Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Rollover, Drowning, And Discontinuous Retreat: Distinct Modes Of Barrier Response To Sea-Level Rise Arising From A Simple Morphodynamic Model, Jorge Lorenzo Trueba, Andrew Dale Ashton

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We construct a simple morphodynamic model to investigate the long-term dynamic evolution of a coastal barrier system experiencing sea-level rise. Using a simplified barrier geometry, the model includes a dynamic shoreface profile that can be out of equilibrium and explicitly treats barrier sediment overwash as a flux. With barrier behavior primarily controlled by the maximum potential overwash flux and the rate of shoreface response, the modeled barrier system demonstrates four primary behaviors: height drowning, width drowning, constant landward retreat, and a periodic retreat. Height drowning occurs when overwash fluxes are insufficient to maintain the landward migration rate required to keep …