Ts. Roessler et Jt. Wells, Beach changes along eastern Bogue Banks, North Carolina, resulting from the 1996 hurricane season, J COAST RES, 17(4), 2001, pp. 964-975
Thirteen permanent beach transects established prior to the 1996 hurricane
season were used to evaluate the effects of two hurricanes on erosion and a
ccretion rates along eastern Bogue Banks, North Carolina. Monthly monitorin
g for nearly two years showed that erosion patterns exhibited considerable
variability and were highly influenced by the hurricanes. Whereas severely
eroded sections of beach, up to 20.4 m (53.2 m(3)/m), had not recovered 1.5
yr after the hurricanes, the areas that accreted immediately following the
two storms, up to 17.7 m (12.6 m(3)/m), remained stable. Application of a
numerical model, REF/DIF 1 v. 2.51, was used to test the effects of offshor
e bathymetry on beach response to the hurricanes. Model results showed that
predicted gradients in longshore current velocities correlated well with e
rosion rates during the two storms.