Godfrey, P. J., Leatherman, S. P., and Zaremba, R. 1979. "A Geobotanical 

 Approach to Classification of Barrier Beach Systems," in Leatherman, S. P., 

 ed. , Barrier Islands: From the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, 

 Academic Press, New York, N.Y. , pp 99-126. 



Barrier beaches from Cape Cod to Cape Lookout have been studied using 

 geological and ecological techniques. The resulting data have been inte- 

 grated to demonstrate the interrelationships among plants, processes, and 

 barrier morphology. From this analysis a general pattern for east coast 

 barriers undergoing recession emerges. The regional variation in vegetation 

 and its response to overwash have been found to be an important criterion for 

 classification. The vegetation of Northern barrier beaches is dominated by 

 American beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata) in the dune strand community 

 and by the decumbent form of salt meadow cordgrass (Spartina patens) in the 

 high marsh. Salt meadow cordgrass is killed by overwash burial and is 

 replaced by dune vegetation, originating from seeds and plant fragments found 

 in the drift lines. The stratigraphy of a transgressive barrier in the 

 Northeast shows a sharp demarcation between the salt marsh and overlying 

 washover/dune sands. 



In the Southeast, sea oats (Uniola paniculata) dominate the dune 

 grasslands, while the upright variety of Spartina patens is ubiquitous. The 

 dunes along the Outer Banks develop initially as scattered clumps resulting 

 from lack of well developed drift lines, irregular seed dispersal, and the 

 clumped growth deposition on barrier flats and marshes in the absence of a 

 continuous barrier duneline. The upright form of Spartina patens has the 

 ability to grow through this overwash sediment and reestablish itself on the 

 fan surface. An analysis of sedimentary sequences shows a deposit of clean 

 overwash layers alternating with organic layers. These biogeological studies 

 have shown the importance of regional variation in the vegetation in deter- 

 mining barrier beach topography. (Authors) 



Hayes, M. 0. 1967. "Hurricanes as Geological Agents: Case Studies of 

 Hurricanes Carla, 1961, and Cindy, 1963," Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, 

 Report of Investigations No. 61. 



Tropical storms, which cross the Texas coastline with a frequency of 

 0.67 storms per year, play a major role in nearshore sedimentation on the 

 south Texas coast. Greatest geological effects of these storms are produced 

 by wind-driven waves and by storm surges. 



The comparison of a part of the nearshore environmental complex of a 

 segment of the south Texas coast before and after Hurricane Carla, 1961, 

 shows the effects of the storm. The storm removed a belt of foredunes 20 to 

 50 yards (15 m) wide from the seaward side of Padre Island and left the 

 foredune ridge with wave-cut cliffs up to 10 ft (3 m) high. The formation of 

 a broad, flat hurricane beach drastically altered the beach profile. The 

 landward side of the barrier island (wind-tidal flats) received much washover 

 material containing surf zone and beach mollusks. The storm also submerged 

 high-level mud flats along the landward side of Laguna Madre and covered them 

 with a fresh layer of mud. A much milder storm (Cindy) passed through the 

 area in September 1963, and a small swash bar was deposited over the seaward 

 edge of the preexisting hurricane beach. (Author) 



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