Running head: Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 1

Length of New Jersey Beaches Over Time

Lauren Huber

Stockton University
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 2
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 3

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Methods and Statistics 4

Results 4

Discussion 4

References 7

Tables 8

Figures 9
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 4

Introduction

Beaches are important ecosystems, areas of protection, and contribute to local area

incomes all of which contribute to their aesthetic, recreational, and environmental value.

Studying and monitoring beach lengths over time is important because beaches provide

residential and commercial areas protection as well as popular tourist areas. Both commercial

and residential areas are at risk, especially when hurricanes or tropical storms change the

landscape of the beach (Zhang, et al. 2002). The importance of studying beach lengths does not

change, monitoring beach lengths can help maintain protections and aesthetic values by

providing solutions to management projects. For this study the length of beaches was looked at

over a period of 29 years and the impacts that amount of time was assessed for statistical

significance. Despite the importance of monitoring beach lengths, there is little research to show

that there is a significant impact of time on beach lengths.

For this study an analysis of beaches on the New Jersey coast were analyzed, show on

Figure 3. New Jersey was chosen for its mid-Atlantic position on the East coast and because it

has been subjected to the effects of several major hurricanes in recent years. Majority of the

beaches studied are barrier islands, which recover from severe storms rather quickly which is not

responsible for long-term erosion but sea-level rise may be the cause of lasting effects (Zhang, et

al. 2002). All of the beaches study provides a different value but all provide a source of

protection between the ocean and the mainland.

Given the importance of beach lengths, my study explores the effects of time on the

change of beach lengths over time. Specifically, I hypothesize that beaches on the New Jersey

coast will lose length over time due to beach erosion and rising sea levels. To test my hypothesis,

I conducted a study that measured ten beach lengths over 29 years on the coast of New Jersey
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 5

Methods and Statistics

For this experiment I collected data from Google Earth Pro. All of the beaches in New

Jersey were placed in a list on Microsoft Excel and chosen at random with the =RAND()

function. Then, the beaches were chosen at random by an online number generator. I then the

placed a pin on one point on the beaches of study for every year of satellite images that were

available. I used the measure feature included in the Google Earth Pro program, this gave me the

length in feet on the map and ground length, the data recorded was based on the map length. I

repeated this for every year that satellite images were available for each beach.

The statistics used in the analysis of the data was a one-way analysis of variance

(ANOVA) for each of the beaches. Microsoft Excel and R Studio were used to conduct the

ANOVA and to determine of mean and standard deviation.

Results

The results of the study found that there was no effect of time on the beaches measured

except for Mantoloking, data in Table 1. Mantoloking beach was the only one that was found to

have a significant effect of time on the length of the beach (F=17.851, degrees of freedom(df)=1,

p= 0.008483). Figure 1 shows the beach lengths plotted against the amount of time elapsed since

March 1991, this shows most of the beaches maintained a constant length, Wildwood Crest had a

negative change and Mantoloking had a positive change. Figure 2 shows the average beach

lengths for each location with Wildwood Crest having the highest and Beach Haven having the

lowest.

Discussion

After conducting the study and analyzing the results the original hypothesis was not

support with the exception of Mantoloking’s beach which showed that there was a significant
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 6

effect of time on the beach. Mantoloking was one of the many beaches that experienced the

effects of Hurricane Sandy, only a few hundred feet from the study site the beach, houses, road

was washed away. The small beach and lack of raised dunes left the area vulnerable and caused

the beach to wash away during the hurricane (Burger & Gochfeld, 2017). Despite the lack of

evidence to support the hypothesis it was interesting to see the changes in the beach over time

and how the landscape evolved.

They hypothesis that time would affect beach lengths was not supported, there are a few

reasons that could cause this. The first is that the beaches have been subject to several major

hurricanes over the time span looked at, with the effects of the hurricane comes beach

replenishment efforts. These replenishment efforts lengthen the space between the dunes and

where the waves are coming up the beach by pumping sand from offshore to the beaches

(Leonard, et al. 1990). Another factor is that there was no way to determine what time the

satellite images were taken which makes it hard to determine if the images were taken at high or

low tide which affects the space between the dunes and where the waves come up the beach. And

the last factor that could have effect on the data was that the time span was too small. Going back

to the earliest date of satellite images for each of the beaches and measuring to the most current

could provide better detail of which beaches had time affect their length. For future experiments,

these factors should be taken into account and broadening the study to more beaches that are in

the Northern part of the state rather than predominately Central and South Jersey beaches. As a

future experiment I would measure beaches over a longer period of time, do more research into

what beaches have had replenishment efforts done, and take into account of the tides.

Measuring beach lengths over time and looking closely at times where large, devastating

tropical storms or hurricanes can have serious implications to see which areas of beach are more
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 7

prone to erosion. This could also provide management recommendations for where to dredge and

add more sand to beaches to prevent erosion. My recommendation to towns and state

government officials to monitor the current conditions of the beaches. In addition, constant

monitoring to predict where the shoreline will change over time and to build up areas that are

most affected (Zhang, et al. 2002). Also, avoiding building sea walls or adding jetties to beaches

and to put efforts into dredging and extending the beach to create more space between the ocean

and public areas (Messaros, et al. 2018). With these recommendations towns and cities with

beaches can monitor and assess their individual effects of beach erosion. With this assessment,

management plans can be customized to best protect the beaches on the Jersey shore.
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 8

References

Burger, J. & Gochfeld, M. (2017). Perceptions of severe storms, climate change, ecological

structures and resiliency three years post-hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. Urban

Ecosystems, 20(6), 1261–1275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-017-0678-x

Leonard, L., Clayton, T., & Pilkey, O. (1990). An Analysis of Replenished Beach Design

Parameters on U.S. East Coast Barrier Islands. Journal of Coastal Research, 6(1), 15–36.

Messaros, R., Rosati, J., Buonaiuto, F., Rasmussen, C., Vega, A., & Bocamazo, L. (2018).

Assessing the Coastal Resilience of Manasquan Inlet to Sea Bright, New Jersey: Regional

Sediment Budget 1992–2003. Journal of Coastal Research, 34(4), 955–967.

https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-17-00067.1

Zhang, K., Douglas, B., & Leatherman, S. (2002). Do Storms Cause Long‐Term Beach Erosion

along the U.S. East Barrier Coast? The Journal of Geology, 110(4), 493–502.

https://doi.org/10.1086/340633
Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 9

Tables

Table 1

Beach Length

Beach Name Average Standard Standard F-value P-value

(Feet) Deviation Error

Avalon 628.458 77.21 19.93 0.503 0.4907

Beach Haven 224.013 38.74 10.74 0.01 0.922

Belmar 623.491 53.22 12.91 0.1568 0.6977

Brigantine 334.653 68.64 17.72 3.1393 0.09985

Cape May 347.618 54.94 14.68 2.4465 0.1438

Island Beach 439.072 53.38 12.94 3.5267 0.07997

State Park

Mantoloking 309.53 156.13 39.03 17.851 0.0008483

Sea Bright 423.66 78.73 19.09 3.0359 0.1019

Sea Girt 308.098 58.44 14.17 0.4214 0.5261

Wildwood 1073.065 117.17 32.50 0.8413 0.3787

Crest

Note: The data includes the average beach length, standard deviation, standard error, p-value,

and f-value. The data was collected from Google Earth Pro, analyze in Microsoft Excel and R

Studio.
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Figures
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Figure 1. The chart above shows the beach lengths compared to the number of months since

March of 1991.
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Figure 2. The graph above shows the average beach lengths measured and their associated

standard deviations.
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Length of New Jersey Beaches over time 16
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Figure 3. Map of New Jersey with the beaches of study. Map projection is WGS 1984 Web

Mercator.