Date of Award
Fall 12-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Department
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Major Professor
Dr. Ioannis Georgiou
Second Advisor
Dr. Martin OConnell
Third Advisor
Dr. Alex McCorquodale
Abstract
Bayou St. John, an urban water body extending south from Lake Pontchartrain, has two anthropogenic structures that regulate flow from the Lake . The City of New Orleans has plans to remove the inner control structure to improve water quality. Field and numerical methods used in this study show removing this structure increased water elevations throughout the Bayou but resulted in lower water elevation signal amplitudes that caused a lower tidal flow exchange from north to south. Bulk Richardson numbers showed mixing was inversely related to flow and the Bayou generally remains stratified. Resuspension of contaminated sediment could negatively impact the local ecology but predicted shear stress values did not reach a critical value (0.1 N/m2) for resuspension. Removal of the waterfall structure will benefit Bayou St. John by decreasing energy losses from the Lake, however a more pronounced tidal signal from Lake Pontchartrain is required to flush the Bayou.
Recommended Citation
Schroeder, Robin L., "Exchange flows in an urban water body: Bayou St. John responses to the removal of flood control structures, future water elevation control, and water quality" (2011). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1394.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1394
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.