Oceanside Beaches and Dunes - Coastal System Change at Fire Island, New York Completed
Oceanfront research at Fire Island, New York, is primarily focused on understanding the long- and short-term behavior of the ocean-facing terrestrial barrier island system, including human influences. The USGS has had ongoing research activities on Fire Island since the late 1990s, providing science to help inform management decisions. Recent efforts include monitoring the response to and recovery from Hurricane Sandy, including the opening and evolution of Wilderness Breach.
Research
Research on the various componenets of the Fire Island system is being conducted at multiple USGS Centers and across projects.
For more than 15 years, the USGS has actively studied natural and human changes to the shoreline, beaches, and dunes at Fire Island. This research program has refined our understanding of the long (decades to centuries)- and short-term (storm events, seasons, years) geomorphological changes on the barrier island that influence natural, cultural, and recreational resources within Fire Island National Seashore, state and county parks, and communities along the island. Furthermore, these efforts have guided impact and recovery assessments that were undertaken in response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In addition to helping us understand how the island has evolved in the recent past, these observations serve as critical input to numerical and statistical models that predict future island behavior and guide coastal management and decision-making.
Long-Term Change
Long-term coastal change can occur over historical (10s to 100 years) and geological time scales (100s-1000s years). At Fire Island, the historical record of the position of the island goes back to the 1800s. Changes since then are quantified using historical maps, aerial photos, and modern coastal mapping techniques.
Storm Impacts
Storms are important drivers of coastal change; although they create hazards for coastal communities and infrastructure, they are also critical for moving sand landward from the oceanside of a barrier island to increase island elevation or width and build resiliency.
Beach Recovery
Since Hurricane Sandy, we have developed techniques to monitor short-term changes to the upper beach where both storm impacts and subsequent beach recovery are easily observed and measured.
Breach Evolution
Following the opening of a breach in the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness during Hurricane Sandy, we have actively monitored the breach through repeat bathymetric and topographic surveys. These surveys are being used to develop a numerical model and evaluate processes driving the morphological change of the breach.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Coastal System Change at Fire Island, New York
Below are publications associated with this project.
Quantifying anthropogenically driven morphologic changes on a barrier island: Fire Island National Seashore, New York
Inner shelf morphologic controls on the dynamics of the beach and bar system, Fire Island, New York
Geologic framework influences on the geomorphology of an anthropogenically modified barrier island: Assessment of dune/beach changes at Fire Island, New York
A review of sediment budget imbalances along Fire Island, New York: Can nearshore geologic framework and patterns of shoreline change explain the deficit?
Influence of inner-continental shelf geologic framework on the evolution and behavior of the barrier-island system between Fire Island Inlet and Shinnecock Inlet, Long Island, New York
- Overview
Oceanfront research at Fire Island, New York, is primarily focused on understanding the long- and short-term behavior of the ocean-facing terrestrial barrier island system, including human influences. The USGS has had ongoing research activities on Fire Island since the late 1990s, providing science to help inform management decisions. Recent efforts include monitoring the response to and recovery from Hurricane Sandy, including the opening and evolution of Wilderness Breach.
ResearchResearch on the various componenets of the Fire Island system is being conducted at multiple USGS Centers and across projects.
For more than 15 years, the USGS has actively studied natural and human changes to the shoreline, beaches, and dunes at Fire Island. This research program has refined our understanding of the long (decades to centuries)- and short-term (storm events, seasons, years) geomorphological changes on the barrier island that influence natural, cultural, and recreational resources within Fire Island National Seashore, state and county parks, and communities along the island. Furthermore, these efforts have guided impact and recovery assessments that were undertaken in response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In addition to helping us understand how the island has evolved in the recent past, these observations serve as critical input to numerical and statistical models that predict future island behavior and guide coastal management and decision-making.
Long-Term Change
Long-term coastal change can occur over historical (10s to 100 years) and geological time scales (100s-1000s years). At Fire Island, the historical record of the position of the island goes back to the 1800s. Changes since then are quantified using historical maps, aerial photos, and modern coastal mapping techniques.
Storm Impacts
Storms are important drivers of coastal change; although they create hazards for coastal communities and infrastructure, they are also critical for moving sand landward from the oceanside of a barrier island to increase island elevation or width and build resiliency.
Beach Recovery
Since Hurricane Sandy, we have developed techniques to monitor short-term changes to the upper beach where both storm impacts and subsequent beach recovery are easily observed and measured.
Breach Evolution
Following the opening of a breach in the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness during Hurricane Sandy, we have actively monitored the breach through repeat bathymetric and topographic surveys. These surveys are being used to develop a numerical model and evaluate processes driving the morphological change of the breach.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Coastal System Change at Fire Island, New York
Fire Island is a 50-km long barrier island along the south shore of Long Island, New York. The island is comprised of seventeen year-round communities; federal, state, and county parks; and supports distinct ecosystems alongside areas of economic and cultural value. In addition to providing resources to its residents, the barrier island also protects the heavily-populated mainland from storm waves... - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 17Quantifying anthropogenically driven morphologic changes on a barrier island: Fire Island National Seashore, New York
Beach scraping, beach replenishment, and the presence of moderate development have altered the morphology of the dune–beach system at Fire Island National Seashore, located on a barrier island on the south coast of Long Island, New York. Seventeen communities are interspersed with sections of natural, nonmodified land within the park boundary. Beach width, dune elevation change, volume change, andAuthorsMeredith G. Kratzmann, Cheryl J. HapkeInner shelf morphologic controls on the dynamics of the beach and bar system, Fire Island, New York
The mechanism of sediment exchange between offshore sand ridges and the beach at Fire Island, New York is largely unknown. However, recent evidence from repeat nearshore bathymetry surveys, coupled with the complex but consistent bar morphology and patterns of shoreline change demonstrate that there is a feedback occurring between the regional geologic framework and modern processes. Analysis of bAuthorsCheryl J. Hapke, William C. Schwab, Paul T. Gayes, Clay McCoy, Richard Viso, Erika E. LentzGeologic framework influences on the geomorphology of an anthropogenically modified barrier island: Assessment of dune/beach changes at Fire Island, New York
Antecedent geology plays a crucial role in determining the inner-shelf, nearshore, and onshore geomorphology observed in coastal systems. However, the influence of the geologic framework on a system is difficult to extract when evaluating responses to changes due to storms and anthropogenic modifications, and few studies have quantified the potential for these influences in dune/beach environmentsAuthorsErika Lentz, Cheryl HapkeA review of sediment budget imbalances along Fire Island, New York: Can nearshore geologic framework and patterns of shoreline change explain the deficit?
Sediment budget analyses conducted for annual to decadal timescales report variable magnitudes of littoral transport along the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is well documented that the primary transport component is directed alongshore from east to west, but relatively little information has been reported concerning the directions or magnitudes of cross-shore components. Our review of bAuthorsCheryl J. Hapke, Erika E. Lentz, Paul T. Gayes, Clayton A. McCoy, Rachel E. Henderson, William C. Schwab, S. Jeffress WilliamsInfluence of inner-continental shelf geologic framework on the evolution and behavior of the barrier-island system between Fire Island Inlet and Shinnecock Inlet, Long Island, New York
High-resolution, sea-floor mapping techniques, including sidescan-sonar and subbottom profiling, were used to investigate how the geologic framework of the inner-continental shelf influenced the Holocene evolution and modern behavior of the Fire Island barrier-island system, Long Island, New York. The inner-continental shelf off Long Island is divided into two physiographic provinces by a broad oAuthorsW. C. Schwab, E. R. Thieler, J.R. Allen, D. S. Foster, B. A. Swift, J. F. Denny