Shoreface Morphology and Geology
Science Center Objects
Exchanges of sediment between the shoreface and barrier islands allow barrier islands to adjust to changes in water level, such as those associated with storms or sea-level rise. Characterizing shoreface morphology and geology allows us to explore how past and present processes have impacted modern barrier island sediment transport and what that means for future barrier island evolution.
Barrier islands are shaped by oceanographic conditions, sediment supply, frequency and intensity of storms, and human modification. We conduct fieldwork in a variety of barrier island settings to understand the relative importance of these factors.
We conduct fieldwork in a variety of barrier island settings to understand the relative importance of these factors, including Fire Island, NY; Rockaway, NY; Seven Mile Island, NJ; and Cedar Island, VA.
(Credit: Emily Wei, Cherokee Nation Technologies, Contracted to the USGS. Public domain.)
Learn more about Coastal Change at Fire Island
Most underwater seismic data is collected from large research vessels; however, the shoreface environment is shallower than areas in which most seismic surveys occur. To get the information we need to assess changes in shoreface geology, we mount our seismic instruments on pontoon floats and deploy the instrument from the beach.
Above is a seismic profile collected from the shoreface of Fire Island, NY (Locker et al., 2017), which shows a steep shoreface, a nearshore bar, a sand ridge, and the geology beneath it all. The sediment above the blue and red lines is thought to be available for transport by waves or longshore drift. We map and quantify this volume of sediment along barrier islands, which improves estimates of shoreface sediment flux and connects geologic observations to models.
(Credit: Noreen Buster, USGS. Public domain.)
This three-dimensional view shows the bathymetry, or shape and depth, of the shoreface. The shoreface offshore of Seven Mile Island, NJ has a gentle gradient, which may be related to sediment supply or oceanographic conditions. Note that this image has a vertical exaggeration of 100. Bathymetry data from Farmer et al. (2019).
(Credit: Emily Wei, Cherokee Nation Technologies, contracted to the USGS. Public domain.)
Unlike the Fire Island shoreface, the shoreface offshore of Seven Mile Island, NJ has a much gentler gradient, which may be related to sediment supply or oceanographic conditions. Research conducted by the Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux project seeks to reveal links between shoreface morphology and geology.
Cedar Island is a barrier island experiencing rapid landward retreat. This animation shows aerial imagery from 1984 to 2020 and demonstrates that the barrier island has narrowed and is retreating towards land.
(Credit: Emily Wei, Cherokee Nation Technologies, contracted to the USGS. Public domain.)
Barrier island processes in Cedar Island, VA are much different than those in Fire Island, NY and Seven Mile Island, NJ. Cedar Island is a barrier island experiencing rapid landward retreat. Aerial imagery from 1984 to 2020 demonstrate that the barrier island has narrowed and has shifted west. We are currently exploring shoreface morphology and geology at Cedar Island to understand where sediment is on the shoreface.
Farmer, A.S., Fredericks, J.J., Reynolds, B.J., Miselis, J, 2019, Coastal multibeam bathymetry data collected in 2018 offshore of Seven Mile Island, New Jersey: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BSJHVL.
Locker, S.D., Miselis, J.L., Buster, N.A., Hapke, C.J., Wadman, H.M., McNinch, J.E., Forde, A.S., Stalk, C.A., 2017. Nearshore sediment thickness, Fire Island, New York (No. 2017–1024). US Geol. Surv. Open-file Rep. 1–21. <https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/ publication/ofr20171024/>.
Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux (CSAF)
Sediments are the foundation of coastal systems, including barrier islands. Their behavior is driven by not only sediment availability, but also sediment exchanges between barrier island environments. We collect geophysical, remote sensing, and sediment data to estimate these parameters, which are integrated with models to improve prediction of coastal response to extreme storms and sea-level...
Natural and human-induced variability in barrier-island response to sea level rise
Storm-driven sediment fluxes onto and behind barrier islands help coastal barrier systems keep pace with sea level rise (SLR). Understanding what controls cross-shore sediment flux magnitudes is critical for making accurate forecasts of barrier response to increased SLR rates. Here, using an existing morphodynamic model for barrier island...
Miselis, Jennifer L.; Lorenzo-Trueba, Jorge
Nearshore sediment thickness, Fire Island, New York
Investigations of coastal change at Fire Island, New York (N.Y.), sought to characterize sediment budgets and determine geologic framework controls on coastal processes. Nearshore sediment thickness is critical for assessing coastal system sediment availability, but it is largely unquantified due to the difficulty of conducting geological or...
Locker, Stanley D. ; Miselis, Jennifer L.; Buster, Noreen A.; Hapke, Cheryl J.; Wadman, Heidi M. ; McNinch, Jesse E. ; Forde, Arnell S.; Stalk, Chelsea A. Integrating geophysical and oceanographic data to assess interannual variability in longshore sediment transport
Despite their utility for prediction of coastal behavior and for coastal management, littoral sediment budgets are difficult to quantify over large regions of coastline and over short time scales. In this study, bathymetric change analysis shows differences in the magnitude and spatial location of erosion and accretion over three years; more net...
Miselis, Jennifer L.; Long, Joseph W.; Dalyander, P. Soupy; Flocks, James G.; Buster, Noreen A.; Mickey, Rangley C.-
Date published: October 16, 2019Archive of Chirp Subbottom Profile Data Collected in 2018 from the Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
From August 16 to 21, 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a geophysical survey to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island evolution and medium-term and interannual sediment transport along the sand berm constructed in 2011 (offshore, at the northern end of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana) as mitigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This investigat
-
Date published: September 16, 2019
Coastal Multibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in 2018 Offshore of Seven Mile Island, New Jersey
An Ellipsoidally Referenced Survey (ERS) using two Teledyne Reson SeaBat T50-P multibeam echosounders, in dual-head configuration, was conducted by the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) offshore of Seven Mile Island, New Jersey, September 6-8, 2018 and September 21-23, 2018. This dataset, presented as Seven_Mile_Island
-
Date published: June 4, 2019
Coastal Multibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in August 2017 from the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
An Ellipsoidally Referenced Survey (ERS) using two Teledyne Reson SeaBat T50-P multibeam echosounders, in dual-head configuration, was conducted by the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, August 9-12, 2017. This dataset, Chandeleur_Islands_2017_MBB_xyz.zip, includes the proc
-
Date published: February 26, 2019
Archive of Chirp Subbottom Profile Data Collected in June 2018 From Fire Island, New York
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a long-term, coastal morphologic-change study at Fire Island, New York, prior to and after Hurricane Sandy impacted the area in October 2012. The Fire Island Coastal System Change project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/fire-island/) objectives include understanding the morphologic...
-
Date published: November 30, 2018
Coastal Bathymetry Data Collected in June 2018 from Fire Island, New York: Wilderness Breach and Shoreface
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, conducted a bathymetric survey of Fire Island, New York, June 2?17, 2018. The U.S. Geological Survey is involved in a post-Hurricane Sandy effort to map and monitor the morphologic evolution of the wilderness breach and the adjacent shoreface environment. During this
-
Date published: November 15, 2018
Coastal Bathymetry Data Collected in 2016 From the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
This USGS data release provides 437-line kilometers (km) of processed single-beam bathymetry (SBB) and Interferometric Bathymetry (IFB) data collected under USGS Field Activity Number (FAN) 2016-335-FA. This FAN encompasses two subfans each of which represents one research vessel (RV); the RV Sallenger (16BIM01) and the RV Jabba Jaw (16BIM02). The SBB and IFB point data (xyz) are provided in...
Attribution: St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: November 6, 2018
Archive of Chirp Subbottom Profile Data Collected in 2017 From the Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
From August 7 to 16, 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a geophysical survey to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island evolution and medium-term and interannual sediment transport along the sand berm constructed in 2011 (offshore, at the northern end of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana) as mitigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This investigati
-
Date published: October 15, 2018
Archive of Chirp Subbottom Profile Data Collected in 2016 from the Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
From June 10 to 19, 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a geophysical survey to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island evolution and medium-term and interannual sediment transport along the sand berm constructed in 2011 (offshore, at the northern end of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana) as mitigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This investigatio
-
Date published: February 21, 2018
Archive of Ground Penetrating Radar and Differential Global Positioning System Data Collected in April 2016 from Fire Island, New York
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a long-term, coastal morphologic-change study at Fire Island, New York, prior to and after Hurricane Sandy impacted the area in October 2012. The Fire Island Coastal Change project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/fire-island/) objectives include understanding the morphologic...
-
Date published: January 16, 2018
Archive of Chirp Subbottom Profile Data Collected in 2015 from the Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
From September 14 to 28, 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a geophysical survey to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island evolution and medium-term and interannual sediment transport along the sand berm constructed in 2011 (offshore, at the northern end of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana) as mitigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This investi
Coastal Change at Fire Island
This geonarrative features research used to predict how Fire Island beaches change in response to storms and how they may subsequently recover in the year following a storm event.