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Figure 103. Schematic diagram shows impact of rising sea level and hurricane flood surge on the Florida Keys and low-lying Everglades. (A) Landward movement of ocean wave-energy impact zones with rising sea level (not to scale). (B) Hurricane-flood surge at present sea level and at a higher sea level (not to scale). A flood-surge dome precedes hurricane landfall. Right side of figure: the dome of water would engulf the keys and raise water level in Florida Bay as the hurricane moves inland. The bay would be subject to an ebb surge as water flow reverses after hurricane passage. At present sea level, the keys receive the most damage. Left side of figure: under conditions of higher sea level, the flood-surge dome would cross the keys and would come ashore in the low-lying coastal region of the Everglades. The coastal region would receive greater damage and would also experience an ebb surge. Higher sea levels in (A) are arbitrary, but the sketch implies that sea level at position 2 is not as high as the highest elevation of the keys (~ +5.5 m, Lidz and Shinn, 1991), and at position 3 the keys are inundated. Note in (A) that the present water level in Florida Bay is higher than the level of the Atlantic (see Figs. 24, 25A, 25B). An effect not shown is ebb-surge runoff (Fig. 101): water surging onshore, then receding.

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Coastal & Marine Geology Program > Center for Coastal & Watershed Studies > Professional Paper 1751