Seminar: Laura Moore – UNC-CH Geology

UNC-CH’s Department of Marine Sciences is proud to host a guest seminar by Laura Moore. This event is scheduled for Wednesday, February 10th, at 12:30 pm. This seminar is remote only and will be broadcast live online via Zoom (Meeting ID: 934-0604-8353).

Presenter Affiliation: Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Title: The Role of Ecomorphodynamic Feedbacks, Landscape Couplings and Natural-Human Dynamics in Determining the Fate of Coastal Barrier Systems

Abstract: Because coastal barriers are low-lying and dynamic landforms, they are especially sensitive to changing environmental conditions. The effectiveness of storms in building elevation and moving a barrier landward as conditions change is largely determined by foredune morphology, which is a product of feedbacks between vegetation and sediment transport processes. For example, the cross-shore and alongshore shape of coastal foredunes is influenced by the distance from the shoreline that vegetation can grow, the lateral and vertical growth rate (and form) of dune-building grasses, and the rate of lateral vegetation growth relative to the rate of shoreline change. Coastal foredune morphology largely determines barrier state (including the possibility for bistable dynamics) and, thus, the degree to which connectivity with back-barrier environments will influence overall barrier system response to changing conditions. Coupled natural-human dynamics also alter ecomorphodynamic processes, barrier morphology, and sediment flux, further influencing the future evolution of developed coastal barrier systems worldwide.