Inlet sequence: a vertical succession of sedimentary structures and textures created by the lateral migration of tidal inlets

Tidal inlets, narrow, comparatively deep gaps between barrier islands, are channels through which tidal currents flow vigorously as the water enters and leaves the backbarrier lagoons, bays, and intertidal flats and marshes. Many geologists have compared tidal inlets to river channels and have speculated that if an inlet shifts laterally, it should deposit a distinctive sequence of sediments, analogous to the point-bar sequence left by a meandering stream channel. Fire Island Inlet, located 56 km east of New York City, has migrated WSW at a mean rate of 64 m/year during the period 1825–1940. Waves approaching the coast, predominantly from the southeast, have shifted sediment along the shore toward the WSW. Deposition of sediment on the east side of the inlet has forced the tidal currents to erode the west side of the inlet, thus causing lateral migration. Because hydraulic conditions vary from the channel floor to the subaerial part of the spit which is present on the ENE side of the channel, sedimentary structures and textures vary systematically with depth. We have determined the various sedimentary environments associated with the modern Fire Island Inlet, sampled and described the sediments from these environments, and have collected samples from corings made on that part of Fire Island through which the inlet has migrated. On the basis of our studies, we propose an inlet sequence which is formed by the lateral migration of a tidal inlet. The sequence includes five major units, as follows on p. 492. The sediments belonging to various units in this sequence have been identified in four borings made on those parts of Fire Island through which the Fire Island Inlet has migrated since 1825. This sequence should be applicable to other inlets also. We think that the boundary between deep channel and shallow channel units remains relatively fixed at ?4.5 m, whereas the thickness of the deep channel unit is determined by the depth range between ?4.5 m and the total depth of the inlet. Hence, the main source of variation in the inlet sequence will be the thickness of the deep-channel unit. Most of the sediments of the inlet sequence are incised below mean low water; hence they will almost certainly be preserved in the geologic record, even if all other associated sediments from barrier environments located above mean low water are not preserved. Because of the great variability possible in rates of lateral migration of inlets along the shore compared with the rates of barrier displacement perpendicular to the shore, inlet sediments may be preserved as elongate lenses, or as widespread blankets. The shape of inlet deposits reveals much about the behaviour of barriers during a submergence. Hence, inlet sediments should shed new light on sediments of the continental shelves and on basal transgressive sands in the geologic record.      

Generation of Meteorological Tsunamis (Large Amplitude Seiches) Near the Balearic and Kuril Islands

Extreme atmosphere-induced seiche oscillations occasionally occur in specific inlets and bays of the world ocean causing severe damage to coastal areas, ships and port constructions. Ciutadella inlet (Menorca Island, Western Mediterranean) can be singled out as a place where such large seiches, locally known as rissaga, are quite common. Similar (although weaker) oscillations are also regularly observed in bays of Shikotan Island (South Kuril Islands, northwestern Pacific). Several spectacular events in these regions, identified in the first part of this study (Rabinovich and Monserrat, 1996), are analysed to determine the atmospheric parameters responsible for the generation of large-amplitude seiches. Their generation mechanism was shown to be quite different from that causing ordinary background oscillations. Coincidence of some external factors and certain resonance effects seem to be necessary to produce the destructive waves. In particular, rissaga waves in Ciutadella inlet were found to be related to significant atmospheric disturbances propagating from the southwest, coinciding with the orientation of the inlet, and having a phase speed of about 3 m/s, which is close to the phase speed of long waves offshore from Menorca. Pronounced resonant properties of the inner basin strongly amplify incoming waves in Ciutadella inlet. In contrast, the bays of the northwestern coast of Shikotan Island are protected from normally incident atmosphere-induced waves by the elongated Kunashir Island, hence the whole situation there is not so favorable for the excitation of large seiches.     

MORB‐like rocks in a Palaeozoic convergent margin setting,northeast New South Wales

The Devonian mafic rocks from the Folly Basalt, northeast New South Wales, were emplaced in the forearc section of the Devonian‐Carboniferous magmatic arc preserved in the western part of the New England Fold Belt. Trace‐element abundances in fractionated metadolerites (maximum concentration of Ni = 85 ppm) from the Folly Basalt outcropping near Nundle demonstrate that these rocks have MORB affinity. Chondrite‐normalised rare‐earth element patterns are smooth and quasi‐horizontal; Ce/Yb ratios are 3.34–7.98; (La/Yb)_N ratios range from 0.69 to 2.23; (La/Sm)_N ratios of the rocks range from 0.63 to 1.55. The data are compatible with an origin of the melts from large degrees (>15%) of partial melting of mantle peridotite. A plausible mechanism for the production and emplacement of depleted magmas in the forearc zone of the Middle Palaeozoic eastern Australian magmatic arc involves the subduction of a hot oceanic spreading centre, which could cause the presence of a region of asthenospheric temperatures below the upper plate. It is also suggested that sustained high‐temperature conditions may have prevailed in the eastern Australian mantle for at least the last 400 million years.     

Ecotone displacement trends on a highly dynamic barrier Island: Hog Island,Virginia

Aerial photographs, recording 12 positions of the shoreline and vegetation line over a 50-yr period, were used to investigate long-term ecotone displacement trends and the relationship between ecotone displacement and shoreline migration on Hog Island, Virginia. A robust regression modeling technique, originally developed for shoreline trend detection analyses, enabled examination of the direction, magnitude, and timing of changes in long-term ecotone displacement. Measurements were obtained at 277 shore normal transects spaced 50 m apart. The results show that long-term trends in ecotone displacement and shoreline movement are nonlinear for over three-fourths of the Hog Island coast. On average, the shoreline and vegetation line experienced reversals in 1972 and 1974, respectively. Rarely did the ecotones and shorelines move in tandem or synchronously. Concavity tests indicate that most of the shoreline and ecotone are currently moving seaward and the distance between the shoreline and vegetation line is decreasing through time. Evidence exists for a decennial time lag between the reversal of the shoreline and the ecotone and vice versa. The ecotone and shoreline trends apparently correspond to tidal inlet dynamics, individual storm events, storm climate, inherited topography (e.g., dune), and vegetation type.     

Influence of feed inlet diameter on the hydrocyclone behaviour

From earlier work on 10.2-, 15.2-, 25.4-, and 38.1-cm hydrocyclones, it was concluded that the design variables which affect the hydrocyclone performance are the inlet and outlet dimensions and that the hydrocyclone body is merely a housing required to carry these parts. A single inlet only was used with each cyclone for that study. In the present investigation the effect of feed inlet diameter on the hydrocyclone behaviour was studied by changing inlets on the previously studied cyclones. The results confirm the above conclusions.     

Subglacial bedform evidence for a major palaeo‐ice stream and its retreat phases in Amundsen Gulf,Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Ascertaining the location of palaeo‐ice streams is crucial in order to produce accurate reconstructions of palaeo‐ice sheets and examine interactions with the ocean–climate system. This paper reports evidence for a major ice stream in Amundsen Gulf, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Mapping from satellite imagery (Landsat ETM+) and digital elevation models, including bathymetric data, is used to reconstruct flow‐patterns on southwestern Victoria Island and the adjacent mainland (Nunavut and Northwest Territories). Several flow‐sets indicative of ice streaming are found feeding into the marine trough and cross‐cutting relationships between these flow‐sets (and utilising previously published radiocarbon dates) reveal several phases of ice stream activity centred in Amundsen Gulf and Dolphin and Union Strait. A large erosional footprint on the continental shelf indicates that the ice stream (ca. 1000 km long and ca. 150 km wide) filled Amundsen Gulf, probably at the Last Glacial Maximum. Subsequent to this, the ice stream reorganised as the margin retreated back along the marine trough, eventually splitting into two separate low‐gradient lobes in Prince Albert Sound and Dolphin and Union Strait. The location of this major ice stream holds important implications for ice sheet–ocean interactions and specifically, the development of Arctic Ocean ice shelves and the delivery of icebergs into the western Arctic Ocean during the late Pleistocene. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recurrent and persistent brown tide blooms perturb coastal marine ecosystem

Throughout the summers of 1985 and 1986 a small (2–3 μm diameter), previously underscribed chrysophyte bloomed monospecifically (>10⁹ cells 1^?1) in Long Island embayments. The bloom colored the water dark brown, decimated eelgrass beds through decreased light penetration and caused starvation (tissue weight loss) and recruitment failure of commercially important bay scallop populations. These perturbations portend longterm changes in subtidal communities Similar and concurrent blooms in bays of Rhode Island and New Jersey suggest a meteorological component of the environmental conditions promoting bloom formation. Culture experiments with isolates of the microalga suggest the presence of stimulatory growth factors in the bloom seawater. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A01BY040 00002     

Granite gneiss basement on Flinders Island,South Australia

A U–Pb zircon age of 1762 ± 11 Ma is reported for granite gneiss located on Flinders Island, South Australia. This age is identical, within analytical uncertainty, to a previously reported age for schists of the Price Metasediments located 100 km to the southeast on the southwestern coast of the Eyre Peninsula. The outcrop represents the only known country rock to the Early Mesoproterozoic Calca Granite (Hiltaba Suite) of Flinders Island, the largest island of the Investigator Group of islands, in the southwestern Gawler Craton. The stratigraphic name Investigator Granite Gneiss is proposed for this rock unit. The discovery of the Investigator Granite Gneiss now considerably increases the extent of known Late Palaeoproterozoic rocks on the eastern side of the peninsula. The outcrop was previously included with the considerably younger St Peter Suite granite‐monzogranite, and grouped together with other islands in the Investigator Group. This new dating suggests that the geology on the other islands may require revision. For the first time, detailed major and trace‐element geochemistry is supplied for the granite gneiss on Flinders Island.     

Geomorphic evolution and stratigraphy of Price and Capers Inlets, South Carolina

A three-dimensional model for a tidal inlet-barrier island depositional system was constructed through examination of 37 vibracores and 10 auger drill holes on Capers and Dewees Islands, South Carolina. Two cycles of southerly inlet migration and subsequent abandonment resulted in beach ridge truncation on the northern ends of both barriers. Historical evidence indicates that these tidal inlets migrated 1.5 km to the south owing to a dominant north-south longshore transport direction. The hydraulic inefficiency of these over-extended inlet channels caused shorter, more northerly-oriented channels to breach through the ebbtidal deltas. After inlet reorientation, large wave-formed swash bars migrated landward closing former inlet channels. Weakened tidal currents through the abandoned channels permitted clay plugs to form thick impermeable seals over active channel-fill sand and shell. Price and Capers Inlets formed during the onset of the Holocene transgression following submergence of the ancestral Plio-Pleistocene Santee River drainage system. Coarse, poorly sorted inlet-deposited sand disconformably overlies Pleistocene estuarine clay and is capped by a dense clay plug. Shoreline reorientation and landward retreat of a primary barrier island chain occurred between the first and second cycles of inlet-channel migration and abandonment. Beach ridges prograded seaward over the first inlet sequence. A second cycle of inlet migration truncated the northernmost portion of these beach ridges and scoured into the clay plug of the earlier inlet deposit. Abandonment of this channel resulted in deposition of a second abandoned inlet-channel clay plug. Abandoned tidal inlet channels exhibit U-shaped strike and crescentic- to wedge-shaped dip geometries. Basal, poorly sorted inlet sands are sealed beneath impermeable, abandoned-channel silt and clay, washover deposits, and salt marsh. Multiple episodes of inlet migration and abandonment during a rising sea-level deposited stacked inlet-fill sequences within the barrier islands. The resultant stratigraphy consists of interlayered, fining-upward, active inlet-fill sand overlain by thicker abandoned inlet-fill clay plugs. These clay plugs form impermeable zones between adjacent barrier island sand bodies. Shoreline transgression would remove the uppermost barrier island deposits, sealing the inlet-fill sequences between Pleistocene estuarine clay and shoreface to shelf silt and clay.     

Early Permian supra‐subduction assemblage of the South Island terrane,Percy Isles,New England Fold Belt,Queensland

Ultramafic‐intermediate rocks exposed on the South Island of the Percy Isles have been previously grouped into the ophiolitic Marlborough terrane of the northern New England Fold Belt. However, petrological, geochemical and geochronological data all suggest a different origin for the South Island rocks and a new terrane, the South Island terrane, is proposed. The South Island terrane rocks differ from ultramafic‐mafic rocks of the Marlborough terrane not only in lithological association, but also in geochemical features and age. These data demonstrate that the South Island terrane is genetically unrelated to the Marlborough terrane but developed in a supra‐subduction zone environment probably associated with an Early Permian oceanic arc. There is, however, a correlation between the South Island terrane rocks and intrusive units of the Marlborough ophiolite. This indicates that the two terranes were in relative proximity to one another during Early Permian times. A K/Ar age of 277 ± 7 Ma on a cumulative amphibole‐rich diorite from the South Island terrane suggests possible affinities with the Gympie and Berserker terranes of the northern New England Fold Belt.     

城市洪涝中雨水口泄流能力的试验研究

近年来中国城市洪涝灾害频发,对人民群众的生命财产安全造成了严重威胁,其中雨水口泄流能力的大小对于计算受淹区的积水程度或路面雨水的排除效率至关重要。为此本研究专门修建了具有上下两层结构的城市洪涝过程综合试验平台,考虑雨篦子、雨水井及侧支管等完整的雨水口结构,开展了76组不同来流水深及流速下的雨水口泄流能力试验。试验结果表明:雨水口的下泄流量在井身充满前后表现出不同的变化规律,即在雨水井充满前,路面雨水以堰流形式下泄;在雨水井充满后,以管嘴出流形式下泄。基于试验数据率定出雨水口堰流及管嘴出流时的流量系数,并进一步采用量纲分析法,建立雨水口的泄流能力与雨篦子尺寸、篦前水流的弗劳德数等因素之间的经验关系,具有较高的相关系数。采用本文公式计算原型尺寸雨水口的泄流能力,并与中国现行雨水口泄流能力的参考值进行对比,发现当水深较大时现行参考值偏大较多。本研究成果能为精细化的城市洪涝管理提供计算依据。     

Revision of the NW Laurentide Ice Sheet: implications for paleoclimate,the northeast extremity of Beringia,and Arctic Ocean sedimentation

For the past half-century, reconstructions of North American ice cover during the Last Glacial Maximum have shown ice-free land distal to the Laurentide Ice Sheet, primarily on Melville and Banks islands in the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Both islands reputedly preserve at the surface multiple Laurentide till sheets, together with associated marine and lacustrine deposits, recording as many as three pre-Late Wisconsinan glaciations. The northwest corner of Banks Island was purportedly never glaciated and is trimmed by the oldest and most extensive glaciation (Banks Glaciation) considered to be of Matuyama age (>780 ka BP). Inside the limit of Banks Glaciation, younger till sheets are ascribed to the Thomsen Glaciation (pre-Sangamonian) and the Amundsen Glaciation (Early Wisconsinan Stade). The view that the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago remained largely ice-free during the Late Wisconsinan is reinforced by a recent report of two woolly mammoth fragments collected on Banks and Melville islands, both dated to ～22 ka BP. These dates imply that these islands constitute the northeast extremity of Beringia.A fundamental revision of this model is now warranted based on widespread fieldwork across the adjacent coastlines of Banks and Melville islands, including new dating of glacial and marine landforms and sediments. On Dundas Peninsula, southern Melville Island, AMS ¹⁴C dates on ice-transported marine molluscs within the most extensive Laurentide till yield ages of 25–49 ka BP. These dates require that Late Wisconsinan ice advanced northwestward from Visount Melville Sound, excavating fauna spanning Marine Isotope Stage 3. Laurentide ice that crossed Dundas Peninsula (300 m asl) coalesced with Melville Island ice occupying Liddon Gulf. Coalescent Laurentide and Melville ice continued to advance westward through M'Clure Strait depositing granite erratics at ≥235 m asl that require grounded ice in M'Clure Strait, as do streamlined bedforms on the channel floor. Deglaciation is recorded by widespread meltwater channels that show both the initial separation of Laurentide and Melvile ice, and the successive retreat of Laurentide ice southward across Dundas Peninsula into Viscount Melville Sound. Sedimentation from these channels deposited deltas marking deglacial marine limit. Forty dates on shells collected from associated glaciomarine rhythmites record near-synchronous ice retreat from M'Clure Strait and Dundas Peninsula to north-central Victoria Island ～11.5 ka BP. Along the adjacent coast of Banks Island, deglacial shorelines also record the retreat of Laurentide ice both eastward through M'Clure Strait and southward into the island's interior. The elevation and age (～11.5 ka BP) of deglacial marine limit there is fully compatible with the record of ice retreat on Melville Island. The last retreat of ice from Mercy Bay (northern Banks Island), previously assigned to northward retreat into M'Clure Strait during the Early Wisconsinan, is contradicted by geomorphic evidence for southward retreat into the island's interior during the Late Wisconsinan. This revision of the pattern and age of ice retreat across northern Banks Island results in a significant simplification of the previous Quaternary model. Our observations support the amalgamation of multiple till sheets – previously assigned to at least three pre-Late Wisconsinan glaciations – into the Late Wisconsinan. This revision also removes their formally named marine transgressions and proglacial lakes for which evidence is lacking. Erratics were also widely observed armouring meltwater channels originating on the previously proposed never-glaciated landscape. An extensive Late Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet across the western Canadian Arctic is compatible with similar evidence for extensive Laurentide ice entering the Richardson Mountains (Yukon) farther south and with the Innuitian Ice Sheet to the north. Widespread Late Wisconsinan ice, in a region previously thought to be too arid to sustain it, has important implications for paleoclimate, ice sheet modelling, Arctic Ocean ice and sediment delivery, and clarifying the northeast limit of Beringia.     

Rehabilitation of storm water collection systems of urban environment using the small roads as conveyance channels

In this study a new grated inlet is proposed for small roads which do not have storm water collection systems. A setup was designed and constructed in the laboratory conditions to calibrate the grated inlet. The inlet is suggested to be installed at the end of the road where the road itself joins to another road or to a street. Thus, newly installed inlet will collaborate with existing storm water collecting system of the main road. Inlet structure covered by slots is installed across a 0.90-m wide flume which will act as a small road. The slots are longitudinal and parallel to the flow direction in order to curtail clogging. It is a tilting flume and both subcritical and supercritical flow regimes can be observed. The intercepted flow by the inlet is measured and the efficiency of the inlet is obtained in terms of longitudinal slope and the Froude number. It is observed that the grate efficiency gets higher as the longitudinal slope approaches to horizontal. Further the grate efficiency also depends on the total flow through the channel. As flow increases in the channel, the efficiency of the grate increases within the limit of the inlet or discharge channels capacity.     

Flood tide circulation near beaufort inlet, North Carolina: Implications for larval recruitment

Drifter tracks and shipboard CTD observations have revealed a number of distinct features of the flood tide circulation carrying water through Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. One of the most noteworthy of these features is a nearshore jet in the flow carrying water to the inlet on a flood tide. Characterized by a shoreward increase in longshore flow, the jet produces a narrow coastal zone over which water is carried into the inlet. The jet appears to be principally a tidal phenomenon, as it is closely reproduced by a tidally-driven barotropic numerical model. The model results also indicate the jet may be a near-inlet feature. Model simulations of spring tide conditions show the jet confined to within 4 km of the inlet mouth. Another observed phenomenon, which is reproduced by the tidal model, is a distinct splitting of the flow entering the inlet, in which water passing through a particular inlet segment tends to move up-estuary along a well-defined path. An observed flow feature not reproduced by the tidal model is an eastward skew of the region over which water is drawn into the inlet on a flood tide. This asymmetry is unrelated to the local wind. Modeling results from a previous study suggest it may be due to convergent flow at the edge of the low salinity plume issuing from the inlet. Taken together, the results of this and other recent studies in the Beaufort Inlet region reveal the importance of nearshore currents on the eastern side of the inlet in delivering oceanic-spawned larvae to the estuarine system connected to the inlet.     

Silurian UPb zircon intrusive ages for the Red River anorthosite (northern Cape Breton Island): Implications for the Laurentia-Avalonia boundary in Atlantic Canada

Current interpretations of the geology of Cape Breton Island suggest that it exposes a complete cross-section of the Appalachians from Laurentia across Iapetan vestiges to Avalonia. Crucial to this view is the presence of ca. 1 Ga plutons, including anorthosites, which have been regarded as correlatives of Grenvillian basement, a correlation that overlooks the fact that Avalonia is also underlain by a ca. 1 Ga basement. We analyzed zircons from the Red River anorthosite (Blair River Complex, northwestern Cape Breton Island) previously dated as ca. 1.1 Ga: they yielded 421 ± 3 Ma intrusive ages with older ages between 865 ± 18 Ma and 1044 ± 20 Ma inferred to be either xenocrysts derived from the country rock or from the source. Implications of these data suggest that the accompanying low pressure granulite-amphibolite facies metamorphism of the Blair River Complex is either the root of a 440–410 Ma, magmatic belt produced during slab break-off or relict ca. 1 Ga basement. The Blair River Complex occurs in a NNE-SSW, sinistral positive flower structure that progresses upwards from a Neoproterozoic rifted arc through a low grade upper Ordovician-Silurian overstep sequence to amphibolite facies fault slices, capped by the low-pressure, granulite facies rocks (Blair River Complex). The correlation of Neoproterozoic, rifted arc units across most of Cape Breton Island suggests it represents the deformed northwestern margin of Avalonia intruded by a Silurian-Lower Devonian magmatic belt. As the geological record in the Blair River Complex is similar to both Grenvillian and Avalonian basements, its provenance is equivocal, however Pb isotopic data suggest the Blair River Complex has Amazonian (≈Avalonia) affinities. Thus, Cape Breton Island, rather than representing a complete cross-section of the Appalachian orogen, is part of pristine—deformed Avalonia with a positive flower structure exposing a cross-section of Avalonian crust.     

A Hydraulic Model for Multiple-Bay-Inlet Systems on Barrier Islands

In this study, we apply the traditional hydraulic engineering approach to model an inter-connected multiple-bay-inlet system that can represent the Great South Bay-Moriches Bay system on Long Island, New York. We show that the hydraulic model captures the essential physics of the system, despite its apparent simplicity in mathematical expressions. The model gives good estimates of bay tidal transmissions, including the tidal ranges, phase lags, and the flood-ebb asymmetry behavior in Moriches Bay. The hydraulic modeling results compare well with the simulations from a 3D coastal ocean circulation model, in particular the changes in bay tides due to the breach of Old Inlet by Hurricane Sandy. The modeled inlet discharge rates are in good agreement with the observations.     

Environmental assessment of Poplar Island Dredged Material Placement Site, Talbot County, Maryland

The Poplar Island Dredged Material Placement Site in Talbot County, Maryland is proposed to be used for the restoration of Poplar Island and for the creation of desirable habitats lost through erosion of Poplar Island by the beneficial use of clean and uncontaminated dredged material from the Chesapeake Bay approach channels to the Port of Baltimore. The Poplar Island baseline environmental assessment studies included among others, seasonal water quality, benthic community, and benthic tissue contaminants, that were carried out by the Maryland Department of the Environment, in cooperation with the University of Maryland, from September 1995 to July 1996. The purpose of the study was to document the present-day levels of nutrients, trace metals, and organic contaminants in the area to establish a baseline against which subsequent levels and biological responses may be compared. The overall results of the study indicate that Poplar Island and vicinity areas are non-impacted in terms of water quality and benthic tissue contamination. The nutrient levels in the water column were below average for this region of Chesapeake Bay, while the trace metals and organic contamination in the benthic tissues were comparable to other sites within Chesapeake Bay that are not impacted by direct inputs. Concentrations were equivalent or lower than those found at Hart-Miller Island, a disposal facility outside Baltimore Harbor, Maryland containing dredged material.     

An experimental study of single and two-phase fluid flow through fractured granite specimens

Triaxial tests on the two-phase flow of air and water through fractured granite specimens were performed to discover whether the two-phase fluid flow within rock fractures was laminar or turbulent. The two-phase flow characterization was carried out based on the macroscopic two-phase steady state flow model and the homogeneous steady state flow model. Rock specimens with a single natural fracture (joint roughness coefficient, JRC < 10) were tested using two-phase, high pressure triaxial rig. Experimental results show that the estimated Reynolds numbers for various inlet fluid pressures are well below 1000. The findings of this study reveal that both single and two-phase flow through rock fractures (JRC < 10) can be characterized as laminar flows at moderate inlet fluid pressures. However, for single-phase air flow, an increase in inlet air pressures may result in the formation of turbulent flow.     

Mapping Shoreline Variability of Two Barrier Island Segments Along the Florida Coast

Recent projections of global climate change necessitate improved methodologies that quantify shoreline variability. Updated analyses of shoreline movement provide important information that can aid and inform likely intervention policies. This paper uses the Analyzing Moving Boundaries Using R (AMBUR) technique to evaluate shoreline change trends over the time period 1856 to 2015. Special emphasis was placed on recent rates of change, during the 1994 to 2015 period of active storm conditions. Small segments, on the order of tens of kilometers, along two sandy barrier island regions on Florida’s Gulf and Atlantic coasts were chosen for this study. The overall average rate of change over the 159-year period along Little St. George Island was ??0.62?±?0.12 m/year, with approximately 65% of shoreline segments eroding and 35% advancing. During periods of storm clustering (1994–2015), retreat rates along portions of this Gulf coast barrier accelerated to ??5.49?±?1.4 m/year. Along the northern portion of Merritt Island on Florida’s Atlantic coast, the overall mean rate of change was 0.22?±?0.08 m/year, indicative of a shoreline in a state of relative dynamic equilibrium. In direct contrast with the Gulf coast shoreline segment, the majority of transects (65%) evaluated along the oceanfront of Merritt Island over the long term displayed a seaward advance. Results indicate that episodes of clustered storm activity with fairly quick return intervals generally produce dramatic morphological alteration of the coast and can delay natural beach recovery. Additionally, the data show that tidal inlet dynamics, shoreline orientation, along with engineering projects, act over a variety of spatial and temporal scales to influence shoreline evolution. Further, the trends of shoreline movement observed in this study indicate that nearshore bathymetry—the presence of shoals—wields some influence on the behavior of local segments of the shoreline.     

Kinematics of Convergence and Deformation in Luzon Island and Adjacent Sea Areas:2-D Finite-Element Simulation

The Luzon Island is a volcanic arc sandwiched by the eastward subducting South China Sea and the northwestward subducting Philippine Sea plate.Through experiments of plane-stress,elastic,and 2-dimensional finite-element modeling,we evaluated the relationship between plate kinematics and present-day deformation of Luzon Island and adjacent sea areas.The concept of coupling rate was applied to define the boundary velocities along the subduction zones.The distribution of velocity fields calculated in our models was compared with the velocity field revealed by recent geodetic (GPS) observations.The best model was obtained that accounts for the observed velocity field within the limits of acceptable mechanical parameters and reasonable boundary conditions.Sensitivity of the selection of parameters and boundary conditions were evaluated.The model is sensitive to the direction of convergence between the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea plates,and to different coupling rates in the Manila trench,Philippine trench and eastern Luzon trough.We suggest that a change of±15° of the di rection of motion of the Philippine Sea plate can induce important changes in the distribution of the computed displacement trajectories,and the movement of the Philippine Sea plate toward azimuth330° best explains the velocity pattern observed in Luzon Island.In addition,through sensitivity analysis we conclude that the coupling rate in the Manila trench is much smaller compared with the rates in the eastern Luzon trough and the Philippine trench.This indicates that a significant part of momentum of the Philippine Sea plate motion has been absorbed by the Manila trench;whereas,a part of the momentum has been transmitted into Luzon Island through the eastern Luzon trough and the Philippine trench.