59. Figure 14 shows the distribution of shoreline changes by storm and 

 locality. The median shoreline change for the 46 cases was low, only -0.9 m 

 with a hinge range of 4.8 m (+1.7 m to -3.1 m) . Median shoreline changes 

 with an absolute value less than 2 m were recorded for 39 percent of the 

 cases. Only 8 percent of the cases had median shoreline changes with an 

 absolute value greater than 10 m. The smallest and most consistent shoreline 

 changes occurred at Misquamicut Beach. The other localities with longer 

 shorelines and more profile lines show greater variation. 



60. It is interesting to note that the range of variation between 

 cases (indicated by the heights of the boxes in Figure 14) is relatively 

 small. This further supports the relative insensitivity of the shoreline 

 position to storms, at least for the data included in this report. Figure 15 

 plots the distribution of median shoreline changes for the storms at each 

 locality. Of the localities with 10 storms, Long Beach Island is the most 

 stable with the greatest variation at Atlantic City. 



61. Measurements of the slope at the msl intercept were similarly 

 insensitive. Of the 46 cases, 56 percent had median slope changes with an 

 absolute value less than 0.01 while in 28 percent of the cases, the slope 

 became milder with positive slope changes greater than 0.01. Steeper 

 poststorm slopes occurring in 13 percent of the cases may be attributed to 

 low elevation recovery. The effect of recovery could possibly be reduced by 

 computing the slope at a slightly higher elevation on the profile than msl. 

 Median slope changes were smallest at the flatter beaches such as Ludlam 

 Beach and Atlantic City and greatest at the steeper beaches of Nauset Beach, 

 Westhampton, and Long Beach Island. 



Volumetric Changes 



62. Unlike the shoreline changes, the volume changes (Figure 16) show 

 both more erosion and more variation between profile lines and between 

 storms. In 11 of the 46 cases, all of the profile lines eroded; with one 

 exception, median volume changes for all storms and localities were negative. 

 While this is not surprising considering the context of this study, it is 

 interesting that during the 2 February 1970 storm, over one-half of the 

 profile lines on Jones Beach (surveyed just 4 days after the storm) accreted, 

 resulting in a positive median volume change. This was not an insignificant 



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