Source of Barrier Island Sediments: Northern Gulf Coast. Hyuck Jae Kwon Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1969 Source of Barrier Island Sediments: Northern Gulf Coast. Hyuck Jae Kwon Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Kwon, Hyuck Jae, "Source of Barrier Island Sediments: Northern Gulf Coast." (1969). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1672. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1672 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 70-9072 KWON, Hyuck Jae, 1936- SOURCE OF BARRIER ISLAND SEDIMENTS: NORTHERN GULF COAST. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1969 Geology University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan SOURCE OF BARRIER ISLAND SEDIMENTS: NORTHERN GULF COAST A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by . Hyuclc Jae Kwon B.A. , Seoul National University, 1960 M.S., Louisiana State University, 1967 August, 1969 PLEASE NOTE: Not original copy. Several pages have indistinct print. Filmed as received. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was sponsored through the Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University, under Contract Nonr 1575 (.03), Task Order NR 3SS 002, with the Geography Programs of the Office pf Naval Research. The assistance and direction of Dr. W. G. Mclntire, major professor, is gratefully acknowledged, and the constructive assistance of Dr. Choule Sonu is appreciated. The encouragement, suggestions, and criticisms of these men have been invaluable during the investi gation and preparation of this dissertation. Dr. R. J. Russell re viewed the manuscript several times and contributed constructive suggestions. Sincere thanks are given Dr. J. P. Morgan and Dr. S. M. Gagliano for their guidance during the preparation of the dissertation. The writer is very grateful to colleagues at the Coastal Studies Institute for the opportunity to discuss the problems of this study. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS........................ ■................. iii TABLES ..................................................... iv FIGURES................................................... v ABSTRACT.................................................. vii INTRODUCTION ............... 1 Sea Level Rise........................................ 3 Littoral Drift, Waves, and Tides....................... 3 MAGNITUDE OF GULF COAST BARRIERS AND SOURCE OF SEDIMENT. 6 DOWNDRIFT BARRIER ISLANDS.................................. 7 Santa Rosa Island ......................... 7 Mississippi Sound Barrier Islands ..................... 15 Bolivar Peninsula . ...............................25 INTERDELTAIC BARRIER ARC OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS....................29 MISSISSIPPI DELTA BARRIER ISLANDS......... 39 Bird-foot Delta Submarine Bars and Barriers ........... 39 Barrier Islands Fronting the Lafourche. .......... 41 Barrier Islands Fronting the St. Bernard Delta............ 46 BARRIERS OF THE WEST COAST OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA AND THE APALACHICOLA AREA............... 51 Barrier Islands of the West Coast of the Florida Peninsula ........ ............................ 51 Apalachicola Barriers ................................ 55 ZERO-ENERGY COAST OF FLORIDA .............................. 57 SEDIMENTARY FACIES OF BARRIER ISLANDS......................... 61 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS........................ * ............66 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................... 69 iii Tables Page Table 1. Discharge and drainage area'of Gulf coast streams. 14 iv Figures Figure Page 1.. Northern Gulf coast: index map, showing barriers and other coastal types. ................. 5 2. Northern Gulf coast climates' and Gulf of Mexico drift and current sets, with wave-energy levels . 5 3. Santa Rosa Island, Red Bluff, and offshore topography.................... 8 4. Pleistocene terrace surface near Sea Grove Beach, Florida. ............................... 10 5. Red bluff near Sea Grove Be.ach.'......................10 6. Mississippi Sound barrier islands ................. 16 7. Cross section of Recent sediments between Beauvoir and Ship Island........................ 18 8. Comparative offshore topography of the Alabama coast, Dauphin and Santa Rosa Islands ............. 20 9. Entrance of Mobile Bay....................... 22 10. Bolivar Peninsula and the adjacent coast with . cross sections of sediment facies across beaches. 26 11. Calcareous nodule and shell fragment beach near the High Island salt d o m e ........................... 28 12. Closeup of the calcareous nodules and shell fragments........................ 28 13. Interdeltaic barriers and offshore topography near Rockport, Texas. ......... '................... 30 14. Recent sediments of the continental shelf in a line perpendicular to the coast near Rockport. 32 15. Recent sediments across Padre island.................. 32 16. Broad beach flat and dune ridge of Padre Island, about 15 miles north of the Rio Grande River. 36 v Figure Page 17. Exhumed marsh deposits at the mouth of the Rio Grande River.................................... 36 IS. Deteriorating Matagorda Peninsula ................. 38 19. Pass Cavallo.........................................38 20. Submarine bars around the bird-foot delta of the Mississippi River............... 40 21. Sand spit at South P a s s ............................. 42 22. Barrier islands and shoreline changes in the abandoned subdeltas of the Lafourche-Mississippi R i v e r ............................ 43 23. Shoreline changes of Isles Dernieres and Timbalier islands ................................ 45 24. Sediment facies of delta barrier islands.............. 47 25. St. Bernard Delta and the Chandeleur arc.............. 48 26. Gulf bottom topography of the Florida west coast and adjacent mainland geology ............... 52 27. Apalachicola barriers and offshore topography .... 56 28. Offshore topography In the zero-renergy coast of Florida....................... "................58 29. Comparative Gulf bottom topography.................... 60 30. Sediment facies of Grand I s l e ........................ 62 31. Sediment facies of Galveston Island ................ 64 32. Schematic diagrams of barrier islands................ 67 vi ABSTRACT The evolution of barrier islands along the northern Gulf coast is directly related to source of sediments and littoral processes. Since Johnson formulated his hypothesis on barrier island formation in 1919, his theory has prevailed for several decades. Johnson's theory results from consideration of only two dimensions normal to the coastline; a third, longshore drift, is not regarded as critical for the initiation of barrier island development. In this study, which is confined to the northern Gulf coast, major sources of sediment supply and transportation patterns of barrier-forming sand were examined, along with results of recent oceanographic investigations in the Gulf of Mexico. This study is based on a comprehensive survey of the literature, maps, and marine charts, which were correlated with field observations. To obtain a perspective, only gross forms and processes of barrier development w ere considered. Evidence indicates that Santa Rosa Island and Mississippi Sound and Bolivar Peninsula barriers developed downdrift of sediment-supplying coasts of Quaternary age. These barriers evolved with the rise of sea level to its present stand. Apalachicola barriers formed on the flanks of the Pleistocene deltaic plain. Coasts such as the 'Stretch between Destin and Panama City, Florida, and the zero-energy coast of Florida do not have barrier islands. In these cases the modern shoreline is abutted against Pleistocene deposits which supply the local source of sediments. The concave-seaward arc of the Texas barrier islands between the deltas of the Rio Grande and Colorado-Brazos rivers evolved upward with sea level rise. The barrier arc development was initiated either from vii mainland beaches or from incipient or existing barrier complexes. These major rivers must have contributed the bulk of barrier island sediments through the converging drift sets between the two deltas. Barrier islands around the Mississippi Delta have developed as bay-mouth barriers on the flanks and against abandoned natural levees and distributary mouth bars of the subdeltas. The Chandeleur arc, a convex-seaward chain of islands, represents an advanced stage of bay-mouth barrier development around an older delta lobe. The arc is maintained by sediments accumulated through shoreline regression against the existing barrier and submerged deltaic deposits. Besides the upcurrent coastal sources of Pleistocene material and the above-mentioned rivers, large estuaries such as Mobile and Matagorda bays also supply sediment to the barrier beaches. In all cases, lit toral drift is the primary factor in transporting barrier-forming sands from the source and initiating or sustaining barrier island development