Overwash, shoreface retreat, and barrier migration are common processes occurring in transgressive barrier island systems, the scale of which is exacerbated by sea level rise, subsidence and the frequency and magnitude of tropical and extratropical storms. Barrier morphology also clearly plays a key role in determining a morphological response to these processes. Using a hydrodynamic and sediment transport model (MIKE21) and selected barrier island and shoreface templates, informed by deltaic and coastal plain systems in the northern Gulf of Mexico, I performed simulations to determine barrier morphology in response to storms. A low dune with a gentle shoreface slope, characteristic of Louisiana deltaic barriers, demonstrates the greatest amount of shoreline erosion, dune overwash and barrier migration in response to a storm. Profile evolutions over time demonstrate the wider dune templates respond mostly via dune aggradation and barrier rollover whereas the narrow or low templates respond via dune overwash and barrier translation. Determining which barrier templates retain the most sediment over time becomes extremely important when planning coastal restoration projects here in Louisiana.

Erosion problems are not only in the Texas area, but exist also along the coastline all over the world. Even though many researchers have studied coastal processes related with beach erosion and deposition over the decades, these processes are too complex to understand completely and field measurements are difficult to obtain during landfall of storms which cause fatal damages. Overwash is strongly suspected to cause extreme erosion as seen from long-term field measurements in the upper Texas coast. Overwash and washover are the source of cross-shore erosion and deposition of beach material along the coast, respectively. Waves superimposed on increased storm surges overtop and generate serious erosion of the berm. However, the data for these processes do not completely describe the shoreline erosion problems. Providing better descriptions requires field measurements and laboratory experiments with careful calibration. This study was conducted in two major sections. First was a field measurement and second was a laboratory experiment. This study used the RTK-DGPS to measure the change in the beach profile over multi year period. The GPS system is one of the ways to have the best resolution. The laboratory experiment was done in a 2D wave tank on mid-scale based on similitude law at Texas A&M University. The experiment was necessary to obtain better empirical formulas. The erosion rate of the sand was measured at different wave conditions and slopes of the berm or upper beach face in regular and irregular waves respectively. The erosion rate is much bigger at higher wave height, longer wave period and steeper beach face. The erosion rate is increased proportional to speed of bore and it is decreased with time. The empirical formulas were the first approach to simulate the impact of overwash. The laboratory results represented good agreement with the field data and might be applicable to predict the shoreline recession by overwash induced by storms. Further improvements can be expected by adding these empirical formulas to a numerical model to predict sediment transport in the swash zone.

This research project focuses on using a multiproxy approach to discriminate between overwash and non-hurricane marsh sediments within the bed of a coastal lake. 3 marsh cores were collected in an area of McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge just south of Clam Lake that are known to contain 4 hurricane overwash deposits, Ike, Rita, Carla, and Audrey. LOI and XRF analysis were used to determine the signature of the hurricane overwash layers. 3 more cores were collected from Clam Lake where there are no visible sand layers. The elemental signature of the overwash layers found in the marsh cores was used to run a hierarchical cluster analysis on the lake cores. This was able to determine the effectiveness of XRF's ability to distinguish between hurricane overwash and marsh sediments. The combination of cluster analysis, LOI, and XRF can tentatively identify hurricane overwash deposits in a coastal lake, however, it is more successful in the marsh cores. Results in the lake cores are somewhat inconsistent and uncertain, possibly because there may have not been enough overwash deposits to identity or that the XRF analysis needs more distinct sand layers to distinguish between overwash and marsh.

An estimated 10% of the world's population lives in low-lying coastal regions, which are vulnerable to storm surge and waves capable of causing loss of lives and billions of dollars in damage to coastal infrastructure. Among the most vulnerable coastlines are barrier islands, which often act as the first line of defense against storms for the mainland coast. In this dissertation, the physical damage to a developed barrier island (Bay Head, NJ, USA) caused by erosion during Hurricane Sandy (2012) is evaluated using the numerical model, XBeach. Three main objectives of this work are to evaluate the wave-force reducing capabilities of a buried seawall, the effects of bay surge on morphological change and the effectiveness of adaptation strategies to rising sea levels. According to simulation results, a buried seawall located beneath the nourished dunes in Bay Head reduced wave attack by a factor of 1.7 compared to locations without a seawall. The structure also prevented major erosion by blocking bay surge from inundating dunes from the backside, as observed in locations not fronted with a seawall. Altering the timing and magnitude of bay storm surge, the buried seawall continued to protect the island from catastrophic erosion under all conditions except for a substantial increase in bay surge. However, in the absence of a seawall, the morpho- logical response was highly dependent on bay surge levels with respect to ocean side surge. Compared to the damage sustained by the island during Hurricane Sandy, greater erosion was observed on the island for an increase in bay surge magnitude or when peak bay surge occurred after peak ocean surge. Considering sea level rise, which affects bay and ocean surge levels, adaptation strategies were evaluated on the protection afforded to the dune system and backbarrier. Of the sea level rise scenarios and adaptation strategies considered, raising the dune and beach protected the island under moderate rises in sea level, but exacerbated backbarrier erosion for the most extreme scenario. Although an extreme strategy, raising the island is the only option considered that protected the island from catastrophic erosion under low, moderate and extreme sea level rise. / Ph. D.

Gravel beaches and barriers occur on many high-latitude, wave-dominated coasts across the world. Due to their natural ability to dissipate large amounts of wave energy, gravel coasts are widely regarded as an effective and sustainable form of coastal defence. However, during extreme events waves may overtop, overwash, and even lower, the crest of the gravel beach, flooding the hinterland. In the evaluation of the safety of gravel coasts against flooding, coastal managers currently rely on models that have been shown in previous studies to be inaccurate. The research in this thesis attempts to improve the current predictive capacity of gravel beach storm response by developing a new process-based model to simulate storm impacts on gravel coasts. The numerical model developed in this thesis, called XBeach-G, is a morphodynamic, depth-averaged, cross-shore profile model, based on the XBeach model for sandy coasts (Roelvink et al., 2009). The model simulates the morphological response of gravel beaches and barriers to storms by solving: (1) intra-wave flow and surface elevation variations using a non-hydrostatic extension of the non-linear shallow water equations; (2) groundwater processes, including infiltration and exfiltration, using a Darcy-Forchheimer-type model; and (3) bed load transport of gravel using a modification of the Van Rijn (2007a) bed load transport equation to include flow acceleration effects, which are shown to be significant on coarse-grained beaches. The model is extensively validated for hydrodynamics, groundwater dynamics and morphodynamics using detailed data collected in physical model experiments, as well as data collected in the field on four natural gravel beaches in the UK and one in France. Validation results show that the model has high quantitative skill in simulating observed hydrodynamics on gravel beaches across a wide range of forcing conditions, in particular with regard to wave transformation, wave run-up and wave overtopping. Spatial and temporal variations in groundwater head are shown to be well represented in the model through comparison to data recorded in a physical model experiment. Validation of the morphodynamic component of XBeach-G shows that the model has high model skill (median BSS 0.75) in simulating storm impacts on five gravel beaches during ten storm events, with observed morphodynamic response ranging from berm-building to barrier rollover. The model is used to investigate hydrodynamic processes on gravel beaches during storms, where it is found that incident-band variance is elemental in the generation of wave run-up on gravel beaches. Furthermore, simulations of wave run-up during high-energy wave events show a distinct disparity between run-up predicted by empirical relations based on the Iribarren parameter and wave steepness, and run-up predicted by XBeach-G, where predictions by the empirical relations substantially underestimate observed wave run-up. Groundwater processes are shown, by means of sensitivity simulations, to strongly affect the morphodynamic response of gravel beaches and barriers to storms. The research in this thesis supports the hypothesis that infiltration in the swash is a key driver for the berm-building response of gravel beaches and helps to reduce erosion of the upper beach during storms. Through model simulations on a schematic gravel barrier it is shown that groundwater processes effectively increases the capacity of gravel barriers to withstand storms with 1-3 m higher surge levels than if groundwater processes did not occur. Reducing the width of a barrier leads to a lowering of this capacity, thereby reducing the resilience of the barrier to extreme storm events. Despite its strong influence on gravel beach morphodynamics, it is found that infiltration plays a relatively small role on wave run-up levels on most natural gravel beaches (median R 2% run-up level reduction of 8%). Application of the model in validation simulations and sensitivity simulations in this thesis, as well as in storm hindcast simulations discussed by McCall et al. (2013) shows the value of using the process-based XBeach-G model in coastal flooding analysis over the use of empirical tools. While no model can be considered entirely accurate, application of XBeach-G in all hindcast overwash simulations has lead to reasonable estimates of overtopping discharge and of morphological change, which is a significant improvement over the frequently substantial errors of the empirical tool designed for this purpose.

As praias urbanizadas são ambientes complexos devido à interação da ocupação antropogênica e dos processos costeiros. A ocupação costeira vem se caracterizando por alteração e deterioração da paisagem, processo mais intenso em grandes cidades litorâneas, onde casas e edifícios são construídos nas proximidades imediatas da orla. O presente trabalho analisa a morfodinâmica e processo de sobrelavagem das praias de Santos e Itararé, duas praias urbanizadas com a presença de obras na orla. Foram realizados levantamentos topográficos nas praias e modelagem de ondas (Delft 3D - Wave) para toda a baía durante os anos de 2015 e 2016. Cenários de sobrelevaçãoonda e nível do mar foram estipulando para o cálculo da sobrelevaçãototal e assim conhecer as condições que levam a sobrelavagem. A baía de Santos encontra-se aberta para sul, expondo a linha de costa para a ação de frentes frias. A variabilidade do clima de ondas, derivada das mudanças das suas condições meteorológicas formadoras, pode alterar a morfologia da praia. Em Santos e São Vicente as ondas de sul e sudeste apresentam maiores alturas de onda e são mais frequentes no outono e inverno quando temos mais frentes frias na região. Os resultados indicam relação entre a incidência de ondas com maior força de onda (W/m), associadas a frentes frias, em trechos mais inclinados das praias com perda de volume. A variedade de incidência das ondas ao longo da praia estudada mostra um decréscimo na força de onda, sendo maior em Itararé e caindo em direção a Ponta da Praia, com a presença de picos altos na Ponta da Praia. Justificando porque este trecho sofre mais variação de volume e perda de sedimento fato que pode estar associado a dragagem do canal do porto de Santos. Em ambos os trechos com maior declividade e menor faixa de areia apresentaram maior sensibilidade à ação das ondas e também maior chance de sofrer sobrelavagem, de todo o arco praial da baía de Santos a porção leste de Santos se mostrou a mais propícia a sofrer inundação. / Urbanized beaches are more complex environments due to the interaction of anthropogenic occupation and coastal processes. Coastal occupation has been characterized by alteration and deterioration of the landscape, being more intense in large coastal cities, where houses and buildings are built in the immediate vicinity of the beach border being subject to potentially high risk of erosion. The present work analyzed the morphodynamics and overwashing of the beaches of Santos and Itararé, two urbanized beaches with the presence of anthropogenic constructions in the beach border. Topographic surveys on both beaches and wave modeling (Delft 3D - Wave) were carried out for the entire basin during the years of 2015 and 2016. Wave run-up and sea level scenarios were stipulated for the calculation of the total water level and so determined conditions that lead to overwashing. The bay of Santos is open to the South, exposing the coast line for the action of cold fronts. The variability of the wave climate, derived from the changes of its formative meteorological conditions, can alter the morphology of the beach. In Santos and São Vicente, South and Southeast waves have higher wave height and are more frequent in autumn and winter when we have more cold fronts in the region. The results indicate the direct relationship between the incidence of waves with higher wave force (W/m), associated with cold fronts, with loss of volume along the beaches. The variety of wave incidence along the studied beach shows a decrease in wave force, being higher in Itararé and falling towards Ponta da Praia, in the area protected by the rocky promontory. However in Ponta da Praia we see high values of wave force, justifying why this stretch suffers more volume variation and loss of sediment, that we belive happends because of Port Channel. In both stretches with greater slope and lower sand range showed greater sensitivity to the action of the waves and also greater chance of overwash, of all the praial arc of the Santos bay, the Eastern portion of Santos was the most propitious to suffer flooding.

As praias urbanizadas são ambientes complexos devido à interação da ocupação antropogênica e dos processos costeiros. A ocupação costeira vem se caracterizando por alteração e deterioração da paisagem, processo mais intenso em grandes cidades litorâneas, onde casas e edifícios são construídos nas proximidades imediatas da orla. O presente trabalho analisa a morfodinâmica e processo de sobrelavagem das praias de Santos e Itararé, duas praias urbanizadas com a presença de obras na orla. Foram realizados levantamentos topográficos nas praias e modelagem de ondas (Delft 3D - Wave) para toda a baía durante os anos de 2015 e 2016. Cenários de sobrelevaçãoonda e nível do mar foram estipulando para o cálculo da sobrelevaçãototal e assim conhecer as condições que levam a sobrelavagem. A baía de Santos encontra-se aberta para sul, expondo a linha de costa para a ação de frentes frias. A variabilidade do clima de ondas, derivada das mudanças das suas condições meteorológicas formadoras, pode alterar a morfologia da praia. Em Santos e São Vicente as ondas de sul e sudeste apresentam maiores alturas de onda e são mais frequentes no outono e inverno quando temos mais frentes frias na região. Os resultados indicam relação entre a incidência de ondas com maior força de onda (W/m), associadas a frentes frias, em trechos mais inclinados das praias com perda de volume. A variedade de incidência das ondas ao longo da praia estudada mostra um decréscimo na força de onda, sendo maior em Itararé e caindo em direção a Ponta da Praia, com a presença de picos altos na Ponta da Praia. Justificando porque este trecho sofre mais variação de volume e perda de sedimento fato que pode estar associado a dragagem do canal do porto de Santos. Em ambos os trechos com maior declividade e menor faixa de areia apresentaram maior sensibilidade à ação das ondas e também maior chance de sofrer sobrelavagem, de todo o arco praial da baía de Santos a porção leste de Santos se mostrou a mais propícia a sofrer inundação. / Urbanized beaches are more complex environments due to the interaction of anthropogenic occupation and coastal processes. Coastal occupation has been characterized by alteration and deterioration of the landscape, being more intense in large coastal cities, where houses and buildings are built in the immediate vicinity of the beach border being subject to potentially high risk of erosion. The present work analyzed the morphodynamics and overwashing of the beaches of Santos and Itararé, two urbanized beaches with the presence of anthropogenic constructions in the beach border. Topographic surveys on both beaches and wave modeling (Delft 3D - Wave) were carried out for the entire basin during the years of 2015 and 2016. Wave run-up and sea level scenarios were stipulated for the calculation of the total water level and so determined conditions that lead to overwashing. The bay of Santos is open to the South, exposing the coast line for the action of cold fronts. The variability of the wave climate, derived from the changes of its formative meteorological conditions, can alter the morphology of the beach. In Santos and São Vicente, South and Southeast waves have higher wave height and are more frequent in autumn and winter when we have more cold fronts in the region. The results indicate the direct relationship between the incidence of waves with higher wave force (W/m), associated with cold fronts, with loss of volume along the beaches. The variety of wave incidence along the studied beach shows a decrease in wave force, being higher in Itararé and falling towards Ponta da Praia, in the area protected by the rocky promontory. However in Ponta da Praia we see high values of wave force, justifying why this stretch suffers more volume variation and loss of sediment, that we belive happends because of Port Channel. In both stretches with greater slope and lower sand range showed greater sensitivity to the action of the waves and also greater chance of overwash, of all the praial arc of the Santos bay, the Eastern portion of Santos was the most propitious to suffer flooding.

Acquiring GPR data at multiple frequencies is useful because higher-frequency profiles have better spatial resolution, although they suffer from reduced depth penetration. Lower-frequencies can generally resolve to greater depths, but at the cost of spatial resolution. For concise presentation of GPR data, it would be useful to combine the best features of each profile into a composite radargram. This study explores effective ways to present GPR data acquired at multiple frequencies. An example is shown from a survey of hurricane overwash deposits from Santa Rosa Island, Florida. The methodology used to create a composite radargram is dependent on which of two goals the composite radargram is designed to achieve. These goals are broadening the spectral bandwidth of GPR data to increase the effectiveness of deconvolution and enhancing the resolution and depth of GPR data by plotting high-frequency data at early two-way travel times, low-frequency data at late two-way travel times, and using filters to smoothly transition from high-frequency to lower-frequency data. The steps towards creating a composite radargram include: 1) applying standard processing to nominal frequency data sets, 2) creating spatially coincident data sets, 3) equalizing the amplitude spectra among each nominal frequency data set, and 4) summing nominal frequency data sets together. Spectral bandwidth broadening is achieved by applying optical spectral whitening and summing nominal frequency data sets using a single ramped. Deconvolving this composite radargram did not show the same success observed by Booth et al. (2009). Enhancing the resolution and depth of GPR data can be achieved by applying amplitude envelope equalization (AEE) and summation using double ramped filters. AEE calculates the coefficients required to make equivalent average amplitude envelopes for GPR data that has been gained with automatic gain control . Double ramped filters suppress low-frequency energy for two-way travel times when a higher-frequency data set has adequate signal strength and higher frequency energy for two-way travel times when higher- frequency energy exhibits significant attenuation. A composite radargram built with AEE and double ramped filters achieves the goal enhancing resolution and depth of GPR data. Shallow reflections are interpreted as dune and hurricane overwash stratigraphy.

No description available.

Historical records suggest that the coastlines of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Sultanate of Oman have been subjected to catastrophic storm and tsunami events throughout recorded history. In 1945, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake -100 km south of Karachi, Pakistan generated a tsunami that impacted the coast of Oman and resulted in over 4000 deaths. Although the 1945 tsunami deposit has been documented, no other paleo-tsunami deposits have been identified despite the fact that historical and paleo-seismic records suggest the contrary. Similarly, the north-eastern islands of the Caribbean, particularly Anegada, BVI, have been subjected to intense hurricane strikes over the past 300 years. Due to its position relative to the Atlantic Ocean and the Puerto Rico Trench, Anegada is a potential recorder of local (e.g. 1690, 1867) and trans-oceanic tsunami events (e.g. 1755 Lisbon) as well. Potential tsunami overwash events at both locations are expected to be intermingled with marine incursions resulting from major storms and Holocene sea level change. Discerning between storm and tsunami overwash is problematic and usually favours a storm interpretation due to their frequency in the geologic record. This bias and lack of properly constrained geologic evidence has hindered the accuracy of tsunami prediction models, and subsequently, the assessment of seismic and tsunami hazards at both locations. Several studies employ the use of foraminifera to distinguish between storm and tsunami deposition; however, they are traditionally conducted in contrasting settings where differences between the terrestrial and marine realms are easily detected. Marine influenced settings lack the same degree of contrast; therefore, microfossil analysis alone is not effective. This dissertation investigates the use of foraminiferal taphonomy as an overwash indicator in two types of coastal settings: 1. a silisiclastic arid system lagoon (Sur, Sultanate of Oman), and 2. semi-tropical carbonate marine ponds (Anegada, British Virgin Islands). Although traditional microfossil taphonomic characteristics have been reported in some overwash studies, no multi-variate investigation into their usefulness as tsunami or storm indicators has previously been conducted. This dissertation shows that the surface condition (e.g. angularity, color, size, fragmentation, etc.) of foraminifera provides important information regarding the origin of overwash deposits and is useful in detecting older deposits at both locations when combined with other proxies. Several important contributions have resulted from this research: 1. Taphofacies analysis helped to constrain sediment provenance and modern nearshore hydrodynamics in an arid system lagoon that could not be achieved with traditional foraminiferal analysis alone. 2. The combined use of foraminiferal provenance and taphonomy was effective in identifying the 1945 Makran Trench tsunami at Sur Lagoon and will be a good indicator of older events at this location; a point which is particularly significant since no geologic evidence of previous tsunami events has ever been recorded. High abundances of predominantly marine taxa coupled with high abundances of large test sizes, fragments and fossil specimens were found to be indicators of tsunami deposition in contrast to lagoon deposition which was characterized by smaller test sizes and less robust lagoon taxa. 3. The preservation of the reefal dwelling Homotrema rubrum, a common encrusting foraminifer in Caribbean reef settings, provided the direction of origin of an overwash event deposited in marine ponds at Anegada and constrained the list of potential overwash candidates. Large and highly preserved Homotrema fragments that are typical of modem reef and storm wrack sediment were found in high abundances within Sand and Shell Sheet in three marine ponds at Anegada. A decrease in the abundance of highly preserved specimens from north to south throughout the ponds, coupled with mollusc taphonomic data strengthens a tsunami interpretation for the deposit. This dissertation shows that taphofacies analysis has broad application to event stratigraphy in a variety of coastal systems. Although the application of taphonomic analysis between the two contrasting environments was widely different, in both cases, taphonomic data provided indicative information regarding the origin of deposition of overwash units at Anegada, BVI and Sur, Sultanate of Oman. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)