Role of a Submarine Bank in the Long-Term Evolution of the Northeast Coast of Prince Edward Island, Canada

Abstract

Abstract In order to understand regional variations in coastal behavior on Prince Edward Island, Canada, we investigated the role of Milne Bank, a submarine bank at East Point, the eastern tip of the island. The objective was to determine how the bank might facilitate transfer sediment from the eroding north coast to the adjacent sediment-rich south coast. The study utilized grain-size and seismic data collected on Milne Bank in 1989 and multibeam sonar surveys in 1997 and 1999. The disturbing effect of East Point on the hydrodynamic regime controls sediment transport. The northern boundary of the bank is a steep sand wave located where southward tidal and wave-driven currents rounding East Point suddenly decelerate. Sand from the north coast enters Milne Bank and is carried south in a field of migrating sand waves that are shed from the northern bounding sand wave toward the prograding end of the bank. Milne Bank is a major sediment sink, rather than a link between the eroding north coast and the sedimen...