Drastic beach changes in a low-energy environment caused by Hurricane Betsy

Abstract

During the past two years we have made a number of beach surveys in the course of terrain-analytical studies in the Big Bend area of Florida (see Figure 1). The area of Alligator Spit and the islands to the southwest have been classified as a low-energy environment [Tanner, 1960] on the basis of estimates of average breaker height (an inferred 6 cm at Alligator Spit). However, during these studies it became obvious that many beaches were eroded as much as several meters per year. The rate of erosion was greatest during the passage of hurricanes through the Gulf of Mexico, but it was not necessarily directly related to the passage of hurricanes through the Big Bend area.