Geology topics

Jorge Lorenzo-Trueba

Publications and source records attributed to Jorge Lorenzo-Trueba.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2023

The evolution of natural and developed barriers under accelerating sea levels

Communities residing on barrier islands depend upon the ability of barriers to withstand forcings such as waves, sea-level rise, and storms, particularly under stresses from climate change. Using a barrier island evolution model, we compare barrier response to linear versus accelerating sea-level rise. Results suggest that barriers are more likely to drown under accelerating rather than linear sea-level rise. The dominant style of barrier drowning also shifts from width drowning to height drowning. When our model of barrier evolution is coupled with a myopic economic decision-making model for beach nourishment and managed retreat, the general coastal management behavior is unchanged. However, the timing and position at which interventions are made differ. Therefore, decisions based on the assumption of constant sea-level rise rates rather than increasing rates may result in actions that are detrimental to communities and potentially reduce the barrier’s ability to maintain its subaerial landform.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2023

Exploring centennial barrier-inlet evolution: Insights from undeveloped and developed phases at Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey

This study aims to identify the natural processes and the subsequent responses to coastal engineering and development on the alongshore evolution of the IB-BI-LBI inlet-barrier system. The primary focus will be the quantification of barrier island and inlet sediment partitioning at decadal to centennial timescales, from 1839-1941. We analyze historical alongshore evolution and track coastal engineering efforts at the Island Beach–Barnegat Inlet–Long Beach Island, NJ barrier-inlet system, which has transitioned from natural to highly developed over the past 180 years. We build a quantitative mass-balance framework that tracks sediment reservoir volumes and transport fluxes within the barrier-inlet system to describe both the natural and developed alongshore evolution of this system. We find that minor coastal engineering efforts, including the construction of small-scale wood and stone jetties, not only shift sediment transport locally, but also shift system-wide sediment transport based on inlet-barrier island interactions and sediment partitioning. Better understanding these different modes of past evolution can help to guide coastal management strategies as beach nourishment increases in cost, sea level-rise accelerates, and extreme storm patterns change.

New Jersey↗

USGS2022

Undeveloped and developed phases in the centennial evolution of a barrier-marsh-lagoon system: The case of Long Beach Island, New Jersey

Barrier islands and their associated backbarrier environments protect mainland population centers and infrastructure from storm impacts, support biodiversity, and provide long-term carbon storage, among other ecosystem services. Despite their socio-economic and ecological importance, the response of coupled barrier-marsh-lagoon environments to sea-level rise is poorly understood. Undeveloped barrier-marsh-lagoon systems typically respond to sea-level rise through the process of landward migration, driven by storm overwash and landward mainland marsh expansion. Such response, however, can be affected by human development and engineering activities such as lagoon dredging and shoreline stabilization. To better understand the difference in the response between developed and undeveloped barrier-marsh-lagoon environments to sea-level rise, we perform a local morphologic analysis that describes the evolution of Long Beach Island (LBI), New Jersey, over the last 182 years. We find that between 1840 and 1934 the LBI system experienced landward migration of all five boundaries, including 171 meters of shoreline retreat. Between the 1920s and 1950s, however, there was a significant shift in system behavior that coincided with the onset of groin construction, which was enhanced by beach nourishment and lagoon dredging practices. From 1934 to 2022 the LBI system experienced ~22 meters of shoreline progradation and a rapid decline in marsh platform extent. Additionally, we extend a morphodynamic model to describe the evolution of the system in terms of five geomorphic boundaries: the ocean shoreline and backbarrier-marsh interface, the seaward and landward lagoon-marsh boundaries, and the landward limit of the inland marsh. We couple this numerical modeling effort with the map analysis during the undeveloped phase of LBI evolution, between 1840 and 1934. Despite its simplicity, the modeling framework can describe the average cross-shore evolution of the barrier-marsh-lagoon system during this period without accounting for human landscape modifications, supporting the premise that natural processes were the key drivers of morphological change. Overall, these results suggest that anthropogenic effects have played a major role in the evolution of LBI over the past century by altering overwash fluxes and marsh-lagoon geometry; this is likely the case for other barrier-marsh-lagoon environments around the world.

New Jersey↗

USGS2020

Relative influence of antecedent topography and sea-level rise on barrier-island migration

The response of barrier islands to sea-level rise is modulated by combinations of coastal processes, eco-geomorphic feedbacks, and structural controls, such as antecedent topography. Interactions among these drivers can lead to complex and non-linear changes in island morphology and transitions between migrational, erosional, or progradational states. This study seeks to constrain the morphologic consequences of barrier islands migrating across complex antecedent topography in response to rising sea level. The stratigraphy of four barrier-backbarrier systems along the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast informs idealized geometries of diverse antecedent substrate. These outcomes are integrated into a cross-shore morphodynamic model of barrier-island migration to quantify the influence of this antecedent geology on barrier-retreat behavior. Additionally, this study explores the future response of specific barrier islands to various rates of sea-level rise over multi-decadal to millennial timescales. The results show antecedent substrate slope plays a central role in barrier morphodynamic behaviour. In particular, migration across a subaqueous backbarrier ridge (e.g., coastal barrier or dune deposits from earlier sea-level highstands) can cause a succession of phase changes in a modern island. For example, the case studies illustrate the steep slopes and decreased backbarrier accommodation associated with antecedent highs greater than 3 m in profile can greatly reduce island migration rates, effectively “pinning” the island in place, even with sea-level rise rates up to 6 mm yr-1. However, once the island migrates over the high, backbarrier accommodation increases, leading to enhanced overwash fluxes, more rapid landward migration, and possible drowning. Additionally, the results indicate that antecedent substrate may slow barrier-island migration by providing sediment through both shoreface and inlet processes. The field and modelling insights from this study are presented as a conceptual model of the relative influence of various antecedent features on barrier-island dynamics along sandy, siliciclastic coasts.

Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia↗

USGS2017

Natural and human-induced variability in barrier-island response to sea level rise

Storm-driven sediment fluxes onto and behind barrier islands help coastal barrier systems keep pace with sea level rise (SLR). Understanding what controls cross-shore sediment flux magnitudes is critical for making accurate forecasts of barrier response to increased SLR rates. Here, using an existing morphodynamic model for barrier island evolution, observations are used to constrain model parameters and explore potential variability in future barrier behavior. Using modeled drowning outcomes as a proxy for vulnerability to SLR, 0%, 28%, and 100% of the barrier is vulnerable to SLR rates of 4, 7, and 10 mm/yr, respectively. When only overwash fluxes are increased in the model, drowning vulnerability increases for the same rates of SLR, suggesting that future increases in storminess may increase island vulnerability particularly where sediment resources are limited. Developed sites are more vulnerable to SLR, indicating that anthropogenic changes to overwash fluxes and estuary depths could profoundly affect future barrier response to SLR.

New Jersey↗