Abstract
Ship Shoal, a transgressive sand shoal off South-Central Louisiana and one of the potential sand resources that will likely be used to restore rapidly eroding barrier islands in coastal Louisiana, has a unique, complex sediment exchange with fluvially introduced sediments during high river discharge and a high energy wave climate associated with frequent winter storms. The result of a recent field survey, undertaken from April 4th to May 25th, 2006 showed that the bottom sediment distribution was strongly affected by fine-grained sediment outputs from Atchafalaya River and the prevailing wind and wave conditions, changing from mud to fine sand for roughly two months, which was also supported by satellite imagery and river discharge data.
