Geoenvironmental Map of the Christmas
Point Quadrangle, Texas Gulf Coast

Management and resource planning of the environmentally sensitive and densely populated Texas Gulf Coast are important to commercial and recreational interests, coastal cities, private landowners, and the economy of the state.

Tidal inlets are heavily used for commercial and recreational vessels. The islands comprise locally populated areas and some of the most frequently used recreational areas along the coast. Natural deposit and erosion processes along with human-induced activities affect water quality, littoral sediment budget, wetland boundaries, and shoreline changes.

The Geoenvironmental Map of the Christmas Point Quadrangle, Texas Gulf Coast, is an example of a geoenvironmental map series that incorporates wetland information into a general purpose coastal map addressing management and resource planning needs. This map combines barrier-island wetland habitats with bay and delta-margin geologic units. Maps of the series will eventually be completed for the entire Texas Gulf Coast. They will be digitally based and seamless in spatial extent and data content. Maps will incorporate the best and most timely data sets available.

Geoenvironmental maps of this series are needed to make land and resource management decisions and support ongoing coastal studies. The maps will aid in planning land use and in evaluating shoreline changes, changes in geologic depositional environments, and changes from human-induced activities. They will also be used for public education. Work for this study was supported in part by the STATEMAP component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, administered by the U.S. Geological Survey and in part by the General Land Office of Texas.