Title| Summary|Strategy|Impacts/Products|Collaborators/Clients|Task 1|Task 2 |Task 3|Task 4|Task 5|Task 6|Task 7

GEOLOGIC DIVISION CONTINUING PROJECT WORK PLAN - FL 2001

Title: Compilation of past work on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Deltas

Coastal and Marine Geology Programs

This task will help define the project scope and direction by establishing

1. a review of current lower Mississippi River literature and by
2. organizing formal/informal information transfer meetings.

This two-phase initiative will serve to develop the necessary partnerships and alliances between interested state, federal and academic parties. An up-to-date bibliography of past reports and scientific papers relevant to the delivery of sediments and contaminants will be compiled, annotated and then distributed among the various participants. With this bibliography, and with the direction of a interdisciplinary science advisory team, a list of most relevant science issues can be established.

The second part of this task addresses the following workshop objectives,

1. identify additional interested partners, collaborators and clients and
2. establish the scientific role of these clients, collaborators and partners,
3. set established, USGS procedures and protocols for sample collection, preparation and analyses, and
4. develop an integrated and realistic work plan, including prospective deliverables.

Phase 1: Creating an annotated bibliography
Upon project approval, we will begin to assemble an up-to-date literature review of papers and reports that address environmental issues related to the lower Mississippi River. The proposed project has a strong interdisciplinary nature, and this will be reflected in the bibliography that will include papers that address: sediment/water discharge, contamination, wetland, hypoxia and seasonal storage/remobilization. This annotated report will be made available for distribution to interested partners, collaborators and clients. Phase one of task 1 can be completed in the Saint Petersburg Field Center.

Phase 2: Developing collaborations with 'river experts'
A number of key experts, clients, collaborators and partners have already been identified and contacted. We will continue to formalize these discussions by conducting multiple workshops with interested groups to establish potential linkages and logical partnerships that will extend the scope of this project. Workshop themes include:

1. integration with existing USGS (GD/WRD/BRD/NMD) efforts,
2. integration with Tulane's effort on the Mississippi River monitoring station,
3. integration with NASQAN,
4. standardization of sampling/analytical procedures.

The initial literature review is essential to establish what has been previously accomplished in regards to framework geology, geochemistry and Mississippi River work per se. This will help guide the organization of the workshop as well as the project, and will draw together experts from state, federal and academic institutions that have an active interest in the lower Mississippi River. Because there exist programs that are either already established (i.e., NASQAN) or still in preparation (such as Tulane's Mississippi Lower River Station, or the USGS Gulf of Mexico Initiative), the focus workshop of Task 1 will ensure that our proposed project will complement and extend these other programs, and will include relevant representation from other USGS divisions and other agencies/institutions.

Our project's investigators are also involved in other similarly focused USGS programs (Geochemical Processes of Coastal Contamination; Atlantic Coast Estuaries, National Estuaries Assessment). This capacity will provide a national perspective or assessment to our project. We intend to disseminate our project results in the form of peer-reviewed journal articles.

Publications delivered/completed for this task:

Publications planned for this task, to be submitted for publication in current or future fiscal years.

• P Sutton and PW Swarzenski, 2001, Literature review of past research on lower Mississippi River
• PW Swarzenski and R Bowker, 2001, Cruise plan for Year-1 activities: Mississippi/Achafalaya River Deltas
  
  

Geographic area of task:

United States, Gulf Coastal States, LA

Accomplishments

Current year nonpublication accomplishments and outcomes:
Multiple coordination meetings with key Mississippi River scientists such as Robert Meade (USGS), Charlie Demas (USGS), Art Horowitz (USGS), Rick Hooper (USGS), Brent McKee (Tulane), Mead Allison (Tulane) and many others to determine the current state of knowledge and most relevant direction of research.

Highlights - summary of the most significant outcome:
Opportunity to present our science strategy to the USGS director and upper level management. Some of their recommendations have been incorporated into our approach. Key linkages to bring in the discipline of toxicology have been defined and will be included in future field efforts.

New Directions or Major Changes for Proposal Year:
We have been working with Charlie Demas (district chief, Baton Rouge) to coordinate our efforts with new directions in LEAG (Long-term estuaries Assessment group) research. This offers the opportunity to greatly expand our own efforts and will provide the foundation for a high-visibility, interactive Mississippi River display.

Title|Summary|Strategy|Impacts/Products|Collaborators/Clients|Task 1|Task 2 |Task 3|Task 4|Task 5|Task 6|Task 7