| Hurricane
Isabel and Shore Erosion in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland |
page 3 of 1, 2,
3, 4, 5 ,6, 7, 8 |
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Shore
Erosion in Chesapeake Bay |
| For its size, Maryland has
an inordinately long shoreline, with
6,776 miles bordering the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Based
on changes in shoreline position over a recent 50-year period, the
2,182 miles of shoreline along the Bay's Western Shore retreat at an
average annual rate of 0.52 ft/yr. The Western Shore thus loses about
137acres/year to shore erosion
The effects of long- and short-term climatic changes and events
drive shore erosion. Over the long-term, fluctuations in sea level
establish the water level at which erosive forces operate. Over the
short-term, winds, particularly those associated with storms, propel
the waves that impinge on the shore. Tied to storms, erosion is
episodic. Unlike open ocean coastlines, the Bay shoreline tends not to
recover from these events.
Shoreline change occurs, not just at the line of contact between
land and water, but within a broader zone that extends for some
distance both offshore and onshore. In addition to wearing away
fastland, shore erosion operates in the nearshore to the base of wave
action, that is, at water depths up to about 8 ft. In any given year, an
estimated 2.0 million metric tonnes of sediment are eroded from
fastland bordering the Maryland Chesapeake Bay [8].
|
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| Fastland Erosion |
The erosion of fastland
and its contribution of sediment into the Bay |
| 8. T. Cronin, J. Halka,
S. Phillips, and O. Bricker,. 2003, in M. Langland, and T. Cronin (eds.),
U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03- 4123, pp. 49-60 |
