This book looks at coastal management as it applies to the physical barrier/inlet system of the Gulf of Mexico. This is an excellent region for considering this topic because it has a wide range of situations to be considered in its management—remote areas, huge urban populations, and tidal inlets, including some natural, some dredged, and others that have been structured for more than a century. Discussing options for managing and protecting the various elements of the barrier/inlet system, the authors consider each approach in terms of costs, logistics, and success or failure. They extensively cover anthropogenic impact as well as management problems generated by natural processes, especially hurricanes and other severe storms. The authors discuss the impact of management decisions and related projects, providing decision makers with the proper information to make decisions on zoning, development, construction of major structures, environmental concerns, etc.

Abstract With its wide variety of geological features and phenomena packed into a small area, the Baraboo of south-central Wisconsin is among the most visited parts of the Midwest by geology students. This guidebook, the first comprehensive look at the area in decades, covers the spectrum of geological features present in the area, and it is useful as a teaching tool. An exceptional outdoor classroom, the Baraboo area contains a spectrum of geology, including excellent examples of geomorphology, glacial geology, structural geology, petrology, stratigraphy, and sedimentology. Ages of the strata range from 1.7-billion-year-old Precambrian to the Quaternary. The area has been studied for about a century, but it still holds surprises for professionals and students alike.

Abstract The Proterozoic Baraboo Quartzite was laid down by braided rivers and in near-shore marine environments on the southern edge of Paleo–North America during a period of tectonic stability following a prolonged interval of orogenic activity. The exceptional chemical maturity of the Quartzite points to warm, wet, tropical climate conditions, and its distinctive maroon to pink and purple color marks it as one of the earliest “red beds” on Earth. Detrital zircons from the base of the Quartzite constrain its depositional age to be younger than ca. 1710 Ma. The Quartzite is overlain by two other units known only from subsurface exploration: the Seeley Slate, interpreted as a shallow marine deposit, and the Freedom Formation, which has the physical and mineralogical characteristics of classic Superior-type iron formations but is younger than any of these by at least 150 m.y. The folding event at Baraboo was previously thought to have occurred at ca. 1630 Ma, based on indirect regional arguments. However, a growing number of 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages in the range of 1450–1480 Ma have been obtained from occurrences of muscovite in hydrothermal veins in the Quartzite and from tectonic cleavage surfaces in the Seeley Slate, and these suggest a possible connection with the Wolf River Batholith igneous interval. The remarkable topographic relief that existed in the Baraboo Range at the time of the late Cambrian marine transgression, one billion years after the folding event, is another aspect of the regional geologic history that remains incompletely understood.

Abstract A field trip to the Baraboo District provides an amazing opportunity to teach (or learn) many important aspects of structural geology. For example, students can define the regional-scale shape of the Proterozoic-age south-verging Baraboo Syncline from data on bedding attitudes and facing indicators and then can compare this shape to a digital elevation model of the district to see relationships between the dip of a stratigraphic unit and the width of its outcrop belt. Key outcrops of the Baraboo District, which we describe in detail, allow students to identify and sketch mesoscopic tectonic structures (joints, spaced and phyllitic cleavage, veins, faults, slip lineations, parasitic folds, boudinage, crenulation cleavage, and kink folds) and to interpret the kinematic significance of these structures. Students will leave Baraboo with a clear image of how progressive crustal shortening can be accommodated under lower-greenschist conditions.

Abstract The Baraboo Quartzite contains numerous well-preserved sedimentary structures that enable interpretation of environments of deposition. Included are various types of cross-stratification, reactivation surfaces, and tidal bedding. The bulk of the Baraboo was deposited under tidal influence. The remainder represents deposition in a braided stream system. The origin of the tremendous volume of quartz sand remains somewhat unknown.