PART III: PREVIOUS WORK 



15. The history of the Louisiana deltaic plain has been studied by Fisk 

 (1955), Fisk and McFarlan (1955), Frazier (1967), McFarlan (1961), and Kolb 

 and Van Lopik (1966). Through the use of borings and radiocarbon dating, they 

 have been able to define the many units comprising the deltaic plain. From a 

 review of their findings, it is apparent that the Mississippi River has 

 changed its course several times over the past 8,000 years, and that the con- 

 figuration and areal extent of the Louisiana coastline has been directly con- 

 trolled by the flow of the Mississippi River. There has been some disagree- 

 ment over the exact dates of the changes in the course of the Mississippi 

 River, but most authors generally agree on a range of dates in which these 

 changes have occurred. 



16. The US Army Corps of Engineers has conducted several studies con- 

 cerning erosion of Louisiana's barrier islands and ways to inhibit this ero- 

 sion (Woodhouse 1978,1979; Knutson and Inskeep 1981). These studies, while 

 providing valuable information, are done from an engineering standpoint and 

 provide little geomorphological interpretation or prediction. Peyronnin di- 

 rected a survey conducted in 1962 by the US Army Corps of Engineers that pro- 

 vided an historical review of Isles Dernieres, as well as some sedimentologic 

 data. Several suggestions as to how erosion might be controlled were offered 

 but never implemented. 



17. Penland and Boyd (1981) have documented the severe erosion along 

 the Louisiana coastline using digitization of individual island areas, as well 

 as providing a model for deltaic barrier evolution. Penland and Boyd have 

 discussed the importance of washover in the development of deltaic barriers on 

 the Louisiana coast. 



18. The Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University is in- 

 volved in ongoing research of Louisiana's barrier islands and beaches. 

 Studies dealing with barrier islands of the Louisiana coast have examined 

 shoreline erosion (Adams et al . 1978) and barrier island development (Kwon 

 1969). Coleman (1966, 1981) has described the sedimentation in and around the 

 Mississippi Delta and the depositional environments related to this 

 sedimentation. 



19. Coastal Environments Incorporated, a private company in Baton 

 Rouge, has done several studies for the Terrebonne Parish Police Jury. These 



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