Coastal Geography of New Jersey and New York

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Coastal Geography of New Jersey and New York

• By Sarah Aimone
• Lori Czaplinski

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• THE JERSEY COAST
• 130 miles of open ocean coastline
• 1792 miles of tidally affected land
• 60 of shoreline is Barrier islands
• 70 of states population lives within coastal
  counties
• 
  

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• Major Bays and Rivers
• Hudson Bay
• Barnegat Bay
• Great Bay
• Delaware Bay
• Raritan Bay
• Hudson River
• Delaware River

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Barrier islands of NJ

• Eight barrier islands
• Long Beach Island, Brigantine Island, Absecon
  Island, Peck Beach Island, Ludlam Beach Island,
  Little Beach Island, Seven Mile Beach Island,
  Five Mile Beach Island.
• Two peninsulas that act like Barrier islands
• Barnegat Bay Peninsula
• Sandy Hook Peninsula

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Island Beach State Park
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Atlantic City on Absecon Island
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Erosion of the Shoreline

• 26 of New Jersey shoreline is critically
  eroding
• Large scale, statewide beach nourishment program
• The Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet project
• largest beach fill project in world
• (in terms of volume)
• Seawalls

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Tidal range

• Sandy hook
• 0.69 ft 5.61 ft
• Atlantic City
• 1.06ft- 6.25 ft

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New York125 miles of open ocean
coastlinegt5,000 miles of shoreline, including
the Great Lakes1,850 miles of tidally affected
land70 of the states population lives within
coastal counties (13,800,000)
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Major Rivers, Bays and Lakes St. Lawrence
River, Hudson River Lake Ontario, Lake Erie,
Lake Champlain Hudson Bay, Long Island Sound
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Long Island

• Long Island extends east of New York City
• Flanked by the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic
  Ocean
• 125 miles of ocean coast
• Four barrier islands are located off the south
  shore
• Several inlets and bays

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Barrier IslandsLong Beach IslandJones Beach
IslandFire Islandthe Unnamed Island
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Long Beach Island-10 ¼ miles of ocean
beach-extensive salt water marsh-important rest
stop for migratory waterfowlJones Beach
Island-19 miles of ocean front-1000 acres of
wetlands-state parks used for recreationFire
Island-largest in the chain 32 miles of ocean
beach-30 marsh-Fire Island National
Seashore-Moriches flatsUnnamed Island-19 ¾
miles ocean front-connected to LI Peninsula
until a hurricane in 1938 opened up Shinnecock
Inlet
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Beach Erosionand Nourishment

• 47 of the shoreline is critically eroding
• Human activity??? The coastline is very densely
  populated!
• Private property owners allowed to
  protect/nourish their land
• Numerous groins on Long Island and Staten Island

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Tidal Range

• Montauk
• 0.64-2.95 ft
• The Battery
• 1.71-6.24 ft

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New York Bight-great expanse of shallow ocean
between Long Island and the New Jersey
Coast-Longshore transport of sand by wave action
from the southeast, ultimately from prevailing
wind zones and storm events in the tropics and
the South Atlantic region. Hurricanes during the
summer and nor'easters during the winter are
responsible for intense periods of sediment
transport and beach erosion and accumulation.
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References

• Scheinkman, J.J. and P.M. Byrne. Inventory of
  the Barrier Island Chain of the States of New
  York and New Jersey. New York The Mc Intosh
  Foundation 1977.
• http//surfrider.org
• http//noaa.gov
• www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu
• http//marine.rutgers.edu/geomorph
• www.worldatlas.com
• www.thejerseyshorepartnership.com