Concepts in gravel beach dynamics

Buscombe, Daniel; Masselink, Gerd

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2006.06.003

Cited by 194 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…It is also possible that a step in the beach profile -a common feature at the shore break on steep beaches (e.g. Buscombe and Masselink, 2006) -was a contributing factor in the development of the ripples (see last paragraph, this Section), although we have no direct evidence of a step being present. Regardless of the presence/absence of a step, the physical picture is of the shore break advancing rapidly up the beach face with the rising tide, and mobilizing sediment of all sizes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…The 10-12 m tidal range indicates that Advocate Beach can be classed as a megatidal rather than macrotidal beach (Levoy et al, 2000). The reader is referred to the informative reviews by Mason and Coates (2001) of MSG beach dynamics, and by Buscombe and Masselink (2006) of steep and coarse-grained -but pure gravel as opposed to MSG -beaches. Both reviews emphasize the point that there have been far fewer field investigations of flow and sediment dynamics on gravel and MSG beaches than on sand beaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sediment dynamics on a steep, megatidal, mixed sand–gravel–cobble beach

2014

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Abstract.Results are presented from a pilot study of shore-face sediment dynamics on a steep, poorly sorted, coarse-grained, megatidal beach at the head of the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada. The experiment involved the first field deployment of a prototype wideband, pulse-coherent, bistatic acoustic Doppler profiling system. Measurements of the vertical structure of flow and turbulence above a sloping bed, as well as bed material velocity, demonstrate the capabilities of this instrument vis-à-vis studies of nearshore sediment dynamics at the field scale. The second focus of the paper is the unexpected observation that the surficial sediment median diameter, across the lower two-thirds of the intertidal zone, underwent a pronounced decrease when wave forcing was more energetic, compared to values observed during calmer conditions. The explanation for this result appears to involve the formation -in wave-dominated conditions -of metre-scale wavelength, 20 cm high ripples on the rising tide, which are then planed flat by the swash and/or the shore break on the subsequent ebb.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment dynamics on a steep, megatidal, mixed sand–gravel–cobble beach

2014

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“…Field observations showed that the PG beaches (Chesil and Loe Bar) develop very narrow surf zones with waves dissipating most of their energy on the beach step, a relatively small morphological feature at the base of the foreshore that forms a submerged break in slope at the base of the swash zone and which appears to adjust to neashore hydrodynamics regime (e.g., Hughes and Cowell, 1987). The beach step on PG beaches acts in an analogous way to a nearshore bar on sndy beaches by dissipating incident wave energy (Buscombe and Masselink, 2006); however, due to the very small distance between the beach step and swash zone a large amount of wave energy still propagates into the swash zone, and for this reason the inshore wave measurements were similar or higher than the offshore wave measurements. Different surf zone mechanisms occur when the beach profile presents a wide and very dissipative intertidal terrace, such as at Seascale (the MSG beach).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The hydraulically-rough and permeable nature of the coarse sediments (D > 2 mm), together with their ability to develop a steep beach-face (reflective) provide to coarse-grained beaches efficient mechanisms for wave energy dissipation and therefore natural means of coastal defence (Carter and Orford, 1993;van Wellen et al, 2000;Buscombe and Masselink, 2006;Moses and Williams, 2008). These aspects have raised a recent interest in these environments for engineering applications such as beach nourishment (e.g., Moses and Williams, 2009); however, there are important limitations in understanding the behaviour of these beaches under energetic wave conditions (i.e., storms).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Swash Zone Morphodynamics of Coarse-Grained Beaches During Energetic Wave Conditions

Almeida¹,

Masselink²,

Russell³

et al. 2014

Int. Conf. Coastal. Eng.

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A 2D laser-scanner was deployed on four different coarse-grained beaches (Chesil, Loe Bar, Hayling Island and Seascale -all in UK) to measure the swash morphodynamics during energetic wave conditions (offshore Hs > 2m). Field observations performed with the laser-scanner showed that different types of coarse-grained beaches present contrasting morphological responses under energetic hydrodynamics. The surf scaling parameter, a proxy of the morphological condition and wave steepness on the swash, showed an inverse relationship with the extreme vertical runup illustrating that runup is enhanced by low steepness swell waves for a given coarse-grained beach\slope; nevertheless additional parameters are needed to explain the entire runup variability.

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“…The porous structure of gravel and its hydraulic roughness dissipates the energy of the wave and reduce the damages in the coastal areas. Nevertheless, the study of this class of beaches is complex, and the scientific works are few compared with those focused on sand beaches [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A methodology for the classification of gravel beaches

Villacampa

Aragonés

Serra

et al. 2015

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment

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Beaches are highly flexible structures that can be deformed by several reasons, some natural as wind and swell and others not, as human actions. Gravel, considered as a component of the beach is not always separated from the rest of the materials. It is a part of the coastline sedimentary balance, usually with time and spatial scales much greater than those corresponding to the stretch of the coast under study. The conceptual and experimental difficulties of studying this kind of beach have meant that nowadays they are really unknown.In this paper, methodologies to classify and determinate the most important characteristics in gravel beaches are presented. The authors have studied 34 shingle beaches in the region of Alicante (Spain) from a database with their characteristics. Obtained data corresponds to the morphology of the beach, the materials that take part in its composition and the wave energy, considering its incidence, the wave height, the local period and its influence on the coastline.At the beginning, mathematical models are generated, allowing the expression of the relationships between the slope of berm and the rest of variables.To classify the beaches, a factor analysis has been used on the experimental data matrix, considering all the variables as predictive, obtaining in this way an index for beach classification with similar characteristics. Furthermore, to determine the predictive variables that allow characterizing the 34 beaches, a discriminant analysis has been applied over several sets of variables. In each case, a predictive model of cluster belonging is created, considering a Coastal Cities and their Sustainable Future 297

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Concepts in gravel beach dynamics

Cited by 194 publications

References 122 publications

Sediment dynamics on a steep, megatidal, mixed sand–gravel–cobble beach

Sediment dynamics on a steep, megatidal, mixed sand–gravel–cobble beach

Swash Zone Morphodynamics of Coarse-Grained Beaches During Energetic Wave Conditions

A methodology for the classification of gravel beaches

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