The dominant processes responsible for subsidence of coastal wetlands in south Louisiana

Wetland loss in coastal areas of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, Louisiana, largely results from two subsurface processes: (1) consolidation of recently deposited Holocene deltaic sediments and (2) active growth faulting. Locally, settlement is high where the thickness of valley fill is great and in broad interdistributary basins where the thickness of consolidation-prone, peaty soils is great. The delta cycle is identified as the fundamental sedimentologic unit that constitutes the lower delta plain. Peaty soils from the waning phase of the delta cycle are identified as the deltaic facies most subject to consolidation settlement. Data indicate direct relationships between the thickness of deltaic sediments in individual delta cycles, and the thickness of peaty soils capping these cycles, with present patterns of coastal tract land loss. In addition, active growth faulting is correlated with new areas of interior tract wetland loss. Consolidation and faulting largely explain the curious nature of wetland loss patterns in south Louisiana. Subsidence in The Netherlands has been attributed to similar causes, i.e. thick deposits of consolidation-prone sediments that accumulate on the downthrown sides of basin margin faults.