7 research outputs found
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Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program: 2006-2007
The Texas Coastal Monitoring Program engages people who live along the Texas coast in the study of their natural environment. High school students, teachers, and scientists work together to gain a better understanding of dune and beach dynamics there. Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin (UT) provide the tools and training needed for scientific investigation. Students and teachers learn how to measure the topography, map the vegetation line and shoreline, and observe weather and wave conditions. By participating in an actual research project, the students obtain an enhanced science education. Public awareness of coastal processes and the Texas Coastal Management Program is heightened through this program. The students' efforts also provide coastal communities with valuable data on their changing shoreline.
This report describes the program and our experiences during the 2006-2007 academic year. During this time, Ball High School on Galveston Island completed its tenth year in the program, and Port Aransas and Port Isabel High Schools completed their eighth year (Fig. 1). All three high schools are continuing the program during the 2007-2008 academic year. Through a collaboration with the Lower Colorado River Authority, the program has expanded to an additional three schools in the Bay City, Texas, region. Discussions of the data collected by the students and recommendations for future high school projects are also included in this report. A manual with detailed field procedures, field forms, classroom exercises, and teaching materials was prepared during the first year of the project at Ball High School in 1997-1998. The manual was updated with the addition of the Bay City region schools in 2005.Bureau of Economic Geolog
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Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program: Ball, Port Aransas, and Port Isabel High Schools, 2005-2006
The Texas Coastal Monitoring Program engages people who live along the Texas coast in the study of their natural environment. High school students, teachers, and scientists work together to gain a better understanding of dune and beach dynamics there. Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin (UT) provide the tools and training needed for scientific investigation. Students and teachers learn how to measure the topography, map the vegetation line and shoreline, and observe weather and wave conditions. By participating in an actual research project, the students obtain an enhanced science education. Public awareness of coastal processes and the Texas Coastal Management Program is heightened through this program. The students' efforts also provide coastal communities with valuable data on their changing shoreline.
This report describes the program and our experiences during the 2005–2006 academic year. During this time, Ball High School on Galveston Island completed its ninth year in the program, and Port Aransas and Port Isabel High Schools completed their seventh year (Fig. 1). All three high schools are continuing the program during the 2006–2007 academic year. The program has expanded to an additional three schools in the Bay City, Texas, region. Discussions of the data collected by the students and recommendations for future high school projects are also included in this report. A manual with detailed field procedures, field forms, classroom exercises, and teaching materials was prepared during the first year of the project at Ball High School in 1997–1998.Bureau of Economic Geolog
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Changes in Gulf Shoreline Position, Mustang, and North Padre Islands, Texas
This report presents long-term rates of shoreline change along the Texas Gulf of Mexico shoreline from Aransas Pass to the north boundary of the Padre Island National Seashore. This shoreline reach includes the barrier islands of Mustang and North Padre. The successive positions of historical shorelines are combined in a linear regression model that provides the average annual rate of shoreline change. Based on previous years, therefore, these rates indicate how the shoreline is expected to advance seaward or retreat landward during the next several decades, making this information useful for coastal planning. The Bureau of Economic Geology is currently updating shoreline change rates for most of the Texas coast under the Texas Shoreline Change Project. All data, including what is presented in this report, are being placed in a web-based Geographic Information System (ArcIMS) on the Bureau's Coastal Studies website. The public can use this website to create custom maps and download data.Bureau of Economic Geolog
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Texas Shoreline Change Project Gulf of Mexico Shoreline Change from the Brazos River to Pass Cavallo
In June, Governor Bush signed into law the Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA). This act provides $15 million over the next 2 years for coastal erosion projects. It authorizes the Texas General Land Office (GLO) to implement a comprehensive coastal erosion response program that can include designing, funding, building, and maintaining erosion projects. The GLO is named in the act as the entity that will monitor shoreline change rates with the assistance of the Bureau of Economic Geology and local governments. Through the Texas Shoreline Change Project (TSCP), the Bureau is working with the GLO to identify and quantify eroding areas. The TSCP is addressing requirements of the CEPRA regarding (1) identification of "critical coastal erosion areas," (2) monitoring of historical shoreline erosion rates, (3) making data accessible on the Internet, and (4) increasing public awareness of coastal erosion issues. The TSCP will be completed in stages according to Gulf of Mexico shoreline segment and bay systems. This report presents an analysis of shoreline change along the Gulf of Mexico Shoreline between the Brazos River and Pass Cavallo (Fig. 1). Other resources provided by the TSCP, including all data used in this report, may be found on the Internet at http://www.beg.utexas.edu/Bureau of Economic Geolog
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Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program: Ball, Port, Aransas, and Port Isabel High Schools, 2001/2002
The Texas Coastal Monitoring Program engages people who live along the coast in the study of their natural environment. High school students, teachers, and scientists work together to gain a better understanding of dune and beach dynamics on the Texas coast. Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin (UT) provide the tools and training needed for scientific investigation. Students and teachers learn how to measure the topography, map the vegetation line and shoreline, and observe weather and wave conditions. By participating in an actual research project, the students obtain an enhanced science education. Public awareness of coastal processes and the Texas Coastal Management Program is heightened through this program. The students' efforts also provide coastal communities with valuable data on their changing shoreline. This report describes the program and our experiences during the 2001-2002 academic year. During this time, Ball High School on Galveston Island completed its fourth year in the program, and Port Aransas and Port Isabel High Schools completed their second year (Fig. 1). All three high schools are continuing the program during the 2002-2003 academic year. Discussions of the data collected by the students and recommendations for future high school projects are also included in this report. A manual with detailed field procedures, field forms, classroom exercises, and teaching materials was prepared during the first year of the project at Ball High School in 1996-1997 and revised during subsequent years. The program is also enhanced by a continuously updated website.Bureau of Economic Geolog
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Geotextile Tubes along the Upper Texas Gulf Coast, May 2000 to March 2003
In September 1998, Tropical Storm Frances caused severe beach and dune erosion along the Gulf shoreline of the southeast Texas coast. This erosion placed many beach houses in danger of being undermined or damaged during subsequent storms and gradual shoreline retreat. To help prevent such damage, shore-parallel geotextile tubes were installed. The tubes are sediment-filled sleeves of geotextile fabric having an oval cross section of approximately 12 ft. They rest on a fabric scour apron that has sediment-filled anchor tubes along each edge. Geotextile tubes are placed in a trench parallel to shore along the back beach or foredunes, and project designs call for sand and natural beach vegetation to cover them. Since 1998, nine separate projects have been installed, and in March 2003, they covered a total of 7.34 mi of the Gulf shoreline from Follets Island to High Island. An additional 709 ft of the tubes have been destroyed. This study provides a quantitative evaluation of these projects on the basis of observations made from May 2000 to March 2003. Six field surveys were conducted that included ground surveys (beach profiles), visual inspection of geotextile tube exposure and damage plus three airborne topographic surveys (lidar) of the projects and adjacent beaches and dunes. Wave and water-level data were also compiled. Results from this study will aid the design of future erosion-control projects, such as beach nourishment and other geotextile tube projects in the area. Results, data, and maps are reported on a Bureau of Economic Geology Website.Bureau of Economic Geolog