英語(yǔ)翻譯
Geological Component of COMPS
The coastal data-monitoring program presents an important opportunity for studying the response of our coastal and shelf systems to storm activity.Key elements of the geological component are to characterize the coastal and seafloor environments,and their changes related to storm events.The West Florida Shelf and coastal systems contain geologically diverse environments,having economic importance for marine resources and coastal land use.It is important to know how,under what conditions,and on what time scales are sediments transported and the coastal morphology altered as a result of erosion and land loss.
The nearshore seafloor environments may be linked to some degree with the stability and behavior of the barrier-island coastline.Recent sonar images of two small areas on the inner shelf have revealed extensive hardgrounds and complex sand wave structures indicating active sediment transport.Sonar images collected one year apart suggested some migration of large offshore sand ridges (kilometers in scale) may occur.However,what is missing is an explanation of the physical forcing mechanism that produced this seabed geomorphology.The real-time oceanographic data system will provide this essential data so that we can explain how and when the seabed is in motion and how the seabed interacts with the beach,either providing sand to the beach or storing it temporarily or permanently offshore.
The long-term monitoring of offshore sediment distribution patterns will help verify transport rates and identify potential response of the adjacent coastline.This could lead to predictions of coastal site prone toward erosion.Along the marsh coast,is sediment cover on the adjacent shelf providing sediment to the marsh thus allowing it to keep up with sea-level,or is the eroding marsh providing sediment to the shelf?Simply put,we do not know the sediment transport pathways and exchanges between the coastal and inner shelf system.
We do not know the extent of seagrass cover on the adjacent shelf and to what extent this retards sediment transport during storms or how this benthic community response to storm activity.The seagrasses are vitally important to the marine benthic ecology of this region.
In summary,the geological monitoring program is designed to measure the changes and response of nearshore and coastal environments that can be directly related to the primary driving mechanism - the physical oceanographic data sets generated by the real-time monitoring program.This provides an unprecedented opportunity to identify physical mechanisms driving coastal change.