1950 



- 



y^ 



1955 



: 



K 



1960 



cz 

 o 



- s 



^ 



1965 



-^ 





1970 



■{ 





500 700 900 300 1,300 2,300 



Width (ft) 

 Townsend Inlet Corson Inlet 



Figure 55. Minimum inlet width, Townsend 

 and Corson Inlets, measured 

 at the narrowest throat position. 

 Note change in horizontal scale. 



c. Inlet Throat Migration . The inlet throats varied not only in width, 

 but also varied in location. Figure 56 illustrates the migration of the two 

 inlets north and south along the coast. The north-to-south migration rates 

 from 1949 to 1974 were 92 and 9 feet per year for Corson Inlet and Townsend 

 Inlet, respectively. 



d. Inlet Offset . Figure 57 illustrates an inlet offset parameter obtained 

 from the aerial photos. It is essentially an offset of the shore near the inlet,, 

 i.e., the spit offset, and not the entire island offset. Offsets were obtained 

 by measuring 500 feet north and south of the barrier island shorelines along a 

 fixed base line on all photos. The centerpoint of the island width normal to 

 the base line was then obtained and the offset of the two centerpoints about 



the north-south base line was measured. 



e. Channel Position . Channel position in Townsend and Corson Inlets 



is given in Figure 58. Values of less than one indicate the channel was near 

 the north shore, such as occurred for the last 10 years at Corson Inlet. Values 

 greater than one indicate the channel was near the south shore, i.e., 1949-62 

 at Corson Inlet. Values near unity at Townsend Inlet mean the channel was 

 midway between the bounding island shorelines. 



68 



