Appendixes A to G present a graphic description of the shoreline 

 changes along the study area between 1964 and 1975. These plots allow a 

 quantitative assessment and interpretation of beach response to seasonal 

 climatic changes, storm events, beach-fill projects, and coastal 

 engineering structures. Long-term trends are identified and used to 

 establish a sediment budget model of Wrightsville and Carolina Beaches. 

 The analysis of the excursion distance response of the mean low water 

 (MLW), mean sea level (MSL) , and mean high water (MHW) contours of 

 profiles along Wrightsville and Carolina Beaches permitted the formu- 

 lation of a mathematical description of post beach-fill performances. 



All analyses and interpretations of results are included in this 

 report. Supplementary data are provided in eight unpublished volumes 

 (I to VIII) which are available from the CERC technical library. 

 Volume I contains five sections: Section A provides a beach profile 

 documentation for the entire study shoreline; Section B presents storm 

 histories (accounts of the major storms occurring in the study area); 

 Section C provides a wave refraction analysis of the area including wave 

 gage data for selected wave spectra plots, selected data from CERC's 

 Littoral Environment Observation (LEO) program, and wave refraction 

 plots; Section D presents plots and tabulated values of the gross 

 northerly and southerly, and the net longshore energy flux distribution; 

 and Section E provides data on volumetric changes which occurred within 

 all inlets along the study area. Comparative short and long beach 

 profiles, beach profile data, MSL excursion rate tables, MSL volumetric 

 change plots and tables, and selected sand data are presented for 

 Wrightsville Beach (Vols. II, III, and IV) , Masonboro Beach (Vol. V) , 

 Carolina Beach (Vols. VI and VII), Kure Beach (Vol. VIII, Sec. I), and 

 Fort Fisher (Vol. VIII, Sec. J) . 



II. STUDY AREA 



The study area is part of the tidewater region of the Atlantic 

 Coastal Plain, consisting of a series of low, narrow, sandy barrier 

 islands and peninsular beaches located in New Hanover County, North 

 Carolina. The islands front the Atlantic Ocean just north of Cape Fear 

 and are separated from the mainland by either the Cape Fear River 

 estuary or by Myrtle Grove, Masonboro, Greenville, and Middle Sounds. 

 The five coastal sites in the 42-kilometer study are (from north to 

 south) Wrightsville Beach, Masonboro Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, 

 and Fort Fisher. Figure 1 shows the study area and the location of the 

 five study segments. 



The beach sands are generally fine and composed of quartz sand with 

 a shell content ranging from to 42 percent. The direct sources of 

 littoral materials for the study area are the adjacent beaches, dunes, 

 and bluffs (direction of transport depending on direction of wave 

 attack) as a result of erosion, and the nearshore ocean bottom areas, 

 from which material is brought onto shore. A complete description of 

 the geomorphology and geologic history of the study area has been 

 summarized by Pierce (1970). 



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