Shoreline Change in Response to Sea-Level Rise on Florida's West Coast

Abstract

ABSTRACT Houston, J.R., 2017. Shoreline change in response to sea-level rise on Florida's west coast. Shoreline position measurements about 300 m apart have been made along the Florida shoreline from the 1800s. There has been net shoreline advance during this time on the Florida E and SW coasts, but the Florida W coast has had net recession. Information is available on factors causing shoreline change on the Florida W coast, including sea-level rise, beach nourishment, loss of sediment to inlets, offshore dredged-sediment disposal, longshore sediment transport, and long-term, onshore sediment transport. Estimates are presented on the contributions these factors have made to shoreline change since the 1800s along 334 km of shoreline in seven west Florida counties. Summing the contributions results in net shoreline recession that agrees with measured recession within standard deviation confidence intervals in each of the counties and for the total shoreline. Sea-level rise is shown to have accounted for les...