Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1993 Geologic and Physical Processes at a Gulf of Mexico Tidal Inlet, East Pass, Florida. Andrew Morang Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Morang, Andrew, "Geologic and Physical Processes at a Gulf of Mexico Tidal Inlet, East Pass, Florida." (1993). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5533. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5533 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]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 GEOLOGIC AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES AT A GULF OF MEXICO TIDAL INLET, EAST PASS, FLORIDA 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 Geology and Geophysics by Andrew Morang B.S., The University of Washington, 1975 M.S. in Oceanography, The University of Rhode Island, 1978 May 1993 Acknowledgements Many people have supported this project. To all of them I owe a debt of gratitude. My supervisors at the Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) wholeheartedly supported my pursuit of the doctorate. These included Branch Chiefs William L. Preslan and Joan Pope, Division Chief Thomas W. Richardson, Assistant Laboratory Directory Charles C. Calhoun, Jr., and Laboratory Director Dr. James R. Houston. The East Pass project was sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Monitoring Completed Coastal Projects Program (MCCP). Program Managers J. Michael Hemsley and Carolyn M. Holmes were especially generous with funding support and encouragement. The members of my Committee, Drs. James M. Coleman, Oscar K. Huh, and Dag Numme- dal of Louisiana State University (LSU) and Drs. James R. Houston and Nicholas C. Kraus of CERC have all been unfailingly helpful and kind. Discussions with Drs. S. A. Hsu, Gregory W. Stone, and William J. Wiseman, Jr. (LSU) have been very helpful. Field data was collected by many people. CERC technicians, divers, and support staff included Cheryl E. Burke, Michael D. Carpenter, James E. Clausner, Thomas A. Denes, Michael D. Dickey, William Hegge, Douglas C. Lee, Charles J. Mayers, James Rosati, Deborah Shafer, C. Ray Townsend, and Stephen G. Underwood, supervised by William M. Kucharski. Gages and instruments were maintained by Ralph E. Ankeny and William E. Grogg. David D. McGehee helped develop the original monitoring plan. Fulton Carson and John Harris drafted some of the figures. Kerry Taylor gridded the ebb­ tide shoal bathymetric data. Rex Yocum laboriously digitized an enormous amount of historical bathymetry and tide data. Leona S. Patty typed and formatted the text. Numerous people at US Army Engineer District, Mobile, generously contributed their time and expertise. Walter W. Burdin, Paul Bradley, John G. Miller, Benton W. Odom, and Lyndall K. Robinson helped me search through archives and East Pass project files. Geary McDonald provided historical tide data and supervised surveying during the 1983 ,1984, and 1987 field projects. Alton Colvin, Roger Bush, and Harry Peterson of the Panama City Area Office supervised bathymetric data collection and provided historic charts. Mr. Fran­ cis F. Escoffier, a pioneer in tidal inlet hydraulics, graciously shared his insights and experi­ ences gleaned during 50 years of study of Florida coastal processes. Finally, my wife Susan and daughter Melinda have been most patient, supportive, and understanding. I especially wish to thank them and dedicate this work to them. TABLE OF CONTENTS gage Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... ii Non-SI to SI Units of Measurement ........................................................................................... vi A b stract........................................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1 Introduction and Literature Review ............................................................................. 1 Description of Study Area .................................................................................. 2 Previous Research on Tidal Inlets and on East P ass ........................................ 4 Objectives ............................................................................................................... 6 East Pass Questions .............................................................................................. 7 Overview of Data Collection, Analyses, and Study Methods ....................... 7 Significance of the Research ............................................................................... 9 2 Geologic and Engineering Problems, Study Methods, and Analyses .................... 10 History of East Pass Project ............................................................................... 11 Geography and Geology of East Pass................................................................. 25 Geologic Model of Inlet Behavior ....................................................................... 32 Field Data Collection and Results ....................................................................... 39 Dredging in East Pass, 1931-P resen t ................................................................. 78 Summary and Recommendations ....................................................................... 83 3 Inlet Migration Model ...................................................................................................... 90 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 91 Geography and Geology of East Pass .............................................................. 91 Geologic Model of East Pass Behavior ............................................................ 94 Field Data Collection and Results ................................................................. 100 Summary and Discussion .................................................................................. 110 Similarity of East Pass to Other Tidal Inlets ................................................ 113 4 Meteorological Forcing of Water Levels in Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida .... 115 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 116 Physical Setting................................................................................................... 116 Data Collection and Analyses .......................................................................... 119 Results ................................................................................................................. 121 D iscu ssio n ............................................................................................................ 129 C onclusion ............................................................................................................ 133 5 Conclusions 136 References 146 Appendix A: Chronological Listing of Cultural and Natural Events .................. 154 Appendix B: Estimation of Error of Ebb-Tide Shoal Growth Calculations ...... 165 Appendix C: Directional Wave Data, 1987-1990 East Pass, Florida ......................... 167 Appendix D: Plots of