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Taking the Measure of Irene

October 16, 2011

Post-doctoral scholar Andrea Hawkes (foreground) and Summer Student Fellow Leah Fine prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irene in August by surveying a section of beach along Surf Drive in Falmouth, Mass., near WHOI’s Quissett campus. Initial results of pre- and post-storm surveys by members of the Coastal Systems Group showed that parts of the beach gained as much as 27 centimeters (11 inches) of sediment and that the beaches in general became more angular, with a long, sloping face and a higher berm. Information like this is important for researchers who attempt to determine the severity of past storms from evidence contained in sediment cores. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)