Title

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Decadal-Scale Patterns In Barrier Island Response To Storms: Perdido Key, Nw Florida

Keywords

Barrier islands; coastal morphology; erosion; shoreline change; storms

Abstract

The ability to accurately quantify shoreline variability is essential in order to establish aggressive mitigation strategies, based on recent global climate change projections. This investigation employed a suite of coastal data (topographic maps, aerial photography, satellite imagery and lidar) to establish decadal trends of shoreline movement along Perdido Key, a sandy barrier island off Florida’s northwest coast. The technique used to detect morphologic change with time was a recently developed tool, Analyzing Moving Boundaries Using R. This innovative methodology improves our understanding of the evolution of coastal systems by modeling shoreline variance using a method that is sensitive to shoreline shape. Results show that the barrier shoreline is a highly dynamic feature with distinct zones of erosion and accretion that are pervasive over time. In general, the island is displaying a mechanism of rotational instability with the eastern half retreating, and the western portion advancing. The inflection point, around which this rotational shifting is taking place, lies at the center of a Pleistocene headland located along the island’s midpoint. The results of this study suggest that coastal evolution along the island may be meta-stable, with trends in shoreline variance corresponding mainly to discrete storm events in time.

Publication Date

3-4-2018

Publication Title

Physical Geography

Volume

39

Issue

2

Number of Pages

166-195

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.2017.1378959

Socpus ID

85029704493 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85029704493

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