Abstract
Abstract. Barrier islands are low-lying coastal landforms vulnerable to inundation and erosion by sea level rise. Despite their socioeconomic and ecological importance, their future morphodynamic response to sea level rise or other hazards is poorly understood. To tackle this knowledge gap, we outline and describe the BarrieR Inlet Environment (BRIE) model that can simulate long-term barrier morphodynamics. In addition to existing overwash and shoreface formulations, BRIE accounts for alongshore sediment transport, inlet dynamics, and flood–tidal delta deposition along barrier islands. Inlets within BRIE can open, close, migrate, merge with other inlets, and build flood–tidal delta deposits. Long-term simulations reveal complex emergent behavior of tidal inlets resulting from interactions with sea level rise and overwash. BRIE also includes a stratigraphic module, which demonstrates that barrier dynamics under constant sea level rise rates can result in stratigraphic profiles composed of inlet fill, flood–tidal delta, and overwash deposits. In general, the BRIE model represents a process-based exploratory view of barrier island morphodynamics that can be used to investigate long-term risks of flooding and erosion in barrier environments. For example, BRIE can simulate barrier island drowning in cases in which the imposed sea level rise rate is faster than the morphodynamic response of the barrier island.
Highlights
Barrier islands are long, narrow, sandy stretches of land that occupy a significant fraction of modern coastlines around the world
In addition to existing overwash and shoreface formulations, BarrieR Inlet Environment (BRIE) accounts for alongshore sediment transport, inlet dynamics, and flood-tidal delta deposition along barrier islands
BRIE can simulate barrier island drowning in cases where the imposed sea20 level rise rate is faster than the morphodynamic response of the barrier island
Summary
Narrow, sandy stretches of land that occupy a significant fraction of modern coastlines around the world. Barriers are often densely populated, support diverse ecological communities, and protect bays and wetlands that provide a range of ecosystem services (McLachlan 1983, Barbier et al 2011). Despite their economic and ecological 25 importance, there exists a critical gap in understanding how barriers respond to coastal change generally, and sea-level rise (SLR) . The purpose of the model is twofold, (i) to better understand long-term barrier island morphodynamics, including effects of, for example, sea-level rise, human development (jetties, beachs nourishment), or storm pattern changes, and (ii) to improve paleo environment reconstructions. We conclude with a few exploratory results and a discussion of potential model applications
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