The Coastal and Estuarine Geology Program at the Maryland Geological Survey periodically assesses shoreline change – erosion and accretion – for Maryland's tidal waters. These include the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, the Atlantic coast, and the Coastal Bays west of Fenwick and Assateague Islands. The Program has acquired or produced a sequence of digital shorelines for all 125 of the State's 7.5-minute coastal quadrangles. Shoreline dates cover a range from 1841 to 1995, with several intermediate years commonly available. However, the number of shorelines and the specific shoreline dates vary from quadrangle to quadrangle, depending on availability. Products of this work can be used to assess the historical changes in shoreline position over time.

MGS’s Online Shoreline Change Resources

      Shoreline Changes Maps are available for online viewing or for downloading in Adobe PDF format. These maps products display the shorelines over 1988-1995 digital orthophotographs. An example from a portion of the Tilghman Island Quadrangle is shown to the right. The pdf files were produced for plotting at a scale of 1:24,000 on a 36-inch wide paper plotter, and as a result are quite large – up to 45Mb each, and may take time to download depending on connection speed. Plotted colors may vary from those shown on-screen depending on the settings of individual plotters.

Additional Online Resources

• Maryland Shore Erosion Task Force Final Report (2000) in Adobe PDF format.
       The Maryland General Assembly passed Resolution 13 during the 1999 legislative session requesting that the Governor establish a Shore Erosion Task Force representing state and local government, the scientific community, and citizens at large. The Resolution noted that because the State lacked a comprehensive shore erosion action plan, the Task Force should, among other things, identify shore erosion needs by county, clarify local, state, and federal roles, establish five and ten year shore erosion control plans, and review contributing factors to shore erosion. The final report was produced in 2000.
• Sediment in the Chesapeake and Management Issues: Tidal Erosion Processes.
       A report in Adobe PDF format produced by the EPA – Chesapeake Bay Program Sediment Workgroup. Other information on sediment issues in the Chesapeake Bay can be found by searching on the word “sediment” at the Bay Program website (http://www.chesapeakebay.net/index.cfm), and other activities of the Sediment Workgroup can be located by searching on “sediment workgroup.”

     Paper copies of those maps are available from the Survey's Publications Office.  For availability or further information about this map series please contact Lamere Hennessee (lhennessee@mgs.md.gov)