Mississippi Academy of Sciences

Reply to Baires et al.: Shifts in Mississippi River flood regime remain a contributing factor to Cahokia's emergence and decline.

Cahokia's emergence and decline coincided with shifts of flood frequency on the Mississippi River.

Here we establish the timing of major flood events of the central Mississippi River over the last 1,800 y, using floodwater sediments deposited in two floodplain lakes. Shifts in the frequency of high-magnitude floods are mediated by moisture availability over midcontinental North America and correspond to the emergence and decline of Cahokia--a major late prehistoric settlement in the Mississi...

Maize (Zea mays L.) yield and aflatoxin accumulation responses to exogenous glycinebetaine application

Exogenously applied glycinebetaine (GB) accumulates at high levels in maize (Zea mays L.). Under water deficit and high temperature conditions GB application produces yield benefits. These sub-optimum conditions often result in high levels of aflatoxin accumulation which reduces grain quality. A 3-year (2008, 2009 and 2010) field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of GB on ma...

Corn-based ethanol production compromises goal of reducing nitrogen export by the Mississippi River.

Corn cultivation in the United States is expected to increase to meet demand for ethanol. Nitrogen leaching from fertilized corn fields to the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River system is a primary cause of the bottom-water hypoxia that develops on the continental shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico each summer. In this study, we combine agricultural land use scenarios with physically based models ...

Ensemble modeling informs hypoxia management in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

A large region of low-dissolved-oxygen bottom waters (hypoxia) forms nearly every summer in the northern Gulf of Mexico because of nutrient inputs from the Mississippi River Basin and water column stratification. Policymakers developed goals to reduce the area of hypoxic extent because of its ecological, economic, and commercial fisheries impacts. However, the goals remain elusive after 30 y of...