations that occurred after impoundment, modern agriculture, drainage of riparian wetlands, and sewage treatment. Nevertheless, bioavailable nitrogen has not been low enough to limit primary production in the Missouri River since the beginning of the 20^th century. Nitrate concentrations have increased more rapidly from 2000 through 2008 (5 to 12% per year), thus increasing bioavailable nitrogen delivered to the Mississippi River and affecting Gulf Coast hypoxia. The increase in nitrate concentrations with distance downstream is much greater during the post‐impoundment period. If strategies to decrease total‐nitrogen loads focus on particulate N, substantial decreases will be difficult because particulate nitrogen is now only 23% of total nitrogen in the Missouri River. A strategy aimed at decreasing particulates also could further exacerbate land loss along the Gulf of Mexico, which has been sediment starved since Missouri River impoundment. In contrast, strategies or benchmarks aimed at decreasing nitrate loads could substantially decrease nitrogen loadings because nitrates now constitute over half of the Missouri's nitrogen input to the Mississippi. Ongoing restoration and creation of wetlands along the Missouri River could be part of such a nitrate‐reduction strategy. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Causes for the decline of suspended‐sediment discharge in the Mississippi River system, 1940–2007

Before 1900, the Missouri–Mississippi River system transported an estimated 400 million metric tons per year of sediment from the interior of the United States to coastal Louisiana. During the last two decades (1987–2006), this transport has averaged 145 million metric tons per year. The cause for this substantial decrease in sediment has been attributed to the trapping characteristics of dams constructed on the muddy part of the Missouri River during the 1950s. However, reexamination of more than 60 years of water‐ and sediment‐discharge data indicates that the dams alone are not the sole cause. These dams trap about 100–150 million metric tons per year, which represent about half the decrease in sediment discharge near the mouth of the Mississippi. Changes in relations between water discharge and suspended‐sediment concentration suggest that the Missouri–Mississippi has been transformed from a transport‐limited to a supply‐limited system. Thus, other engineering activities such as meander cutoffs, river‐training structures, and bank revetments as well as soil erosion controls have trapped sediment, eliminated sediment sources, or protected sediment that was once available for transport episodically throughout the year. Removing major engineering structures such as dams probably would not restore sediment discharges to pre‐1900 state, mainly because of the numerous smaller engineering structures and other soil‐retention works throughout the Missouri–Mississippi system. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sedimentation patterns in the Selenga River delta under changing hydroclimatic conditions

The Selenga River delta (Russia) is a large (>600 km²) fluvially dominated fresh water system that transfers water and sediment from an undammed drainage basin into Lake Baikal, a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site. Through sedimentation processes, the delta and its wetlands provide important environmental services, such as storage of sediment‐bound pollutants (e.g., metals), thereby reducing their input to Lake Baikal. However, in the Selenga River delta and many other deltas of the world, there is a lack of knowledge regarding impacts of potential shifts in the flow regime (e.g., due to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts) on sedimentation processes, including sediment exchanges between deltaic channels and adjacent wetlands. This study uses field measurements of water velocities and sediment characteristics in the Selenga River delta, investigating conditions of moderate discharge, which have become more frequent over the past decades (at the expense of peak flows, Q > 1,350 m³ s^?1). The aims are to determine if the river system under moderate flow conditions is capable of supporting sediment export from the main distributary channels of the delta to the adjacent wetlands. The results show that most of the deposited sediment outside of the deltaic channels is characterized by a large proportion of silt and clay material (i.e., <63 μm). For example, floodplain lakes function as sinks of very fine sediment (e.g., 97% of sediment by weight < 63 μm). Additionally, bed material sediment is found to be transported outside of the channel margins during conditions of moderate and high water discharge conditions (Q ≥ 1,000 m³ s^?1). Submerged banks and marshlands located in the backwater zone of the delta accumulate sediment during such discharges, supporting wetland development. Thus, these regions likely sequester various metals bound to Selenga River sediment.     

Floodplain effects on the transport of dissolved and colloidal trace elements in the East Pearl River,Mississippi

Substantial work suggests that floodplain wetlands could play a role in modifying fluvial fluxes of dissolved and colloidal trace elements. Yet, few studies have directly addressed this issue. We examined trace elements in the East Pearl River (Mississippi or Louisiana, USA), which is surrounded by wetlands that are temporally more or less connected to the river depending on river stage. Dissolved and colloidal trace element samples, along with ancillary data, including dissolved organic carbon and nutrients, were collected during eight surveys of this system at different flow stages from November 2007 to September 2008. Hydrology of the system is complex due to seasonal changes in water sources as well as potential inputs from the floodplain wetlands and the hyporheic zone. We therefore considered effects including nonconservative mixing of water sources, saltwater intrusion, and floodplain wetland flux requirements needed to support observed downstream concentration changes. During moderately high discharge, fluxes of many elements (e.g., Cd, Fe, Mn, and Zn) increased downstream by 20% or more, with inputs from the floodplain wetlands as the apparent source. At the highest discharge, however, wetland inputs to the river may have been rate‐limited (i.e., the wetland source was flushed faster than biogeochemical processes could regenerate dissolved or colloidal material). At low discharge, other effects, including saltwater intrusion and hyporheic zone interactions, are important. Both redox processes and organic ligands (or dissolved organic carbon), along with the supply of wetland inputs (or removal) relative to river fluxes, appear to be key factors determining floodplain wetland effects. While the behavior of some elements suggests they were dominantly affected by redox processes (Mn and V) or by organic complexation (dissolved Fe and light rare earths), other elements were affected by more than one process in ways that remain obscure (Cu). Overall our results are broadly consistent with previous field, laboratory, and modeling studies and suggest that a better understanding of the sources and transformations of Fe is a key area for future research.     

The filtering capacity of a tropical riverine wetland: II. Sediment and nutrient balances

The ability of wetlands to improve the quality of water has long been recognized and has led to the proliferation of wetlands as a means to treat diffuse and point source pollutants from a range of land uses. However, much of the existing research has been undertaken in temperate climates with a paucity of information on the effectiveness of wetlands, particularly natural wetlands, in tropical regions. This paper contributes to addressing this issue by presenting a comprehensive measurement based assessment of the potential for a naturally occurring tropical riverine wetland to improve the quality of the water entering it. We found small net imports and exports of sediment to/from the wetland in individual years, but over the longer term this kind of wetland is neither a sink nor source of sediment. In contrast, phosphorus was continually removed by the wetland with an overall net reduction of 14%. However, it should be noted that there is no ‘permanent’ gaseous loss mechanism for phosphorus, and its removal from the water column is equal to its accumulation in the wetland soil. We found very little removal of nitrogen by this type of wetland from several analyses including: (i) Surface and groundwater fluxes, (ii) Estimation of water column and soil denitrification rates, (iii) Wetland residence times, and (iv) Hydraulic loading. We also found no clear evidence for transformation of nitrogen to more or less bio‐available forms. Hence, while the benefits of using wetlands to improve water quality in controlled environments have been demonstrated in the literature, these benefits may not always be directly translated to unmanaged natural wetland systems when there is strong seasonality in flows and short residence time during the periods of maximum sediment and nutrient load. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A quarter century of declining suspended sediment fluxes in the Mississippi River and the effect of the 1993 flood

Annual fluxes, flow‐weighted concentrations and linear least squares trendline calculations for a number of long‐term Mississippi River Basin (MRB) sampling sites covering 1981 through 2007, whilst somewhat ‘noisy’, display long‐term patterns of decline. Annual flow‐weighted concentration plots display the same long‐term patterns of decline, but are less noisy because they reduce/eliminate variations due to interannual discharge differences. The declines appear greatest in the middle MRB, but also are evident elsewhere. The pattern for the lower Ohio River differs and may reflect ongoing construction at the Olmsted lock and dam that began in 1993 and currently is ongoing. The ‘Great Flood of 1993’ appears to have superimposed a step function (a sharp drop) on the long‐term rate of decline in suspended sediment concentrations (SSC), annual fluxes and flow‐weighted concentrations in the middle MRB at St Louis and Thebes, Missouri and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and in the lower MRB at St Francisville, Louisiana. Evidence for a step function at other sites is less substantial, but may have occurred. The step function appears to have resulted from losses in available (erodible) sediment, rather than to a reduction in discharge; hence, the MRB appears to be supply limited rather than discharge limited. These evaluations support the need for daily discharge and SSC data collections in the MRB to better address questions regarding long‐term trends in sediment‐related issues. This is apparent when the results for the Mississippi River at Thebes and St Louis sites are compared with those from other MRB sites where intensive (daily) data collections are lacking. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High Arctic wetlands: Their occurrence, hydrological characteristics and sustainability

High Arctic wetlands, though limited in occurrence, are an important ecological niche, providing the major vegetated areas in an arid and cold polar desert environment. These wetlands are often found as patches in the barren landscape. At a few locales which may be ice-wedge polygonal grounds, glacial terrain and zones of recent coastal uplift, wetland occurrence can become extensive, forming a mosaic that comprises patches of different wetland types. Reliable water supply during the thawed season is a deciding factor in wetland sustainability. The sources include meltwater from late-lying snowbanks, localized ground water discharge, streamflow, inundation by lakes and the sea, and for some ice-wedge wetlands, ground-ice melt. Different types of wetlands have their own characteristics, and peat accumulation or diatom depositions are common. The peat cover insulates the wetland from summer heating and encourages permafrost aggradation, with the feedback that a shallow frost table reduces the moisture storage capacity in a thinly thawed layer, which becomes easily saturated. All the wetlands studied have high calcium content since they are formed on carbonate terrain. Coastal wetlands have high salt concentration while snowmelt and ground-ice melt provides dilution. The sustainability of High Arctic wetlands is predicated upon water supply exceeding the losses to evaporation and lateral drainage. Disturbances due to natural causes such as climatic variations, geomorphic changes, or human-induced drainage, can reduce inundation opportunities or increase outflow. Then, the water table drops, the vegetation changes and the peat degrades, leading to the detriment of the wetlands.     

Two-thousand years of debates and practices of Yellow River training strategies

Throughout the history of China, the Yellow River has been associated with flood disasters and changes in the course of its lower reaches because of sedimentation. From 602 B.C. to 1949 the river experienced 1593 levee bursts, flooding vast areas, and claiming millions of human lives. The river shifted its main course by avulsion 26 times with the apex around Zhengzhou, resulting in devastating calamities and numerous old channels. Training of the Yellow River has a history of more than 3000 yr. Levee construction has been the major strategy for flood control. Two extremely different strategies has been proposed and practiced in the past 2000 yr, i.e. the "wide river and depositing sediment" strategy and the "narrow river and scouring sediment" strategy. This paper analyzes the levee breaches and flood disasters in the past 2000 yr and compares the results of the two extremely different strategies. The "narrow river and scouring sediment" strategy has only short term effects on levee breach control and flood mitigation. The "wide river and depositing sediment" strategy can essentially mitigate flood disasters and reduce levee breaches for a long term period of time. The "wide river and depositing sediment" strategy has been used and no levee breach has occurred in the past 67 yr, which has been the only periods of more than 50 yr with no levee breaches in the history of the Yellow River since 700 A.D.Modern flood and sedimentation management methods have also been introduced, and the strategy of applying the ' "widen the river and enhance the levees" approach for the upper and lower reaches management is proposed.     

Infiltration and solute transport under a seasonal wetland: bromide tracer experiments in Saskatoon,Canada

In the northern glaciated plain of North America, the duration of surface water in seasonal wetlands is strongly influenced by the rate of infiltration and evaporation. Infiltration also plays important roles in nutrient exchange at the sediment–water interface and groundwater recharge under wetlands. A whole‐wetland bromide tracer experiment was conducted in Saskatchewan, Canada to evaluate infiltration and solute transport processes. Bromide concentrations of surface water, groundwater, sediment pore water and plant tissues were monitored as the pond water‐level gradually dropped until there was no surface water. Hydraulic head gradients showed strong lateral flow from under the wetland to the treed riparian zone during the growing season. The bromide mass balance analysis showed that in early spring, almost 50% of water loss from the wetland was by infiltration, and it increased to about 70% in summer as plants in and around the wetland started to transpire more actively. The infiltration contributed to recharging the shallow, local groundwater under the wetland, but much of it was taken up by trees without recharging the deeper groundwater system. Emergent plants growing in the wetlands incorporated some bromide, but overall uptake of bromide by vegetation was less than 10% of the amount initially released. After one summer, most of the subsurface bromide was found within 40–80 cm of the soil surface. However, some bromide penetrated as deep as 2–3 m, presumably owing to preferential flow pathways provided by root holes or fractures. Copyright © 2004 Crown in the Right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An 80‐year record of sediment quality in the lower Mississippi River

In 1937, the US Army Corps of Engineers cut through the “neck” of a large meander on the lower Mississippi River (below the confluence with the Ohio River) forming the Caulk Neck cutoff and creating Lake Whittington, a 26‐km long oxbow lake, in northern Mississippi. Since 1938, seasonal flooding and a boat channel connecting the lake with the Mississippi River have led to sediment accumulation in the lake, resulting in an 80‐year record of sediment quality in the river. On the basis of an age‐dated sediment core from the lake, trends in trace metals and hydrophobic organic compounds (except polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) follow well‐known patterns with upward trends from the 1930s to the ca 1970s, followed by downward trends to the present. Two factors contribute to these patterns: reservoir construction and changes in emissions. The construction of seven large reservoirs on the Missouri River, in particular the closure of the Fort Randall (1953) and Gavins Point (1955) Dams, greatly reduced the load of relatively clean sediment to the Mississippi River, likely contributing to downstream increases in contaminant concentrations in the Mississippi River. Increasing anthropogenic emissions also contributed to upward trends until ca 1970 when major environmental policy actions began resulting in broad decreases in emissions and downward trends in the concentrations of most of the contaminants monitored. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phosphorus are partial exceptions to this pattern, with increases to the 1960s and variable concentrations showing no clear trend since. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Historical polycyclic aromatic and petrogenic hydrocarbon loading in Northern Central Gulf of Mexico shelf sediments

The distribution of selected hydrocarbons within ten dated sediment cores taken from the Mississippi River Bight off coastal Louisiana suggests a chronic contaminant loading from several sources including the river itself, oil and gas exploration in the central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) shelf area, and natural geologic hydrocarbon seeps. Data were grouped as either total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's), which were indicative of pyrogenic PAH's; or estimated total hopanes (indicative of petrogenic hydrocarbons). The total PAH concentrations and estimated total hopanes begin increasing above background levels (approximately 200 ng g(-1)) after the 1950s. The distribution of these hydrocarbons and hopanes within the dated sediment cores suggests that the Mississippi River is a regional source of pyrogenic PAH's, and that the hopanes are from natural geologic hydrocarbon seeps, oil and gas exploration in the GOM, or both.     

Assessment of soil erosion and sediment delivery ratio using remote sensing and GIS： a case study of upstream Chaobaihe River catchment, north China

Soil erosion in catchment areas reduces soil productivity and causes a loss of reservoir capacity. Several parametric models have been developed to predict soil erosion at drainage basins, hill slopes and field levels. The well-known Universal Soil Loss Equation （USLE） represents a standardized approach. Miyun reservoir, which sits on Chaobaihe River, is the main surface source of drinking water for Beijing, the capital of China. Water and soil loss are the main reasons for sediment to enter a reservoir. Sediment yield is assessed using a version of the universal soil loss equation modified by Chinese researchers. All year 2001 and 2002 data for factors in the equation are obtained from remote sensing or collected to form an analysis database. These factors are computed and mapped using Geographic Information System tools. Based on the complex database, the modified model is developed. Through pixel-based computing the sediment yield per hydrological unit is calculated. The model does not consider sediment deposition occurring on hillslopes. Gross soil loss is often higher than the sum of those measured at catchment outlets. The sediment delivery ratio （SDR） per hydrological unit is also computed. This study analyzes the main contributions of sediment yields on sub-basins of the Chaobaihe River to the Miyun Reservoir, and discusses the possible reasons for the difference between SDRs in 2001 and 2002 at different outlets. The result shows that in the upper basin of the Miyun Reservoir, in 2001 the area of erosion that could be neglected was 8,202.76 km^2, the area of low erosion 3,269.59 km^2, the area of moderate erosion 3,400.97 km^2, the area of high erosion 436.89 km^2, the area of strong erosion 52.19 km^2 and the area of severe erosion 3.13 km^2. The highest soil loss was 70,353 t/km^2. yr in Fengning County in 2001, followed by 64,418 t/km^2. yr by Chicheng County in 2001. The SDR in 2002 was lower than that in 2001. The main reasons are the decreasing rainfall erosivity and total runoff.     

SEDIMENT BUDGET OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER

1 BACKGROUND The Illinois River is the most significant river in the state of Illinois. The river drains nearly half of the state and has a drainage area of 28,906 mi2 (74,867 km2). Except for about a 4,000 mi2 (10,360 km2) area in Indiana and Wisconsin, the watershed is located in Illinois (see Fig. 1). The watershed contains the drainage basins of several of the state's significant rivers such as the Sangamon, LaMoine, Spoon, Mackinaw, Vermilion, Fox, Kankakee, and Des Plaines Ri…     

Sedimentation patterns in a gulf coast backbarrier marsh: Response to increasing submergence

The rate of vertical accretion was determined on two backbarrier marshes in the Mississippi River Plain, using ¹³⁷Cs dating techniques. An average accretion rate of 0-55 cm yr^?1 was found on Grande Terre, and 0.78 cm yr^?1 on Grand Isle. Analysis of mineral organic content of the marsh profile shows that the backbarrier marshes accrete through (1) accumulation of low density organic matter, and (2) episodic deposition of high density mineral sediment probably associated with major hurricanes or storm events. The rates of vertical accretion were two to three times less than the rate of submergence due primarily to rapid subsidence in the deltaic plain, and imply that these backbarrier marshes will progressively deteriorate.     

An approximation of the sediment budget of the lower mississippi river prior to major human modification

A sediment budget is constructed for the Lower Mississippi River prior to the introduction of most human modifications. Components of the budget are derived from historical data including Mississippi River Commission hydrographic survey maps for the period from 1877 to 1924. A quantitative estimate of major sediment sources, sinks and storage locations in the Lower Mississippi Valley suggest that the most important sediment source was from bank caving and that at least 50 per cent more sediment was deposited in short-term channel storage than in longer-term overbank storage. The budget indicates that the proportion of sediment transported as bedload was significantly greater than previously estimated. The magnitude and variability of these sediment budget components are discussed. The results of the study suggest that prior to modifications the river was aggrading over much of its length.     

Sediment transport simulation and design optimization of a novel marsh shoreline protection technology using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling

Coastal Louisiana has the nation's most fragile and valuable wetlands,whose loss represents 80%of the total losses in the United States.The severely restricted mobility of conventional shoreline protection structures makes them impossible to be redeployed.The Wave Suppression and Sediment Collection(WSSC)system is a novel technology of high mobility and compatible with existing shoreline protection technologies.Previous laboratory studies on WSSC showed great potential for wave reduction and sediment collection.The current study aimed to optimize the design parameters of WSSC using a validated computational model.A computational fluid dynamics(CFD)model was developed and validated using experimental data from the previous laboratory study.Then,a parametric analysis was conducted with a focus on the performance optimization of wave reduction and sediment collection with respect to pipe diameter and face slope.Simulation results showed that the wave reduction efficiency decreased with increasing pipe diameter and face slope.In contrast,the sediment transport efficiency was enhanced by increasing pipe diameter but was not affected significantly by varying face slopes.     

Assessing the importance of tropical cyclones on continental margin sedimentation in the Mississippi delta region

Recent research on the Mississippi margin indicates notable seasonal variation in seabed dynamics. During years with minimal tropical-system activity, sediments initially deposited from late spring to early fall are remobilized by wind-driven currents and wave energy during extra-tropical weather systems in the winter. This research reveals the profound significance of tropical cyclones on Louisiana Shelf sedimentation. The amount of material delivered to and advected across the shelf by recent tropical cyclones is considerably larger than that related to winter storm systems. In Fall 2004, the river-dominated shelf of Louisiana was impacted by three tropical systems in less than a month, including Hurricane Ivan. Ivan, with maximum sustained winds in excess of 74 m s⁻¹ (144 knots) and a minimum measured central pressure of 910 mbar, was the eighth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record at the time. In order to assess the impact these tropical systems had on the continental margin west of the Mississippi delta, seabed samples were collected from box cores in October 2004 and analyzed for particle-reactive radionuclides ²³⁴Th, ⁷Be, and ²¹⁰Pb. Radiochemical data and observations from X-radiographs indicate event-driven sediment deposits ranged from 4 to 30 cm on the shelf and 2–6 cm in the Mississippi Canyon. These deposits exhibit distinct radiochemical signatures and differ visually and texturally from the underlying sediment. The well-developed physical stratification and graded nature of the deposits observed in core X-radiographs suggests that the sediment could have been deposited from sediment-gravity flows. Inventories of ⁷Be and ⁷Be/²³⁴Th_xs ratios reveal this series of cyclones transported considerably more material to the outer shelf and slope than periods of minimal tropical-system activity. When compared to seasonal depositional rates created by winter storms, tropical-cyclone-related event deposits on the middle and outer shelf are up to an order of magnitude greater in thickness. The number and thickness of these event deposits decrease with distance from the delta and suggest that only the most severe tropical systems are likely capable of redistributing significant quantities of sediment to more distal portions of the shelf and slope. These severe-event-driven deposits may account for as much as 75% of the sediment burial budget on decadal time scales within Mississippi Canyon. Higher than average tropical cyclone activity, predicted by the National Hurricane Center over the next decade, may be the major mechanism controlling sediment transport and deposition on the Mississippi River continental shelf and in Mississippi Canyon.