11/10/2023 0 Comments National shore cape cod![]() All the while, sandbars and shoals-which appear as light tan waters just offshore-hint at the underwater movement of sand up and down the coast. Over the span of 35 years and 22 images, several major breaches open in the system and the barrier islands connect to the coastline and to each other at various times. South of the mainland, North and South Monomoy Islands stand apart from each other and from the coast. In 1984, when the image series begins, an unbroken barrier spit shields the Atlantic-facing coast of Chatham and its harbor. The changes to the Nauset-Monomoy barrier system are sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic. (Click on the dots to scroll through the images, or hit the play arrow for a slideshow.) Each scene shows the shape of the coast off of Chatham, Massachusetts, from June 1984 through August 2020. The images above were collected by three generations of Landsat instruments: the Thematic Mapper on Landsat 5, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus on Landsat 7, and the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8. On the southeastern elbow of Cape Cod, where the New England coast reaches out into the cold and choppy North Atlantic, this natural progression has been taking place in full view of satellites for more than 30 years. This process allows them to naturally march upwards as sea levels rise. Hooks form, inlets open and close, and beaches slowly march across their back bays and lagoons toward the mainland, as if seeking shelter from the full force of the ocean. Storms can reshape them abruptly and dramatically. ![]() This is particularly important on shorelines prone to hurricanes, typhoons, and nor’easters.īarrier beaches and spits are constantly raised up, shifted, and torn down by the natural ebb and flow of waves, currents, winds, and tides. Barrier beaches also protect the mainland from the full force of ocean wind and wave energy. These beaches are not only attractive to human settlers and tourists they promote the development of critical marsh and wetland habitats. Some of the best-known barrier systems include Padre Island in Texas, the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Virginia, the south shore of Long Island, New York, and the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. In the United States, barrier spits and beaches line up along nearly a quarter of the coast, mostly facing the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Sometimes they are islands and other times they are connected to land at one end, a feature dubbed a “spit.” Scientists estimate that there are more than 2,100 barrier islands in the world fronting nearly 10 percent of continental shorelines. These strips of land are usually long and narrow and run parallel to the mainland. The prime example of beach evolution is the coastal barrier. When you look across decades and centuries, you see the landscape evolving on a wider scale, but still one that humans can experience. Spend a year, and you see dunes grow, shrink, and migrate. Spend a week, and you see sandbars and wading pools arise and disappear. Spend a day on the beach and you see the micro scale - in the grains of sand blown by winds, tumbled by the surf, or carried out in your shoes.
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