ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with sediment transport in relation to a developing river delta. The deltaic plain of the Mississippi River system spans a distance of more than 350 km along the Louisiana shoreline of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Changes in coastal configuration in the vicinity of the developing Atchafalaya delta will be, in part, a function of shelf sediment transport form and pattern. Frequently, near-bottom current measurements alone are used to infer patterns of sediment transport and dispersion. The implications of some near-bottom current measurements are made on the continental shelf offshore of the developing Atchafalaya Delta. The oceanographic data presented here are from two bottom-mounted platforms located within 15 m of each other approximately 50 km offshore. Detailed descriptions of the instrumentation, calibration procedures, and platform configurations are given. The inclusion of bottom stress generated by wave motion results in sediment being moved farther to the east, which suggests that wave motion indeed plays a role in sediment transport.
