There is “a wide range of really interesting problems” to study along the Louisiana coast, including the Mississippi Delta, according to Torbjörn E. Törnqvist, this year’s SEG Applied Sciences Education Program speaker. The popular program, which targets high school students, is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

In his one-hour presentation, “Why does the Louisiana subsurface matter,” Törnqvist will discuss how studying the Mississippi Delta subsurface can teach geologists how this coast functions and how it may be changing in the future. In addition, one of the main topics currently being discussed in Louisiana is coastal restoration, such as big river diversions, he said. He will discuss what can be done to restore the coast “because it has degraded a lot, especially in the past century,” he said.

“It’s really essential that we include all the knowledge we have about how sedimentation in the delta actually works and how it has worked in the past—that will give us the best benchmark for what we can expect in the future,”
Törnqvist said.

Törnqvist is the Vokes geology professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Tulane University. From 2006 to 2013, he was director of the National Institute for Climatic Change Research Coastal Center, a U.S. Department of Energy funding agency supporting basic research to reduce the uncertainty about the future of coastal ecosystems nationwide resulting from climate and sea-level change.

Most of his current research focuses on the Mississippi Delta. One issue in this area is delta evolution. “A better understanding of delta evolution can help us predict how the Mississippi Delta will look in the future,” he said. This also is a favorable region in which to study past rates of sea-level change, something Törnqvist works on extensively.

Originally from the Netherlands, where he received his education, Törnqvist came to the U.S. to study the Mississippi Delta. “The Mississippi Delta has a very special place in geology. It’s kind of the most common textbook example of what a delta looks like,” he said. “Pretty much every geologist around the world will be at least familiar with it, and many will have actually read something slightly more detailed about the delta. So for me, it was kind of an obvious choice to focus some of my own work [on this delta].”

Törnqvist said a good amount of groundwork has been done on this area, “and it’s something we can build on.” The oil and gas industry has conducted many studies on the Mississippi Delta and Louisiana coast to understand how delta sedimentation works, he continued. “There are many different reasons why doing geology [in the Louisiana subsurface] is beneficial. There is a lot going on in the subsurface of Louisiana, and it affects everyone who lives here,” he said.

The Applied Sciences Education Program has limited seating, and reservations are required for students and teachers. Students and teachers should contact the SEG business office via email at jcole@seg.org or via phone at 918-497-5574. The first 200 students and teachers to register for the program will be invited to participate in a special extended program, which includes a guided tour of the convention geophysical exhibits and activities related to geology and geophysics. Annual meeting delegates do not need to register to attend the lecture.