How to Read a North Carolina Beach

by Pilkey, Orrin H.; Rice, Tracy Monegan; Neal, William J.

• ISBN13: 9780807855102
• ISBN10: 0807855103
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

Take a walk on the beach with three coastal experts who reveal the secrets and the science of the North Carolina shoreline. What makes sea foam? What are those tiny sand volcanoes along the waterline? You'll find the answers to these questions and dozens more in this comprehensive field guide to the state's beaches, which shows visitors how to decipher the mysteries of the beach and interpret clues to an ever-changing geological story. Orrin Pilkey, Tracy Monegan Rice, and William Neal explore large-scale processes, such as the composition and interaction of wind, waves, and sand, as well as smaller features, such as bubble holes, drift lines, and black sands. In addition, coastal life forms large and small--from crabs and turtles to microscopic animals--are all discussed here. The concluding chapter contemplates the future of North Carolina beaches, considering the threats to their survival and assessing strategies for conservation. This indispensable beach book offers vacationers and naturalists a single source for learning to appreciate and preserve the natural features of a genuine state treasure.

Author Biography

Tracy Monegan Rice is a coastal geologist working for the federal government.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
The Big Picture: Understanding Wind, Waves, and Sand	1	(22)
The Equilibrium That Is a Beach	1	(4)
Sea-Level Change	5	(3)
Waves and the Currents They Form	8	(9)
Rogue Waves	14	(1)
Tsunamis	15	(1)
Longshore Currents	15	(2)
The Sand Supply of the Beach	17	(3)
Sand Size	17	(2)
Sources of Sand	19	(1)
Groundwater in the Beach	20	(3)
What Makes and Shapes a North Carolina Beach	23	(14)
The Divisions of a Beach	23	(6)
Berms	24	(1)
Beach Cusps	24	(1)
Offshore Bars	25	(4)
Source and Composition of North Carolina Sand	29	(5)
Common Beach Minerals	29	(1)
Heavy Minerals	30	(4)
Gravel	34	(1)
Beach Change: A Way of Life	34	(3)
North Carolina Dunes	37	(18)
How Dunes Form	37	(2)
Dune Types	39	(5)
Dune Forms and Features	44	(5)
Dune Sand and Stratification	46	(2)
Dune Grass	48	(1)
The Problems of Bulldozed and Artificial Dunes	49	(2)
The Civilian Conservation Corps Dunes	51	(4)
Barrier Islands: The Platforms for Beaches	55	(18)
What Are Barrier Islands?	55	(5)
How Were Barrier Islands Formed?	60	(2)
How Do Barrier Islands Evolve?	62	(7)
Barrier Island Migration	69	(3)
What's Happening Today?	72	(1)
Beach Clues: Reading the Signs on the Beach	73	(34)
Drift and Wrack Lines	73	(5)
Air in the Beach	78	(1)
Holes, Rings, Blisters, Pits, and Volcanoes	79	(7)
Foam, Swash, Imprints: How Currents and Winds Sculpt the Surface	86	(15)
Wind: The Modifier	101	(1)
Singing Sand	101	(3)
Shipwrecks on the Beach	104	(2)
Connections: The Ocean, the Beach, Life	106	(1)
Life Signs: Beach Critters, Past and Present	107	(26)
From Shells to Sand: The Carbonate Fraction	107	(6)
Brown and Black Shells	113	(4)
Shell Orientation	117	(1)
Sharks' Teeth	118	(1)
Macrofauna: Clams, Crabs, Turtles, Birds, and Other Large Creatures	119	(10)
Meiofauna: Microscopic Critters in the Sand	129	(2)
Natural Beaches and Their Biota: An Uncertain Future	131	(2)
Conservation of Beaches	133	(12)
What's Up?	135	(1)
So What?	136	(7)
What's the Alternative?	143	(2)
Beach Terminology	145	(8)
Suggested Readings	153	(6)
Index	159