Coastal impacts due to

sea level rise

Presented by:

Isis López –Graduate Student Environmental Sciences UPR-RP

Eva Holupchinski - Graduate Student Environmental Sciences UPR-RP

Authors: Duncan M. FitzGerald, Michael S. Fenster, Britt A. Argow, Ilya V.

Buynevich

Contents

About the authors

Sea level rise introduction

Paper summary

Discussion

About the authors

Authors

Duncan M. FitzGerald

Department of Earth Sciences,

Boston University,

Massachusetts

Shallow marine geology

Hydraulics and sediment

transport characteristics

Tidal inlets

Estuaries

Michael S. Fenster

Environmental Studies

Program, Randolph-Macon

College, Ashland, Virginia

Morphodynamic changes to

beaches and tidal inlets

Caused by:

storms

climate change

Authors

Britt A. Argow

Geosciences Department,

Wellesley College, Wellesley,

Massachusetts

Salt marsh processes in a

regime of rising sea level

Ilya V. Buynevich

Geology and Geophysics

Department, Woods Hole

Oceanographic Institution,

Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Coastal morphodynamics

Sedimentology

Stratigraphy

Sea Level Rise

(SLR)

Drivers- Sea level rise

Sea level

Function of ocean surface

Ocean surface controlled by:

Volume of ocean water

Volume of ocean basins

Distribution of ocean water

Factors of SLR rate

Sea level rise

Sea level rise

Sea level rising 3.1 mm (± 0.7) per year

Global warming thermal expansion (1.6 mm)

By end of century, IPCC estimates 0.18m – 0.59m SLR

High coastal populations

10% of population live in coastal regions at ≤10m

elevations

Habitat loss

Paper Summary

How will SLR affect

Barrier islands

Marshes

Tidal inlets

Barrier/marsh/inlet system

Barrier islands

Barrier islands

A long, narrow island lying parallel and close to mainland

15% world coastland

Ecological services

Protects mainland from

Erosion

Storms

Shoreline retreat

Barrier island migration

Barrier islands

Long-term erosion of

this barrier has led to a

continuous thin sand

sheet transgressing

over the marsh.

SLR- Barrier islands

1. Migrating landward

2. Fragmenting

Washover

Tidal inlet formation

Windblown sand/ dune migration

3. Disintegration

Depends on rate of sand loss

Type of backbarrier setting

Marshes

Marsh

Transitional zone between tidal flats and uplands

Delicate balances between:

accretion + subsidence

bioproductivity + decomposition

erosion + vegetative stabilization

tidal prism + drainage efficiency

Marshes

SLR - Marshes

Highly susceptible to drowning if SLR accelerates

To maintain existence

Must import inorganic sediment

Produce organic material

Tidal inlets

Tidal inlets

Openings along barrier island chains

Ocean water penetrates to the land

Provide a connection between the ocean and back-

barrier

Bays

Lagoons

Marsh and tidal creek systems

Formation of inlets

SLR- Tidal Inlets

Formation of new inlets

Widening

SLR - Summary points

SLR

• 3.1 mm/yr

• 50% due to thermal expansion

Barrier Islands

• Migration landward, fragmentation, disintegration

Marshes

• Sedimentation changes, drowning and loss

Tidal Inlets

• Develop over barriers, widen

Discussion

Discussion Question 1

If SLR continues as its current rate, how will the

changes to tidal inlets affect barrier islands?

Discussion Question 2

How will SLR affect tourism in Puerto Rico?

Discussion Question 3

How will SLR affect the tropics in general?

Reference

New Oxford American English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.

Duncan M. FitzGerald. Boston University Earth & Environment. n.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept 2014.

Michael Fenster. Randolph-Macon College. n.p., 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 6 Sept 2014.

Britt Argow. Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Center for Coastal Resources Management. Garden Club

Scholarship. n.p, September 2013. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.

Ilya V. Buynevich. MBLWHOI Library. Connected Village Research Gateway & Expert Finder of the Wood Hole

Scientific Community. n.p, n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.

FitzGerald, Duncan M. Fenster, Michael S. Argow, Britt A. and Buynevich, Ilya V. “Coastal Impacts Due to Sea-

Level Rise” Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 2008. 36:601–47. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.

Coopera, Andrew. Pilkeyb, Orrin. “Sea-level rise and shoreline retreat: time to abandon the Bruun Rule” Global

and Planetary Change 43 (2004) 157 – 171. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.