Beach-Inlet Interaction and Regional Sediment Management at Pristine and Developed Barrier Islands

Wang, P. and Beck, T.M., 2024. Beach-inlet interaction and regional sediment management at pristine and developed barrier islands. In: Phillips, M.R.; Al-Naemi, S., and Duarte, C.M. (eds.), Coastlines under Global Change: Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2024 (Doha, Qatar). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 113, pp. 28-32. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Beaches along barrier islands and associated tidal inlets are valuable coastal resources and dynamic landforms. They behave as one interconnected barrier-inlet system and must be understood and managed as such. Barrier-island beach morphodynamics are strongly influenced by tidal inlet processes, and vice versa. Beach-inlet interaction is complicated, driven by both wave and tidal forcing and controlled by sediment supply, and occurs at multiple temporal and spatial scales. The morphological interaction can be illustrated via sediment pathways and quantified with a balanced sediment budget. Regional sediment management (RSM), a systems approach with adequate temporal and spatial scales, constitutes a fundamental modern philosophy in shore protection and restoration. Beach-inlet interaction and sediment pathways play an essential role in RSM of barrier-inlet systems, a key physical aspect of coastal resilience. This paper reviews the present understanding on beach-inlet interaction and sediment pathways, and the temporal and spatial scales of their morphodynamics, for applications of RSM and coastal resilience building.