Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USA
The relationship between lateral erosion of salt marshes and wind waves is studied in Hog Island Bay, Virginia USA, with high-resolution field measurements and aerial photographs. Marsh retreat is compared to wave climate calculated in the bay using the spectral wave-model Simulating Waves Nearshore...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/3/3/1041 |
| _version_ | 1818946046037852160 |
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| author | Anthony M. Priestas Giulio Mariotti Nicoletta Leonardi Sergio Fagherazzi |
| author_facet | Anthony M. Priestas Giulio Mariotti Nicoletta Leonardi Sergio Fagherazzi |
| author_sort | Anthony M. Priestas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The relationship between lateral erosion of salt marshes and wind waves is studied in Hog Island Bay, Virginia USA, with high-resolution field measurements and aerial photographs. Marsh retreat is compared to wave climate calculated in the bay using the spectral wave-model Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN). We confirm the existence of a linear relationship between long-term salt marsh erosion and wave energy, and show that wave power can serve as a good proxy for average salt-marsh erosion rates. At each site, erosion rates are consistent across several temporal scales, ranging from months to decades, and are strongly related to wave power. On the contrary, erosion rates vary in space and weakly depend on the spatial distribution of wave energy. We ascribe this variability to spatial variations in geotechnical, biological, and morphological marsh attributes. Our detailed field measurements indicate that at a small spatial scale (tens of meters), a positive feedback between salt marsh geometry and wave action causes erosion rates to increase with boundary sinuosity. However, at the scale of the entire marsh boundary (hundreds of meters), this relationship is reversed: those sites that are more rapidly eroding have a marsh boundary which is significantly smoother than the marsh boundary of sheltered and slowly eroding marshes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:08:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0252beb5cfc74b868a603ee2d346b4fd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:08:47Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-0252beb5cfc74b868a603ee2d346b4fd2022-12-21T19:47:19ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122015-09-01331041106510.3390/jmse3031041jmse3031041Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USAAnthony M. Priestas0Giulio Mariotti1Nicoletta Leonardi2Sergio Fagherazzi3Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Ave Boston, MA 02215, USADepartment of Earth and Environment, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Ave Boston, MA 02215, USADepartment of Earth and Environment, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Ave Boston, MA 02215, USADepartment of Earth and Environment, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Ave Boston, MA 02215, USAThe relationship between lateral erosion of salt marshes and wind waves is studied in Hog Island Bay, Virginia USA, with high-resolution field measurements and aerial photographs. Marsh retreat is compared to wave climate calculated in the bay using the spectral wave-model Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN). We confirm the existence of a linear relationship between long-term salt marsh erosion and wave energy, and show that wave power can serve as a good proxy for average salt-marsh erosion rates. At each site, erosion rates are consistent across several temporal scales, ranging from months to decades, and are strongly related to wave power. On the contrary, erosion rates vary in space and weakly depend on the spatial distribution of wave energy. We ascribe this variability to spatial variations in geotechnical, biological, and morphological marsh attributes. Our detailed field measurements indicate that at a small spatial scale (tens of meters), a positive feedback between salt marsh geometry and wave action causes erosion rates to increase with boundary sinuosity. However, at the scale of the entire marsh boundary (hundreds of meters), this relationship is reversed: those sites that are more rapidly eroding have a marsh boundary which is significantly smoother than the marsh boundary of sheltered and slowly eroding marshes.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/3/3/1041salt-marsh erosionwind-waveswave modeling |
| spellingShingle | Anthony M. Priestas Giulio Mariotti Nicoletta Leonardi Sergio Fagherazzi Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USA Journal of Marine Science and Engineering salt-marsh erosion wind-waves wave modeling |
| title | Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USA |
| title_full | Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USA |
| title_fullStr | Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USA |
| title_short | Coupled Wave Energy and Erosion Dynamics along a Salt Marsh Boundary, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, USA |
| title_sort | coupled wave energy and erosion dynamics along a salt marsh boundary hog island bay virginia usa |
| topic | salt-marsh erosion wind-waves wave modeling |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/3/3/1041 |
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