The construction of the subaqueous delta front is foundational to deltaic land building and field data is needed to validate conceptual models of delta front evolution. The bathymetric change that occurred across the entire delta front (~ 75.9 km²) of the Wax Lake Delta (WLD) in coastal Louisiana was measured between February 2015 and July 2016. Sediment removal (− 9.85 × 10⁶ m³) exceeded sediment accumulation (7.64 × 10⁶ m³), making the delta front net-erosional (− 2.21 × 10⁶ m³) despite the occurrence of a flood. These results factor in an estimated 4.28 cm of subsidence during the survey period. Deposition on the delta front was localized around channels and the northern and eastern flanks of the delta whereas erosion was more spatially uniform. This erosion coincides with an anomalously strong winter storm season that may have exported this sediment offshore and is consistent with a growing body of research that identifies winter storms as a significant mechanism for sediment removal from Atchafalaya Bay. Winter storm erosion is crucial to understanding and predicting volumetric growth of the WLD and has important implications to land building from sediment diversions. Future models of deltaic growth need to account for significant volume export and erosive episodes on the delta front.

水下三角洲前缘的建设是三角洲土地建设的基础，需要现场数据来验证三角洲前缘演化的概念模型。在2015年2月至2016年7月之间，测量了路易斯安那州沿海蜡湖三角洲（WLD）整个三角洲前缘（〜75.9 km ²）发生的水深变化。沉积物清除量（− 9.85×10 ⁶  m ³）超过了沉积物的积累（7.64×10 ⁶  m ³），使得三角洲前缘净侵蚀（− 2.21×10 ⁶  m ³），尽管发生了洪水。这些结果导致在调查期间产生了约4.28 cm的沉降。三角洲前缘的沉积集中在三角洲的河道和北部和东部侧面，而侵蚀在空间上更均匀。这种侵蚀与异常强的冬季风暴季节相吻合，该季节可能将这种沉积物输出到了海上，并且与越来越多的研究将冬季风暴确定为从阿查法拉亚湾清除泥沙的重要机制相吻合。冬季暴风雨侵蚀对于了解和预测WLD的体积增长至关重要，并且对泥沙转移对土地建设具有重要意义。未来三角洲增长模型需要考虑大量出口和三角洲前缘侵蚀事件。