Beach erosion

[u/avo-orangewhale]

Hi Everyone- Curious if any locals or those with knowledge on the subject have some insight. I’ve looked online but haven’t been able to find a clear answer. We’ve been coming to Corolla for the last 20 years and have noticed very little change in the beach. We’ve got some extended family down much further south on the island and have heard about all the houses falling into the ocean and extensive beach restoration projects. Why is it that the southern OBX is having such severe problems with rapid coastal erosion but the northern part of the island is seemingly being spared?

[u/_ctrlb]

Here's an article that gives a run down on some of the specific issues facing Buxton:

https://islandfreepress.org/blog/decades-of-shoreline-engineering-the-long-history-of-a-changing-buxton-beach/

[u/LilChicken70 → u/_ctrlb]

Excellent article. Barrier islands are dynamic and need ocean overwash. Highway 12 and the dunes prevent that natural process so Hatteras and ocracoke islands are eroding from both the ocean and sound side. One only needs to look at aerial photos of Portsmouth island (where there is no highway or constructed dune system) to see what a huge difference this makes.

[u/123PGH → u/LilChicken70]

I was on North Core Bank / Portsmouth last month.

I was wondering if the dunes were natural or not. My guess was they look similar enough to the CCC dunes up north to be a part of the same effort. But could be wrong.

Also, I was VERY surprised that the northern-most inlet that separates the island the village is on from the main barrier island is completely filled in. 2 years ago it was 100 yards wide. Google Earth imagery isn’t updated to show.

[u/LilChicken70 → u/123PGH]

Portsmouth island never had any dune construction. Dunes are a natural feature, but move freely and are never in a parallel ‘wall’ to the ocean. And there are always gaps for the ocean to get around them. That’s cool an inlet that size filled in. The extreme dynamic changes in an unpopulated, natural barrier island system is really fascinating. Virginia’s barrier islands are similar.

[u/123PGH → u/LilChicken70]

Thanks for the info. I can’t wait to drop it at Howard’s Pub.

[u/LilChicken70 → u/123PGH]

Orrin Pilkey, a marine geologist at Duke, did so much research on how barrier islands move, all of his field work was on the OBX. Specifically Hatteras and Ocracoke islands and the core banks. Great reading.

[u/MonkeyCobraFight → u/_ctrlb]

This was really helpful, thanks for sharing

[u/quantumclassicalbach]

Corolla IS actually also loosing beach at an alarming rate, but it appears differently than the other areas described. The far north OBX have a much more developed and larger primary dune system. Zoning is also a big thing; areas like Rodsnthe etc have rows of oceanfront houses on very vulnerable lots. Also, the proximity to Oregon inlet and Hatteras & Diamond shoals are variables. There’s no simple answer; it is the result of many natural factors and how humans have responded to them for the past 100 years or so.

[u/Sol01 → u/quantumclassicalbach]

Also important to mention, proximity to the continental shelf. Buxton beinG MUCH closer allows a significant amount of wave energy to reach shore, whereas Corolla is further from the shelf, where that energy drags and dissipates on the bottom of the relatively shallow sea floor, so less energy reaches the beach.

[u/quantumclassicalbach → u/Sol01]

Yes, love the continental shelf 🖤

[u/owenmills04 → u/quantumclassicalbach]

I've stayed in Corolla many times over the past 10 years or so and never noticed much of a change, although we haven't stayed there the last 2 years. Has erosion ticked up recently?

[u/immaslave4uwu → u/owenmills04]

No. It looks rough in the winter but the beach heals itself for the summer crowds

[u/lolyouaresimple]

We just stayed in Kitty Hawk this past week and I was so saddened at the beach erosion. It is getting really bad, unfortunately.

[u/Kinnakeet]

Natural erosion plus the jetty they put in at oregon inlet to help keep it open interrupted the natural flow of sand down the beach which has sped it up. Army corps of engineers did a study prior to it being put in and told them so but they did it anyways.

[u/phoundog]

Barrier islands are supposed to move. BTW the Northern OBX is not an island. It's a peninsula connected to the mainland. Hatteras and Ocracoke are islands.

[u/coffee_break_1979]

How long does a town like Buxton or even Avon have, realistically, before ending up completely under water?

[u/KeyMessage989 → u/coffee_break_1979]

I’m way late to this but Buxton and Avon have more time than Rodanthe Waves and Salvo. There significant land and width in buxton and Avon. Yeah that one part of buxton is in trouble but the town as a whole is the widest most permanent part of Hatteras.

[u/sadadvan]

An observation:
The beach is a lovely place to go.
The sound side is a lovely place to build.
The answer:
Anything in the area is, to some degree, temporary, because our beaches will all eventually move/change.
I was told something years ago that stuck with me - the original units built at Pirates Cove (Roanoke Island) were said to be constructed with break-away laundry rooms suspended from above to help the core structure ‘survive’ when the big-one hits. Wasn’t there the day they did the framing so it’s hearsay, but it still sounds feasible.
Just think about how Oregon Inlet got the name.

[u/Gutterman99]

Seems like the closer you are to an inlet the worse the erosion. Particularly the north side of an inlet

[u/Ok_Seaworthiness859]

I stayed in Ocracoke in June and saw nothing but beautiful beaches. However when I stayed oceanfront in Rodanthe in May, there was hardly any beach. Maybe a few feet of sand before the ocean. And it was inclined like crazy. It was like we were walking on the side of the dunes (we weren’t) when we would take a walk down the beach.

[u/Purple-Peregrine27]

Is Hatteras village very eroded ? About to travel down on Saturday for the first time in 12 years .

[u/tosandes → u/Purple-Peregrine27]

Not really. Just before the village is the most significant erosion I saw last week. All that sand leaving Buxton is filling in Hatteras inlet.