Site Specific Studies. Vibracore sampling of marsh peat in the Mississippi River Delta, southern Louisiana. Vibracore is a coring procedure that uses mechanical vibration rather than rotation to force a sampling tube into unconsolidated saturated material. Investigations in the Delta are a collaboration between the USGS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District. Studies of carbon, sediment, and nutrient budgets in the Mississippi River basin will also provide valuable information relevant to many problems associated with human land use.
Agricultural productivity is threatened by erosion and declines in soil fertility.
Erosion and sedimentation are primary concerns in the management of water supplies and quality. Natural organic compounds play a critical role in the transport and storage of contaminants in waters and sediments. Carbon compounds account for most of the oxygen depletion associated with anoxia and eutrophication in lakes, streams, and coastal waters. An improved understanding of interactions between changes in the land surface and changes in the global carbon cycle is essential to predicting and coping with global environmental change.