HR: 14:15h
AN: OS33A-04    [Abstracts]
TI: An evaluation of the causes of breaching of Hatteras Island by Hurricane Isabel
AU: * Keen, T R
EM: keen@nrlssc.navy.mil
AF: Oceanography Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 United States
AU: Rowley, C
EM: rowley@nrlssc.navy.mil
AF: Oceanography Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 United States
AU: Dykes, J
EM: dykes@nrlssc.navy.mil
AF: Oceanography Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 United States
AB: The processes responsible for incising channels across Hatteras Island, North Carolina, during Hurricane Isabel are investigated using a suite of numerical models. The hindcast wind, wave, and current fields are used to force a three-dimensional numerical sedimentation model. The erosion potential of the coastal sediment transport system is predicted for a grid with a horizontal resolution of approximately 50 m. This erosion potential is compared to the available sand pool comprising the beach-dune system. Penetration of the dunes into the barrier islands is predicted when the erosion potential exceeds the estimated dune-beach volume, whereas breaching is dependent on prior dune erosion and the difference in water levels between the ocean and lagoon sides of the island. The model results compared favorably with aerial photographs taken after landfall.
DE: 1815 Erosion and sedimentation
DE: 3022 Marine sediments--processes and transport
DE: 4219 Continental shelf processes
DE: 4255 Numerical modeling
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly