Barrier-Island Dynamics

A combination of natural and anthropogenic causes have greatly reduced sediment supply to coasts around the world. This has left barrier islands, and the human populations and natural ecologies they support, especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Combined with accelerated sea-level rise and increased storminess, this is causing many barrier islands to rapidly migrate landward, threatening development on those islands and the backbarrier ecosystems they front. We are investigating the fundamental coastal processes (sea-level change, storms, antecedent substrate, longshore sediment fluxes, inlet dynamics, etc.) on barrier-island stability, with a particular emphasis on the Virginia Barrier Islands of the southern Delmarva Peninsula (USA).

Current Studies

Barrier morphodynamics in response to sea-level rise

Overview: What are the thresholds of barrier-island stability? Why do they switch between phases of erosion, migration, and growth, and what are the implications for backbarrier marshes and lagoons? Studies as part of this project include a test of the relationship between backbarrier marsh loss and barrier migration rates; detailed investigations of the geologic evolution of Gulf of Maine barrier islands, Plum Island, Parramore Island, Cedar Island, and the Chincoteague-Assateague-Wallops island system; and model-based explorations of the role of antecedent substrate, longshore sediment fluxes, and sea-level rise in controlling centennial barrier behavior. Other studies have explored pre-historical and recent tidal-inlet, tidal-flat, and shoreline morphodynamics, such as in the Merrimack River Estuary, at the Merrimack River Inlet, and along Plum Island and Castle Neck (Massachusetts). One of our newest contributions, published in Geomorphology, reviews historical change along the Virginia Barrier Islands, and explores the roles of the responsible mesoscale mechanisms. Our 2022 paper in Nature Geoscience follows this up, using the Virginia barriers as a case study to demonstrate that these dynamics are almost certain to accelerate, even without any additional acceleration in sea-level rise.

The Chincoteague Inlet Modeling Study (CIMS)

Overview: The region surrounding Chincoteague Inlet and adjacent Chincoteague, Assateague, and Wallops islands is a dynamic system experiencing rapid change associated with sediment redistribution (erosion and deposition) and shifting navigation channels. Understanding the rates and causes of sediment movement throughout this system is critical to developing a regional management plan and testing shoreline management strategies that are protective of the Town of Chincoteague, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and the NASA Flight Facility on Wallops Island, and southern Assateague Island. Based on field geologic, sedimentologic, and observational / process data, we have developed a fully functional wave, hydrodynamic, and multi-class sediment-transport numerical model of Chincoteague Inlet and adjacent barrier islands.The CIMS model allows the project team and regional stakeholders to (1) understand the cause of marsh erosion along the southern end of Chincoteague Island.; (2) infer the likely impacts of manipulation of the Wallops or Chincoteague island shorelines; and (3) Predict possible natural changes to Chincoteague Inlet that could inlet marsh erosion, navigation channels, etc. Our two-page Summary for Policymakers details our ongoing modeling and scenario-testing efforts on behalf of the Town of Chincoteague.

Backbarrier sedimentation, inlet responses, and barrier development

Publications

Please feel free to contact us for pdf copies of any of the following publications.  Note: * - student author

Wilson, F.L.G., Klein, A.H.F., Mahiques, M.M., Hein, C.J., de Sousa, L.A.P., Cooper, J.A.G., Green, A., 2023. Holocene barrier overstepping, estuarine rollover and drainage merging in a sub-tropical bay, Marine Geology, v. 462, p. 107076. doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2023.107076

Georgiou, I.Y., Messina, F., Sakib, M.M., Zou, S., Foster-Martinez, M., Bregman, M., Hein, C.J., Fenster, M.S., Shawler, J.L., McPherran, K., Trembanis, A.C., 2023. Hydrodynamics and Sediment-Transport Pathways along a Mixed-Energy Spit-Inlet System: A Modeling Study at Chincoteague Inlet (Virginia, USA), Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, v. 11, p. 1075. doi: 10.3390/jmse11051075.

Mariotti, G., Hein, C.J., 2022. Lag in response of coastal barrier-island retreat to sea-level rise, Nature Geoscience, v. 15, p. 633-638, doi: 10.1038/s41561-022-00980-9

*Robbins, M.G., *Shawler, J.L., Hein, C.J., 2022. Contribution of longshore sand exchanges to mesoscale barrier-island behavior: Insights from the Virginia Barrier Islands, U.S. East Coast. Geomorphology. v. 403, p. 108163. doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108163.

FitzGerald, D.M., Hughes, Z.J., *Staro, A., Hein, C.J., *Sakib, M.M., Georgiou, I.Y., Novak, A., 2022. Following the sand grains, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, v. 10, p. 631. doi: 10.3390/jmse10050631.

*Shawler, J.L., Hein, C.J., *Obara, C.A., *Robbins, M.G., Hout, S., Fenster, M.S., 2021. The effect of coastal landform development on decadal- to millennial-scale longshore sediment fluxes: Evidence from the Holocene evolution of the central mid-Atlantic coast, USA, Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 267, p. 107096, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107096.

*Shawler, J.L., Ciarletta, D.J., Connell, J.E., *Boggs, B.Q., Lorenzo-Trueba, J., Hein, C.J., 2021. Relative influence of antecedent topography and sea-level rise on barrier-island migration, Sedimentology, v. 68, p. 639-669, doi: 10.1111/sed.12798.

*Raff, J.L., *Shawler, J.L., *Ciarletta, D.J., Hein, E.A., Lorenzo-Trueba, J., Hein, C.J., 2018, Insights into barrier-island stability derived from transgressive/regressive state changes of Parramore Island, Virginia, Marine Geology, v. 403, p. 1-19, doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2018.04.007.

FitzGerald, D.M., Hein, C.J., Hughes, Z., Kulp, M., Georgiou, I., Miner, M., 2018, Runaway barrier island transgression concept: global case studies. In: Moore L., Murray A. (eds) Barrier Dynamics and Response to Changing Climate. Springer, Cham, p. 3-56, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-68086-6_1. 

*Fallon, A.R., Hoagland, P., Jin, D., Phalen, B., Fitzsimons, G., Hein, C.J., 2017, Adapting without retreating: Responses to shoreline change on an inlet-associated coastal beach, Coastal Management, v. 45, n. 5, p. 360-383, doi:10.1080/08920753.2017.1345607.

 *Deaton, C.D., Hein, C.J., Kirwan, M.L., 2017, Barrier-island migration dominates ecogeomorphic feedbacks and drives salt marsh loss along the Virginia Atlantic Coast, USA, Geology, v. 45, no. 2, p. 123-126, doi:10.1130/G38459.1.

Hein, C.J., Fitzsimons, G.G., FitzGerald, D.M., ^*Fallon, A.R., 2016, Records of migration and ebb-delta breaching at historic and ancient tidal inlets along a river-fed paraglacial barrier island, Journal of Coastal Research, SI 75, p. 228-232.

*Rogers, L.J., Moore, L.J., Goldstein, E.B., Hein, C.J., Lorenzo-Trueba, J., Ashton, A.D., 2015, Anthropogenic controls on overwash deposition: Evidence and consequences, Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, doi: 10.1002/2015JF003634.

Fallon, A.R., Hein, C.J., Rosen, P.S., Gannon, H.L., 2015. Cyclical shoreline erosion: The impact of a jettied river mouth on the downdrift barrier island, In: Coastal Sediments ’15, Proceedings of the 11^th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes.

Hein, C.J., and Stone, B.D., 2014, Ice, water, and wind: A source-to-sink view of the glacial, paraglacial, and coastal sediments and processes that have shaped northeast Massachusetts, In: Thompson, M., Field Trip Guide for the 106^th Meeting of the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference (NEIGC), Wellesley MA, 10 October 2014, Field Trip A5, 38 p.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., Buynevich, I.V., van Heteren, S., Kelley, J.T., 2014, Evolution of paraglacial coasts in response to changes in fluvial sediment supply, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, 388, doi: 10.1144/SP388.15.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., Barnhardt, W.A., Stone, B.D., 2013, Onshore-offshore surficial geologic map of the Newburyport East and northern half of the Ipswich Quadrangles, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Geological Survey, MGS Geologic Map GM 13-01, 3 sheets. VIEW ON ISSUU: Sheet 1  Sheet 2   Sheet 3

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., *Carruthers, E.A., Stone, B.D., Barnhardt, W.A., Gontz, A.M., 2012, Refining the model of barrier island formation along a paraglacial coast in the Gulf of Maine, Marine Geology, v. 307-310, p. 40-57.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., Stone, B.D., *Carruthers, E.A., Gontz, A.M., 2011, The role of backbarrier infilling in the formation of barrier island systems, In: Kraus, N.C., and Rosati, J.D. (Eds), Coastal Sediments ’11, Proceedings of the 8^th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes, p. 687–690.

Barnhardt, W., Andrews, B., Ackerman, S., Baldwin, W., Hein, C., 2009, High Resolution Geologic Mapping of the Inner Continental Shelf: Cape Ann to Salisbury Beach Massachusetts, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1373, 50 p.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., and Barnhardt, W., 2007, Holocene reworking of a sand sheet in the Merrimack Embayment, Western Gulf of Maine, Journal of Coastal Research, SI 50, p. 863-867.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Barnhardt, W., 2007, Holocene evolution of the Merrimack Embayment, Northern Massachusetts, interpreted from shallow seismic stratigraphy, In: Kraus, N.C., and Rosati, J.D. (Eds), Coastal Sediments ’07, Proceedings of the 6^th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes: New Orleans, LA, 13-17 May, 2007, p. 856-866.

Abstracts & Presentations

For published works, links below will bring you to online versions of recent ppt presentations or posters, or to online abstracts. Or, feel free to contact us for pdf copies of any of the following abstracts or their associated presentations or posters.  Note: * - student author

*Shawler, J.L., Ciarletta, D.J., Connell, J.E., *Boggs, B.Q., Lorenzo-Trueba, J., Hein, C.J., 2020. Relative influence of antecedent topography and sea-level rise on barrier-island migration, Sedimentology. doi: 10.1111/sed.12798.

Hein, C.J., Hoagland, P., Huang, J.-C., Canuel, E.A., Fitzsimons, G., Rosen, P., Shi, W., *Fallon, A.R., *Shawler, J., 2017, Centennial-scale human alterations, unintended natural-system responses, and event-driven mitigation within a coupled fluvial-coastal system: Lessons for collective management and long-term coastal change planning, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.

*Shawler, J., Seminack, C.T., *DeMarco, K.R., Hein, C.J., Petruny, L.M., 2017, Records of coastal change within a progradational, wave-dominated barrier island: Morphostratigraphic framework of the southern recurved spit of Assateague Island, VA, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.

*Ciarletta, D., Lorenzo-Trueba, J., *Tenebruso, C., *Shawler, J.L., Hein, C.J., 2017, Coupled modeling and field approach to explore patterns of barrier ridge and swale development, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.

*Vaughn, J.P., Fenster, M.S. Hein, C.J., *Shawler, J., McFarland, E.R., 2017, Reconstructing the Pleistocene geologic and evolutionary history of Virginia’s Eastern Shore during and following the Sangamonian interglacial period, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.

Hughes, Z.J., Georgiou, I.Y., Gaweesh, A., Hannegan, K., FitzGerald, D., Hein, C.J., 2017, Sediment transport trends in the Great Marsh, MA, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2017.

*Shawler, J., *Raff, J.L., Hein, C.J., 2017, Holocene backbarrier development in response to sea-level rise, antecedent topography, and barrier geomorphic change: Parramore and Cedar islands, Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Geological Society of America Southeast Section Meeting, Richmond, VA, March 2017.

*Raff, J.L., *Shawler, J., *Ciarletta, D.J., Hein, C.J., Hein, E.A., 2017, Barrier island change along the Eastern Shore of Virginia: Insights from a chronological and sedimentological study of Parramore Island, Geological Society of America Southeast Section Meeting, Richmond, VA, March 2017.

Hein, C.J., *Fallon, A.R., FitzGerald, D.M., Fitzsimons, G., 2016, Records of migration and ebb-delta breaching at historic and ancient tidal inlets along a river-fed paraglacial barrier island, International Coastal Symposium (ICS2016), Sydney, Australia, February 2016. 

*Shawler, J., Hein, C.J., 2016, Estuarine records of long-term human impacts on fluvial sediment discharge from a large New England river, Geological Society of America Southeast Section Meeting, Columbia, SC, March 2016.

 Hein, C.J., *Fallon, A.R., FitzGerald, D.M., Fitzsimons, G., 2016, Records of migration and ebb-delta breaching at historic and ancient tidal inlets along a river-fed paraglacial barrier island, International Coastal Symposium (ICS2016), Sydney, Australia, February 2016. 

^*Deaton, C.D., Hein, C.J., Kirwan, M.L., 2015, Barrier island migration, salt marsh loss, and ecogeomorphic feedbacks on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November, 2015.

^*Shawler, J., Hein, C.J., 2015, Multi-Proxy Records of Anthropogenic Impacts on Fluvial Sediment Supply from the Joppa Flats tidal flats, northern MA, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November, 2015.

*Fallon, A.R., Hein, C.J., Rosen, P.S., ^*Gannon, H.L., 2015, Cyclical shoreline erosion: The impact of a jettied river mouth on the downdrift barrier island, Coastal Sediments ’15, San Diego, CA, May, 2015.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., Georgiou, I.Y., Hein, E.A., 2014, INVITED, Coupled Barrier-Backbarrier Dynamics and the Formation and Stability of Barrier-Island Systems, GSA Abs. with Programs, vol. 46, no. 6, abs. 249075.

Hein, C.J. and FitzGerald, D., 2011, The role of backbarrier infilling in the formation of barrier island systems, Coastal Sediments ’11,  2-6 2011, Miami, Florida, USA.

Hein, C.J. and FitzGerald, D., 2011, Barrier evolution in response to inlet closure: An example from a paraglacial barrier system, GSA Abs. with Programs, vol. 43, no 2, p. 24.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., Stone, B.D., *Carruthers, E.A., Gontz, A.M., 2009, The Role of Backbarrier Filling in the Evolution of a Barrier Island System, Eos Transactions, AGU, Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract EP43A-060.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., *Carruthers, E.A., Stone, B.D., 2009, Tidal Prism Reduction, Backbarrier Infilling, and Inlet Closure: The Formation of the Plum Island, MA Barrier System in Response to Slow Sea-Level Rise, Northeast Shore and Beach Preservation Association Meeting, Woods Hole, MA, 22 September 2009.

Hein, C.J., *Carruthers, E.A., FitzGerald, D.M., Barnhardt, W., Stone, B.D, 2009, Evolution of a Barrier System in Response to Slow Sea Level Rise and Backbarrier Infilling: Plum Island, Massachusetts, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention and Exhibition, 9 June 2009.

Hein, C.J., *Carruthers, E.A., FitzGerald, D.M., Barnhardt, W., Stone, B.D, 2009, Development of the Plum Island, MA Barrier System in response to Slow Sea Level Rise. GSA Abs. with Programs, vol. 41, no 3, p. 85.  

*Carruthers, E.A., Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Stone, B.D., *Ellison, M.S., 2008, Redefining the Model of Barrier Island Formation Along a Paraglacial Coast: Plum Island, MA, GSA Abs. with Programs, vol. 40, No. 6, p. 158.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Stone, B.D., *Ellison, M.S., *Carruthers, E.A., 2008, Formation and Evolution of a Paraglacial Barrier System: Plum Island, MA, Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, 24 April 2008.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Barnhardt, W., 2007, Patterns and Mechanisms in Sediment Transport Processes Inferred from Geophysical and Sedimentological Surveys Offshore of the Merrimack River, Northern Massachusetts, Coastal Sediments ’07: New Orleans, LA, May, 2007.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Barnhardt, W., 2007, Holocene reworking of a sand sheet in the Merrimack Embayment, Western Gulf of Maine, International Coastal Symposium 2007: Gold Coast, Australia, 16-20 April, 2007.

Barnhardt, W., Andrews, B., Ackerman, S., Baldwin, W., Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., 2007, Geologic framework of the Massachusetts inner continental shelf: Preliminary results of seafloor mapping, GSA Abstracts with Programs, vol. 39, No. 1, p. 81.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Barnhardt, W., 2006, Holocene Sedimentological Evolution of the Merrimack River Paleo-Delta; And Speculation for Future Sediment Contributions to the Onshore Barrier System, Association of Engineering Geologists: Annual Conference, Boston, MA, 3 November, 2006.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Barnhardt, W., 2006, Reworking of a Submerged Fluviodeltaic sequence in the Merrimack Embayment, Western Gulf of Maine, GSA Abs. with Programs, vol. 38, No. 7, p. 376.

Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D., Barnhardt, W., 2006, Holocene Sedimentological Evolution of the Merrimack Embayment, Western Gulf of Maine. GSA Abstracts with Programs, vol. 38, No. 2, p. 28.