The Mississippi River carries enormous quantities of sediment southward and deposits much of that material as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Sand, silt, clay, and organic material transported from a drainage basin covering millions of square kilometers have helped construct one of the largest delta plains on Earth. Yet despite the immense scale of this geological feature, the Mississippi River’s present delta plain is surprisingly young.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the existing Mississippi River delta plain began developing approximately 7,000 years ago as sediment carried by the river accumulated in overlapping delta lobes.¹ Another USGS investigation concludes that during approximately the last 8,000 years, the Mississippi repeatedly changed course and constructed a succession of delta complexes across southeastern Louisiana.²
The history is visible in the individual delta lobes. USGS researchers identify the Maringouin complex at approximately 6,000–8,000 years old, the Teche at approximately 3,500–5,800 years, the St. Bernard at approximately 2,000–3,500 years, the Lafourche at approximately 1,000–2,000 years, and the Plaquemine-Modern complex as approximately the last 1,000 years.² Some portions at the present mouth of the Mississippi are dramatically younger still. USGS reports that four subdeltas at the river mouth began forming only between 1839 and 1891.³
This is important because rivers continually transport sediment toward lower elevations. When a sediment-laden river enters comparatively still ocean water, its velocity decreases and suspended material settles. If deposition exceeds the amount of material waves and currents remove, a delta develops. The USGS describes this process precisely in explaining delta formation.⁴
The Mississippi Delta therefore provides an impressive demonstration of how enormous sedimentary structures can develop within comparatively short periods of geological time. The presently exposed delta plain does not require millions of years to explain its formation. Even conventional geology places its major development within only the last several thousand years.
This observation does not, by itself, establish the age of the Mississippi River or the age of the Earth. Conventional geology interprets the Mississippi drainage system and underlying Gulf sediments as substantially older than the present delta. However, the youth of the existing delta supports an important creationist argument: enormous quantities of sediment can be transported, deposited, rearranged, and built into vast geological features over thousands of years rather than necessarily requiring millions of years.
From a biblical Flood perspective, the Mississippi Delta can therefore be viewed as part of the continuing redistribution of enormous quantities of sediment following a recent period of catastrophic erosion and continental drainage. The interpretation is disputed, but the underlying observation is striking: one of the largest delta plains on Earth is, even according to conventional geological dating, predominantly a feature of only the last several thousand years.
Sources
¹ U.S. Geological Survey, “Study Area and Geologic Setting – Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin.”
USGS source
² U.S. Geological Survey, “Mississippi Basin Carbon Project: Geologic History of the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain.”
USGS source
³ U.S. Geological Survey, “Mississippi Delta: Emergent Wetlands Status and Trends in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.”
USGS source
⁴ U.S. Geological Survey, “Rivers & Deltas – Sediment Budget.”
USGS source
