Barrier Beaches of Long Island, NY Essay

Sand nourishment refers to the replacement of sediment on beaches that has previously been lost, generally through natural processes. It is a commonly used practice in coastal management. Collaroy Beach uses sand nourishment as longshore drift has moved sand, which cannot be replenished as there are rock formations preventing sediment from refilling the beach. Collaroy Beach also does not have an established dune system, and cannot trap sand.

Dunes are formed by wind moving the dry sand that is well sorted and very fine to fine grained sand. The back-barrier region of the barrier island consists of the marsh, tidal flats, overwash fan and a lagoon. The overwash fan forms when storm surges through the dune and will spread over the marsh. The marshes and tidal flats are very important ecological systems and can be sefined has vegetated muddy flats. There are three different types of barrier islands. Wave dominated barriers are long and narrow and have low islands that have few tital inless and small ebb tide deltas. The overwash fan and windblown sand are commonly found in the backshore. Mixed energy barrier islands are the opposite of wave dominated barrier islands. These are short, fat, high islands, many large inlets with large ebb tide deltas. These islands also have a drumstick shape.

Fine, sandy beaches often occur in areas with light wave action (California's Ocean Resources, 1995). While a more coarse sand is found with heavy wave action (California's Ocean Resources,

A coastal plain is a low flat surface that is a part of the coast of the Atlantic ocean. This area takes up almost half of the whole state of North Carolina. Here you get all four seasons, and sometimes you can see it snow on the beach while it can also get to 100 degrees The Outer Banks is made of three parts. This includes the Tidewater, Outer banks, and the Inner Coastal Plains. The outer banks is about 175 miles long and consists of many barrier islands. Barrier islands are thin islands separated from shore by sounds. A sound is a narrow, large body of water that separates the two parts of land. Some of the islands include Hattera,Oracoke, and Bodie islands. Though these islands are major vacation spots in North Carolina they include

Geology of major natural system: Overall, in regards to geology, beach dunes are known for typically containing parallel zones of an upper beach area, undulating foredune, transition dune, and lastly a stable dune- which slopes upward and away from the water’s edge (Web World Wonders, n.d.a.). Primarily, all dunes are known to be driven by wave-sand

　　For the coastal environment and processes of the island, the low energy waves create flat beaches because waves’ sediments are pushed by the wind toward the coastline. On the opposite, the high energy waves create coastal cliffs from wave erosion, and when coastal cliffs are formed, waves will break and release a great deal of energy. In addition, the island shorelines vary from cobbled stone to fine sand, and with salt marshes in a few coves such as the one near Maugers Beach. The sandy shores are mostly located at Ives Cove and Wreck Cove. Cobbles shores are mostly located at Hangmans Beach and Finlays. In addition, there are a few rocky shores in the region such as the one which is located at Maugers Beach or McNabs Cove. Furthermore, there are some infrastructures near the coast such as building, wharves and streets.

Before becoming a military wife, I grown up in New York State. I remember throughout my childhood we were always being forewarned that the Big Apple state was always endanger of a having beach erosion along the coast. As of today, the beach erosion is in the news because it’s almost beach season and the state has plans to shore the beach up with sand. This made me curious to find out whether the erosion at the beach has grown into a matter-of-factily a hype, or if in fact the beach erosion was correctly a concern. I was able to research two articles on the New York beach erosion, and I was able to gain a clarification on this prediction. The two articles both agree that there is erosion, but I did some research and one presents a closer

In Long Island, the marshes are wetter and vegetated areas are shifting from high marsh to low marsh or to mud flat, which are far less productive and give fewer services than the salt marshes and other high marshes that are supposed to be there. (Kirwan 2013

Furthermore, estuaries are generally influenced by the tides, yet still remain protected from the powerful ocean waves, winds, and storms that the land forms as barrier islands or peninsulas. In fact, one of the most productive on earth are estuarian environments that create more organic matter each year than comparable areas of forest, grassland, or agricultural land. The tidal waters of estuaries also support unique communities of plants and animals especially adapted for life at the margin of the sea. A numerous of different habitat spieces are found living in estuaries, including rocky shores, sandy beachs, oyster reefs, shallow open waters, freshwater and salt marshes, swamps, mud and sand flats, seagrasses, tidal pools, mangrove forests, and even river deltas.

They also play a role as a shelter for many of the worms, fishes, crustaceans, etc. Barrier islands are the narrow sandy islands that form parallel to the coastal lines. The salt marshes and the inshore lagoons are protected by these reefs from the tides, toms and waves.

Poor water quality resulting from stormwater runoff and effluent disposal causes gaps in the seagrass meadows. The sand below the meadow edge is then eroded away by waves. This is thought to have increased the rate of seagrass loss and made it difficult for plants to recolonise the seafloor. As a result of the loss of sand from the seabed, the level of seabed has steadily become up to one metre deeper and the wave energy reaching our beaches has increased. This causes a large quantity of sand to drift north along the coast. (Adelaide's Living Beaches, 2015, p.4)

Littoral drift occurs as incoming waves move toward the beach at an angle, transporting sediment particles to shore at the same angle (swash), while backwash pulls particles straight back into the water. The resulting zig-zag motion moves particles along a shoreline, eventually forming features such as barrier islands, tidal inlets, and spits. (Loved seeing Dauphin Island in the

Mr. Lima and Dr. Becky Gillaspy gave some great examples in explaining the types of shorelines and its effects of deposition. During Mr. Lima’s video “Types of Shorelines,” I learned many kind of shorelines, but the one that stood out to me the most was steam deposition shorelines because it reminded me of Galveston Beach. The one time I went to Galveston, I remember every time a large wave came it carried old settlements along with it. According to Dr. Becky Gillaspy in her video “The Effects of Deposition on Shoreline Features,” the settlements I was experiencing was longshore drifting that transport settlements and sand along the cost. Also, I was able to determine that the reason why Galveston landscape has changed over the years was due

The drift of sand that is going north is created by the winds and waves. Although, sand can move in different wind conditions. This sand movement is also known as a littoral drift. Big quantities of sand is eroded due to the cause of considerable damage to beach, dune and nearshore areas because of a coastal storm. Therefore, Glenelg beach cannot be considered stable just like other Adelaide beaches. Before the settlement of the Europeans, Glenelg beach had been withheld by costal dune erosion. Although due to the subsequent development occurring on the top of the dunes, a replenishment process has to be carried out artificially.

adverse impacts of beach erosion. However, the bathymetric characteristics of the nearshore region also play a role in wave-induced beach