Date of Award
8-2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Department
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Major Professor
Kulp, Mark
Second Advisor
Miner, Michael
Third Advisor
Yeager, Kevin
Abstract
During the last half century researchers have suggested that active deformation driven by neotectonic activity has locally influenced areas of southeastern Louisiana in the form of wetland loss and coastal erosion. This study, within the Pearl River Delta Area of Louisiana, applied geomorphologic and stratigraphic methods of analysis to assess whether evidence of recent fault motion is present within the shallow, unconsolidated Holocene strata of the study area. Geomorphological historical change analyses focused on meander patterns, elongated water bodies and spatial changes in vegetation identify areas where fault motion may have recently occurred. The shallow stratigraphy was then investigated in these locations using vibracores and seismic reflection profiling. Facies relationships coupled with radiocarbon ages of select stratigraphic intervals led to the development of a detailed stratigraphic framework. Based on these relationships, data suggest that subsurface deformation, resultant of neotectonic activity, has recently occurred within the shallow, unconsolidated Holocene strata.
Recommended Citation
Fischer, Dane, "Investigation of Neotectonic Activity within the Shallow, Unconsolidated Stratigraphy of the Pearl River Delta Area, Louisiana" (2010). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1282.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1282
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.