91Ö±²¥

Dr. Mark A Kulp

The Louisiana Coastal Zone is a premiere location to examine fluvial, deltaic, and coastal processes. In the last several years the need for management of this coastal zone has resulted in an enhanced need to clearly document how these processes affect the geomorphology and stratigraphy of regressive and transgressive coastal plains. Stratigraphic and coastal studies within the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the 91Ö±²¥ provide students the opportunity to pursue a wide range of theoretical and applied research interests.

Some examples of current research include:

• The role of interior marsh loss on tidal prisms, shoreline change, and tidal inlet evolution along the central Louisiana shoreline.
• The influence of compactable sediments on land subsidence and resultant coastal habitat changes through time.
• The Holocene stratigraphy and evolution of the coastal zone.

• The role of forcing factors, such as hurricanes and relative sea-level rise on the Louisiana barrier
  island systems.