Jade Lin

3/16/18
ENGW3307
Cecelia Musselman
Context Memo

My review covers the impacts of sea level rise on human transportation systems and how they might be
addressed. Most of the main ideas I use in my review are either intuitive or explained, so this context
memo will only define a few of the terms that are not already explained.

Tidal range (section 3.2) – the height between high tide and low tide. The effects of tidal range vary with
the slope of the land. For a steeper slope, there will be a smaller area of land covered for the same tidal
range on a gentler slope. Different coastlines of the US experience different types of daily tides.

Isostatic land movements (3.2) – the crust of the earth moves buoyantly up or down on top of the
plastic asthenosphere depending on how much mass there is on the surface. When there is more mass,
such as when there is a glacier on top of the land, the land sinks into the mantle. When the glacier melts,
there is no longer mass causing the land to sink, so the land rises (post-glacial rebound). There is usually
a lag between when the mass is added or removed and when the land reaches its equilibrium elevation.
The reason why the southeast US is undergoing subsidence while the northeast is experiencing post-
glacial rebound is because during the last ice age, there were huge continental glaciers covering the
northern half of North America. This caused the land in the north to sink. Because the continent is a
large slab of crust, the sinking of the north caused the southern half to rise up like a see-saw. Now that
the glacial ice has melted, the South is sinking while the North is rising to return to an equilibrium.

GIS (3.3) - GIS is essentially a mapping software. It allows the user to combine spatial and numerical or
categorical data to create maps. In this case elevation data and SLR projections were used to create
flood maps, and this was overlaid with road maps. GIS elements, called features, can also contain data
such as traffic usage or length that can help analyze or refine results.

Hydraulic connectivity (3.3) – There will only be sea level rise flooding in an area that is both low
elevation and connected to an ocean or river. If a low-lying area is isolated from the ocean or a river,
then there is no mechanism for flooding to occur, unless there is also very heavy rain and not enough
drainage.

Rising water tables (3.3) – the depth of ground water tables is expected to become shallower with the
encroachment of sea water infiltrates higher onto shore. The denser saltwater sinks underneath the
freshwater and pushes it upward. If the land is low enough, the freshwater may pool above the surface.

Reclaimed Marshland (4.1) – A salt marsh is a kind of wetlands. Each day it is flooded by the high tides
and is exposed during the low tide. Humans "reclaim" the marsh by filling it in with soil to create more
solid land that can be developed on. Because the marsh was originally in the intertidal zone, reclaimed
marshlands are low elevation and vulnerable to sea level rise.

Recursive noisy genetic algorithm (5.2)- uses a genetic model to obtain the optimal combination of
investments. Each chromosome represents a solution (seawall heightening, roadbed raising, etc.) where
each major investment decision for each roadway link is set at each stage. From what I understand, it
uses a genetic-like model to make different combinations of investments throughout time. For example,
the results of building a seawall first then raising the roadways will be different than reversing the order.
Mutations and crossovers can be used to make new combinations and possibly find one with a better
fitness (one with less damage costs).

Armoring (5.3) - Constructing hard structural defenses such as seawalls and revetments, as opposed to
soft defenses such as living shorelines or beach nourishment (adding sand onto a beach).

Mean higher high water (6.1) – Boston has semidiurnal tides, meaning that it has two high tides. The
higher high water is the height of the larger of the two high tides.

The sun and moon aligned (6.1) – I was trying to make a play on words. The strongest tidal forces occur
when the Sun, Earth, and moon are lined up in a 180-degree angle. This creates what is known as spring
tides, where there are the highest high tides and the lowest low tides. Perihelion is when the Earth is
closest to the Sun in its elliptical orbit. This will also make the tidal forces stronger because of the
greater gravitational pull stronger. Stronger tidal forces make the tide come up higher onto shore.