Mid-Atlantic Microtidal Barrier Coast Classification.
Abstract
Data for twenty-seven geomorphic and coastal-process attributes were collected at 1-km intervals for 800 kilometers of the mid-Atlantic barrier coast between Cape Henlopen, Delaware, and the North Carolina-South Carolina border. Correlation and principal component analysis was run on fifteen of these attributes in an attempt to classify the coast. Local subregions (between 55 km and 190 km in length) showed organization and interrelationships. These relationships are not as clear when the entire 800-km data set is considered in the same analysis, indicating that coastal geomorphic and process systems are in adjustment to local environmental conditions to a greater extent than they are to regional conditions. The large number of variables resulted in a classification of the mid-Atlantic coast into twenty-four distinct barrier types based on process and morphology. A coarser classification of the area identifies seven types based on attributes of coastal strike, sediment size, offshore slope, wave frequency, shoreline erosion, inlet frequency, and offshore bars. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA128994
Entities
People
- Bruce P. Hayden
- Jacob H. Kahn
- Paul F. May
- R. Craig Kochel
- Robert Dolan
Organizations
- University of Virginia