Model of inner shelf shoal development, Beaufort Sea, Alaska
At least two types of inner shelf shoals exist in the Beaufort Sea, Alaska. One type is located up to 40 km from the shoreline in an average water depth of 20m and oriented obliquely to the coast. A second type of shoals occur adjacent to existing barrier islands where minimum water depth over the shoal crest may be as little as 30-50cm. The development of shallow water shoals is believed to be a result of barrier island submergence. Dinkum Sands is an example of a shallow water shoal. This linear sand body is located between Cross and Narwhal Islands, 25km northeast of Prudhoe Bay. The shoal complex is 8 km long and less than 2 km wide and has a maximum relief of 5m. Historical data reveal submergence of an island over at least a 25 year period. The proposed initial stage of shoal development occurs when longshore sediment transport between barrier islands is disrupted by numerous events of downdrift tidal inlet breaching. Reduction in the amount of available sediment to each island results in significant coastal erosion (stage 2), manifest as a landward migration of the shoreline and a reduction in barrier elevation. The final stage of the model is barrier submergence. At present the greatest accumulation of sediment on Dinkum Sands occur at the distal extremities of the shoal. These are believed to represent the location of recurved spits at either end of the island prior to submergence. Application of the submergence model to explain deepwater shoal development must await the collection of shallow (10m) whole core data.
- Research Organization:
- Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6320359
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8510489-
- Journal Information:
- Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28 Oct 1985
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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