Coastal restoration in Louisiana requires clean sands for beach and dune restoration, whereas mixed sediments are required to rebuild marshes. The Louisiana coastal erosion problem is especially dire because it occurs on several fronts with the narrowing and overtopping of barrier islands and loss of back barrier bay and interior marshlands. Coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana depend on emplacement of sediment to build up barrier island and deltaic systems. Discovery of usable sediment is thus a vital factor in restoration efforts because up to 80% of some restoration project budgets can be allocated to exploration, exploitation, and emplacement of sediment. Because this cost is directly proportional to the distance of borrow sources from the project area, the cost-effectiveness of barrier island restoration and marsh creation depends on locating sufficient sediment volumes that are suitable for placement on beaches and dunes and for creating marshes.

The restoration of Louisiana's barrier islands and the creation of coastal marshes are critically dependent on the availability of suitable modern marine and riverine sediments and other buried fluvio-deltaic deposits. It is thus imperative that a comprehensive sediment management plan be developed to systematically and efficiently identify and allocate suitable sediment resources. At present, coastal and barrier island restoration projects are included in regional planning efforts, and the restoration project is decided before sediment sources are considered. The new approach proposed here is based on planning projects around locations of dredgeable sedimentary deposits in order to optimize sediment resources. Centralization of voluminous historical geoscientific and oil and gas infrastructure data is being accommodated in a new data management system called the Louisiana Sand Resource Database (LASARD). Managing sediment resources more strategically optimizes regional planning strategies and reduces construction costs. The Louisiana Sediment Management Plan (LASMP) conceptualizes systematic planning and better coordination of essential components of the huge restoration and protection effort currently undertaken in Louisiana.

Pleistocene carbonates of south Florida and islands of the Florida Keys are currently divided into five marine sequences designated, from oldest to youngest, the Q1–Q5 units. The units include a mosaic of freshwater and shallow marine deposits that accumulated on the Florida platform during high sea-level stands. The units are separated by regional-scale subaerial-exposure surfaces that formed during glacioeustatic lowstands. Analyses of cores recovered at Grossman Ridge Rock Reef and Joe Ree Rock Reef in the Florida Everglades reveal additional subaerial-exposure surfaces that are used to delineate subdivisions within units Q1 (Q1a–Q1b), Q2 (Q2a–Q2d), and Q4 (Q4a–Q4b). Units Q1–Q5 preserve evidence of at least 10 separate sea-level highstands, rather than 5 as indicated by previous studies.

Compilation of available uranium-series dates on corals recovered from the Florida Keys indicates that the Q4 unit accreted during sea-level maxima associated with marine oxygen-isotope Stage 9 (Q4a) and isotope Stage 7 (Q4b). The Q5 unit formed during isotope Stage 5. No reliable dates are available for units Q1–Q3. We infer that unit Q3 was formed during the extended sea-level highstand of isotope Stage 11 and that units Q2 and Q1 predate isotope Stage 11.

The Gala Lake and the Iğneada Longos (Flooded Forests), which are two of the most important wetlands of the Thrace Region and which are protected as national parks, are important reserves of biodiversity. In this study, to highlight the importance of both areas in natural conservation, the rarity, diversity, naturalness, and sensitivity of the ecological units were evaluated. The Gala Lake and Iğneada Flooded Forests are internationally classified as rare and diverse in ornithology, and nationally, as rare and sensitive areas for the lake and the marsh fields. The findings indicated that the Gala Lake and the marsh fields be classified as seminatural and sensitive areas. Because of their endemic and rare species, the Iğneada Flooded Forests show a rarity and diversity on an international scale.

Paleotsunami records in two localities of the central Cascadia margin, Neskowin and Beaver (West Coast, U.S.A., Northeast Pacific Ocean coast), are extended landward to distal flood plain settings. Three paleotsunami sand sheets are correlated to Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes, between 0.3 and ∼1.3 ka in age. One older paleotsunami layer (2960–3220 cal YBP) is apparent in some deeper core sites from the Beaver Creek locality. Marine sand (22%–100%) and marine diatoms (40%–100%) from the distal sand sheets distinguish the catastrophic marine inundations from creek floods. The greatest inundations are correlated to two Cascadia paleotsunami events, #3 at ∼1.3 ka and an older event between ∼2.6 and ∼3.2 ka, based on radiocarbon dating and great earthquake sequence. The best-preserved records are from paleotsunami #3, which reached 4.1 km in overland inundation up the North Beaver flood plain (3 m elevation North American Vertical Datum). At the Neskowin locality, a sand sheet from the #3 paleotsunami was traced to 8.3 m elevation in the Hawk flood plain. Adjusting for paleosea level at 1.3 ka, we estimate that the #3 paleotsunami run-up height reached 9 m at a landward distance of 1.0 km in Neskowin. The paleotsunami sand sheets in Neskowin and Beaver represent the maximum recorded distal run-up for Cascadia paleotsunami reported to date. The potential for preservation of marine surge deposits in alluvial flood plains should greatly extend the geologic record of prehistoric inundations in other susceptible coastlines.

Predicting the morphological impacts and associated hazards of extreme storms on barrier islands is facilitated by examining historical poststorm images and identifying the predominant alongshore and cross-shore patterns of erosion and deposition for different island segments. Morphological changes on the Mississippi–Alabama barrier-island chain produced by 12 Category 3 and stronger hurricanes since 1852 were analyzed to investigate whether barrier-island responses to extreme storms are controlled primarily by local geomorphic conditions or primarily by storm characteristics. Results of those analyses demonstrate that (1) antecedent topography and geomorphic conditions (island width, land elevations, nearshore bathymetry, subaqueous-boundary conditions) tend to exert greater control on local barrier-island impacts than storm parameters (path, intensity, wind speeds, water levels, shelf duration), and (2) types and alongshore patterns of storm overwash and island breaching are commonly repeated for the same island segments. Even when impact patterns are identical, magnitudes of sequential impacts, such as the inland distance of sediment transport, are unequal and are controlled by storm parameters (water levels, wind speeds) that influence wave heights, overwash-flow depths, and current velocities.

A study was conducted on the South Texas Gulf Coast to evaluate archive aerial color-infrared (CIR) photography combined with supervised image analysis techniques to quantify changes in black mangrove [Avicennia germinans (L.) L.] populations over a 26-year period. Archive CIR film from two study sites (sites 1 and 2) was studied. Photographs of site 1 from 1976, 1988, and 2002 showed that black mangrove populations made up 16.2%, 21.1%, and 29.4% of the study site, respectively. Photographs of site 2 from 1976 and 2002 showed that black mangrove populations made up 0.4% and 2.7% of the study site, respectively. Over the 26-year period, black mangrove had increases in cover of 77% and 467% on sites 1 and 2, respectively. These results indicate that aerial photographs coupled with image analysis techniques can be useful tools to monitor and quantify black mangrove populations over time.

Schizachyrium littorale (G. Nash) E. Bicknell is a New World tropical-, subtropical-, and temperate-zone rhizomatous grass that is an important species on protected coastal beaches and in maritime grasslands. Herein, we present a review of the biology of this important species. Schizachyrium littorale has low freshwater moisture requirements, and it tolerates low nutrient levels, high sand temperature, and sand coverage. Also known as seacoast bluestem, it inhabits mobile, semistable, and relatively stable dune systems where it plays an important role in stabilizing secondary dunes and barrier flats. Barrier island grasslands dominated by S. littorale recover quickly following wildfires.

As part of a comprehensive assessment of dunes and beaches in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay, U.S.A., we developed a classification system for dunes that incorporates historical shoreline dynamics, shoreline reach setting, local geomorphologic situation, and shoreline use. Our classification system demonstrates the broad diversity of sandy shorelines in the lower Bay; however, we present a geomorphologic relationship between dunes and beaches that appears to act independently of geologic diversity. Cross-shore profiles revealed that the height of the primary dune crest above mean low water relates to the lateral distance between the point of mean low water and the normal line through the dune crest (termed the estuarine dune index [EDI]) in a 1 : 10 ratio. Mean EDIs showed no statistically significant differences between shoreline classes, which provides firm evidence of an equilibrium condition for fetch limited dunes (termed the point-one rule) and promises to be useful for shoreline assessments and the sustainable engineering of nourished shorelines.

In the present paper, eolianite exposed on the south coast of the semiarid island of Bozcaada, Turkey, was investigated on the basis of geomorphologic and petrographic data, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating results. The eolianite is lithic arenite in composition and contains abundant quartz, calcite, and various lithoclasts amalgamated with micritic calcite, sparitic calcite, and meniscus cements. Within the youngest layers standing at 1–2 m above sea level, the rock contains rhizoliths with or without carbonaceous fills. The OSL ages obtained ranged between 24.21 ± 1.53 ka and 16.18 ± 1.70 ka, suggesting that eolianite constitutes an example of low stand deposits coinciding with oxygen isotope stage 2 (OIS-2).

Extreme sea levels generated by strong tangential wind stress and normal atmospheric pressure gradients at the sea surface due to tropical cyclones were studied for the western sector of the Bay of Bengal (the east coast of India). The maritime states along the coast, hit by different intensities of cyclones, are West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Based on precise historical data for the period 1891–2007, statistical projections have been made on the probable intensities of tropical cyclones for various return periods. With the help of numerical models developed at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, maximum probable surges along the coast were simulated. The local tide effect was considered in the computations as rise of sea level would be greater if the cyclone crosses the coast during high tide. The total water elevation is computed by linearly adding the local tide and wave setup to the surge simulated along the coast. In the present study, an assessment of cyclone risk and vulnerability was evolved, which is an important component of the information used to create sustainable local-level development action plans for preparedness and mitigation.

Hydrodynamic processes and bedload transport over a large-scale sandwave field were analyzed along three transects in Taiwan Strait based on measurements of water depth, current velocities within the water column, and the physical properties of the sediment at the seabed. The sandwaves in consideration have steep crests and flat troughs, with a width of 14.4–20.3 m and a length of 325–820 m. Generally, the mean H/L ratio falls in the range of large-scale sandwaves, but the ratio is larger than the average, deviating from the global trend. The H/d ratio is much higher than the global average. The current-velocity vectors at the sandwave crests, troughs, stoss sides, and lee sides turned in a clockwise manner within a tidal cycle; the current speed above the crest was relatively larger than above the trough. During the flood tide, the current speed reached a maximum in the layer 9–11 m below the water surface. During the measurement period, there was net accumulation of sediment over the study area. The migration of the sandwaves caused by bedload transport varied widely at different transects: for the three transects in consideration, migration in the flood direction occurred at two transects, with different migrating speeds; and ebb-dominated migration occurred at the third transect. The migration rate predicted by the bedload transport calculations, based on tidal current measurements, is lower than long-term observations by remote sensing, which may be due to the fact that this region is frequently influenced by storm events, and the long-term migration patterns are related to the enhanced currents and waves during storms. Further, time-velocity asymmetry of the tidal currents, as observed in the present study, may also favor the enhanced migration rate during storm events.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina segmented Dauphin Island into Dauphin Island East and Dauphin Island West. Prior to this event, the island was a 23-km-long microtidal composite barrier island located in the northern Gulf of Mexico approximately 8.0 km offshore from southwestern Alabama (U.S.A.). The eastern portion of Dauphin Island was morphologically a barrier island, and it experienced gulf-facing beach erosion at several isolated hot spots. The western portion of Dauphin Island was an elongated barrier spit with little topographic relief, and it experienced gulf-facing beach erosion and occasional washover due to elevated tides and storm waves. The protection and preservation of the residential property on the barrier-spit portion of the island has been a priority for the incorporated Town of Dauphin Island since the late 1970s. On two separate occasions the Town of Dauphin Island combined funds with those provided by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and contracted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a shore-parallel sand dune. The first dune was built following Hurricane Georges and the second after Hurricane Katrina. Both of these structures were completely eroded away within a short span of time, the post–Hurricane Georges dune in 27 months and the post–Hurricane Katrina dune in 15 months. Despite the high cost, limited effectiveness, and short service life of constructed sand dunes, the remaining options are either unacceptable (e.g., beach armoring, land use reclassification, or abandonment) or too costly (e.g., engineered beach). Constructed shore-parallel sand dunes will likely remain integral to the protection and preservation of the residentially developed, barrier-spit portion of Dauphin Island East due to its low relief and the high probability of washover events from elevated tides and storm waves.

Fossil foraminifers (Elphidium excavatum forma selseyensis) recovered from a sediment core from the San Francisco Bay are analyzed for their oxygen isotopic composition. About 8 m of core believed to represent the first 600 years of the current (Holocene) bay's existence at the sample site (from approximately 7650–7050 cal YBP) are highlighted here. This record, deposited at a high, uniform accumulation rate, shows pronounced variation in measured carbonate δ¹⁸O, including some of the highest values in the entire Holocene record at the site. It is proposed that this interval records a period during which the fundamental mixing dynamics of the modern estuary became established. We interpret the extremely high δ¹⁸O values at about 7400 cal YBP as being indicative of a strongly stratified estuary sampled below its halocline and argue that subsequent details of the isotope record suggest a gradual decrease in water column stratification until conditions qualitatively characteristic of the modern estuary are established about 7300 cal YBP.

A methodology for automatically processing the data files from an EM3000 multibeam echosounder (Kongsberg Maritime, 300 kHz) is presented. Written in MatLab, it includes data extraction, bathymetry processing, computation of seafloor local slope, and a simple correction of the backscatter along-track banding effect. The success of the latter is dependent on operational restrictions, which are also detailed. This processing is applied to a dataset acquired in 2007 in the Tamaki Strait, New Zealand. The resulting maps are compared with a habitat classification obtained with the acoustic ground-discrimination software QTC View linked to a 200-kHz single-beam echosounder and to the imagery from a 100-kHz sidescan sonar survey, both performed in 2002. The multibeam backscatter map was found to be very similar to the sidescan imagery, quite correlated to the QTC View map on one site but mainly uncorrelated on another site. Hypotheses to explain these results are formulated and discussed. The maps and the comparison to prior surveys are used to draw conclusions on the quality of the code for further research on multibeam benthic habitat mapping.

This article presents an evaluation of the importance of algal palynomorphs for palaeoenvironmental and climatic reconstructions. The palynomorphs were identified in sediments formed during the 20th century in the Tramandaí Lagoon (southern Brazil). The sediments sample corresponds to the 1905–97 period as dated by ²¹⁰Pb. Five algal palynomorph zones (IA–VA) were defined based on Botryococcus ∶ and Pediastrum frequency of occurrence ratio as well as on the presence of other freshwater algal palynomorphs. The sensitiveness of algal Chlorophyta palynomorphs to environmental variables, such as temperature and salinity, reveals that these palynomorph zones are related to five major stages of the Tramandaí Lagoon's evolution, reflecting variations in the regional hydrological cycle. The last identified stage (VA) is characterized by a notable increase in marine algae and a decrease in freshwater algal palynomorphs. This marine algal palynomorph enrichment was caused by an increase in sea water influx as a result of the construction of an artificial channel connecting the lagoon with the Atlantic Ocean. The obtained results on algal palynomorph frequencies of occurrence were compared with available records of water-level measurements from the coastal Mirim Lagoon, situated relatively close to the Tramandaí Lagoon, and to the Southern Oscillation Index of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Wetter/drier periods of the past century as revealed by algal palynomorph frequencies generally coincide with low-frequency water-level oscillations in the Mirim Lagoon and are probably related to interannual variations of rainfall in the region, driven by the variability of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomena.

Soil and litter organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus were measured across a dune chronosequence on Sapelo Island, Georgia, U.S.A., to characterize ecosystem development and nutrient cycling during primary succession. As successional theory predicts, litter biomass and soil organic matter increased with dune age. The proportion of nutrients contained in the litter also increased with dune age. No litter was present in the grass-dominated foredunes, whereas in the forested dunes litter accounted for 37%, 17%, and 0.11% of the ecosystem (soil plus litter) C, N, and P, respectively. Soil C and N pools increased from the foredunes to older dune classes. Surface soil (0–10 cm) plant-available N (NH ₄, NO⁻₃) increased from the foredunes to middunes, whereas soil P showed little change with dune age. Nitrogen was highly limiting across the chronosequence. Total soil N ranged from 0.006% (per gram of dry soil) in the foredunes to 0.087% in the middune. Soil N : P was less than 1.3 across all sites, also suggesting N limitation of plant productivity. Plant-available NO⁻₃ and total N concentrations in soil and ecosystem (litter plus soil) pools were greater in the middunes, where the N-fixing shrub Morella cerifera was present, than in either the foredunes or forested dunes. Our results suggest that the development of dune nutrient cycles is controlled by both successional age and colonization by N-fixing species.

The Houston Ship Channel (HSC) and upper Galveston Bay (GB), Texas, are known to be contaminated with dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans), the majority of which are associated with sediments. Since 1914, dredging operations to establish, sporadically expand, and consistently maintain a navigable channel for large ships has been and remains continuous here. The objectives of this research focus on determining if dredging activities have any significant impact on the quantities of dioxins associated with surface sediments in the HSC and GB. Four transects were sampled, located on the dredged and undredged sides of two dredge-spoil islands. Sediment samples were characterized in terms of their organic carbon contents, grain size fractions, indicator dioxin concentrations (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin [TCDD], 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran [TCDF], and toxic equivalents), and fallout radionuclide activities. The physical and geochemical data were examined using a combination of principal components analysis and one-way analysis of variance. Results of the statistical tests show that (1) sedimentary dioxin concentrations are significantly higher adjacent to the northernmost dredge-spoil island, which is located closer to a recently identified dioxin point source (San Jacinto waste pits); and (2) while mean sedimentary dioxin concentrations were slightly higher for undredged as compared to dredged transect samples as a whole, these differences were not significant (p > 0.05). Mean fallout isotope ratio values (⁷Be/¹³⁷Cs, ⁷Be/²¹⁰Pb_xs) were greater for the dredged sample population, indicating that dredged sediments contain more of the shorter-lived radionuclides (i.e., ⁷Be), as their buildup is more rapid after dredging than those isotopes with longer half-lives (²¹⁰Pb) or those for which a longer time has passed since introduction into the environment (¹³⁷Cs).

Chiaiolella Beach is a 1.5-km-long pocket beach located on Procida Island (Italy). The beach is formed by medium sand generated by erosion of vulcanoclastic rocks that form cliffs around the island and at the backshore of the study site. A beach dewatering system was installed in April 2002 to provide a wider beach for users and to prevent cliff undercutting during storms. It has not been operative since December 2004, as local authorities decided to undertake cliff stabilization measures. Surveys carried out immediately before (October 2001) and 1 year after installation (October 2002) showed negligible volumetric change on the drained beach in Ciraccio (−0.52 m³/m), the NNE sector of Chiaiolella Beach, whereas on the undrained control section there was an accumulation of 1.41 m³/m. Since no long-term monitoring of beach profiles was available at the site previous to installation, to obtain an indication of the nearshore hydrodynamics and morphodynamics in absence of the drain, historical shoreline from high-resolution georeferenced aerial photography and numerical model were used.

Overall, no evident positive effects of the dewatering system were confirmed, at least for mild wave energy levels. For higher wave energies, e.g., during a storm that occurred in December 2002, part of the beach (SSW sector, Ciracciello) had consistent volume losses and the dewatering system was not able to compensate them, as at some stage it was even damaged. This study points out the inadequacy of the dewatering system as coastal protection under high wave conditions.

A stratigraphic succession composed of limestone intercalated with volcanic ash and basalt capped by a conglomerate of mixed limestone and basalt cobbles was deposited in a trough-shaped depression approximately 25 m wide and 50 m long to a thickness of 1.62 m on the southwest side of Isla Sombrero Chino in the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador. Two layers of well-cemented calcarenite up to 20 cm thick accumulated as beach deposits with bioclasts of gastropods dominated by the Galápagos Periwinkle (Nodilittorina galapagiensis), a representative of the Beaded Hoofshell (Hipponix grayanus), broken crab fragments, and bird bones. Crustacean remains most likely belong to the Sally Lightfoot Crab (Graspus graspus). The bird bones are attributed to Audubon's Shearwater (Puffinus iherminieri). Distinctly intertidal in origin, such a mixed assemblage of invertebrates and vertebrates is unusual, and the association with basalt flows is seldom met in the rock record. The pristine state of the volcanic cone on Sombrero Chino is consistent with a ³He exposure age of 13 ± 0.8 ka. The age of the basalt-limestone sequence is unknown but must be younger than the ³He exposure age. The basalt-limestone sequence is elevated approximately 3 to 4 m above current sea level. This implies that the intertidal limestone was deposited during an interval of higher sea level or, more likely, was uplifted by magmatic inflation. Such intertidal deposits, in conjunction with more precise dating, have the potential to constrain the history of relative sea-level change during island growth and isostatic subsidence related to volcanism and lithospheric cooling. Intertidal deposits of the kind reported here also help to distinguish between monogenetic as opposed to polygenetic history for volcanic islands.

This paper deals with the subdivision of the LingDingYang Estuary of the Pearl River Estuary (South China at the South China Sea) using geostatistical methods. The division obtained is characterised by the dominating components and interpreted in terms of ruling environmental conditions. The mathematical procedures used are regionalised classification via hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis. While regionalisation determines areas characterised by different sedimentological and geochemical parameters, principal component analysis identifies the influencing factors in the different parts of the estuary. Three main subareas within the LingDingYang Estuary were discriminated. Here, marine-influenced regions can be clearly separated from those determined by the geological catchment area and the ones dominated by river discharge. The samples for this work were taken during cruises in 2004 and 2005.

This work has been integrated into a German–Chinese cooperation project between the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (Warnemünde, Germany) and the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (Guangzhou, China).

The mouth of the Guadiaro River (SW Spain), oriented in a NE-SW direction, is often closed, resulting in environmental, social, and economic problems. An analysis of the factors influencing this phenomenon was performed using the Coastal Modeling System, a numerical model based on the mild slope equation (waves, currents, and sediment transport), and a coastal evolution study was performed comparing aerial photographs to the monitoring campaigns carried out in 2005 and 2006 (topographic surveys, current meters, tidal gauges, and water quality parameters). Global transport at the Spanish south Mediterranean coast occurs in a southwestern direction. However, the spit that closes the Guadiaro River grows in the opposite direction. The points and conditions where transport direction changes occur along the coastline were identified. The results, obtained from 200 different propagations, were consistent with field data, showing that northeastern littoral transport during easterly waves was sufficient to block the river mouth. Furthermore, significant differences in sediment transport patterns were found despite the existence of a fixed wave power direction. Through this research we also learned that use of wave propagation numerical models by nonexperts is prone to error, as small variations in input parameters can induce dramatically different results that may be contradictory in certain bathymetric configurations.