Date of Award
12-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Degree Statement
Master of Science in Geological Engineering
Department
Department of Civil, Geological, and Environmental Engineering
Granting Institution
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Committee Chair
Darrow, Margaret
Committee Chair
Dykstra, Steven
Committee Member
Trochim, Erin
Committee Member
Bray, Matthew
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: General introduction
Chapter 2: Beach resilience investigation of Nome, Alaska
2.1 Abstract
2.2 Introduction
2.2.1 Geologic and geomorphic setting
2.2.3 Nome's beaches
2.2.4 Artificial modification
2.2.5 Hydrodynamic conditions
2.2.6 Climate change, effects on storms
2.3 Methods
2.3.1 Coastal Engineering Resilience Index (CERI)
2.3.2 Data analysis
2.4 Results
2.5 Discussion
2.6 Conclusions
2.7 References
2.8 Appendix A
Chapter 3: Tidal analysis of the Snake River, Alaska
3.1 Abstract
3.2 Introduction
3.2.1 Estuaries and tidal rivers
3.2.2 Arctic estuaries
3.3 Methods
3.3.1 Study area description
3.3.2 Field work
3.3.3 Pre-procedding
3.3.4 Water level analysis
3.3.5 Theoretical model
3.4 Results
3.4.1 Observed discharge, water level, salinity, temperature, and current
3.4.2 Low/high-pass filtered water levels
3.4.3 Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT)
3.4.4 Theoretical model
3.5 Discussion
3.5.1 Future speculation
3.5.2 Data and analysis challenges
3.5.3 Accessibility
3.6 Conclusions
3.7 References
3.8 Appendix B
Chapter 4: General conclusions
4.1 Survey an analysis uncertainties
4.2 Implementation
4.3 References.
Abstract
Coastal hazards are a threat to many western Alaska communities that manifests in different ways. Coastline erosion and flooding are two examples of natural coastal hazards; artificial modifications to coastlines and river estuaries also can impact the physical resilience of a community to storms. In Nome, Alaska, we investigated two areas of storm impacts: the beaches and the Snake River es tuary. Nome’s beach resilience to storms was investigated using the Coastal Engineering Resilience Index, which produces a quantitative value of beach resilience. We found that: spatial variation in beach resilience is heavily tied to the effects of artificial structures; beach resilience is on average decreasing in Nome; and beach nourishment helped increase beach resilience. In the Snake River estuary, we investigated the limit of tidal influence to establish baseline tidal river conditions. We established that the limit of tidal waves is mostly dependent on the water depth of the river, as coastally modulated by storms and the spring-neap cycle, and also the river discharge. We also found that river discharge seems to have an insignificant effect on water levels and tidal amplitudes within the Port of Nome, but has a more significant effect farther upstream. While the Snake River investigation does not predict the amount of flooding that may be experienced, it can help con textualize future changes in conditions that may come from port modifications and sea level rise. Both the beach resilience and tidal river analyses can help the community of Nome make decisions regarding the infrastructure that is built and how those projects may affect the community. There is also potential for expanding these analyses to other rural Alaska communities.
Recommended Citation
Joyce, Evan, "Beach and estuary storm resilience survey of Nome, Alaska" (2025). Engineering. 550.
https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/uaf_grad_engineering/550
Included in
Geological Engineering Commons, Hydrology Commons, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons