169
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_11
Chapter 11
A Scientist’s Personal 70-Year Discourse
with Past, Present and Future Coastal
Change
Stanley R. Riggs
Abstract This story tracks the growth and history of a coastal marine scientist and
his efforts to teach coastal dynamics to generations of students and public for over
50 years. It also encapsulates an incredible journey through hundreds of million
years, summarizing the story of oceans and their coastal systems that helped to build
our North American continent. The journey begins in the Pleistocene glacial world
in northern Wisconsin, travels back to the Ordovician beach deposits of the central
Mid-West and to the rocky coasts of the northern Appalachian Mountains of New
England, and then travels forward to the great Cretaceous Sea in the eastern Rocky
Mountain region. However, the core of this story concerns the 200 million year history of the Atlantic Ocean and formation of the southeastern US coastal margin,
characterized by continental shelf, barrier island, estuarine, and riverine systems.
Human occupation of this region, which began over 10 millennia ago, has recently
evolved into a force capable of manipulating and changing the character and processes of modern coastal systems. The story culminates with a discussion of the
“perfect conflict” between expanding human populations and the natural dynamic
nature of our coasts.
Keywords Wisconsin · Glacial topography · Ancient coastal systems · Sea-level
rise · Storms · Barrier islands · Inlet/outlet systems · Drowned river estuaries ·
North Carolina · Outer Banks · Inner Banks
S. R. Riggs (*)
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
e-mail: riggss@ecu.edu
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_11
Chapter 11
A Scientist’s Personal 70-Year Discourse
with Past, Present and Future Coastal
Change
Stanley R. Riggs
Abstract This story tracks the growth and history of a coastal marine scientist and
his efforts to teach coastal dynamics to generations of students and public for over
50 years. It also encapsulates an incredible journey through hundreds of million
years, summarizing the story of oceans and their coastal systems that helped to build
our North American continent. The journey begins in the Pleistocene glacial world
in northern Wisconsin, travels back to the Ordovician beach deposits of the central
Mid-West and to the rocky coasts of the northern Appalachian Mountains of New
England, and then travels forward to the great Cretaceous Sea in the eastern Rocky
Mountain region. However, the core of this story concerns the 200 million year history of the Atlantic Ocean and formation of the southeastern US coastal margin,
characterized by continental shelf, barrier island, estuarine, and riverine systems.
Human occupation of this region, which began over 10 millennia ago, has recently
evolved into a force capable of manipulating and changing the character and processes of modern coastal systems. The story culminates with a discussion of the
“perfect conflict” between expanding human populations and the natural dynamic
nature of our coasts.
Keywords Wisconsin · Glacial topography · Ancient coastal systems · Sea-level
rise · Storms · Barrier islands · Inlet/outlet systems · Drowned river estuaries ·
North Carolina · Outer Banks · Inner Banks
S. R. Riggs (*)
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
e-mail: riggss@ecu.edu