Hurricane Ike's underwater damage studied

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists who conducted a rapid response research mission after Hurricane Ike have concluded the hurricane significantly reshaped the seafloor.

The University of Texas at Austin researchers surveyed the inlet between Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, discovering the hurricane likely carried an enormous amount of sand and sediment into the Gulf.

"The big question is whether the sand was entirely removed from the system or if it's still close enough to the shoreline to get back into the system," said John Goff, senior research scientist at the university's Jackson School of Geosciences.

Goff and researcher Mead Allison conducted a seafloor survey of the Bolivar Roads inlet just 1 1/2 weeks after Hurricane Ike made landfall. The inlet is the main passage between the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay and is the route of the Houston Ship Channel.

They determined Hurricane Ike's surge had the potential to cause substantial erosion and transport sediment long distances. They found Ike apparently mobilized and re-deposited sediments over large regions in a layer eight to 40 inches thick, and, in isolated spots up, to 6 1/2 feet thick.

The team plans to conduct an additional survey to identify the extent of storm-related deposits.