Beach ridge systems – archives for Holocene coastal events?

Scheffers, Anja; Engel, Max; Scheffers, Sander; Squire, Peter; Kelletat, Dieter

doi:10.1177/0309133311419549

Cited by 100 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Obtaining this unprecedented GOaL hat-trick can provide valuable insights into 10 how these three factors influenced past and future barrier evolution. With 300+ prograded barriers worldwide (Scheffers et al, 2012), achieving this GOaL hat-trick systematically on different systems can also detect local patterns of sediment supply, regional records of storms or global changes in sea level. The prevalence of these coastal deposits combined with the increased accessibility of GOaL techniques, affords the possibility to establish this method such that it can be utilized like, and compared with, other climate proxy data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CC BY 4.0 License. barriers located around the world (Scheffers et al, 2012), a systematic application of GOaL to decipher coastal evolution can also detect local patterns of sediment supply, regional records of storms or global changes in sea level. The larger-scale records have the potential to be used like and combined with other climate proxy records.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technical note: Optimizing the utility of combined GPR, OSL, and LiDAR (GOaL) to extract paleoenvironmental records and decipher shoreline evolution

Dougherty¹,

Choi²,

Turney³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Abstract. Records of past sea levels, storms, and their impacts on coastline are crucial in forecasting future changes resulting from anthropogenic global warming. Coastal barriers that have prograded over the Holocene preserve within their accreting sands history of storm erosion and changes in sea level. High-resolution geophysics, geochronology, and remote sensing techniques offer an optimal way to extract these records and decipher shoreline evolution: Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) images the lateral extent of relict shoreline dune morphology; Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data 15 records paleo-dune, beach and nearshore stratigraphy; Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dates when sand grains were deposited that form these shorelines. Utilization of these technological advances has recently become more prevalent in coastal research. The resolution and sensitivity of these methods offer unique insights on coastal environments and their relationship to past climate change. However, discrepancies in analysis and presentation of the data can result in erroneous interpretations. When utilized correctly on prograded barriers these methods (independently or in various combinations) 20 have produced storm records, constructed sea-level curves, quantified sediment budgets, and deciphered coastal evolution.Therefore, combining the application of GPR, OSL, and LiDAR (GOaL) on one prograded barrier has the potential to generate detailed records of storms, sea level, and sediment supply for that coastline. Obtaining this GOaL hat-trick can provide valuable insights into how these three factors influenced past and future barrier evolution. Here we argue that systematically achieving GOaL hat-tricks on some of the 300+ prograded barriers worldwide would allow us to disentangle 25 local patterns of sediment supply from regional effects of storms or global changes in sea level, allowing direct comparison to climate proxy records. To fully realize this aim requires standardization of methods to optimize results. The impetus for this initiative is to establish a framework for consistent data analysis that maximizes the potential of GOaL to contribute to climate change research and assist coastal communities in mitigating future impacts of global warming.Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical note: Optimizing the utility of combined GPR, OSL, and LiDAR (GOaL) to extract paleoenvironmental records and decipher shoreline evolution

Dougherty¹,

Choi²,

Turney³

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…can act as a guide to minimum water levels during inundation (e.g., Scheffers et al, 2011;Tamura, 2012). Coastal ridges are commonly formed above high tide level landward of beaches or on top of coastal platforms and are aligned roughly parallel to the coastline.…”

Section: Spiske and R B Halley: A Coral-rubble Ridge As Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

A coral-rubble ridge as evidence for hurricane overwash, Anegada (British Virgin Islands)

Spiske¹,

Halley

2014

Adv. Geosci.

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Abstract.A coral-rubble ridge fringes part of the north shore of Anegada, a low-lying island in the northern Caribbean. Both historical reports and the geological record underline its vulnerability to tsunami and hurricanes. In this study we document the sedimentary characteristics of a coral-rubble ridge, which extends discontinuously along 1.5-1.8 km of chiefly north-facing shores at Soldier Wash. The ridge is less distinctive and appears only in patches along the west-facing shoreline at Windless Bight, where the wave regime is calmer. It is located ca. 8 m from the fair-weather shore, has a maximum width of 15 m and a maximum thickness of 0.8 m. The lower seaward-facing slope of the ridge is relatively flat, probably due to successive reworking, whereas the upper seaward slope is steep and partly displays avalanching faces. The landward flank is gently sloping and terminates abruptly. The ridge is mainly composed of well-rounded, encrusted and bored coral rubble (average diameter of 16 cm) that has been reworked in the shallow marine environment prior to transport. Only a few pieces of angular beach rock and karstified Pleistocene limestone are incorporated. The components build a clast-supported framework. No sand is present in the interstices. Imbrication of flat clasts indicates a deposition during landward bed load transport. The ridge morphology, composition and related hydrodynamic conditions during its emplacement are typical for coral-rubble ridges deposited by hurricane-induced storm surges. In comparison, nearby evidence for tsunami inundation is very different because the tsunami-transported coral boulders on Anegada are much bigger (2 m) than the biggest components in the ridge, they are deposited much farther inland (up to 1.5 km), and the corals seem to have been freshly broken out of the reef by the tsunami.The age of the ridge is difficult to estimate. The dark grey surface of the ridge is caused by bioweathering by endolithic organisms that takes tens of years and may give a very rough estimate of the minimum age of the ridge.Storms and related surges that built the ridge were likely stronger than 2010 hurricane Earl, which attained category 4 north of the island. Earl was able to slightly rework the lower seaward part of the ridge, but transported only few and smaller pieces of coral rubble and sand onshore. Therefore, the coral-rubble ridge found at the north shore of Anegada may imply that the island is vulnerable to hurricane-induced surges of greater impact (in relation to storm path and intensity) compared with the any of the recently documented storms which were only able to rework the ridge.

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“…They can be used to assess external controls of (relative) sea level rise, land subsidence, variations in storm impact, and changes in climate and upstream land use (Scheffers et al, 2012;Tamura, 2012 and references therein). They may also include markers left by catastrophic events like volcanic eruptions (Nieuwenhuyse and Kroonenberg, 1994;Nooren et al, 2017) and host soils that are suitable for chronosequence studies (Nielsen et al, 2010;May et al, 2015;Hinojosa et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Usumacinta–Grijalva beach-ridge plain in southern Mexico: a high-resolution archive of river discharge and precipitation

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The beach-ridge sequence of the Usumacinta-Grijalva delta borders a 300 km long section of the southern Gulf of Mexico coast. With around 500 beach ridges formed in the last 6500 years, the sequence is unsurpassed in the world in terms of numbers of individual ridges preserved, continuity of the record, and temporal resolution. We mapped and dated the most extensively accreted part of the sequence, linking six phases of accretion to river mouth reconfigurations and constraining their ages with 14 C and OSL dating. The geomorphological and sedimentological reconstruction relied on lidar data, coring transects, GPR measurements, grain-size analyses, and chemical fingerprinting of volcanic glass and pumice encountered within the beach and dune deposits.We demonstrate that the beach-ridge complex was formed under ample long-term fluvial sediment supply and shorter-term wave-and aeolian-modulated sediment reworking. The abundance of fluvially supplied sand is explained by the presence of easily weatherable Los Chocoyos ignimbrites from the ca. 84 ka eruption of the Atitlán volcano (Guatemala) in the catchment of the Usumacinta River. Autocyclic processes seem responsible for the formation of ridge-swale couplets. Fluctuations in their periodicity (ranging from 6-19 years) are governed by progradation rate, and are therefore not indicative of sea level fluctuations or variability in storm activity. The fine sandy beach ridges are mainly swash built. Ridge elevation, however, is strongly influenced by aeolian accretion during the time the ridge is located next to the beach. Beach-ridge elevation is negatively correlated with progradation rate, which we relate to the variability in sediment supply to the coastal zone, reflecting decadal-scale precipitation changes within the river catchment. In the southern Mexican delta plain, the coastal beach ridges therefore appear to be excellent recorders of hinterland precipitation.

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Beach ridge systems – archives for Holocene coastal events?

Cited by 100 publications

References 67 publications

Technical note: Optimizing the utility of combined GPR, OSL, and LiDAR (GOaL) to extract paleoenvironmental records and decipher shoreline evolution

Technical note: Optimizing the utility of combined GPR, OSL, and LiDAR (GOaL) to extract paleoenvironmental records and decipher shoreline evolution

A coral-rubble ridge as evidence for hurricane overwash, Anegada (British Virgin Islands)

The Usumacinta–Grijalva beach-ridge plain in southern Mexico: a high-resolution archive of river discharge and precipitation

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