Study of sand dunes and coastal erosion at Mustang Island and North Padre Island

Structures within nature are often found to be resilient to withstand harsh environments, dunes for example offer protection against wind and tidal erosion. In Coastal Texas, there exist natural sand dunes created from the accumulation of fine-grained sediments by wind. These sand dunes are a key component of the coastal environment because they slow down erosion and are habitats for wildlife. Due to the importance of naturally occurring dunes, there are man-made dune projects attempting to recreate the benefits seen in natural dune types. However, man-made dunes are seen to deteriorate at a faster rate compared to natural dunes. This raises the question, what makes naturally forming dunes different? My objective is to determine if natural dunes are more resilient to erosion than man-made dunes by comparing and analyzing the internal structures of both types of dunes on the Texas coast by using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).