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    Quantifying overwash flux in barrier systems : an example from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA

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    Carruthers_thesis.pdf (4.629Mb)
    Date
    2011-09
    Author
    Carruthers, Emily A.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4834
    Location
    Martha's Vineyard, MA
    DOI
    10.1575/1912/4834
    Keyword
     Sediment transport; Sea level 
    Abstract
    Coastal barriers are particularly susceptible to the predicted effects of accelerated of sea-level rise and the potential for increased impacts of intense storms. Over centennial scales, barriers are maintained via overtopping during storms, causing deposition of washover fans on their landward sides. This study examines three washover fans on the south shore of Martha’s Vineyard using a suite of data including vibracores, ground penetrating radar, high resolution dGPS, and LiDAR data. From these data, the volumes of the deposits were determined and range from 2.1—2.4 x 104 m3. Two overwashes occurred during Hurricane Bob in 1991. The water levels produced by this storm have a return interval of ~28 years, resulting in an onshore sediment flux of 2.4—3.4 m3/m/yr. The third washover was deposited by a nor’easter in January 1997, which has a water level return interval of ~6 years, resulting in a flux of 8.5 m3/m/yr. These fluxes are smaller than the flux of sediment needed to maintain a geometrically stable barrier estimated from shoreline retreat rates, suggesting that the barrier is not in long-term equilibrium, a result supported by the thinning of the barrier over this time interval.
    Description
    Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2011
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    • Geology and Geophysics (G&G)
    • WHOI Theses
    Suggested Citation
    Thesis: Carruthers, Emily A., "Quantifying overwash flux in barrier systems : an example from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA", 2011-09, DOI:10.1575/1912/4834, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4834
     

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