Question

1. Hurricanes normally approach Ocean City form the south-southeast. In 1995, one of the largest hurricanes ever recorded (Hurricane Felix) approached Ocean City but luckily turned back out in the Atlantic Ocean. How does the westward migration of Assateague Island increase the risk of hurricane damage to Ocean City?

2. Field inspections of the west side of Assateague Island reveal that muds in the bay/ lagoon behind the island are still being covered by the westward advancing island.

Using the scale provided on the map, measure the distance that the island has migrated, and give your answer in actual feet. You should use the east shore of the 1849 island outline and compare it to the east-shore of the present day Assateague Island.

Bay Shore Apres Roadside Park Horn island aer : Tralen Ocean City Ocean City L WETT ASTERN cipal AND Ceast Qu Rayat AL TIMORE BM Pardng ard Tower -Ocea City Inlet 3) 12 eean City Harbor SWA OCEAN OT AIRPORT FIGURE 12.7: Ocean City, Maryland (1964) (Photorevised. 1972-purple areas) North kilometer 5 Maryland mile 1849 Outline of Island Quadrangle location 1:24.000 5 ft. Contour interval da Fiat 33 AND

Answer 1

1. Due to sea-level rise, the island is continuously moving westward and island rollover occurs this means that the island undergoes retrograding, i.e., island migrates towards the mainland. The sand erodes from the beach at the time of storms and then ultimately deposits along the west shore in marshes. This way the island moves towards the mainland while moving westwards. This increases the risk of hurricane damage to Ocean City as due to the strong movement of sand during this migration inlets get carved influencing strong storms to cause the damage landwards.

2. The distance the island has migrated is 2.5cm and the follows a scale of 4cm=1km, that means the island has migrated 0.625 km = 2050.5249 feets

Ocean city airport Image 2019 DigitalGlobe

This image is collected from Google Earth and the line was drawn hypothetically as the outline of the island in 1849 and then when compare it could be seen that in those years about 170 years the island has migrated about 0.3km or 984.252 feet but it is not clear as error possibility s very high due to the hypothetical nature but this way it is difficult.