• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Geosciences
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Geosciences
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Scholarworks@UACommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    First Time Submitters, Register Here

    Register

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    Spatiotemporal patterns of bluff erosion at Goodnews Bay, Alaska

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Buzard_R_2017.pdf
    Size:
    18.03Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Buzard, Richard Michael
    Chair
    Maio, Christopher
    Committee
    Verbyla, David
    Kinsman, Nicole
    Keyword
    Coast changes
    Native Village of Goodnews Bay
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7865
    Abstract
    Coastal erosion is of increasing concern to rural Alaskan communities, yet direct measurements remain absent over much of the coast. In southwestern Alaska, the village of Goodnews Bay has been repeatedly devastated by storms and flooding, events that forced the village to relocate to higher ground in the 1920s. Storm surge continues to damage property and infrastructure that is essential to their subsistence culture. This work assesses shoreline change rates at the new village site based on a 59-year time series of aerial and satellite imagery. Long-term and contemporary shoreline retreat rates were analyzed along nearly 500 meters of the village coastline. The majority of the bluff fronting the village experienced a complex history of erosion and mitigation, exhibiting a maximum erosion rate of -0.14 m/y (R2 = 0.82). Bluff erosion has been mitigated via depositing gravel and large rocks after significant storms. The unmitigated bluff just north of the village eroded at -0.10 m/y rate consistently across its length (R2 = 0.92), suggesting that measureable erosion would have also occurred at the village bluff in the absence of mitigation efforts. Projected future bluff top edge positions indicate that the main road system will be significantly eroded in the coming decades, but no buildings are projected to be directly impacted by 2050. Storm surge is the primary driver of erosion in Goodnews Bay, thus the reliability of local storm surge modeling is significant to the community. Historical storm surge and marine total water level estimates were quantified using a combination of GPS data, formal reports, anecdotal accounts, and post-storm imagery. These estimates were compared to the modeled height for the 11/11/2011 storm surge in order to assess accuracy of modeling in this area. Storms that caused significant damage had total water levels between 4.3 and 5.3 m above mean sea level. The upper limit of this estimate came from the large 2011 Bering Sea storm. Evidence for the total water level of previous storms was very limited. It is likely that the 1979 storm, which flooded four homes, reached a similar height. Damage from large storms is expected to become more prevalent with shorter land-fast sea ice seasons in Alaska. A significant portion of this research incorporated community outreach. This included educating youth about coastal science, discussing village history with elders, and installing community-based erosion monitoring sites. Through these efforts, we hope to preserve the traditional knowledge and increase local capacity to adapt to a changing climate.
    Description
    Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017
    Date
    2017-08
    Type
    Thesis
    Collections
    Geosciences

    entitlement

     
    ABOUT US|HELP|BROWSE|ADVANCED SEARCH

    The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution and is a part of the University of Alaska system.

    ©UAF 2013 - 2023 | Questions? ua-scholarworks@alaska.edu | Last modified: September 25, 2019

    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.