Environmental Science Question
Complete the assignment on chapter 16 – i have attached the book https://www.thephysicalenvironment.com/Book/contents.html
Lab 16: Coastal Geomorphology This lab contains potentially inaccessible interactive resources. Please work with your instructor and local campus resources to identify accommodations for these resources. Learning Objectives ● ● ● ● ● ● Explain how longshore currents and beach drift transport coastal sediment. Describe the stages of barrier island development. Identify features on emergent and submergent coastlines. Interpret sea level rise data. Explain the location and formation of coral reefs. Assess threats to coral reefs. Introduction Coasts are the dynamic junction of water, air, and land. Winds and waves, tides and currents, migrating sand dunes and mud flats, and a variety of plant and animal life all combine to form our ever-changing coasts. Their dynamic nature results in their great diversity. Most of us envision a coast as a broad stretch of sand with frothy surf breaking along the shore; in fact, many types of coasts are found within the United States, ranging from sandy beaches to rocky shores, from coral reefs to coastal wetlands.1 We think of land as stable and treat it as a permanent asset. For most land, this premise is reasonable because land generally changes very slowly. Although tectonic and geologic processes, such as continental drift and erosion, are always at work, they usually result in very gradual changes that are barely noticeable during a human lifetime. Coasts, however, are not static; they are dynamic. They quickly change shape and location in response to natural forces and human activities. These forces and activities continually push and pull at coasts— sometimes in the same direction, but often in opposite directions. As a result, the shape of the coastline changes. Sand and other materials are moved onto and off of beaches by currents and waves. Seasonal movement of coastal materials creates broad summer beaches followed by narrow winter beaches in an annual cycle. During major storms, huge waves and storm surges can move large amounts of coastal sediments and can flood vast areas in a matter of hours.1 In this lab, you will investigate the dynamic processes that shape coasts: the erosional and depositional forces, sea level fluctuations, and coral reef development (and threats). 36pts 1 Text by USGS is in the public domain Figure 16.3: Model of How Sediment Moves along a Coastline.2 1. Describe the path of sand and sediment particles along a coastline. 2. Explain how longshore current and beach drift are similar. 3. Use Your Critical Thinking Skills: Think about the formation of beaches as we see them. Explain how a beach might form along a coastline. 4. Refer to Figure 16.5. a. During Stage 1, why would sea level be lowest compared to the other stages? b. During Stage 2, what might explain the flooding from river valleys upstream? c. During Stage 3, what would cause the land to be broken into spits? (Tip: refer to Figure 16.6, which shows a sand spit). d. During Stage 4, how might the newly formed barrier islands serve as a resource to communities of people living along the coast? 5. List the causes of barrier island destruction: 6. List the effects of barrier island destruction: Step 1 Go to Esri’s World Imagery Wayback website. Or, if you have Google Earth Pro you could look at the historical imagery in that program. Step 2 In the search box, type Louisiana and click the magnifying glass. Step 3 Zoom in on one of the barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana (pick any named island). 1. What is the name of the barrier island that you zoomed in on? Step 4 Zoom in as far as you are able to. Step 5 Click the “Only versions with local changes” box. 2. What is the date of the oldest imagery available? 3. What is the date of the most recent imagery available? Step 6 Click on each date available to see how the barrier island landscape changed over time. 4. In two to three sentences, describe the changes that you observe. 5. Use Your Critical Thinking Skills: If the historical imagery at the barrier island that you selected went back 10, 50, or 100 years, what changes do you think you would have observed? Respond in one to two sentences. 5. Refer to Figure 16.6. a. In one to two sentences, explain how a sea stack forms. b. In one to two sentences, explain how a bay mouth bar forms. 6. Refer to Figure 16.9. a. Explain the spatial distribution of coral reefs. b. Where are coral reefs most concentrated? Why are they located there? c. In what regions of the world do coral reefs tend to be absent? Why do you think this is? 7. One way to think of physical geography is that it is the study of the relationships among variables that impact the Earth’s surface. Select two variables discussed in this lab and describe how they are related. 8. How does what you learned in this lab relate to your everyday life? In two to three sentences, explain a concept that you learned in this lab and how it relates to your dayto-day actions.
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