Bayhead deltas are located where rivers flow into estuaries. They have broad low-elevation plains that are sensitive to small increases in the rate of sea-level rise. In the past, when sea level was rising at a rate of 1 m per 100 years, bayhead deltas across the Northern Gulf of Mexico experienced a phase of rapid landward retreat. Subsequently, those bayhead deltas stabilized and Alex Simms (UC Santa Barbara) and I are interested in better understanding controls on bay-head delta stabilization following rapid retreat. We recently published a paper in Geophysical Research Letters that shows bayhead deltas stabilize at tributary junctions as they are moving landward in response to sea-level rise. These results highlight the shortcomings of models that predict the impacts of sea-level rise by simply flooding topography (i.e. bathtub or passive-inundation models). One of those passive-inundation models is being served by NOAA. Play with the NOAA model online and then read our paper.
Important:
Commitments to diversity and inclusivity are fundamental to the Rodriguez Lab and UNC-EMES’s mission.
Not really what Core Banks looks like, but a fun sticker.
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Lesson plans for middle- and high-school teachers that focus on estuarine fish habitats can be found here.
