Coastal Geology - The Rodriguez Lab
About Us
When most people think about coastal geology, the first thing that comes to mind is beach profiling or better understanding beach erosion, but coastal geology is much more than that. Our research focuses on understanding how coastal systems respond to climate, sea level, and oceanographic fluctuations using the principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy. We are interested in the evolution of coastal and alluvial environments located within estuaries and on the continental shelf across the northern Gulf of Mexico and mid-Atlantic margins. Most of our projects require collecting and examining lithologic (cores, outcrops, grab samples...), geophysical (ground-penetrating radar, side-scan sonar, chirp, boomer, sparker, water gun...), and paleontologic data (macrofauna).
Being at IMS and part of the Department of Marine Sciences on campus provides new research opportunities and directions. We are working closely with Brent McKee and his lab on new exciting research in sediment cycling, transport, and deposition from coastal-plain watersheds to estuaries. Check out some of our new publications. New collaborations with Joel Fodrie and Niels Lindquist are improving intertidal oyster-reef restoration efforts and addressing fundamental questions related to oyster-reef accretion. Continuing research with Pete Peterson and Steve Fegley links barrier island morphodynamics with benthic invertebrates, fish, shorebirds, and sea turtles.
From an application standpoint, results from our work are directly applicable to coastal managers, and anyone who is interested in depositional environments and how they are recognized in the geologic record. This includes petroleum geologists and environmental geologists.
Browse our publication titles to get a better idea of the types of research projects we conduct. Our research projects are field intensive; we spend time on small boats, on large research vessels, tromping through marshes, and on the beach. If you are interested in joining our group and would like additional information, contact Dr. Rodriguez (abrodrig@email.unc.edu).
