The Puget Sound nearshore: Processes and problems

OCEAN 310

1430-1530 MWTh

425 OSB

web: http://www.ocean.washington.edu/people/faculty/parsons/310-05.htm

Announcement

 

Instructor: Jeff Parsons

Office hours: 2:30-3:30 Tuesday, but my door is always open.

111A MSB

206-221-6627

parsons@ocean.washington.edu

 

Course notes: Available at Professional Copy & Print, 4200 NE University

 

 

Week 1 – Introduction and origin of the Puget Sound

Mar 28 – Distribute syllabus, introduce one another, select working groups, describe goals of the course, set “group rules”

Mar 30 – Discussion of a Chapter 4 of The Shape and Form of Puget Sound by Robert Burns

Mar 31 – Post-discussion: Origin of Puget Sound

 

Week 2 – Puget Sound geology

April 4 – Field trip: West Point map

April 6 – Discussion of Chapter 1 of The Coast of Puget Sound: Its Processes and Development by John Downing Synopsis due

April 7 – Post-discussion: Puget Sound sedimentology

 

Week 3 – Coastal oceanography of Puget Sound

April 11 – Lecture: Waves

April 13 – Discussion of Chapter 6 – “The tidal boundary problem” of Shore and Sea Boundaries by Aaron Shalowitz Synopsis due

April 14 – Post-discussion: Tides map

 

Week 4 – Sediment transport

April 18 – Review

April 20 – Quiz #1

April 21 – Discussion of Chapter 4 of The Coast of Puget Sound: Its Processes and Development by John Downing Synopsis due

 

*Sunday, April 24 – Field trip: Camano Island State Park

 

Week 5 – Natural coarse-grained beaches

April 25 – Post-discussion: Sediment transport

April 27 – Discussion of Chapter 5 of The Coast of Puget Sound: Its Processes and Development by John Downing Synopsis due

April 28 – Post-discussion: Coastal geomorphology

 

Week 6 – Bluffs and landsliding

May 2 – Discussion of “The liquid Earth” by Brenda Bell, Atlantic Monthly, January, 1999. Synopsis due

May 4 – Post-discussion: Landslides

May 5 – Discussion of Chapter 3 – “Man and the shoreline” of Living with the Shore of Puget Sound and the Georgia Strait by Thomas Terich Synopsis due

 

Week 7 – Beach preservation

May 9 – Field trip: West Seattle on Shoreline modification Location map

May 11 – Review

May 12 – Quiz #2

 

Week 8 – Intertidal ecology

May 16 – Proposal day* Group proposals due

May 18 – Discussion of Quiz #2, Proposals, & Data

May 19 – Discussion of Chapters 3.1-3.3 (sections 3.4-3.5 are optional) and 6 of “The ecology of eelgrass meadows of the Pacific Northwest: a community profile” by Ronald Phillips Synopsis due

 

Week 9 – Nearshore politics

May 23 – Post-discussion: Intertidal ecology

May 25 – Discussion of Chapter 6 – “Coastal land-use planning and regulation” by Peter Graber, in Living with the Shore of Puget Sound and the Georgia Strait by Thomas Terich Synopsis due

May 26 – Post-discussion: Regulating the beach

 

Week 10 – Course project

May 30 – No class (Memorial Day)

June 1 – Second round of proposal presentations* Group proposals due

June 2 – Election*

 

June 9 – Final letter due

 

*Course project event

 

 

Camano data!!!

 

Aerial photograph

Oblique photograph

Camano data spreadsheet

ShoreZone Inventory summary

 

Course project

 

The centerpiece of the course is a group project that involves a mock debate based upon real proposed improvements to be made at Camano Island State Park. You will be sorted into groups representing different governmental and non-governmental agencies. A dossier of these groups is here. Group assignments are as follows:

 

Washington State Department of Ecology

Ashley Aust

Pete Berg

Marnie Briceno

Austin Gendron

CJ Matel

Proposal 1

 

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission

Nate Reid

Matthew Strang

Derek Zahajko

Evan Hanada

Proposal 1

 

Recreational Boating Association of Washington

Justin Bergquist

Greg Eiford

Alyson McLean

Kathleen Perkins

Proposal 1

 

People for Puget Sound

Toby Black

Kaitlin Gray

Chase Stoudt

Proposal 1

 

Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Jen Au

Ben Gilmore

Dan Gracey

Proposal 1

 

Camano Coalition - CARE & Friends of Camano Island Parks

Steph Garcia-Senin

Marco Hatch

Fred Potter

Shayna Martinez-Ernst

Proposal 1

 

The project will proceed in a similar manner as real-life policy decisions. You will first be expected to make a statement about development at Camano Island State Park based upon the mission statement of your group and the knowledge you have gained about beach processes. You will present this statement both orally and in written form on the Proposal Day (May 16). After hearing how the other groups have decided to proceed and receiving more information about the site, you will reformulate your proposal and attempt to sell it to your classmates (June 1). The following day (June 2), we will have a vote on which proposed plan will be implemented. The final for the class will be to write a letter explaining to your constituents how the policy decision was made and defending your actions during the course of the debate.

 

 

Grades

20% Discussion synopses (credit/no-credit) examples

30% group project divided as follows:

            10% 1st proposal assignment

            10% 2nd proposal assignment

            10% final letter

25% Quiz #1 study sheet

25% Quiz #2 study sheet

 

 

Late Policy

Point for every business-day late (group projects only)

 

 

Useful links

 

NOAA tide predictions

NOAA tide observations

Puget Sound shoreline photos

DNR landslide hazards

NW weather data

GeoMapNW geologic maps

Department of Ecology landslide threat maps

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) landslide FAQ

Puget Sound T-sheets

Washington Coastal Atlas

Washington State ShoreZone Inventory

David Finlayson’s webpage

State of the Nearshore Report (King County)

Recreational shellfish beach closures

Lummi Island Ferry

Edmonds Underwater Park

Washington State Aquatic Nuisance Species

Washington Administrative Code (WAC)

 

Useful References

Burns, R. 1985. The Shape and Form of Puget Sound, University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Dean, C. 1999. Against the Tide, Columbia University Press, New York.

Downing, J. 1983. The Coast of Puget Sound: Its Processes and Development, University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Komar, P. D. 1998. Beach processes and sedimentation, Second Edition. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Kozloff, E. N. 1973. Seashore life of Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the San Juan Archipelago, University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Kruckeberg, A. R. 1991. The Natural History of Puget Sound Country, University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Pond, S. and Pickard, G. L. 1983. Introductory Dynamical Oceanography, Second Edition. Pergamon Press, New York.

Terich, T. A. 1987. Living with the Shore of Puget Sound and the Georgia Strait, Duke University Press, Durham, NC.