Research about Mississippi barrier islands

USGS2020

Seafloor change around the Mississippi barrier islands, 1920 to 2016—The influence of storm effects on inlet and island morphodynamics

The Mississippi Barrier Islands in the northern Gulf of Mexico experienced high rates of spatial change over recorded history. Wave-induced sediment transport induced island migration, landward retreat, and inlet evolution. These processes can be measured using repeat bathymetric surveys to analyze elevation change over time. This study analyzes digital elevation models created from three time periods where bathymetric data have been collected: the 1920s, 2009, and 2016. The models are compared to assess volumetric change between surveys and characterize morphologic responses to natural and human-influenced processes. Although all the islands within the study area experienced a loss of area over the period of study, the nearshore and tidal inlets experience both accretion and erosion that vary spatially and temporally. Major morphologic changes include westward island migration, expanding ebb-tidal deltas, and changes in inlet dimensions. This study is a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service to establish baseline physical and pre-restoration morphologic conditions preceding a major restoration of the islands as part of the Mississippi Coastal Improvement Project.

Mississippi barrier islands↗

USGS2015

Archive of sediment data from vibracores collected in 2010 offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands

In 2010, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected sediment cores from coastal waters offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands. With funding support from the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility project, 65 subaqueous sediment cores were collected over an area of 480 square kilometers (km 2 ), from Ship Island to Petit Bois Island Pass, Mississippi, within the boundary of Gulf Islands National Seashore. This represents only a fraction of the total area encompassed by the NGOM project, which extends from Sabine Lake, Louisiana, to Perdido Bay, Alabama. The primary objectives of the NGOM project are to understand the evolution of coastal ecosystems on the northern gulf coast, the impact of human activities on these ecosystems, and the vulnerability of ecosystems and human communities to more frequent and intense hurricanes in the future. Selection of the core site locations was based on geophysical surveys conducted around the islands from 2008 to 2010. The surveys, using acoustic systems to image and interpret the nearsurface stratigraphy, were conducted to investigate the geologic controls on island evolution. This data series serves as an archive of sediment data collected from August to September 2010, offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands. Data products, including descriptive core logs, core photographs, results of sediment grain-size analyses, sample location maps, and geographic information system (GIS) data files with accompanying formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FDGC) metadata can be downloaded from the data products and downloads page.

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