Antecedent and anthropogenic influences on the Galveston Island shoreface

dc.contributorDellapenna, Timothy M.
dc.creatorPitkewicz, Jennifer Lynn
dc.date.accessioned2010-01-14T23:59:15Z
dc.date.accessioned2010-01-16T00:48:34Z
dc.date.accessioned2017-04-07T19:55:28Z
dc.date.available2010-01-14T23:59:15Z
dc.date.available2010-01-16T00:48:34Z
dc.date.available2017-04-07T19:55:28Z
dc.date.created2006-12
dc.date.issued2009-05-15
dc.description.abstractGalveston Island, Texas has been experiencing high rates of erosion in recent years, spawning an interest in developing complex beach management programs. However, before any effective management project can be implemented we must understand all of the processes that control the shoreface. It is only recently that scientists have begun to recognize the importance of the role that the geologic framework plays on the coastal evolution of the shoreline. In this region, it is the antecedent geology as well as the anthropogenic obstructions which are the key factors controlling the formation of the modern shoreface. This study defines the extents to which these antecedent and anthropogenic factors influence the shoreface as well as refines the geologic interpretations offshore of Galveston Island. Using sidescan sonar, CHIRP seismic sonar, multibeam bathymetry data and sediment cores, the shoreface and subsurface geology were modeled. It was determined that the thickness, extent and slope of the modern sediment in the nearshore environment is controlled by the topography of the Beaumont Clay, a consolidated clay deposited during the Pleistocene. Anthropogenic obstructions, including the Galveston Seawall, groin and jetty system, have changed the sediment transport patterns in the region and have created a system of erosion and accretion not only along the shoreline, but for the entire length of the shoreface.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1176
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subjectGalveston Island
dc.subjectBeaumont Clay
dc.subjectSeawall
dc.subjectSouth Jetty
dc.subjecterosion
dc.subjectcoastal texas
dc.subjectshoreface
dc.subjectbeach management
dc.subjectcoastal erosion
dc.titleAntecedent and anthropogenic influences on the Galveston Island shoreface
dc.typeBook
dc.typeThesis

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