Geological evolution of the Mississippi River into the Anthropocene
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5082253 |
|---|---|
| Authors | C Russell (0000-0002-6842-6329, University of Leicester), Colin N Waters (0000-0001-6113-8730, University of Leicester), Stephen Himson (0000-0001-5858-596X, University of Leicester), Rachael Holmes (0000-0002-6045-8705, University of Leicester), Annika Burns (University of Leicester), J Zalasiewicz (0000-0002-3220-4855, University of Leicester), Mark Williams (0000-0002-7987-6069, University of Leicester) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 115-140 |
| Publication date | 2021-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Anthropocene Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2053-0196 • E-ISSN: 2053-020X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/20530196211045527 |
| OpenAlex | W3210393604 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 144 |
The Mississippi River maintains commercial and societal networks of the USA along its >3700 km length. It has accumulated a fluvial sedimentary succession over 80 million years. Through the last 11,700 years of the Holocene Epoch, the wild river shaped the landscape, models of which have become classic in geological studies of ancient river strata. Studies of the river were led by the need to develop infrastructure and to search for hydrocarbons, through which, these models have become quite sophisticated. However, whilst the models demonstrate how the wild river behaves, a monumental shift in fundamental controls on the entire fluvial system, broadly coinciding with the proposed mid-20th century onset of the Anthropocene Epoch, has generated new geological patterns that are becoming globally ubiquitous, and which the Mississippi River typifies. As such, whilst classic Holocene river models may be compared to human-modified systems such as the Lower Mississippi River (and others worldwide), locally the models may now only directly apply to its fossilized components preserved in the sub-surface. Such river models need adapting to better understand the present dynamics, and future evolution of these landscapes
Anthropocene · Archaeology · Earth science · Ecological succession · Epoch (astronomy · Fluvial · Geography · Geologic record · Holocene · Sedimentary rock · Geological formations and processes · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes · Ecology · Geology · Paleontology
The environmental impact of a pre-Columbian city based on geochemical insights from lake sediment cores recovered near Cahokia
Sinking deltas due to human activities
Fluvial responses to climate and sea‐level change
Freshwater outbursts to the oceans from glacial Lake Agassiz and their role in climate change during the last deglaciation
Global Glacial Isostasy and the Surface of the Ice-Age Earth
Impact of Humans on the Flux of Terrestrial Sediment to the Global Coastal Ocean
Architectural-element analysis
Resource Resilience, Human Niche Construction, and the Long-Term Sustainability of Pre-Columbian Subsistence Economies in the Mississippi River Valley Corridor
River Systems and the Anthropocene
Tipping from the Holocene to the Anthropocene
Co-evolution of wetland landscapes, flooding, and human settlement in the Mississippi River Delta Plain
Changes in the global value of ecosystem services
Archaeology, land use, pollen and restoration in the Yazoo Basin (Mississippi, USA)
Transforming New Orleans and Its Environs
Humans as the third evolutionary stage of biosphere engineering of rivers
Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River
Humans are the most significant global geomorphological driving force of the 21st century
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |