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Beginnings
I’m a coastal and marine geologist and have been for 70 years (although I did not
realize that is what I would do right at the beginning of my career). Why have I
devoted my working life to this endeavor? Why is coastal and marine geology of
relevance to all people? In this chapter I will attempt to answer these questions, tell
you about the science I have conducted with my many colleagues and students, and
explain how our understanding of the coastal system of North Carolina, USA
(Fig. 11.1), has changed through time as we have accumulated more and more scientific data.
Growing Up in Wisconsin’s Land of Lakes
I grew up in the north woods of Wisconsin, USA and spent untold hours messing
about in the unique waterways and hiking through the hills and forests. On one
occasion I found a large and extremely heavy, bright green rock in the bank of a
gravel pit. I knew I had found an incredible treasure. I carried it precariously on the
handlebars of my new bike, and rode directly to the local natural history museum, a
block from my house in Green Bay. This valuable green boulder opened the door to
the world for me.
Fig. 11.1 Oblique aerial view (2007) looking southwest along North Core Banks, North Carolina
(the northern part of the barrier island between Ocracoke Island and Cape Lookout on Fig. 11.3)
showing the complex set of barrier island environments from the Atlantic Ocean beach on the left
to a vast algal flat and back-barrier marsh system on the right. (Image by S.R. Riggs)
S. R. Riggs
Beginnings
I’m a coastal and marine geologist and have been for 70 years (although I did not
realize that is what I would do right at the beginning of my career). Why have I
devoted my working life to this endeavor? Why is coastal and marine geology of
relevance to all people? In this chapter I will attempt to answer these questions, tell
you about the science I have conducted with my many colleagues and students, and
explain how our understanding of the coastal system of North Carolina, USA
(Fig. 11.1), has changed through time as we have accumulated more and more scientific data.
Growing Up in Wisconsin’s Land of Lakes
I grew up in the north woods of Wisconsin, USA and spent untold hours messing
about in the unique waterways and hiking through the hills and forests. On one
occasion I found a large and extremely heavy, bright green rock in the bank of a
gravel pit. I knew I had found an incredible treasure. I carried it precariously on the
handlebars of my new bike, and rode directly to the local natural history museum, a
block from my house in Green Bay. This valuable green boulder opened the door to
the world for me.
Fig. 11.1 Oblique aerial view (2007) looking southwest along North Core Banks, North Carolina
(the northern part of the barrier island between Ocracoke Island and Cape Lookout on Fig. 11.3)
showing the complex set of barrier island environments from the Atlantic Ocean beach on the left
to a vast algal flat and back-barrier marsh system on the right. (Image by S.R. Riggs)
S. R. Riggs