It is postulated that changes in the barrier islands during the past 3,500 

 years have been most significant in the Lea Island to Fort Fisher-South 

 section, creating absent, scattered, and single dune ridge morphology along 

 much of the shoreline. West of Cape Fear to Bird Island, the remaining 52 km 

 consists of the Caswell-Yaupon-Long Beach mainland and Holden, Ocean Isle, 

 Sunset, and Bird Islands. Susceptibility to washover within the region 

 ranges from high to low, while inlets have had a significant impact on the 

 area. The interrelationships among washover potential, vegetation cover, and 

 dune morphology have been used to develop a generalized model of the shore- 

 line features and processes of the Cape Lookout to Bird Island section of 

 North Carolina. (Authors) 



Deery, J. R. , and Howard, J. D. 1977. "Origin and Character of Washover 

 Fans on the Georgia Coast, U.S.A.," Transactions , Gulf Coast Association of 

 Geological Societies, Vol 27, pp 259-271. 



Washover fans on the Georgia coast form initially in response to storms 

 but continue to develop after the storm has passed. Most storm-induced fans 

 flood only during spring tides, yet some are continuously active on a day-to- 

 day basis. All washovers have essentially the same surface morphology and 

 internal physical and biogenic sedimentary structures and, based on these 

 features, the washover area can be subdivided into beach, fan, and marginal 

 f acies. 



Our field studies, centered primarily on Ossabaw, St. Catherines, and 

 Sapelo Islands, indicate that Georgia washover fans have an "active" and 

 "passive" phase of development and each leaves a characteristic record in fan 

 stratigraphy and sedimentary structures. The "active" phase occurs when 

 waves overtop the beach crest and water and sediments flow landward into the 

 backbarrier salt marsh. At such times subhorizontal stratification, ripple 

 lamination, planar foreset crossbedding, and trough crossbedding form. The 

 "passive" phase occurs when the fan is not undergoing overwash from the 

 beach. During this time eolian and biogenic processes and rain runoff are 

 the principal agents in the formation of sedimentary climbing ripples. 

 Although less dynamic in origin, the "passive" phase structures represent the 

 greatest period of time in washover fan development. (Authors) 



Dolan, R., and Godfrey, P. 1973. "Effects of Hurricane Ginger on the 

 Barrier Islands of North Carolina," Geological Society of America Bulletin, 

 Vol 84, pp 1329-1333. 



The two barrier island systems of North Carolina responded to the storm 

 waves and surges of Hurricane Ginger in a strikingly different manner. 

 Within the northern sector, which has been stabilized by man, erosion and 

 dune recession were extensive. In the southern sector, as yet relatively 

 unmodified, overwash and associated deposition were the dominant processes. 

 This difference offers important geologic, ecologic, and land management 

 implications. (Authors) 



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