One of the most significant factors that causes a crucial land loss in the Delta region is the wind-driven expansion of marsh ponds, according to the new study by researchers from North Carolina State University and Indiana University.

The researchers discovered that 17 percent of land loss in the region is due to pond expansion which makes the waves erode off from the edges. According to the authors of the study, the Mississippi Delta is collapsing.

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River deltas are extremely productive and ecologically significant as they are the habitat of almost five percent of the population around the world. Under natural circumstances, coastal land is being made in deltas where river sediment is deposited.

However, the human engineering of river channels and sea-level rise is causing the Mississippi Delta to crave for sediment which leads to extensive land loss. Douglas Edmonds, the co-author of the study, believes that revising this occurrence needs a lot of understanding of the processes of work.

In the study, they observed the satellite images over the Delta region from 1982 until 2016. Overall, they classified nearly 1.29 billion pixels within land and water from 10,000 images.

The researchers discovered that south-westerly direction has a lot of pond expansion pushed by winds from the northeast. The expansion is also greater in the pond which is larger than 300 meters in diameter, and this is where the waves likely to erode. The ponds across the deltaic plain moved in the same direction of the wind, according to Alejandra Ortiz, the lead author of the study.

Researchers previously believed that the sea-level rise dominates the control of pond expansion. Because of this, the coastal protection has concentrated on building walls, dams, and other structures to stop the sea level from increasing. But now, the study points out the significance of river-borne sediment. Edmonds noted that sediment must be redirected from marsh ponds to halt the expansion.

Also, the flood-control barriers and dams on the Mississippi altered the flow of the river that leads to the reduction of the sediment being deposited towards the Delta. By creating diversions, the sediment will be directed to where it is needed.

Edmonds suggests that rebuilding the pathways of sediment flow could be the key to modify land loss since sediment is one of the valuable resources in the Mississippi Delta.