Environment Pattern Reconstruction from Sample Data. I. Mississippi Delta Region

A ten percent random sample of map data is judged adequate to reproduce the first order spatial characteristics of the distribution pattern for the seven major types of depositional environments in the Mississippi Delta region of Southeast Louisiana. This conclusion is based on 1 dendrographs which portray interdistance relationships among mean coordinate locations for the different environments, 2 the sampling properties of the Goodman-Kruskal measure of cross association as it is applied to nearest unlike neighbor samples, and 3 proximal maps which are reconstructions of the original pattern based on sample data. In analyzing map patterns, principal component analysis can be used to depict spatial trends. Within the Mississippi Delta region, the natural levee, point bar, bay-sound, and beach environments show a marked linear trend whereas the swamp, lacustrine, and marsh environments are more isotropic. With respect to location, the lacustrine environment is situated in an intermediate position between nonmarine and marine depositional environments.