Sequential shoreline monitoring, using vintage chans and aerial photographs, documents temporal and spatial variations in historical Gulf shoreline changes. The regional distribution of shoreline erosion and accretion largely reflects changes in littoral drift cells, decreases in sediment supply, and continuing relative sea-level rise including compactional subsidence. A Late Quaternary (circa 3500 BP) shoreline is postulated with promontories at the Holocene Brazos.

The Texas Coastal Zone is marked by diversity in geography, resources, climate, and industry. It is richly andowed with extensive petroleum reserves, sulfur and salt, deep-water ports, intracoastal waterways, mild climate, good water supplies, abundant wildlife, commercial fishing resources, unusual recreational potential, and large tracts of uncrowded land in close proximity to major population centers.