James P. Morgan: Scientific contributions

Born in southern California in 1919, James Plummer Morgan would emerge from training at Berkeley and Louisiana State University to make several profound contributions in the disciplines of deltaic geology and coastal geomorphology. As an indirect, academic descendant of William Morris Davis through Richard J. Russell, Morgan's mentor at LSU, over half a century of research and student training resulted in Morgen making profound advances in four major areas: (1) loading mechanisms and tectonic roles in controlling the geology and geomorphology of deltaic regions; (2) delta crevassing and subdelta formation; (3) shoreline processes particularly related to coastal erosion and marshland loss; and (4) coastal hazard mitigation. In this paper we summarize the late Dr. Morgan's scientific contributions which have provided a foundation for significant advances in the respective fields and provide a selected list of scientific publications.