Talk:Barrier island

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The following references may be useful when improving this article in the future:

Stripling, S.; Bradbury, A. P.; Cope, S. N.; Brampton, A. H. (2008). Understanding barrier beaches: R&D Technical Report FD 1924/TR (PDF) (Report). United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Work, Paul; Charles, Linda; Dean, Robert G. (June 1991). Perdido Key historical summary and interpretation of monitoring programs (Report). Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Department, University of Florida. Retrieved 2023-08-19 – via University of Florida Digital Collections. pp. 21 ff.

Map needed

It is requested that a global map or maps, showing coasts with barrier islands, be included in this article to improve its quality.

Tectonics and Barrier Islands

Would tectonic plates have an effect on barrier island formation? It is suggested as the main reason why the US East Coast has more barrier islands than the west coast on this Reddit thread https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/am870b/why_does_the_east_coast_of_north_america_have_so/?st=JRNG0T4Y&sh=e56881b2 Iamthinking2202 (talk) 12:18, 2 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

This is now covered by the "Location" section of this article. -- Beland (talk) 18:07, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Exceptionally flat or lumpy?

This description at the very start of the article is confusing - on the face of it, one term would appear to be at odds with the other, and what is 'lumpy' anyway in a geographical sense? Any barrier island experts out there clarify it? cheers Geopersona (talk) 06:21, 16 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Before being changed by an IP editor in this edit, it read "relatively narrow strips" which makes more sense. I have restored the older phrasing. -- Beland (talk) 02:50, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Beland:

There are barrier islands for which "narrow" is not very descriptive. The Sea Islands of the southeastern U.S. are barrier islands that are very often relatively broad, as shown in the map of Jekyll Island. Richard Davis speaks of "wave-dominated" barrier islands that are long and narrow, and "mixed-energy" barrier islands that may develop from "wave-dominated" islands and widen at one end to form a "drumstick" barrier island, such as Siesta Key.^[1] Davis is talking about the barrier islands of the west coast of the Florida peninsula in his book, which do not receive sand or other sediment from outside of the area.^[2]

There may well be examples of barrier islands in other areas that also are not well described by "narrow". I think the article can be expanded, but the only sources I currently have access to are limited to barrier islands in Florida. What are your thoughts on how to handle this? - Donald Albury 14:56, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Map of Siesta Key
^ Davis, Richard A. Jr. (2016). Barrier Islands of the Florida Gulf Coast Peninsula. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press. pp. 11, 15. ISBN 978-1-56164-8085.

Donald Albury 14:56, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Donald Albury: Good point. I removed that phrase from the first sentence. There was already a part of the intro further down that says "the length and width of barriers and overall morphology of barrier coasts are related to parameters including..." I added to the beginning of that "Though many are long and narrow," to highlight the different types. Later on the different shapes are already mentioned in the "Types" section. -- Beland (talk) 17:04, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good! Thanks for the edits. I may try to add to the article again, but I'm constantly being distracted by something else I see in Wikipedia. Donald Albury 17:27, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

These examples were also good; I've added them to the Types section. -- Beland (talk) 17:50, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Map of Siesta Key

[2] Davis, Richard A. Jr. (2016). Barrier Islands of the Florida Gulf Coast Peninsula. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press. pp. 11, 15. ISBN 978-1-56164-8085.

[1]

[2]