Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical and Environmental Geography

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Modeling Shoreline Change And Resulting Wetland Response Due To Erosion And Sea-Level Rise: A Case Study In Dorchester County, Maryland, Mirtha Karinna Nunez Jan 2010

Modeling Shoreline Change And Resulting Wetland Response Due To Erosion And Sea-Level Rise: A Case Study In Dorchester County, Maryland, Mirtha Karinna Nunez

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The present study was focused on developing a shoreline change forecast and wetland response model for Dorchester County, MD, to evaluate the vulnerability of wetlands to shoreline erosion and inundation due to relative sea level rise. The model considers the following forces involved in wetland stability and sustainability: inundation (as a function of topography and sea-level rise), shoreline erosion, vertical accretion and horizontal migration. To predict the long-term risk to nearshore wetlands and the potential habitat zone for wetlands in the next 50 years, shoreline change due to inundation and erosion/accretion was assessed within the frameworks of two-dimensional and three-dimensional …


Quantifying The Overwash Component Of Barrier Island Morphodynamics: Onslow Beach, Nc, Amy C. Foxgrover Jan 2009

Quantifying The Overwash Component Of Barrier Island Morphodynamics: Onslow Beach, Nc, Amy C. Foxgrover

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

A quantification of the role that barrier island overwash plays in the evolution of Onslow Beach, a barrier island located on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is presented. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and sediment vibracores provide an estimate of the relevant-sand prism above a silty/peat contact underlying the island. The average thickness from the surface, as determined from lidar, to this geologically-defined base, is less than 1 m and equates a total volume of approximately 1.8 ± 1.1 × 106 m3 over the 4.8 km stretch of Onslow Beach from 1 km north of the New River Inlet to …


Variability In Geologic Framework And Shoreline Change: Assateague And Wallops Islands, Eastern Shore Of Virginia, Geoffrey L. Wikel Jan 2008

Variability In Geologic Framework And Shoreline Change: Assateague And Wallops Islands, Eastern Shore Of Virginia, Geoffrey L. Wikel

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Coastal Zone Landscape Classification Using Remote Sensing And Model Development, Kevin R. Slocum Jan 2002

Coastal Zone Landscape Classification Using Remote Sensing And Model Development, Kevin R. Slocum

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Coastal zone landscape characterization and empirical model development were evaluated using multi-spectral airborne imagery. Collectively, four projects are described that address monitoring and classification issues common to the resource management community. Chapter 1 discusses opportunities for remote sensing. Chapter 2 examines spectral and spatial image resolution requirements, as well as training sample selection methods required for accurate landscape classification. Classification accuracy derived from 25nm imagery with 4m pixel sizes outperformed 70nm imagery with 1m pixel sizes. Eight natural and five cultural landscape features were tested for classification accuracy. Chapter 3 investigated the ability to characterize 1m multispectral imagery into rank-ordered …


Sediment Budgets, Estuarine Sediment Loads, And Wetland Sediment Storage At Watershed Scales, York River Watershed, Virginia, Julie D. Herman Jan 2001

Sediment Budgets, Estuarine Sediment Loads, And Wetland Sediment Storage At Watershed Scales, York River Watershed, Virginia, Julie D. Herman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Three separate but related aspects of sediment allocation in a river/estuarine system were examined. The main purpose was to compare sediment budgets for a series of eleven nested sub-watersheds as a function of watershed size, ranging from 65 to 6900 km2. The approach quantified six budget components: upland erosion; stream bank erosion; colluvial storage; wetland storage; stream channel erosion and storage; and sediment flux at the outlets. Three budgets were developed for each sub-watershed to examine the relative proportions of budget components, budget sensitivity (the influence of individual components on the overall budget), and the uncertainty of budget components. The …


Application Of The Shoreline Instability Model Along The Western Side Of The Chesapeake Bay, Va, Kevin G. Skunda Jan 2000

Application Of The Shoreline Instability Model Along The Western Side Of The Chesapeake Bay, Va, Kevin G. Skunda

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


A Two-Component Aggregation Model, Thomas A. Chisholm Jr Jan 1999

A Two-Component Aggregation Model, Thomas A. Chisholm Jr

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

An aggregation model which allows specification of primary particle size, density, and fractal dimension for two different particle types was written. Three stickiness values are used, the stickiness of each particle type to itself and the stickiness between particle types. Aggregation mechanisms considered include differential settling and turbulent shear. The model is used in three forms. In its simplest form, it operates on a closed system with aggregates breaking up when their size approaches the Kolmogorov scale. If the system begins with two types of primary particles, larger aggregates have uniform composition. A second version of the model includes removal …


Relative Risk Assessment For Cape Hatteras National Seashore, John Cary Buie Jan 1996

Relative Risk Assessment For Cape Hatteras National Seashore, John Cary Buie

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Quantification Of Tidal Creek Network Patterns Using Fractal Methods, David C. Fugate Jan 1996

Quantification Of Tidal Creek Network Patterns Using Fractal Methods, David C. Fugate

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Error Analysis In Tidal Wetland Inventory Change Detection: Comparison Of Historical Mapped Wetlands Of The Achilles Quadrangle Between 1976 To 1989, Stacy A. C. Nelson Jan 1995

Error Analysis In Tidal Wetland Inventory Change Detection: Comparison Of Historical Mapped Wetlands Of The Achilles Quadrangle Between 1976 To 1989, Stacy A. C. Nelson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


High-Resolution Seismic Stratigraphy Of The Ganges-Brahmaputra River System: Subaqueous Deltaic Progradation On The Bengal Shelf, Beth Michele Levy Jan 1995

High-Resolution Seismic Stratigraphy Of The Ganges-Brahmaputra River System: Subaqueous Deltaic Progradation On The Bengal Shelf, Beth Michele Levy

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Hardwood Forest In The Coastal Plain Of Virginia East Of The Suffolk Scarp, Penelope Williams Cazier Jan 1992

Hardwood Forest In The Coastal Plain Of Virginia East Of The Suffolk Scarp, Penelope Williams Cazier

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Late Cenozoic Landforms, Stratigraphy And History Of Sea Level Oscillations Of Southeastern Virginia And Northeastern North Carolina, Pamela Crowson Peebles Jan 1984

Late Cenozoic Landforms, Stratigraphy And History Of Sea Level Oscillations Of Southeastern Virginia And Northeastern North Carolina, Pamela Crowson Peebles

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

A depositional model accounting for the stratigraphic sequences which accumulate during a marine transgression across a dissected coastal plain aids in understanding the geologic history of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Application of this model to the Shirley Formation (middle Pleistocene) and the Sedgefield and Lynnhaven members of the Tabb Formation (late Pleistocene) allows delineation of (1) the facies within, (2) the areal extent of, and (3) the landforms associated with these lithostratigraphic units. Facies within each lithostratigraphic unit consist of (1) a vertical succession from local, basal, channel-fill deposits and coarse, basal, lag deposits which grade upward into …


Historical Evolution Of Coastal Sand Dunes On Currituck Spit, Virginia/North Carolina, Harold F. Hennigar Jan 1979

Historical Evolution Of Coastal Sand Dunes On Currituck Spit, Virginia/North Carolina, Harold F. Hennigar

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Development And Application Of Pleistocene Sea Level Curve To The Coastal Plain Of Southeastern Virginia, Linda R. Zellmer Jan 1979

Development And Application Of Pleistocene Sea Level Curve To The Coastal Plain Of Southeastern Virginia, Linda R. Zellmer

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


The Interaction Of Eolian Sand Transport, Vegetation, And Dune Geomorphology: Currituck Spit, Virginia-North Carolina, Andrew L. Gutman Jan 1978

The Interaction Of Eolian Sand Transport, Vegetation, And Dune Geomorphology: Currituck Spit, Virginia-North Carolina, Andrew L. Gutman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


A Mathematical Model Of Chincoteague Bay, Virginia, John Joseph Vaccaro Jan 1976

A Mathematical Model Of Chincoteague Bay, Virginia, John Joseph Vaccaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.