Doctoral Dissertation Research: Assessing the Role of Geologic Framework on Barrier Island Geomorphology

这项博士论文研究项目将定量评估地下地质对沿海海滩和沙丘的影响，从而有助于改进当代堰塞岛演化模型。该项目将有助于更准确地预测海滩和沙丘未来可能因海平面上升而发生的变化。了解地下地质的影响将使沿海管理人员能够减轻对地下地质促进海滩和沙丘快速变化的地区基础设施的破坏。因此，项目成果将使国家公园管理局官员和其他管理人员能够管理帕德雷岛国家海岸和其他地方的沿海资源，以实现长期的环境和经济可行性。该项目将为本科生提供宝贵的职业发展经验，项目数据和调查结果将被综合到一个新的沿海地理课程模块中，旨在让学生更好地了解沿海地区地下地质控制的变化。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生能够建立强大的独立研究生涯。海平面上升和极端风暴会显著侵蚀海岸，损坏建筑物和道路。沙丘具有在极端风暴期间吸收强浪和水位上升的能力，这意味着沿海管理人员了解沙丘未来可能发生的变化是很重要的。地下地质可能会影响海滩和沙丘的变化，但这种联系尚未得到测试。该项目旨在量化地下地质框架在堰塞岛发展和演化中的作用。这位博士生将检验这一假设，即地下地质框架是海岸地貌的关键驱动因素。他将使用一系列技术收集和分析地球物理数据，包括探地雷达、电磁感应和沿德克萨斯州南部海岸帕德雷岛国家海滨全长的海底剖面。将在该岛沿线收集沉积物岩心，以提供必要的信息，以便与使用其他手段收集的数据相关联。现代海滩和沙丘地貌将从基于光探测和测距(LiDAR)测量的海岸数字高程模型中提取。小波分解和相干分析将被用来量化地下地质对海滩和沙丘形态的影响。

This doctoral dissertation research project will quantitatively assess how subsurface geology impacts the beach and dunes along the coast, thereby helping to improve contemporary models of barrier island evolution. The project will contribute to more accurate predictions of how beaches and dunes are likely to change in the future due to sea-level rise. Understanding the influence of the subsurface geology will enable coastal managers to mitigate damage to infrastructure in areas where the subsurface geology promotes rapid change in the beach and dunes. Project results therefore will enable officials of the National Park Service and other managers to manage coastal resources at Padre Island National Seashore and elsewhere for long-term environmental and economic viability. The project will provide valuable professional development experience for an undergraduate student, and the project data and findings will be synthesized into a new coastal geography course module designed to provide students with a better understanding of how the subsurface geology controls change along the coast. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.Rising sea-level and extreme storms can significantly erode the coast, damaging buildings and roads. Dunes have the ability to absorb strong waves and elevated water levels during extreme storms, which means it is important that coastal managers understand how the dunes may change in the future. Subsurface geology may affect how the beach and dunes change, but this link has not been tested. This project is to quantify the role of subsurface geologic framework in barrier island development and evolution. The doctoral student will test the hypothesis that the subsurface geologic framework is a key driver of coastal geomorphology. He will collect and analyze geophysical data using a range of techniques, including ground-penetrating radar, electromagnetic induction, and sub-bottom profiling along the entire length of Padre Island National Seashore on the southern Texas coast. Sediment cores will be collected along the island to provide essential information to correlate with data gathered using other means. The modern beach and dune morphology will be extracted from coastal digital elevation models based on light detection and ranging (LiDAR) measurements. Wavelet decomposition and coherence analyses will be used to quantify the influence of the subsurface geology on beach and dune morphology.