Abstract:

We quantified the shoreline erosion of 46 islands in Barataria, Breton Sound and Terrebonne Bay for before and after the DWH oil spill to determine how much shoreline was lost, if the losses were temporary, and if recovery/restoration occurred. The erosion rates were then calculated for five intervals: (1) the 2010 initial post-oiling interval up to December 2010, (2) the early 2011 interval from December 2010 to spring/summer 2011, (3) from the beginning of the first interval to the end of the second (spring/summer 2011), (4) from spring/summer 2011 to the end of 2012, and (5) from May 2010 to the end of 2012.

Suggested Citation:

Turner, R. Eugene. 2016. Erosion Rates of Islands in Barataria Bay, Breton Sound, and Terrebonne Bay, 1988-2013. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N72J68WS

Publications:

Turner, R. E., McClenachan, G., & Tweel, A. W. (2016). Islands in the oil: Quantifying salt marsh shoreline erosion after the Deepwater Horizon oiling. Marine Pollution Bulletin. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.06.046

Purpose:

To assess the changing island size for before and after the 2010 oil spill.

Data Parameters and Units:

Sheet1 and Sheet2 of spreadsheet: meters of width (east to west) and length (north to south) Estuary Site Latitude deg min Longitude deg min Scat Category color indicating degree of oiling of the shoreline (red: heavy, orange: moderate, yellow: light, green: very light, light green: trace, blue: no oil) Category 1=unoiled 2= oiled Sep-90 width m 1988/8 May width m 2010 n = # photos before R2 = Linear regression before spill m y-1 erosion before 2010 m y-1 After spill and in 2010 m y-1 April to April First 12 mo after spill m y-1 First 4-8 months in 2011 m y-1 erosion 2011 to Dec 2012 m y-1 erosion May 2010 to Dec 2012 Sheet3 of spreadsheet: Evaluating precision of images by measuring distance between fixed points on structures: Site Type of fixed structure used for measurements Latitude (decimal degrees) Longitude (decimal degrees) Count (number of photographs taken used for measurements) Average m Standard error of the mean (SEM, m) Coefficient of variation (COV, %)

Methods:

Google Earth measurements

Error Analysis:

Reported Data

Provenance and Historical References:

From measurements in Google Earth

Individual Files: