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GEOREF RECORD

Do storms cause long-term beach erosion along the U.S. east barrier coast?

Keqi Zhang, Bruce Douglas and Stephen Leatherman
Do storms cause long-term beach erosion along the U.S. east barrier coast?
Journal of Geology (July 2002) 110 (4): 493-502

Abstract

In a few hours or days, scores of meters of beach width can be lost due to a severe storm. However, newly available shoreline data from the U.S. East Coast show that beaches recover after storms to positions consistent with their long-term (100 + yr) trend. Even the largest storms, such as the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, considered to be the most damaging in the twentieth century, appear to have had little effect on the long-term trend. The gradual recession of beaches along the U.S. East Coast is mainly controlled by other factors such as sea-level rise and variations of sediment supply. Therefore, it follows that barrier beaches in a coastal plain setting would not experience long-term erosion in response to storm impact if the sea were to stop rising and sediment supply did not change.


ISSN: 0022-1376
EISSN: 1537-5269
Coden: JGEOAZ
Serial Title: Journal of Geology
Serial Volume: 110
Serial Issue: 4
Title: Do storms cause long-term beach erosion along the U.S. east barrier coast?
Affiliation: Florida International University, Laboratory for Coastal Research, Miami, FL, United States
Pages: 493-502
Published: 200207
Text Language: English
Publisher: University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, United States
References: 28
Accession Number: 2002-056280
Categories: Geomorphology
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. 3 tables, sketch maps
N37°25'00" - N38°02'60", W75°57'00" - W75°15'00"
N35°10'00" - N36°15'00", W76°01'60" - W75°25'00"
N37°08'60" - N39°40'00", W76°20'60" - W75°04'00"
N40°37'00" - N41°16'60", W73°31'00" - W71°49'60"
N38°27'00" - N38°57'00", W75°43'00" - W75°04'60"
N38°00'00" - N38°27'00", W75°40'00" - W75°04'00"
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2023, American Geosciences Institute.
Update Code: 200219
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