Cajun Country
The word "Cajun" originated from Acadian, the name
for early French colonists in the Canadian Maritimes. Bayous are narrow
channels in the southern United States. Some Cajun fishing and trapping camps
in this area can only be reached by boat. The bayous are surrounded by
swamps and marshes, combining
a rich variety of habitats.
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Bayou Life
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- alligators
- snakes - some poisonous
- nutria - a fur-bearing animal introduced from South America
- marsh birds - herons, egrets & ibises
- cypress trees
- sitting in water year-round
- bulge at the base to provide more stability
- "knees" sticking out of the water help aerate the roots
- Spanish Moss - an "air plant" - not rooted in soil
The Everchanging Delta
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The Mississippi river delta has not always been in the same location. At
different times over the past 10,000 years, the Mississippi has emptied
both to the west and to the east of where it enters the Gulf of Mexico
today. Also, traces have been discovered of an ancient delta more than
1000 kilometres north of New Orleans.
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The Mississippi is now dumping hundreds of thousands of tons of nitrates
(fertilizer) into the Gulf of Mexico. This can create a dangerous oxygen-poor
area which covers thousands of square miles.
New Orleans is Sinking
The height above sea level of the Mississippi delta is decreasing by about
10mm per year. This is a result of:
- compaction of sediment in the delta region
- the weight of accumulated silt squeezes water out of the underlying sediment.
- due to flood control measures upriver, less sediment is being accumulated.(There
still may be as much as 2 tons per day of fine sediment being deposited in the delta.)
- extraction of oil, gas & water from the ground in the region.
- a slow increase in sea level in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of warming water temperatures and other factors.
Localized sinking also occurs due to construction of high-rise buildings in urban centres.
Logging of bottomland cyprus swamps also eliminates a buffer zone between
the ocean and lowland coastal areas. This vegetation is not able to reestablish
itself in areas reclaimed by the ocean. Cyprus mulch, used in home gardens, often
comes from these swamps. The loss of this buffer zone makes this area more vulnerable to storms from the tropics.
Bayou Links
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