Controls on coastal dune morphology, shoreline erosion and barrier island response to extreme storms

The response of a barrier island to an extreme storm depends in part on the surge elevation relative to the height and extent of the foredunes which can exhibit considerable variability alongshore. While it is recognized that alongshore variations in dune height and width direct barrier island response to storm surge, the underlying causes of the alongshore variation remain poorly understood. This study examines the alongshore variation in dune morphology along a 11 km stretch of Santa Rosa Island in northwest Florida and relates the variation in morphology to the response of the island during Hurricane Ivan and historic and storm-related rates of shoreline erosion. The morphology of the foredune and backbarrier dunes was characterized before and after Hurricane Ivan using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis and related through Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). The height and extent of the foredune, and the presence and relative location of the backbarrier dunes, varied alongshore at discrete length scales (of ~ 750, 1450 and 4550 m) that are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Cospectral analysis suggests that the variation in dune morphology is correlated with transverse ridges on the inner-shelf, the backbarrier cuspate headlands, and the historical and storm-related trends in shoreline change. Sections of the coast with little to no dune development before Hurricane Ivan were observed in the narrowest portions of the island (between headlands), west of the transverse ridges. Overwash penetration tended to be larger in these areas and island breaching was common, leaving the surface close to the watertable and covered by a lag of shell and gravel. In contrast, large foredunes and the backbarrier dunes were observed at the widest sections of the island (the cuspate headlands) and at crest of the transverse ridges. Due to the large dunes and the presence of the backbarrier dunes, these areas experienced less overwash penetration and most of the sediment from the beachface and dunes was deposited within the upper-shoreface. It is argued that this sediment is returned to the beachface through nearshore bar migration following the storm and that the areas with larger foredunes and backbarrier dunes have smaller rates of historical shoreline erosion compared to areas with smaller dunes and greater transfer of sediment to the washover terrace. Since the recovery of the dunes will vary depending on the availability of sediment from the washover and beachface, it is further argued that the alongshore pattern of dune morphology and the response of the island to the next extreme storm is forced by the transverse ridges and island width through alongshore variations in storm surge and overwash gradients respectively. These findings may be particularly important for coastal managers involved in the repair and rebuilding of coastal infrastructure that was damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Ivan.     

Factors controlling the survival of coastal dunes during multiple hurricane impacts in 2004 and 2005: Santa Rosa barrier island, Florida

Santa Rosa Island is an 85 km-long, wave-dominated low-lying barrier island situated along the northwestern Florida coast, facing the Gulf of Mexico. The entire island was severely impacted by Ivan, a strong category 3 hurricane that made landfall about 45 km to the west in September of 2004. Ten months later in July of 2005, Dennis, another category 3 hurricane, made landfall about 30 km east of the western tip of the island. Santa Rosa Island is characterized by well-developed but relatively low dunefields, described in this paper as incipient and established dunes, based on the presence of grassy and woody types of vegetation, respectively. The dunes were severely eroded by the two hurricanes. This paper investigates the factors controlling the regional-scale destruction and survival of the dunefields.Dune survival is controlled by: 1) hurricane characteristics, including intensity, duration, and frequency, and 2) morphological parameters including width of the barrier island, height and width of the dunefields, vegetation type, distance of the dunes to the ocean, and continuity of the dunefields. Three processes of dune destruction are described including, from most to least severe, inundation, overwash, and scarping. The interaction of all the above factors determines the different dune responses to the storm impacts. In general, the extensive and densely woody vegetated dunefields near the bay-side shoreline survived the storms, while the discontinuous dunes with grassy vegetation near the Gulf shoreline were almost completely destroyed.     

Sequence morphodynamics at an emergent barrier island, middle Atlantic coast of North America

The southern Delmarva Peninsula is located along the middle Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States. The axial highland of the peninsula formed in four stages of Pleistocene spit progradation. The landward shoreline of the peninsula is on the Chesapeake Bay. The seaside shoreline of the peninsula is on the Atlantic Ocean. The coast of the peninsula is composed of five landscape sections described as a headland, a left-hand spit, a right-hand spit, a wave-dominated barrier island, and tide-dominated barrier islands.Fisherman Island is a barrier island located at the southern end of the southern Delmarva Peninsula. The landscape features on Fisherman Island do not illustrate a direct linkage to (1) the sediment dispersion from the Delaware headland or (2) the influence of local antecedent topography. The island has a bipolar progradational history that is normal to the axis of the southerly sediment dispersion pattern from the Delmarva headlands.During the late Holocene, sea-level rise flooded the low-elevation land at the distal end of the southern Delmarva Peninsula. The submerged area formed a shallow platform in the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Two sediment dispersion tracts affected the development of this area. On the ocean side of the peninsula, sediment moved southward along the lower shoreface to the Chesapeake Bay entrance. On the west side of the peninsula, southerly moving bay currents also dispersed sediment to the entrance of the bay. The two tracts converged on the northern side of the bay entrance forming a broad sand shoal. Wave diffraction and refraction around the margins of the shoal “swept” sediment into linear sand bars that migrated back toward the peninsula.By the middle of the 19th century, the fusion of sand bars on the shoal surface produced a permanent nucleus for island development. Wave refraction caused wave crests to “wrap around” the island core producing separate easterly and westerly components of shore aggradation. The westerly aggradational history is recorded in closely spaced sets of beach ridges. The easterly aggradational history is recorded in broadly spaced hammocks.     

Erosion and reorientation of the Sapodilla Cays,Mesoamerican Reef Belize from 1960 to 2012

The Sapodilla Cays Marine Reserve in southern Belize includes nine low-relief sand cays that were first surveyed in 1960. The purpose of this study is to reconstruct a 52-year history of the Sapodilla Cays (1960–2012) using a combination of historical topographic surveys, satellite imagery, and additional field data collection. Results suggest that the majority of islands are eroding with some islands having lost over 70% of their area, and many have become swash aligned, which suggests limited sediment availability. The proportion of area lost on each island is related to the width of the reef platform (to the 5?m isobaths) in the direction of the reef edge, while island area is dependent on the width of the reef platform in the direction of the resultant wind. This suggests that the width of the reef platform is a primary determinant of sediment supply between storms that tend to erode the eastern shoreline of the island through refraction along the reef edge. While storm erosion tends to be concentrated along the eastern shoreline through the loss of sediment offshore, alongshore transport to the lagoon shoreline, and the transfer of sediment to the interior of the island, net shoreline retreat is greatest along the lagoon, suggesting that the relatively small winter “northers” and a lack of sediment supply from the reef lagoon are responsible for the observed erosion. Extrapolations based on contemporary loss-rates suggest that the smallest cays will disappear by 2020, while the largest cays will begin to disappear by the end of century.     

An Innovative Method of Model Integration to Forecast Spatial Patterns of Shoreline Change: A Case Study of Nags Head,North Carolina*

Many coastal erosion models are designed to be used at transects or discrete points but they produce valid results only for locations that meet a set of well-defined criteria. Results obtained from these models are difficult to generalize, since adjoining areas may not meet these requirements. In this paper, a GIS-based methodology is described for combining the results from two two-dimensional coastal erosion models and a three-dimensional static inundation model to forecast the possible response of a coastline to several alternative sea level rise scenarios. These shoreline forecasts are unique in that they integrate results obtained from several different models and allow graphical representations of these alternative future shorelines to be produced. Coastal planners may use these integrated shoreline forecasts to assess the possible impact of sea level rise on a given region. To demonstrate this methodology a case study was conducted for Nags Head, North Carolina.     

Linking Coastal Disasters and Migration: A Case Study of Kutubdia Island,Bangladesh

On 4 August 2012, the southeastern part of Kutubdia Island, Bangladesh, experienced coastal erosion and flooding associated with tidal waves, storms, and continuous heavy rainfall for two days. This provided a unique opportunity to study the relationship between rapid-onset disasters and migration decisions of individual households perpetually living under environmental risk. Using Kutubdia Island as a case study, this article examines the migration decisions of respondents in the immediate aftermath of two extreme natural events. Relevant data were primarily collected from a questionnaire survey conducted nearly two months after the occurrence of the event. The study's findings support the view that both environmental and nonenvironmental factors lead to migration. The article outlines several areas for further research on the links between migration and environmental stress.     

Sedimentary response of Pagham Harbour, southern England to barrier breaching in AD 1910

This paper examines the evolution of Pagham Harbour, southern England following storm-induced breaching of a protective barrier in AD 1910. Stratigraphic studies of sediments collected from intertidal areas show the presence of a distinct stratigraphic horizon in the northeast of Pagham Harbour at ca. 0 to +1.0 m ordnance datum (OD). Radiometric data indicate that this horizon is a ‘reclamation surface’ formed after land claim in AD 1846. Following marine flooding in AD 1910, sediment has accreted relatively rapidly (at a broadly constant rate of between 4 and 8 mm a⁻¹), wave and/or tidal energy have decreased and extensive marshes have developed. An asymptotic reduction in sediment accretion rate through time, as predicted in various theoretical models of salt marsh accretion, is not observed. Over the entire Pagham Harbour area, the period between AD 1948 and AD 1986 has seen an average marsh loss of 0.0087 km² a⁻¹, which is relatively small in comparison with other more exposed sites in the local area. Historically breached sites such as Pagham Harbour are common around European coasts, and these provide important natural laboratories within which the medium-term (decadal to centennial) coastal response to barrier breaching, and to managed-realignment coastal protection schemes, can be assessed.     

Spatio-temporal analysis of cropland change in the Guanzhong area,China, from 1650 to 2016

As one of the most critical impact factors of global change, historical land-use change is an indispensable input in climate and environment simulations. To better understand the cropland change in the Guanzhong area, gazetteers, statistics, and survey data were collected as data sources. Methods of registered tax-paying cropland data collection, selection of time points, and data interpolation and calibration were used to reconstruct changes in the cropland area. The cropland area data at the county level were allocated to 1 km×1 km grid cells. The total cropland area in the Guanzhong area was influenced by changes in population, wars, natural disasters, and land-use types, and it fluctuated from 1650 to 2016. From 1780 to 1830, the cropland expanded in the northern and western parts of Guanzhong area, and the cropland in the north of Qinling Mountains increased slightly. The spatial pattern of cropland reached its maximum range in 1980, and the cropland area declined in the whole study area, especially in the cities of Xi'an and Xianyang in 2016. The comparison between HYDE 3.2 and the data obtained in this study showed that the grid cells of HYDE 3.2 exhibit lower values of cropland area fractions in the Guanzhong Basin and higher values in high-altitude areas around the Guanzhong Basin as compared to those in this study.     

The response of soil erosion and sediment export to land-use change in four areas of Europe: The importance of landscape pattern

The response of erosion and sediment export to past land-use change has been studied in four agricultural areas of Europe. Three of these areas were subject to land abandonment or de-intensification and one to intensification of land-use practices. Erosion and sediment yield were modeled using the WaTEM/SEDEM model, which combines the RUSLE equation with a sediment routing algorithm. Spatial relationships between the RUSLE C-factor (i.e. land-use) and other erosion and sediment export-determining factors (slope, soil erodibility and distance to rivers) were investigated, as these account for non-linearity in the response of erosion and sediment export to land-use change.Erosion and sediment export have decreased enormously in the de-intensified areas, but slightly increased in the intensively cultivated area. The spatial pattern of land-use change in relation to other erosion and sediment export-determining factors appears to have a large impact on the response of soil erosion and sediment export to land-use change. That the drivers of abandonment of arable land and erosion coincide indicates that de-intensification leads to a more favourable landscape pattern with respect to reduction of erosion and sediment export. This mechanism applies not only within the study areas, but also among the European study areas where the process of intensification of some areas and de-intensification of others might result in an overall decrease of erosion and sediment yield through time.     

Changing sedimentation patterns due to historical land-use change in Frenchman’s Bay,Pickering, Canada: evidence from high-resolution textural analysis

This study examines the anthropogenic alteration of sedimentation in Frenchman’s Bay in Lake Ontario, using high-resolution particle size analysis in two 200 cm cores. Lithofacies were determined using the particle size data of both the terrigenous sediment and terrigenous sediment + diatom fractions. Terrigenous particle size data from the centre of the lagoon provided the most representative record of anthropogenic impacts. Three distinctive lithofacies were recognized: (1) a Natural Wetland (NW) lithofacies (106–200 cm) had an average mean particle size of 49.4 μm, a mode of 29.4 μm and an average standard deviation of 119.1 μm; (2) an Agricultural and Deforestation (AD) lithofacies (40–105 cm) had a statistically significant lower average mean (30.8 μm), mode (13.5 μm), and standard deviation (48.5) μm; (3) an Urbanized (U) lithofacies (0–40 cm) showed a continued trend towards smaller particle sizes with an average mean of 21.2 μm, a mode of 9.4 μm, and an average standard deviation of 32.7 μm. The lithofacies correlated with previously identified trends in thecamoebian biofacies and magnetic susceptibility data showing post-colonial lagoon eutrophication and increased overland soil erosion. The up-core trend towards finer and less variable particle sizes is attributed to erosion of fine-grained watershed sediments (glacial Lake Iroquois silts and clay) during land-clearance and modification of natural drainage patterns. The influx of silts and clays into the lagoon is also recorded by increased sediment accumulation rates and a reduction in seasonal sediment variability in the wetland. Based on the ²¹⁰Pb dates, sedimentation rates increased at 1850 ±56 AD (AD lithofacies) and suggest an exponentially increasing trend in accumulation rates. Increasing sedimentation rates can be attributed to the progressive loss of native vegetation and intensified erosion of Lake Iroquois deposits via stream and hillslope erosion. Ecologically, the increased input of fine-grained sediments into the wetland has resulted in reduced water clarity and has altered the wetland substrate contributing to wetland loss in Frenchman’s Bay.     

Dynamics of shoreline and land reclamation from 1985 to 2015 in the Bohai Sea,China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Extraction and analysis of the shoreline and land reclamation patterns are important for studies on topics such as the dynamics of coastal wetland ecological...     

Spatio-temporal changes in heat waves and cold spells: an analysis of 55 U.S. cities

With observed increases in global temperatures indicating changes to anomalous temperature events (ATE), few studies have considered the changes associated with both heat and cold together. This study evaluates the changes in heat waves and cold spells for 55 U.S. metropolitan areas (1948–2012). Using surface observations, thresholds of mean apparent temperature were used to define heat, extreme heat, cold, and extreme cold events. Days that exceeded the 95th temperature percentile were considered heat days. Similar values were used to define extreme heat (97.5th), cold (5th), and extreme cold (2.5th). Thresholds were calculated independently for each of the locations, incorporating spatial variability into the ATE definition. Changes in duration, seasonal timing, and frequency, all of which have been shown to be important characteristics in regard to heat and cold events, were evaluated. Significant changes in some characteristics were found. Across many locations, heat events have become more frequent, longer lasting, and earlier occurring, while cold spells have experienced an opposite trend. Since heat and cold events impact a range of ecological and bioclimatological processes, understanding the variability and changes associated with ATE remains an important aspect to consider as society prepares for future events.     

Cancer risks from exposure to vehicular air pollution: a household level analysis of intra-ethnic heterogeneity in Miami,Florida

Quantitative environmental justice (EJ) research has relied on aggregated data from census units to determine disproportionate hazard exposure. Additionally, variables typically used to analyze ethnic inequities in exposure (e.g., percent Hispanic) are too broad and assume a degree of homogeneity that may not exist, given the diversity of ethnic minority populations. We address these limitations through a study that utilizes primary household level survey data and cancer risk estimates from the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) to analyze intra-ethnic inequities in exposure to vehicular air pollutants in the Miami metropolitan area, Florida. Our analysis disaggregates the Hispanic category based on five characteristics (language proficiency, U.S. citizenship, nativity, unemployment status, and national origin) and finds that risk burdens are significantly higher for Hispanic respondents who are foreign-born, unemployed, and of Cuban origin. Findings highlight the advantages of downscaling EJ analyses to the household level and considering intra-ethnic heterogeneity in EJ research and policy.     

Remote-sensing data reveals the response of soil erosion intensity to land use change in Loess Plateau,China

Developing an effective approach to rapidly assess the effects of restoration projects on soil erosion intensity and their extensive spatial and temporal dynamics is important for regional ecosystem management and the development of soil conservation strategies in the future. This study applied a model that was developed at the pixel scale using water soil erosion indicators (land use, vegetation coverage and slope) to assess the soil erosion intensity in the Loess Plateau, China. Landsat TM/ETM+ images in 2000, 2005 and 2010 were used to produce land use maps based on the object-oriented classification method. The MODIS product MOD13Q1 was adopted to derive the vegetation coverage maps. The slope gradient maps were calculated based on data from the digital elevation model. The area of water soil-eroded land was classified into six grades by integrating slope gradients, land use and vegetation coverage. Results show that the Grain-To-Green Project in the Loess Plateau worked based on the land use changes from 2000 to 2010 and enhanced vegetation restoration and ecological conservation. These projects effectively prevented soil erosion. During this period, lands with moderate, severe, more severe and extremely severe soil erosion intensities significantly decreased and changed into less severe levels, respectively. Lands with slight and light soil erosion intensities increased. However, the total soil-eroded area in the Loess Plateau was reduced. The contributions of the seven provinces to the total soil-eroded area in the Loess Plateau and the composition of the soil erosion intensity level in each province are different. Lands with severe, more severe and extremely severe soil erosion intensities are mainly distributed in Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. These areas, although relatively small, must be prioritised and preferentially treated.     

Long-term fluvial archives in NW France: response of the Seine and Somme rivers to tectonic movements, climatic variations and sea-level changes

The Seine and the Somme are the two main rivers flowing from northwestern France into the Channel. During the Pleistocene cold stages both rivers were tributaries of the River Manche which was exporting sediments into the central deeps of the Channel. The River Seine has a very well developed terrace system recording incision that began at around 1 Ma. The same age is proposed for the beginning of the main incision in the Somme Valley on the basis of morphostratigraphy, pedostratigraphy, palaeontology, palaeomagnetism and ESR datings. The uplift rate deduced from analysis of the Seine and Somme terrace systems is of 55 to 60 m/Ma since the end of the Lower Pleistocene. The response of the two rivers to climatic variations, uplift and sea-level changes is complex and variable in the different parts of the river courses. For example, the evolution of the lower Seine system is influenced by uplift and climate changes but dominated by sea-level changes. In the middle Seine the system is beyond the impact of sea-level variations and shows a very detailed response to climatic variations during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in a context of uplift. The Somme Valley response appears to be more homogeneous, especially in the middle valley, where the terrace system shows a regular pattern in which incision occurs at the beginning of each glacial period against a general background of uplift. Nevertheless, the lower Somme Valley and the Palaeo-Somme in the Channel area indicate some strong differences compared with the middle valley: influence of sea-level variations and probably differences in rates of tectonic uplift between the Channel and the present continent. The differences in the responses of the two river valleys during the Pleistocene are related to differences in the size of the fluvial basins, to the local tectonic characteristics, to the geometry of the platform connected to the lower parts of the valleys and to the hydrodynamic characteristics of each river. Finally, it is shown from these examples that the multidisciplinary study of Pleistocene rivers is a very efficient tool for the investigation of neotectonic activity.     

金沙江下游近40年来土壤侵蚀变化--以云南彝良为例

云南金沙江流域是我国水土流失最为严重的区域之一，尤其以金沙江下游区最为突出。为揭示该区域土壤侵蚀动态变化的基本规律，为今后水土保持和土地资源可持续利用提供依据，选择该区域较为典型的彝良县作为研究实例，采用航片判读、实地调查、GIS等方法编制了1960、1980和2000年土壤侵蚀图，据此分析该县1960～2000年的土壤侵蚀变化特点，并应用马尔柯夫模型预测在当前土地利用方式下土壤侵蚀动态变化趋势，为该县制定水土保持措施和土地利用规划提供了重要依据。     

山区县人口分布的时空特征及主要影响因素分析——以河南省嵩县为例

城镇化过程中山区人口分布的时空特征及其变化规律对协调人地关系和实施乡村振兴具有十分重要的意义。论文基于河南省洛阳市3次农业普查数据,选取嵩县318个村域单元为研究对象,综合运用GIS空间分析和回归方法,分析该县域人口分布的时空演变特征及其影响因素。结果表明：① 嵩县人口分布在空间上极不均衡,高密度区集聚于交通干线附近和地势较为平坦的地区,并随时间推移由点状集聚分布向片状和条带状集聚分布转变;② 人口增长总体上以洛栾高速为界,西北人口增长速度快、东南人口增长速度慢,其中高速增长区主要集中于县城及洛栾高速西北部少数乡镇所在地;③ 人口增长中心位于县城和陆浑水库周围的乡镇所在地,南部深山区乡镇有望形成新的人口集聚地;④ 县域人口分布格局是自然地理条件、地理区位和公共服务设施共同作用的结果。其中,县城可达性对人口分布影响最大,地形起伏度次之,耕地面积和中学可达性较小,但不同因素的影响具有时空异质性。上述结论意味着,山区县可在充分考虑自然条件和资源禀赋差异的基础上,利用城镇化布局、基础设施建设和公共服务设施调整来促进县域人口分布格局的优化。     

Interaction of ENSO-driven Flood Variability and Anthropogenic Changes in Driving Channel Evolution: Corryong/Nariel Creek,Australia

Understanding the relative contributions of climatic and anthropogenic drivers of channel change are important to inform river management, especially in the context of environmental change. This global debate is especially pertinent in Australia as catchments have been severely altered since recent European settlement, and there is also strong evidence of cyclical climate variability controlling environmental systems. Corryong/Nariel Creek is an ideal setting to further study the interaction between climate and anthropogenic changes on channel evolution as it has experienced both significant periods of flood and drought, controlled by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and extensive anthropogenic changes. Since European settlement the floodplain has been completely cleared, the riparian zone almost entirely invaded by willows, and every reach of the channel has experienced some form of direct channel modification. Through the combined analysis of channel evolution, climate changes and anthropogenic history of the river it was found that both the ENSO-driven climate and anthropogenic drivers are significant, although at different scales of channel change. Significant straightening in response to land clearing in the early twentieth century occurred before any records of direct channel modifications. Following this, most river management works were in response to instabilities created in the clearing period, or to instabilities created by flooding triggering a new phase of instability in reaches which had already undergone stabilisation works. Overall, human activities triggered channel instability via land clearing, and management works since then generally exacerbated erosion during high flows that are driven by climate fluctuations. This research raises the interesting question of whether rivers in Australia have become more responsive to the ENSO cycle since the clearing of catchment and riparian vegetation, or whether the past response to climate variability was different.     

环印度洋区域国家地缘经济格局分析

环印度洋区域不仅关乎中国贸易与能源安全,同时也涵盖“一带一路”倡议合作的部分区域.为便于中国更好地开展与环印度洋区域国家之间的贸易合作,需要定量考察环印度洋区域的地缘经济格局,掌握域内外大国在该区域的地缘经济竞争情况.首先基于有序聚类方法将1992-2017年环印度洋区域国家的商品贸易数据划分为4个阶段,然后探究环印度...     

Black gold to green gold: regional energy policy and the rehabilitation of coal in response to climate change

Energy production has come under increasing scrutiny as concerns about energy security and climate change have risen. In the UK changes in government structure and privatisation of the electricity industry have led to the emergence of multi-level governance. This means that decisions on how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity-generating sector should no longer be solely a national policy decision. Previous studies have sought to explore how renewable energy may develop under multi-level governance, but this paper pays attention to a traditional fossil fuel source, coal, which is still an important means of electricity generation. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel and advocates argue that carbon capture and storage techniques could make coal 'clean', paving the way for a long-term, secure and low emission way to produce energy. This study focuses on the Yorkshire and Humber Region, which has had a long association with coal mining and looks at the implications of this as the region seeks to develop a climate change action plan and an energy strategy within the new regional governance structures. The paper argues that the regional networks developed to address climate change are influenced by existing social power structures and alliances. The region as a territorial structure becomes a useful device in promoting national priorities.