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Factors influencing the salinity regime of Lake Pontchartrain, Lousiana, a shallow coastal lagoon: Analysis of a long-term data set

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Abstract

Lake Pontchartrain., Louisiana is a 1,630 km2 shallow brackish lagoon with a mean salinity from 1.2‰ in the west to 5.4‰ in the east., The construction of a 120 km long deep-water connection to the Gulf of Mexico in 1963, was expected to cause a 5‰ increase in lagoon salinity. However, the actual increase was everywhere in the lagoon less than 2‰ Analysis of 31 years of daily salinity and discharge records indicates that discharge is the most important factor controlling salinity variations in Lake Pontchartrain., Seventy-four percent of low-frequency salinity variations are explained by freshwater discharge and the completion of the deep-water canal. Lake Pont.-chartrain experiences annual variations of salinity as high as 8‰ This salinity signal has remained constant since the beginning of the salinity records in 1946. It appears that the deep-water canal is not responsible for observed die-back of freshwater swamps and retreat of lagoon shorelines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Coastal Ecology and Fisheries Institute Center for Wetland Resources, Louisiana State University, 70803, Baton Rouge, Lousiana

    Walter B. Sikora

  2. Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research, Department of Geology, and Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, 29208, Columbia, South Carolina

    Björn Kjerfve

Authors
  1. Walter B. Sikora
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  2. Björn Kjerfve
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Additional information

Contribution No. LSU-CEFI-84-26 from the Coastal Ecology and Fisheries Institute, LSU, and Contribution No. 543 from the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research.

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Sikora, W.B., Kjerfve, B. Factors influencing the salinity regime of Lake Pontchartrain, Lousiana, a shallow coastal lagoon: Analysis of a long-term data set. Estuaries 8, 170–180 (1985). https://doi.org/10.2307/1351866

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1351866

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