Rockaway Beach, New York 1994 - 2014

Rockaway Beach, New York is heavily developed, has seawalls and groins and is regularly nourished. It hasn’t changed much over 20 years. The shoreface is steep and sediment cover doesn’t extend far from shore—likely the result of being fixed in place for decades. USGS scientists collect geologic and morphologic data from this island’s shoreface. The shoreface is an important driver of barrier island evolution, as it exchanges sediment with beaches and dunes during storms and drives the long-term response of the barrier to sea level rise.