Celebration of the World’s Barrier Islands

Orrin H. Pilkey is James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Geology and director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Duke University. He is the recipient of many awards, including the Francis Shepard Award for Excellence in Marine Geology, and the author or editor of many books, including The Beaches Are Moving: The Drowning of America's Shoreline, Living by the Rules of the Sea, and The Corps and the Shore.Mary Edna Fraser is a renowned artist specializing in the production of large-scale batiks, many based on aerial photographs. Her work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Duke University Museum of Art, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Pilkey has written a highly engaging and intelligent book on the fragile beauty of the barrier islands. Library Journal A marriage of expertise and aesthetics. Charleston Post Delicate renderings of the islands by artist Mary Edna Fraser look like vivid aerial-view paintings but are actually batik prints of the coasts, counterbalancing Pilkey's careful study of the 'restless ribbons of sand.' New Yorker It's a wonderful tour, richly illustrated with colour and black and white photos. Mary Edna Fraser's silk batiks deserve special mention. They capture the sense of the islands remarkably well, giving us a keen birdseye view of the land. New Scientist The fragility of those coastal areas is explored in Orrin Pilkey'sA Celebration of the World's Barrier Islands which takes readers on an illustrated jaunt to many of the barrier islands worldwide. -- Ann Lloyd Merriman Richmond Times-Dispatch Pilkey provides an informative guide to the wheres and wherefores of barrier islands-from the vacation meccas off the east coast of North America, to the exotic carbonate archipelagos of Mozambique, to the ice-battered slivers of tundra that line the Arctic Ocean. Aerial and satellite photographs illustrate each geological peculiarity that the text brings into focus, but the most remarkable images in the book are the batiks created by Mary Edna Fraser. Natural History [Pilkey] uses lively, engaging language to explain the origin, the long-term evolution, and the day-to-day processes that determine the distribution and morphological splendor of barrier islands... Original illustrations are magnificent and complement the elegance of the book. Choice This book serves as a fine introduction to the world's diverse barrier islands, yet provides an enormous wealth of information. Southeastern Naturalist The global scope of this book is impressive... this attractive book will succeed in stimulating other scientists to write about geomorphological features for the general public. -- Andrew Goudie Times Higher Education Supplement This is an attractive and thoughtful book...Highly recommended to all whose interests include coastal environments. -- Harold D. Palmer Oceanography A book that not only is intellectually stimulating but aesthetically pleasing...Pilkey's book is eye opening and should be required reading. -- Mary Ellen Riddle Coast Pilkey's and Fraser's collaboration produces an emotional response to the beauty of our planet, one which proves that science and art can together deepen understanding. -- Linda Kaun Fiberarts Magazine If there is one book poised to have a positive impact on the future of the world's disappearing barrier islands, this is it. -- Laura J. Moore Palaois This is an interesting and yet unusual book... It is a welcome addition. -- Derek J. McGlashan Geomorphology

• List of Illustrations Preface Prologue 1. Dennis Roars Ashore: A Beneficial Catastrophe 2. The Global Picture 3. The American Barrier Island Scene: Hot Dogs and Drumsticks 4. Barrier Islands and Human Realities: Awash in Politics 5. Delta Barrier Islands: That Sinking Feeling 6. Colombia's Pacific Islands: A Subsiding Tropical Paradise 7. The Carbonate Islands: Tropical Permafrost 8. Lagoon Barriers: The Quiet Ones 9. The Icelandic Islands: Of Fire and Ice 10. The Arctic Islands: The Cold and Dark Ones 11. False Islands: Things Aren't What They Seem to Be 12. Requiem for Some Friends Glossary of Terms References Cited Appendix Table 1. Global Barrier Islands Table 2. Delta Barrier Islands Table 3. Arctic Barrier Islands Table 4. Endangered Species Index