Salt Marsh Erosion at Fort Pulaski, Georgia

The northern shore of Cockspur Island at the mouth of the Savannah River is dominated by salt marsh that has been eroding rapidly over last couple of decades. The erosion was initiated by the alongshore migration of a shell ridge that originated from a artificially created island. In a companion study, it has been found that the retreat of the shoreline is largely a response to wind-generated waves and not the waves generated by large commercial vessels plying the river. This study examines the alongshore variation in marsh retreat in response to both the presence of an underlying layer of sand and the formation of a neck and cleft morphology.