Highlights—Dynamic Inlets

Barrier-island landforms are common on many wave-dominated shoreline systems around the world, and ancient analogs form important petroleum reservoirs.  In this study, Seminack and Buynevich use ground-penetrating radar (GPR), sediment cores and dating to understand the facies architecture and evolution of shoreline and inlet systems of Assateague Island, MD, and to test the notion that it is related to the historical Green Run Inlet, located approximately 3 km to the south.  The authors suggest that a ‘traditional’ survey of relict inlets would have overlooked the study site due, to its lack of surficial evidence of inlet existence, and that the results illustrate the value of a multi-technique approach to study of inlet dynamics.  These results illustrate how reconstructing the facies architecture and evolutionary pathways of inlet-barrier island systems provide enhanced understanding of their geological evolution and stratigraphic framework, as well as their possible influence on coastal hazards.

Sedimentological and Geophysical Signatures of A Relict Tidal Inlet Complex Along A Wave-Dominated Barrier: Assateague Island, Maryland, U.S.A. by Christopher T. Seminack and Ilya V. Buynevich