MANAGING LOCALIZED EROSION OF COASTAL BLUFFS.

The characteristics of bluff erosion were studied along an 80-kilometer length of the eastern north-shore of Long Island, New York. The bluffs are composed of unconsolidated sand and are 50 meters high in places. About 75% of the bluff face is vegetated (covered) and not actively eroding; 25% is stripped of vegetation (exposed) and receding at rates as high as 2 meters/year. One eroding area that is 33 meters wide and 50 meters high has lost more than 4,800 cubic meters of sediment within six years of its inception. The exposed areas also spread laterally and may coalesce before they are revegetated and become stable. Longterm management of such a shoreline should include a method for quickly identifying new erosional features. Refs.