Coastal Geology
Coastal Geology: Florida
Goals: The coast of Florida represents one of the most diverse coastal reaches in the world. As we all know, more than 50% of the world population lives within 100 km of the coast. In Florida, it is much more than that. A geologist practicing the profession in this area needs to have a good background in coastal processes, coastal sedimentology and stratigraphy in order to be able to provide the expertise to deal with all type of issues in coastal environments including infrastructure, pollution issues, erosion problems, zoning changes, etc. This course will provide the student with experience in: 1) coastal surveying and mapping both on land and in shallow marine environments, 2) measuring and interpreting process data on tidal and wave parameters, 3) taking and interpreting cores from barrier islands and related coastal environments, 4) exposure to a wide range of coastal environments. In addition, the extremely active hurricane seasons during the last three years have left exceptional records for storm impact. We will also take this opportunity to examine the dramatic storm-induced changes in developed and un-developed sections of the coast.
Where: Nearly the entire coast of Florida, including both high-energy and low-energy settings. We will examine various environments include barrier islands, coastal marshes, and estuaries.
When: June 9 - June 20, 2008
Why: It is important, you get 2 hrs. credits toward your degree, and it is lots of fun to work on the coast.
Who: Anyone who has had at least one of the 3 or 4000 core courses in geology, or Beaches and Coasts
What to Expect: As is true with all field courses, you will work hard, learn a lot and enjoy it. We will be in the field all but one day plus two lab days when we will be working on data, sediments and cores. The course will be based here on the Tampa campus, you sleep in your own bed, etc. except for three nights during the Panhandle and northeast Coast of Florida trip. We will be working long days but the time will fly by. This time of year we should have warm water, flat conditions and hot sun.
Tentative Coastal Geology Schedule
June 9 (Monday) Tour of the Pinellas County coast, looking at the variety of natural coastal environments and the human impact on them.
June 10 (Tuesday) Trip to Big Sarasota Pass conducting flow measurements using ADCP current profilers and observing sedimentary processes at a dynamic tidal inlet.
June 11 (Wednesday) Topographic mapping and surveying using GPS, Theodolite, Transit and Level at Upham Beach. Bathymetric surveys using shipboard RTK-GPS and depth sounders at Blind Pass Inlet. Field investigation of a tidal inlet system.
June 12 (Thursday) Trip to Anclote River to vibracore and collect environmental field data.
June 13 (Friday) Work in lab on data collected during the previous days: survey data, mapping, flow measurement data, and sediment analysis.
June 16 (Monday) Work in lab on data collected during the previous days: continued sediment analysis and core data processing.
June 17- 20 (Tuesday – Friday) A four-day trip to St. Augustine and the Florida Panhandle comparing coastal environments of the high-energy Florida east coast, the low-energy west coast; and medium-energy panhandle coast. Field investigation of the dramatic impact of Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Dennis (2005) along the panhandle coast. End of course.
Grading
Grades in the course will be based on your performance on the several small projects that you will complete and on your participation in the field. There will be no exams in the traditional sense; you will be examined every day in the field and lab.
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Needs for the course:
• Field notebook
• Hand lens (provided by department)
• Brunton compass (provided by department)
• Field clothes for wet and sunny conditions
• Wading shoes (not sandals or flips, but entirely closed toe)
• Hat
• Sunscreen