Ground-penetrating radar and trenching studies of a barrier spit on the north shore of Huangqihai Lake were made,that reveal important implications for the coastal washover barrier boundary hierarchy and interpretations of this depositional record.A four-fold hierarchy bounding-surface model,representing different levels of impact and genesis,is defined.Each level of the hierarchy is enclosed by a distinct kind of surface characterized by different ground-penetrating radar reflection features,sedimentary characteristics(color,grain size,sorting,rounding and sedimentary structures) and origin.We suggest that this hierarchical model can be applied to any coastal washover barrier deposits. Ground-penetrating radar and trenching studies of a barrier spit on the north shore of Huangqihai Lake were made, that reveal important implications for the coastal washover barrier boundary hierarchy and interpretations of this depositional record. A four-fold hierarchy bounding-surface model, Representative different levels of impact and genesis, is defined. Each level of the hierarchy is enclosed by a distinct kind of surface characterized by different ground-penetrating radar reflection features, sedimentary characteristics (color, grain size, sorting, rounding and sedimentary structures) and origin .We suggest that this hierarchical model can be applied to any coastal washover barrier deposits.