Geophysicist John Goff has studied some of the slim barrier islands running parallel to the Texas coast – including Galveston Island. He said those islands were badly damaged in September of 2008 by Hurricane Ike, which made landfall near the city of Galveston.
John Goff: There was a tremendous loss of sand, and sand is the critical component to maintaining the health of the system.
Goff mapped the seafloor between barrier islands, before and after Hurricane Ike. He said the most erosion occurred when the hurricane subsided, as water rushed out of an overflowing Galveston Bay, back into the Gulf of Mexico.
John Goff: The back surge is very important. That, we found, was a very, very strong force. It moved a lot of sediment and eroded a lot of the sand. Those sands are critical to maintaining the beach barrier system. And without it, once you reduce it, it’s very hard to get it back.
That’s why, Goff said, his research could be helpful for cities like Galveston – places where hurricanes are likely. Galveston sits on a barrier island. Hurricane Ike sent a storm surge over the city that reached 20 feet – over six meters – in some places, before rushing back into the Gulf of Mexico. Goff said it’s possible to replenish Galveston Island’s lost sand. But, he said, it’s expensive.
To date, the city still has not fully recovered, and part of its human population has not returned.
Our thanks to:
John Goff
Senior Research Scientist
Institute for Geophysics
The Jackson School of Geosciences
Austin, TX
Photo Credit: Tzuyu Jennifer
I’m curious to know that the process is to replenish barrier island sands.
I’m curious, as well.
First, to Chris: Sand is brought back to the beaches and barrier islands along the gulf coast by dredging. The sand is pumped in and spread. In fact, places like the Mississippi gulf coast naturally have mud “beaches”. Not good for tourism, so, the sand is pumped in and used to make the place desirable for human recreation.
To the barrier island situation. The barrier islands do indeed afford protection to the gulf coast. However, they are the remnants of a coastline brought down during the melting of the last ice age. Th ice is gone. The material that built the delta lands is no longer being deposited. Storms erode. That is nature. In the 1700′s, a storm formed Grand Isle, LA. Prior to that,what is now known as Grand Isle, was part of the mainland. Camile, in 1969 cut Cat Island in half. In 1900, a hurricane completely inundated Galveston Island killing over 7,000 people. there is nothing new happening here.
Sedimentation builds land in the water. Storms and floods tear that land away. We can now build breakwaters and dredge materials and place them to rebuild and preserve the barrier islands and beaches. But, only as long as we have the money to do so. If our economy is allowed to continue to slip, the money used to take care of the islands will be gone. So will the money used to clean up, or remediate, contaminated sites.
It takes a rich country indeed to maintain land and to clean it up. The only way known so far to produce rich countries is capitalism. And that is under attack here and has been for decades. As the resourse bank shrinks, more and more projects will be left undone.
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