HR: 09:20h
AN: C11A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Spatial Analysis of Coastal Erosion over Five Decades near Barrow, Alaska
AU: * Manley, W F
EM: William.Manley@colorado.edu
AF: Univ. of Colorado, INSTAAR, Boulder, CO 80309-0450 United States
AB: There has been increasing interest in processes affecting Arctic coastlines, including shoreline erosion. The prospect of continued -- and possibly accelerated -- coastal erosion is a major concern for many Arctic communities. Documenting and understanding spatial variability in erosion rates are increasingly attainable as high-resolution imagery becomes available, and as GIS and remote-sensing tools are more widely accepted. This study presents such an analysis for a broad area near Barrow, Alaska. Shoreline erosion and accretion were quantified by comparison of coregistered datasets and imagery. Orthorectified Radar Imagery (ORRI) was acquired in July, 2002 at 1.25 m resolution. Twenty frames of aerial photos from August, 1955 were scanned and georectified to the ORRI using a polynomial transformation in ArcGIS, with resulting resolution of about 1.4 m and RMS error of 2.6 m. The 2002 and 1955 shorelines were digitized with points spaced every 20 m along the 250 km of mainland coastline. For barrier islands and the Barrow Spit, the 1955 coastline was digitized from DRG files depicting the USGS 15-minute maps. Using a variety of vector ArcInfo commands, horizontal displacement of the mainland shoreline was converted to erosion and accretion rates for the intervening 47 years. (Note that time-averaged rates will underrepresent episodically high rates during storm events). Overall error considering georectification, digitizing, and transient waterline shifts due to microtidal fluctuation and wave-set up is approx. 3.1 m for the mainland coast, equating with 0.07 m/yr. For barrier features, where the DRG's are less accurate, error is about 28 m (0.6 m/yr). Nearly all of the mainland coast (91%) has experienced erosion. Highly variable, rates average -0.91 m/yr, with an average horizontal shoreline displacement of -42.5 m. (Rates and displacements are negative for erosion). Relatively low rates of about -0.3 m/yr occur along the Chukchi coast, where sand- and gravel-dominated beaches are backed by bluffs up to 15 m high. Rates are higher along the low coastal plain facing Elson Lagoon, exceeding -5 m/yr near Scott, Ross, and Christie Points, before decreasing again in the sheltered waters of inner Admiralty Bay. Rates also decrease within small bays and inlets. Lateral accretion from 1955 to 2002 is uncommon, limited to short stretches of widening beach along the Chukchi coast, and isolated progradation or shifting of small nearshore spits and bars. Immediately adjacent to Barrow, the shoreline has eroded -0.2 to -0.8 m/yr, in agreement with a higher-resolution, related study, whereas the beach near the NARL/UIC complex has prograded on average +0.3 m/yr. The narrow offshore barrier islands have migrated considerably, with an average horizontal shift of 205 m. Although erosion over five decades has been locally variable, a few patterns emerge. High bluffs and coarse beach sediment help protect the Chukchi shoreline, whereas low coastal bluffs exposing ice-rich, peaty soils are susceptible along the Beaufort coast. Beyond bluff height and shoreface lithologies, fetch plays an important role, with the inner portions of bays and inlets protected at a variety of scales. Erosion appears to be more pronounced where ice-wedge polygons are strongly developed within mature thaw-lake basins. Near Barrow, human activities in the nearshore zone have played a role, and erosion is a concern -- even though it occurs there more slowly than the region as a whole. The importance of extreme weather events, and the possibility of accelerated change due to warming and decreasing summer sea ice, will be examined as other imagery improves the temporal resolution for analysis.
DE: 9315 Arctic region
DE: 3020 Littoral processes
DE: 1699 General or miscellaneous
DE: 1815 Erosion and sedimentation
DE: 1824 Geomorphology (1625)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting