Nancy L. Jackson

Migration of swash zone, step and microtopographic features during tidal cycles on an estuarine beach, Delaware Bay, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Abstract A time-series analysis of changes in surface elevation on the foreshore of an estuarine beach was conducted to compare movement of topographic features in the swash and breaker zones with results derived from study of ocean beaches. Wave heights on the upper foreshore during the field study averaged 0.15 m, with an average period of 2.4 s. The average height of the beach step was 21 mm. Smaller elevation changes, up to 12 mm in height, occurred at 10–15 min periods. There were more small elevation changes, greater longshore variations in these changes, and greater variation in the form of the beach step during the rising tide than during the falling tide. The variation in the small elevation changes and the beach step are attributed to greater short-term fluctuations in beach saturation during rising tides, causing greater variability in the velocity of swash and backwash.

Threats to beach resources and park boundaries caused by shoreline migration in an urban estuarine park

An evaluation of coastal processes, shoreline erosion, and shore management options for Conference House Park, New York, USA, reveals the problems associated with lack of congruence between jurisdictional boundaries and boundaries required for maintenance of beaches and shorefront park land. Rates of shoreline change are high despite low wave energies because bay beaches contain small amounts of sand. The park is so narrow in places that the shoreline will soon move out of park boundaries. This condition will eliminate natural beach resources, restrict access, and create political and administrative problems. Management strategies include revetment construction, beach nourishment, and acquisition of additional land. Obtaining the maximum length of shorefront to create a park may be less cost effective in maintaining natural beach resources than obtaining a shorter frontage and more compact shape that allows for shoreline movement. The problems of managing eroding shorelines in urban estuaries are acute because space is lacking, the cost of land is high, and the critical nature of shoreline erosion is disguised by low wave energies and lack of daily beach change.

Application of state theory to ground water contamination incidents

Abstract Traditional analysis of ground water contamination views the problem as the result of the creation of externalities from exchanges in the economic market arising from poorly defined rights to common property resources. Analysis of the effectiveness of state intervention focuses on the functional role of the state as enforcer, engineer, and allocator of resources in developing an efficient and equitable outcome. Ground water contamination can also be viewed as the result of the social organization of production practices in society. State theory provides a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship of the state to the social organization of production and how the functional role of the state derives from this relationship. Examination of state intervention of a ground water contamination incident in Friendship, Maine shows how the resolution of the problem more closely parellels the states role in securing conditions for capital accumulation, social integration, and social consensus. Ground water contamination outcomes are not ahistorical, as in market exchange intervention, where liability and property rights control the outcome but reflect the states activities to changing conditions of production and consumption.