Hurricane Harvey // Sand Peel Sculpture E

Context, Description, and Interpretation:

Peel E records deposition of sands during the early adjustment phase as the energy levels rapidly drop.  The hydrologic archive shows the water level dropping at a decreasing rate.  During this time the human impact recorded by 211 calls was for immediate needs like food and shelter.

Summary: Peel E is a rising energy deposit with increasing energy through time.  This is evident from the transition from current ripples to dunes which increase in size upwards.

The base of Peel E contains small current ripples indicating lower flow regime; however, they are difficult to see because they are oblique to the peel.  Moving up section there is a transition to large scale dune trough cross stratification.  The size of the dunes increases upwards, indicating a rise in energy level  The red arrows indicate the easterly flow direction.  Note: the maximum flood erosional surface is ~0.4m below the peel.

Event Timing 

• Transition from early to middle adjustment phase

  • August 30-September 1, 2017: This time period is at the transition from upper to lower flow regime. Throughout the period of upper flow regime, the energy is decreasing; however, at the transition there is a slight increase in energy and potential local variation in flow energy. Flow was to the east.