A New Idea to Prevent Erosion By Thayer Stowers Erosion is nothing new on Nantucket.

The shoreline has been slowly deteriorating since glaciers first formed the island more than 20,000 years ago. Nantucket Island is an island off the shore of Cape Cod, which is faced with the problem of destructive erosion. This is due in a large part to the shifting of offshore sandbars that focuses wave force on different parts of the shoreline. There have been numerous methods used in order to control the erosion, but on Nantucket Island, It seems that the methods that are being used are not doing enough. Erosion is the process through which rock and soil are removed from the surface of the Earths crust. An example would be when rock and soil are deposited in different locations by water flow or wind. This causes erosion to be one of the most significant global environmental problems. There are of course different ways to prevent erosion, and one of the ways is to increase vegetation on the land. But unfortunately this doesnt always work. Nantucket Island has tried a number of attempts at controlling or slowing erosion over the years. In 2003, the Island installed a terracing system but the terracing efforts were no match for a powerful storm in 2007. Damage caused from the storm forced the demolition of summer homes that were about to be washed away. Nantucket has been facing the problem with erosion since the settlement was established, and even before that. The main problem with erosion on Nantucket is that the shoreline under homes and historical locations are about to be washed out to sea. The Island has experimented with different methods to fix the problem such as dune-guard fencing, burlap mats and planting beach grass. They have also tried a large scale dewatering system designed to reduce erosion by pumping water out of the sand so it could absorb more of the wave activity. But overall, its effectiveness was inadequate and did not provide consistently good protection according to Nantucket Today. An Idea that is proposed as a possible solution to prevent erosion is to have materials that can be placed on soft soil that will protect it as well as absorb the water. The way to do that is by using geotextile filter fabric that has been embedded with water gel crystals. Geotextiles are permeable fabrics that when used in association with soil, have the ability to separate, filter, reinforce, protect or drain. They are made from Polypropylene (C3H6)n, a thermoplastic polymer. Polypropylene is tough and flexible, which makes it a good engineering plastic. It does not break down easily. It also has a good resistance to fatigue. The synthetic fibers in polypropylene are also very long which makes them unreactive and thus they will not degrade. The melting point of polypropylene is between 130-171 degrees Celsius making it ideal for areas of high heat exposure. According to Wikipedia, polypropylene is made with two types of catalysts. The first group of catalysts are isotactic macromolecules coiled into a helical shape, which line up next to one another to form crystals that give polypropylene its desirable properties. The second catalyst is a syndiotactic polypropylene which also coils into a helical shape and forms crystalline materials (Wikipedia, Polypropylene). Polypropylene consists of synthetic fibers which limit the problem of biodegradation. Overall, it is a good soil stabilizer.

Water Gel crystals are made from a Polyacrylamide, (C3H5NO)n, a polymer with a very strong ability to absorb water. This property is called hydrophilic, meaning it has the ability to take up water easily. Polyacrylate molecules are not linear, they have long chains tied together in many places by cross-links made from organic molecules known as alkenes. In reference to Cynthia Andersons article on polyacrylate polymers, the strong covalent bonds of these crosslinks are responsible for holding the molecule together when it is placed in water. In the absorption process, water surrounds the three dimensional polymer (Anderson, 71). The negative charges in the solution attach to the polymer backbone. The positively charged sodium ions are attracted to the negative charges and are trapped inside the polymer network. The anionic form of cross-linked polyacrylamide is frequently used as a soil conditioner for erosion control in order to protect the water quality of nearby rivers, streams and oceans. By combining geotextiles made of polypropylene and water gel crystals made from polyacrylamide polymers, a new form of erosion control may finally yield success. When placed on the shorelines, this tough and flexible material combined with the super absorbing water capacity of the polyacrylate, destructive erosion can be decreased significantly. Nantucket is a historical and unique island and all measures should be taken to protect its magnificent shoreline.

Works Cited.

Anderson, Cynthia. "The Absorbing Story of the Thirsty Polymer." ChemMatters (1999): 70-71. Web. "Erosion." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. "Polyacrylamide." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. "Polypropylene." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. Pykosz, Lindsay. "Calling Sconset's Bluff." Nantucket Today Dec. 2013: 46-59. Web.