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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Sediment-al Journey"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
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(75 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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THAT SINKING FEELING... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. THE WETLANDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI-RIVER DELTA: A NEW STUDY OUT OF TULANE SHOWS THAT THEY ARE SINKING--BUT NOT IN THE WAY WE THOUGHT. THE GENERALLY ACCEPTED BELIEF WAS THAT ALL THE LAND UNDER THE WETLANDS WAS SINKING; IT TURNS OUT THAT IT'S PRETTY MUCH ONLY THE TOP 50 FEET OR SO OF SEDIMENT THAT'S BEEN COMPACTING--MAKING THE WATER-LEVEL DEEPER. THE DELTA IS NOT BEING REPLENISHED WITH MUD; MAN HAS DIVERTED THE RIVER SUCH THAT IT DOES NOT SHED MUD ALL OVER THE ENTIRE DELTA--BUT INSTEAD IT'S "CHANNEL-IZED" TO GO ALL THE WAY OUT TO THE DEEP PART OF THE GULF OF MEXICO. THE WETLANDS ARE A VERY DELICATE BALANCE: IF THE WATER'S TOO DEEP, THE VEGETATION AND THE ANIMALS LIVING THERE ACTUALLY ARE DRIVEN INTO AREAS WHERE THE DEPTH IS CORRECT--AND, IN THIS CASE, IT'S MOVING PROGRESSIVELY NORTHWARD, AND THE DELTA'S GETTING SMALLER. SCIENTISTS HOPE FUTURE EXPERIMENTS WILL HELP GAIN GROUND--AND GIVE NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE, "MUDDYING THE WATERS". THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
