Arnell Forde
Science and Products
Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux (CSAF) Capabilities
As part of the Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux project, we use innovative technology and integrate a variety of techniques to characterize barrier island environments, reconstruct their past history, and predict their future vulnerability.
Shoreface Morphology and Geology
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 Island Sensitivity to Changes in Sediment Supply
Observations and models show that maintaining barrier islands requires a balance between sea-level rise and sediment supply. However, most estimates of sediment supply are not based on modern conditions, which could result in less accurate predictions of sediment fluxes. We explore how natural and human alterations impact modern sediment fluxes, or changes, on barrier islands – research that...
Storm-Related Barrier Island Morphological Evolution
Storms quickly and dramatically alter barrier island environments by changing adjacent seafloor morphology, eroding beaches, scarping or leveling dunes, and sometimes creating new inlets. Measuring the magnitude of barrier island sediment movement during and after storms allows us to track rates of beach recovery, dune growth, and inlet-related alterations to barrier island sediment supply....
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...
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 objectives include understanding the morphologic evolution of the barrier island system on a variety of time...
Forde, Arnell S.; Bernier, Julie C.; Miselis, Jennifer L.
Chirp subbottom profile data collected in 2015 from the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey around the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, in September 2015. The objective of the project is to improve the understanding of barrier island...
Forde, Arnell S.; DeWitt, Nancy T.; Fredericks, Jake J.; Miselis, Jennifer L.
Archive of digitized analog boomer seismic reflection data collected during U.S. Geological Survey cruise Acadiana 87-2 in the northern Gulf of Mexico, June 1987
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program has actively collected geophysical and sedimentological data in the northern Gulf of Mexico for several decades, including shallow subsurface data in the form of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles (HRSP). Prior to the mid-1990s most HRSP data were collected in analog...
Bosse, Stephen T.; Flocks, James G.; Forde, Arnell S. Archive of digitized analog boomer seismic-reflection data collected during U.S. Geological Survey cruises Erda 90-1_HC, Erda 90-1_PBP, and Erda 91-3 in Mississippi Sound, June 1990 and September 1991
The U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program has actively collected geophysical and sedimentological data in the northern Gulf of Mexico for several decades, including shallow subsurface data in the form of high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles (HRSP). Prior to the mid-1990s most HRSP data were collected in analog format as...
Bosse, Stephen T.; Flocks, James G.; Forde, Arnell S.
Digitized analog boomer seismic-reflection data collected during U.S. Geological Survey cruises Erda 90-1_HC, Erda 90-1_PBP, and Erda 91-3 in Mississippi Sound, June 1990 and September 1991
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program has actively collected geophysical and sedimentological data in the northern Gulf of Mexico for several decades, including shallow subsurface data in the form of high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles (HRSP). Prior to the mid-1990s most HRSP data were collected in analog...
Bosse, Stephen T.; Flocks, James G.; Forde, Arnell S.
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. Application of ground penetrating radar for identification of washover deposits and other stratigraphic features: Assateague Island, MD
A combination of ground penetrating radar (GPR) data, core data, and aerial photographs were analyzed to better understand the evolution of two portions of Assateague Island, Maryland. The focus of the study was to investigate the applicability of using GPR data to image washover deposits in the stratigraphic record. High amplitude reflections...
Zaremba, Nicholas; Smith, Christopher G.; Bernier, Julie C.; Forde, Arnell S.
Raw and processed ground-penetrating radar and postprocessed differential global positioning system data collected from Assateague Island, Maryland, October 2014
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center acquired sediment cores, sediment surface grab samples, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) data from Assateague Island, Maryland, in October 2014. The objectives were to identify washover deposits in...
Zaremba, Nicholas J.; Bernier, Julie C.; Forde, Arnell S.; Smith, Christopher G. Archive of Digital Chirp Subbottom Profile Data Collected During USGS Cruise 14BIM05 Offshore of Breton Island, Louisiana, August 2014
From August 11 to 31, 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), conducted a geophysical survey to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island framework and long-term sediment transport offshore of Breton Island, Louisiana as part of a broader USGS study on...
Forde, Arnell S.; Flocks, James G.; Wiese, Dana S.; Fredericks, Jake J. Archive of ground penetrating radar data collected during USGS field activity 13BIM01—Dauphin Island, Alabama, April 2013
From April 13 to 20, 2013, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS-SPCMSC) conducted geophysical and sediment sampling surveys on Dauphin Island, Alabama, as part of Field Activity 13BIM01. The objectives of the study were to quantify inorganic and organic accretion rates in back-barrier...
Forde, Arnell S.; Smith, Christopher G.; Reynolds, Billy J.
Archive of digital chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS Cruise 13CCT04 offshore of Petit Bois Island, Mississippi, August 2013
From August 13-23, 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island framework and long-term sediment transport offshore of Petit Bois Island, Mississippi. This investigation is part of a broader USGS study on...
Forde, Arnell S.; Flocks, James G.; Kindinger, Jack G.; Bernier, Julie C.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Wiese, Dana S.
Archive of digital chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS cruises 13BIM02 and 13BIM07 offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, 2013
On July 5–19 (cruise 13BIM02) and August 22–September 1 (cruise 13BIM07), 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island evolution and medium-term and interannual sediment transport along the oil spill mitigation sand berm constructed at the north...
Forde, Arnell S.; Miselis, Jennifer L.; Flocks, James G.; Bernier, Julie C.; Wiese, Dana S.