Introduction
The Texas coast bordering the western Gulf of Mexico (Fig. 1.5.1 ) is about 590 km long and consists of barrier islands (80%) and mainland beaches (20%). Of the sandy barrier segments, about 45% are retreating, 35% are progradational features and 20% are aggradational features. Retreating barrier and beach segments, such as the Rio Grande deltaic headland and adjacent South Padre Island (Fig. 1.5.2 ) are narrow, thin and have low topographic profiles that allow repeated overwash by extreme storms. These relatively young landward-migrating barriers are located on the flanks of eroding Holocene deltaic headlands constructed by the Rio Grande and the combined Brazos-Colorado rivers. In contrast, the aggradational barrier segments with associated tidal flats (Fig. 1.5.3 ) and progradational barriers with associated washover fans (Figs. 1.5.4 and   1.5.5 ) are wide, thick and have high dunes that effectively prevent storm surges from washing over the barrier islands. These...
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Morton, R. (2010). Texas. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of the World's Coastal Landforms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_6
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