Preface and Chap 1
• This book is written by coastal geologists with together over
100 yrs experience working, teaching, and researching the
coastal zone of NC
• ‘The principle of uniformitarianism” – simply means that the
natural systems and processes that operate now have always
operated (the present is key to the past – the past is key to the
present)…and even the past is the key to the future
• Earth processes vary in time and space (think a sand grain moving with each
wave versus a building the Himalayas)
• Different sized boats for different settings (right tool for the job)
• A,B,C used in the nearshore, lagoon, estuary, and river settings
• D is more of a ship and primarily used offshore in deeper water
• What makes the coastal zone difficult to work in?
Have a think about it…
• Need to be MacGyver
• What makes the coastal zone difficult to work in?
Waves, currents, weather, wind, marine animals, other boat traffic,
boating hazards, politics, people, etc
• Need to be MacGyver
Coring in Newfoundland Canada for storm records
Coring in Unalaska, AK for storm records
Coring in French Polynesia for storm records
• A) is a GPR or ground
penetrating radar
• The GPR is used to map the sub-
surface (basically remotely map
stratigraphy) in freshwater
• A similar tool is used in saltwater
(seismic) but uses sonar (sound location)
• SONAR actually means SOund
Navigation And Ranging
• Generally this is called a CHIRP
Map of CHIRP lines in a
fjord in Alaska
Using a CHIRP to map coastal ponds in Florida
This is what the
stratigraphy of
one of those
CHIRP lines
Sampling coastal sediment
requires many tools depending
on the environment of interest
• A&B) a Vibracore system
(vibrate core tube into sediment)
• C) Geoprobe (land-based
coring using percussion, so
hammering the core tube into
the ground)
• D) Wash-probe (jet out
sediment)
Geoprobing in Destin Florida
Vibracoring
in Alaska
55 ft deep
core in dunes
12m core in AK fjord
Hand coring in northeast Florida
This is called a ‘Russian’
coring device (a type of
hand coring). The core is
of some earthquake
stratigraphy in Oregon.
• Sampling of coastal sediments
depends on context
• Generally sub-sampled into vials
or bags for lab analysis and
preservation
• A) x-section of outcrop of a
paleo-shoreline
• B) Sub-sampling of core
Vibracores
Sampling a section on a river bank in Portugal from
Oregon
showing
several
earthquake
sequences
Sampling a section cleared from
a back-hoe digging a garbage
dump
What is the coastal conflict?
• Change is the only constant
within the system
• Coastal change can happen within a human lifespan
• Area of greatest population growth rates and urban expansion
• Forest cleared, shorelines hardened, dredge shallow water,
wetlands in-filled and channelized, dune are flattened, land is
paved…
• The natural system continues to evolve despite the above…the
natural systems will always win with time
NATURAL vs ANTHROPOGENIC PROCESSES
A) Purple is 1849 shoreline, Red star (black line) is 1998
shoreline
B) 2008 view of red star location (built in late 1980’s)
To right) example of island thinning since 1852, lines
represent HWY12 (~75% width loss since 1852)
• Settlers understood
not to use the active
(ocean) side of
barrier islands for
villages
• Urban expansion
and development is
unprecedented
• Do you or your
family own coastal
property…
Natural Resources: Approximately 325 miles of barrier islands with more than 20 inlets;
the second largest estuarine and wetland system in the US; over 5,000 miles of estuarine
shoreline; eight major drainage basins and the associated wetland system.
People and Industry: Population of 865,000 residents in 20 coastal counties
(population growth rates on the barrier islands of 75-150% since1980); tourism,
agriculture, forestry, and commercial fisheries.
Infrastructure: private, public and commercial buildings in 20 coastal counties; roads
and bridges; power systems and sewage treatment plants; water treatment and
distribution systems.
U.S. and NC Government Land Holdings and Operations: U.S. Military Bases (3 major
bases and many support facilities); U.S. Coast Guard Facilities (numerous); U.S.
National Park Service (two National Seashores and two Historical Sites); U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (13 National Wildlife Refuges); U.S. Forest Service (one National
Forest); NC Department of Transportation (two major ports, 16 ferry facilities, many
miles of coastal highways and many coastal bridges); NC Division of State Parks (10
State Parks and Historic Sites); NC Division of Wildlife Resources (~300 public boat
launch sites and ~2 million acres of game lands).
• We are attempting to
stabilize an inherently
moving deposit of sand
Human constructed systems are
as fragile as a sand castle to
a rising tide…the sand castle
will eventually fall
• The hope is that we
understand this and work
with the natural system, not
against it
