181
discovered the beach and will be here long after the demise of our civilization, hopefully, many, many years into the future. The coastal system is often called “fragile”;
but it really is not. It is the human structures (houses, condominiums, roads, infrastructure, etc.) superimposed on the mobile barriers that are fragile (Figs. 11.8, 11.9,
and 11.10). The fact is that there is no guaranteed permanency to any human structure built on the Outer Banks!
Barrier islands form a sand dam on the ocean side of North Carolina’s drowned
river estuarine system (Fig. 11.3). Inlet/outlet systems cut through the barrier sand
dam. They are called “inlets” because they allow ocean-water from tides and storm
surges to flow in and out of the estuaries along with critical salts, nutrients, and
biota. Equally important is that the inlets let the fresh, river-water flowing off the
land exit into the ocean, hence my terminology, inlet/outlet. In addition, inlets/outlets are self-adjusting safety valves in the barrier island sand dam that open during
storms to let the increased water volume (from heavy rainfall or increased storm
surge) flow either in or out, dependent upon the direction of the wind and the track
of the storm. When the storm and river floods abate, then inlets/outlets return to an
equilibrium point that is dictated by the normal, inter-storm volume of freshwater
input into the estuaries by rivers and the quiet-period natural hydrodynamics of the
system. Thus, an inlet/outlet breathes much like a living organism (in our case, an
imaginary dragon) in direct response to changing storm and discharge conditions
through a given storm event.
Fig. 11.8 Oblique aerial view (2007) looks north along the developed barrier island at Nags Head
with Jockeys Ridge active dune field and Nags Head maritime forest in the undeveloped center of
the island (Atlantic Ocean on the right and Albemarle Sound on the left). Most of this view was a
vast area of sand dunes and maritime forests with scattered beach cottages through the 1970s.
(Image by S.R. Riggs)
11 A Scientist’s Personal 70-Year Discourse with Past, Present and Future Coastal…
discovered the beach and will be here long after the demise of our civilization, hopefully, many, many years into the future. The coastal system is often called “fragile”;
but it really is not. It is the human structures (houses, condominiums, roads, infrastructure, etc.) superimposed on the mobile barriers that are fragile (Figs. 11.8, 11.9,
and 11.10). The fact is that there is no guaranteed permanency to any human structure built on the Outer Banks!
Barrier islands form a sand dam on the ocean side of North Carolina’s drowned
river estuarine system (Fig. 11.3). Inlet/outlet systems cut through the barrier sand
dam. They are called “inlets” because they allow ocean-water from tides and storm
surges to flow in and out of the estuaries along with critical salts, nutrients, and
biota. Equally important is that the inlets let the fresh, river-water flowing off the
land exit into the ocean, hence my terminology, inlet/outlet. In addition, inlets/outlets are self-adjusting safety valves in the barrier island sand dam that open during
storms to let the increased water volume (from heavy rainfall or increased storm
surge) flow either in or out, dependent upon the direction of the wind and the track
of the storm. When the storm and river floods abate, then inlets/outlets return to an
equilibrium point that is dictated by the normal, inter-storm volume of freshwater
input into the estuaries by rivers and the quiet-period natural hydrodynamics of the
system. Thus, an inlet/outlet breathes much like a living organism (in our case, an
imaginary dragon) in direct response to changing storm and discharge conditions
through a given storm event.
Fig. 11.8 Oblique aerial view (2007) looks north along the developed barrier island at Nags Head
with Jockeys Ridge active dune field and Nags Head maritime forest in the undeveloped center of
the island (Atlantic Ocean on the right and Albemarle Sound on the left). Most of this view was a
vast area of sand dunes and maritime forests with scattered beach cottages through the 1970s.
(Image by S.R. Riggs)
11 A Scientist’s Personal 70-Year Discourse with Past, Present and Future Coastal…