Abstract

As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected sediment samples from the northern Chandeleur Islands in July 2013. The objective of this project, which integrates geophysical (bathymetric, seismic, and topographic) and sedimentologic data, is to understand better the depositional and erosional processes that drive the morphologic evolution of barrier islands over annual to interannual timescales (1 to 5 years). Between June 2010 and April 2011, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the State of Louisiana constructed a sand berm extending more than 14 kilometers along the northern Chandeleur Islands platform. The construction of the berm provided a unique opportunity for scientists to investigate how this new sediment source interacts with and affects the morphologic evolution of the barrier-island system. Data collected from this study can be used to describe differences in the physical characteristics and spatial distribution of sediments both along the axis of the berm and also along transects across the berm and the adjacent barrier island. Data comparison with previous sampling efforts can provide information about sediment interactions and movement between the berm and the natural island platform, improving insight into short-term morphologic change and processes in this barrier-island system.

This data series serves as an archive of sediment data collected in July 2013 from the Chandeleur Islands sand berm and adjacent barrier-island environments. During this study, several sampling locations from 2012 were reoccupied. Data products, including descriptive core logs, core photographs and x-radiographs, results of sediment grain-size analyses, sample location maps, and Geographic Information System data files with accompanying Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata, can be downloaded from the Data Products and Downloads page.

Oblique aerial photograph looking north along the Chandeleur Islands, July 2013. Photograph by Karen Morgan. [Click to enlarge]