The Connecticut coast has submerged about 9.7 feet (3 meters) in the last 3500 years and about 27.5 feet (8.4 meters) in the last 8000 years. The submergence rate decreased to half an earlier rate about 3500 years ago, and salt marshes then filled the formerly open bays. Since their formation, the salt marshes have built upward to keep pace with continuing submergence. Vertical accretion on selected Connecticut tidal marshes has ranged between 1 and 16 mm per year between 1962 and 1966. Typical marshes are building upward at about 4 mm per year, which approximates the regional submergence rate for recent decades. Marsh edges have eroded unusually fast in recent decades, but only minor erosion was measured during detailed surveys between 1962 and 1966. (Author).

The series includes Biennial reports of the Commissioners of the State Geological and Natural History Survey.

The Connecticut shoreline is made up of varying landscapes--the sandy coastline at Madison, the rocky shore at Branford, the replenished beach at Greenwich, and the erosion at Old Saybrook. A Moveable Shore offers a general user's guide to the Connecticut shore. In a town-by-town journey down the 254-mile coastline, Peter C. Patton and James M. Kent explore in detail the history of specific sites, the climatic and geological forces that shape the shore, and regulations regarding land-use development. In addition, they provide a guide to coastal field trips. Beginning with the hurricane of 1938, the biggest natural disaster to strike Connecticut since its settlement by Europeans, the authors demonstrate the continuing pattern of development of coastal land prone to flooding and high winds. Although the Connecticut coast faces Long Island and Block Island sounds, it is subject to the same natural hazards, land-use risks, and regulations as opean ocean shorelines. Global climatic events--glaciation, global warming, and rising sea levels--influence the shape and composition of the Connecticut shoreline, as do small-scale forces such as wind, waves, and tides. Patton and Kent seek to instill a respect for the force of natural events and provide a guide for lessening the dangers of construction and development. A practical question-and-answer chapter explains what homeowners need to know to meet land-use regulations along the coast. In a state where the entire population lives within 100 miles of the coast, this important book will serve as a citizens' guide to living with the Connecticut shore and will be of interest to coastal residents, developers, geologists, policymakers, and vacationers.