Bayou Lafourche Barrier Shoreline Changes 1978-1985: Assessment of Hurricane Impacts and Cold Front Impacts

摘要

The barrier coastline of south Louisiana is low, fragile, and vulnerable to rapid shoreline erosion. After three hurricanes struck the Lafourche barrier shoreline in 1985, photographs, aerial surveys, and ground surveys were taken of areas that had just been documented in 1978. It thus was possible to measure the amount and spatial pattern of recent coastline retreat and overwash penetration. It was found that, in general, the central parts of the barriers retreat more rapidly than the flanks, and that hurricane erosion and overwash patterns reinforce and exacerbate these trends. Two areas were exceptions to this rule; both involved artificial measures intended to offer shoreline protection (a seawall and human-built dunes).