Morphodynamics of structurally controlled headland-bay beaches in southeastern Brazil: A review

This paper presents a comprehensive review on the interaction between hydrodynamic processes, beach morphology and sedimentology at large scale coastal behaviour along the coastline of Santa Catarina, between Laguna and São Francisco Island, a microtidal east coast swell environment with headland and bay geomorphologies. The parabolic bay shape equation has proven to be a convenient and practical tool for studying the stability of the headland-bay beaches, tombolos, and salients in Santa Catarina. The beaches exhibit different patterns of sediment removal as a function of the degree of beach curvature. In highly curved beaches, there is a well-developed shadow zone and a range of morphodynamic conditions, from a sheltered low-energy beach adjacent to the downdrift headland to a high-energy exposed beach on the straight end of the headland-bay beach. The less curved beaches instead, tend to show more uniform behaviour since they are directly exposed to incident waves. There is no obvious relationship between average wave height and mean grain size, showing the importance of sediment source to characterize the sedimentary distribution patterns in the study area. The analysis of beaches showed that beach morphodynamics and sequence profiles for a bay–headland coast in a microtidal east coast environment is a function of geological inheritance (e.g., distance between headlands and orientation, nearshore and inner shelf morphology, coastal plain morphology, and sediment source), and hydrodynamic factors (wave conditions, oceanic wave exposure and relative tidal range).     

Application of empirical models to bay-shaped beaches in Portugal

Three models were applied to analyse the planform of bay-shaped Portuguese beaches. They are based on empirical mathematical functions: the logarithmic spiral bay equation, the hyperbolic-tangent bay equation, and the parabolic bay equation. These models were applied to analyse the fitting to the beach planform of 42 beaches on the Portuguese Atlantic coast which was calculated through the validation against the waterline extracted from rectified aerial photographs. The logarithmic spiral model fits well the curved zone of the beaches, in particular small beaches with two headlands. Despite the good fitting of the hyperbolic-tangent model for one headland beach, its process of approximation to the solution was less intuitive than the processes of the other two models, therefore its application was more exhaustive. A comparative analysis between the logarithmic spiral model and the hyperbolic-tangent model revealed the best fit of the first. The application of the parabolic model allowed to conclude that despite the majority of the beaches analysed being in dynamic equilibrium condition due to the high energy wave regime of the Portuguese Atlantic coast, their planform was very close to the planform in static equilibrium condition due to the high dynamics of the coastal environment.     

Community structure of macrobenthos in two tropical sandy beaches with different morphodynamic features, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The macrobenthos of two exposed tropical sandy beaches in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) were compared in relation to density, species richness, and vertical zonation. Biological and sediment samplings were carried out in the austral winter of 2002 and the austral summer of 2003. The sampling design consisted of 10 transects perpendicular to the water line, evenly divided into strata. A sampling unit was taken in each stratum with a 0.04 m² quadrat sampler. Beaches were also compared according to physical features, such as slope, wave period, wave height, and grain size. According to Dean's Ω morphodynamic index the Pontal is a dissipative beach while the Costa Azul is a reflective one. The mean grain size ranged from median to coarse sand in Costa Azul, whereas in Pontal it ranged from median to very fine sand. Eleven species were collected in the two beaches. Crustaceans were the dominant in the Costa Azul Beach, while the polychaete Scolelepis squamata dominated the Pontal beach. A negative correlation was found between the density of the macrobenthos and mean grain size, and beach slope. On the other hand, the Dean's parameter correlated positively with faunal density. Based on the results of ANOSIM, in both beaches, two groups of stations were identified, defining an upper and a lower beach zone along the vertical distribution of the macrobenthos.     

Fish assemblage structure on sandy beaches with different anthropogenic influences and proximity of spawning grounds

Fish assemblages in an insular (preserved) and a continental (disturbed) sandy beach were compared to assess any changes that could be attributed to anthropogenic influences and/or the proximity of the fish spawning grounds. We expected that the closer geographical position to the spawning grounds and the small amount of anthropogenic disturbance on the insular beach would be likely to provide more suitable conditions for early fish development compared with the continental beach. A total of 192 samples (96 in each beach) were taken, yielding 68 fish species, mostly young‐of‐the‐year. Fish assemblage structure differed significantly between the two beaches. Moreover, the insular beach had higher number of species, number of individuals and biomass compared with the continental beach. The commercially important Clupeiformes Harengula clupeola, Anchoa tricolor and Anchoa januaria, Perciformes Micropogonias furnieri and Mugiliformes Mugil liza were typical species on the insular beach, partitioning the seasonal use of the beach. On the other hand, a few abundant non‐commercial species, mainly the Atheriniformes Atherinella brasiliensis and the Perciformes Eucinostomus argenteus and Diapterus rhombeus, occurred all year round at the continental beach. The high fish richness and abundance and the more conspicuous species turnover across seasons on the insular beach are probable indications of more complex and dynamic organization of the communities favored by better geographical position and less anthropogenic disturbance in the area.     

The ignored but common nemertine Psammamphiporus elongatus from the Galician beaches (Spain), affected by the Prestige oil spill

Nemerteans have been recorded in several studies of the sandy beaches, but usually these specimens have been only regarded as members of the Phylum, with no attempt at identification at any taxonomic level. This lack of identification is partly because of the sampling procedures used to collect beach macroinfauna. Nemerteans are fragile and need special care. They must be isolated and observed in vivo before using histological procedures, which must be employed for the taxonomical studies. This study deals with a sandy beach hoplonemertean, Psammamphiporus elongatus ( Stephenson 1911 ), only known for seven specimens from the Firth of Clyde (UK). This species is recorded for the first time from the Galician sandy beaches (NW Spain) where it reaches its maximum abundance. The species is described and illustrated and new data on its morphology and ecology are provided. The species was apparently affected by the 'Prestige' oil spill, and would be a good indicator of beach quality.     

Retrospective evaluation of shoreline water quality along Santa Monica Bay beaches

Santa Monica Bay (SMB) beaches are the most heavily used in the U.S.A., despite an increased number of water quality postings over the last several years. To assess whether water quality problems are concentrated at a small number of chronically affected sites or whether the problems are widely distributed, we compiled 5 years of monitoring data collected at 59 sites, 22 of which are sampled daily. Other locally available rainfall and sewage spill monitoring information data were added to this data set to assess whether sewage spills, dry-weather runoff, or wet-weather runoff contribute the most to exceedences of water quality thresholds. Approximately 13% of the shoreline mile-days along monitored beaches in SMB exceeded the State of California's beach water quality standards during the 5-year study period. Most of the water quality exceedences occurred near urban runoff drains even though areas affected by drains represent only a small portion of the total shoreline. Although storms are relatively infrequent in southern California, the extent of water quality exceedences resulting from storm water runoff was similar to the extent of water quality exceedences found during dry weather. Sewage spills, while potentially more serious because they lead to beach closures rather than to the more limited posting of warning signs, represented less than 0.1% of the shoreline mile-days that exceeded water quality thresholds. During dry weather conditions, most of the water quality problems occurred near five of the largest drains and at two beach areas that have unique physical characteristics, which limited mixing, dispersion, and dilution. During wet weather conditions, water quality problems were more widespread.     

An Engineering Application Tool for Visual Assessment of the Equilibrium Beach

An engineering application tool for prediction of the static equilibrium bay(Beach Mod)is established to describe two bay shape formulas by use of the programming software "MATLAB" with a graphic user interface(GUI).The tool is user-friendly for engineering students for the design of beach shapes.This tool was tested through application on three types of beaches in Taiwan and Australia.By implementing the concept of Headland Control,the Beach Mod program allows users to draw a structure and create an artificial headland.The results indicate that Beach Mod can efficiently forecast beach changes as well as MEPBAY,a competing software package,while boasting a better user interface.     

粤东南澳岛青澳海滩侵蚀退化风险评价及其安全调控

分析了南澳岛海滩资源储量、空间分布及其开发利用现状,开展海岛海滩侵蚀风险评价,选择青澳海滩开展岸滩及其海湾海床地形、沉积物、动力泥沙调查,分析探讨了青澳海滩泥沙动力沉积特征,灾变退化过程机制,并从海滩稳定性和游客安全角度给出安全调控建议。结果表明:1)南澳岛海滩资源储量与侵蚀风险区域分异特征明显,其中青澳海滩旅游活动频繁、开发强度大,侵蚀退化风险等级高,人为破坏干扰抑制滩海泥沙交换,无序无度占滩开发与利用破坏了海滩自然演化进程,短期过量旅游活动加速海滩侵蚀退化进程;2)青澳湾沉积物以粗粒砂为主,沙源供给不足,不同岸段岸线进退与岸滩蚀淤与海滩方位、波浪动力强度强弱关系密切,具有明显的纵向沉积地貌分带特征。湾内落潮优势流(SE)优于涨潮(NW),对泥沙输运进入湾内具有抑制作用,潮周期海湾泥沙自湾内向湾外输运,泥沙以外输为主单宽输沙为3 400 t;3)青澳海滩存在严重的"无序占滩建筑,污水肆意排放,管理不规范"等问题,监测评价亦表明侵蚀退化风险巨大,游客安全面临着风险隐患,建议青澳海滩实行以生态化养护开发和"游客为中心"为理念的安全调控措施,设立红线及安全标示。该研究为岛礁生态建设、海岛保护及修复提供科学依据。     

Probability distributions for wave runup on beaches

Measured probability distributions of shoreline elevation, swash height (shoreline excursion length) and swash maxima and minima from a wide range of beach types are compared to theoretical probability distributions. The theoretical distributions are based on assumptions that the time series are weakly steady-state, ergodic and a linear sum of random variables. Despite the swash process being inherently non-linear, results indicate that these assumptions are not overly restrictive with respect to modeling exceedence statistics in the upper tail of the probability distribution. The RMS-errors for a range of exceedence level statistics (50, 10, 5, 2, and 1%) were restricted to < 10 cm (and often < 5 cm) for all of the swash variables that were investigated. The results presented here provide the basis for further refinement of coastal inundation modeling as well as stochastic-type morphodynamic modeling of beach response to waves. Further work is required, however, to relate the parameters of swash probability distributions to wave conditions further offshore.     

深圳大鹏半岛南岸西冲海滩的沉积物来源、平面形态稳定性及横向变化

The coast of the Dapeng Peninsula has been honored as one of "the eight most beautiful coasts in China". The most precious tourism resource for the peninsula is headland bay beaches, among which the beach at Xichong on the southern coast of the peninsula is the longest and the most important one. The information of the stability, sedimentary source and shape change of the beach is very important for maintaining the beach in terms of sustainable development of the peninsula. Heavy minerals in the sand of the beach and the inland stream at Xichong are compared with those of a nearby beach on the same coast to determine the beach sand source; with help of a computer software, MEPBAY, the equilibrium planforms of the beaches on the peninsula are compared with those of an island without rivers to evaluate the stream’s effects on the beach stability; cross shore profiles along the Xichong beach are also surveyed in different seasons of a year to assess the annual shore normal beach changes affected by the stream input, and the relation between the equilibrium planform state and cross shore changes of the beach. It is shown that(1) stream is the main sedimentary source of the beach and the weathering materials of the rocky headlands on both sides of the bay transported by waves are the second source for the beach but it is limited, sand from an inner shelf is not the sedimentary source for the beach at present and was not even during the Holocene transgression;(2) the Xichong beach cannot reach static equilibrium around the entire bay shoreline, the segment of the shoreline where a stream outlet is located is in dynamic equilibrium, and the unstable section occurs in the wave shadow region in the lee of an offshore island;(3) no matter whether the section of the beach shoreline at Xichong is in an equilibrium state or not, it is eroded in the typhoon season and recovered after the season, the maximum change in erosion and accretion occurs in the unstable segment;(4) the Xichong beach can only have small sand body since it is supplied with sand mainly form inland streams, resulting in a possible danger in which sand loss induced by human activities or huge storms cannot be replenished naturally.     

Artificial Intelligence and headland-bay beaches

Headland-bay beaches are a typical feature of many of the world's coastlines. Their curved planform has aroused much interest since the early days of Coastal Engineering. Modelling this characteristic planform is a task of great interest, not least in relation to projects of coastal structures whose effects on the shoreline must be studied from the planning stages. In this work, Artificial Intelligence is applied to this task—in particular, artificial neural networks (ANNs). Unlike conventional planform models, they are not based on a given mathematical expression of the shoreline curve. Instead, they learn from experience (from a number of training cases) how the planform of a headland-bay beach is shaped, with due regard to the obliquity of incident waves. Three artificial neural networks, with different input/output structures, are implemented and subsequently trained with a number of bays. Once trained, they are tested for validation on other headland-bay beaches. Finally, the most performing neural network is compared with a state-of-the-art planform model.     

人类工程活动对秦皇岛海滩侵蚀及淤积的影响

秦皇岛地区旅游性海滩的侵蚀主要是人类所实施的以水库为主的河流水利工程而产生的海岸效应。在区域性海滩普遍遭受侵蚀状态下，沿海港口工程又通过三种不同形式第滩发育施以影响，其一是对沿岸泥沙流的拦阻，其二为在局部岸段形成完全或不完全波影区，其三为人工岬湾的形成，港工引成的海滩淤积体特征是海滩变宽、变缓及海滩砂细化。文中最后讨论了侵蚀性海滩向演化的发育空间问题。     

Application of the parabolic bay shape equation to sand and gravel beaches on Mediterranean coasts

The equation most commonly used to describe the bay planform was proposed by Hsu and Evans (1989) and it was obtained through empirical analysis of sand beach planforms.In the last decade interest in gravel sediments increased owing to their greater stability on beaches, compared with sand sediments. Due to the differences between the morphodynamics of sand and gravel beaches, which is strictly influenced by their different hydraulic characteristics, it was necessary to create a predictive instrument for this beach type as well.Therefore, in this study the standard Hsu and Evans equation (1989) was modified in order to make it applicable not only to sand beaches but also to gravel beaches. The shoreline was computed according to a parabolic model in polar coordinates whose coefficients are considered linearly dependent on the wave direction and related to the beach type. The estimation of the free parameters of the model was performed according to a statistical analysis of a shorelines data set of Mediterranean sand and gravel embayed beaches.     

基于水环境的青岛第一海水浴场旅游适宜性研究

利用2008年8月到10月对青岛第一海水浴场的水质监测结果，分析了青岛第一海水浴场的水质状况，对其旅游适宜性进行了研究，结果表明：青岛第一海水浴场内的水质情况良好，符合其作为海水浴场的水质标准，但是海水浴场内的游客活动对海水浴场水质的改变不容忽视。     

Bayside beach dynamics: Implications for simulation modeling on eroding sheltered tidal beaches

The purpose of this paper is to compare the differences between oceanside and bayside beaches. Field data on twelve beach process and response variables were gathered from February 1972 to April 1973 on four sample beaches at Sandy Hook Spit, New Jersey. Linear correlation is used to identify the most influential process variables and determine how the interrelationships among variables differ on each beach. The analysis confirms the importance of breaker height, wave steepness and wind direction on beach response. The correlation of beach processes with their associated responses are higher on the oceanside than on the bayside beaches, indicating that local, non-storm waves may be relatively insignificant in effecting substantial beach modification.Despite the greater magnitude of processes and beach change on the oceanside sites, erosion was more persistent on the bayside during the period of study. The frequent occurrence of short, steep erosional waves on the bayside prevented onshore movement of sediment between storms, resulting in a permanent loss of material from the beach face and dune. On the oceanside, long, low, depositional waves occurring between storms replenished most of the material carried away during the storm. This fresh beach material acted as a buffer against the erosion of the dunes during the following storm.The dominant bay waves are locally generated and may therefore be simulated using meteorological variables. However, the low wave energies on the bayside sites result in an increase in the relative importance of tidal currents, wind-induced currents, and refracted ocean swell. These factors complicate the application of simplified wave process—beach response models to the study of beaches exposed to these effects.     

Chronic offshore loss of nourishment on Nice beach,French Riviera: A case of over-nourishment of a steep beach?

The 4.5 km-long gravel beach fronting the exclusive resort of the city of Nice, on the French Riviera, in southeastern France, was artificially nourished from 1976 to 2005 to the tune of 558,000 m³, making this long-term operation one of the most significant for gravel beaches in the world. Nourishment has ranged from nil in certain years (1979, 1980, 1983–85, and 2001–2002) to a peak of over 97,000 m³ in 2000. Analyses of 50 transects covering the beach highlight no significant change in net beach width over this 30-year period of massive gravel nourishment. A Principal Components Analysis and a Cluster Analysis used to detect patterns in the 87 beach-width measurement dataset show no clear spatial trends in transect groups that can be interpreted in terms of the morphology of the beach and the steep inner shoreface. Significant wave height off Nice shows no change over the period 1979–2005. Since there is no possibility for alongshore gravel leakage on the strongly embayed Nice beach, the relative stability in beach width clearly implies loss of recharged gravel offshore. Gravel loss following nourishment is favoured by: (1) the steep inner shoreface inherited from the geological context of Nice beach at the flanks of the southern Alps, and (2) the practise of artificial beach widening through flattening, in summer, of a narrow (5–15 m-wide) mobile zone of the profile in order to enhance the ‘carrying’ capacity of this highly touristic beach. Beach widening and flattening following nourishment bring close to the very steep inner shoreface zone several cubic metres of gravel for each metre of beach that may be permanently lost downslope during autumn and winter storms. Recharged gravel is redistributed alongshore and offshore leakage is probably enhanced where small narrow submarine canyon heads impinge on the beach, resulting in a very narrow shoreface. Mean beach width shows an oscillating alongshore pattern that may be due to the influence of these canyons as pathways of gravel loss offshore. However, there is no correlation between mean beach width and distance to the 10-m isobath, used as a surrogate for inner shoreface width. Storms are associated with plunging waves that are particularly effective and concentrated, on this almost tideless shore, over the narrow mobile zone of the beach profile where a series of steep reflective berms are built during storms. The high dynamic pressures associated with this narrow zone of concentrated wave breaking, and energy reflection from the steepened profile, are deemed to contribute to the permanent downslope loss of gravel. This situation of long-term gravel loss is probably accepted by the beach management authority because of the low cost of obtaining nourishment material and the advantages derived from a temporarily wider beach in terms of recreational space.     

Distribution patterns of interstitial polychaetes in sandy beaches of southern Brazil

This study describes the distribution patterns of interstitial polychaetes along morphodynamic gradients on six exposed sandy beaches in Santa Catarina and Paraná (South Brazil). Three random transects were sampled at two points on each beach, one at the swash and another at the surf zone, in winter and summer conditions. Six sediment replicates were collected at each sampling point using a corer of 4.6 cm internal diameter that removed 10 cm into the sediment. Abundance and composition of interstitial polychaete were correlated to wave height, slope, grain size, CaCO₃, chlorophyll a , omega indexes, temperature and relative tide range using a canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). A factorial ANOVA showed that taxa richness, mean density and Shannon's diversity were significantly higher at the reflective beaches, but average values differ significantly between transects and these differences change according to the beach zones on both sampling dates. PERMANOVA showed that polychaete associations differ among transects according to the beach zones. The composition of interstitial polychaete associations was significantly correlated to beach morphodynamics and features (P < 0.01). Polychaete associations of reflective beaches were more diverse than in other morphodynamic states. Intermediate beaches may also sustain diverse associations due to temporal variability of the morphodynamic patterns. Beaches presenting extreme dissipative morphodynamics and compacted sediments appear to be unfavourable for the occurrence of interstitial polychaetes.     

Application of the equilibrium planform concept to natural beaches in Northern Ireland

The equilibrium planform concept (EPC) for bayed beaches has achieved wide currency in coastal morphodynamics. The north coast of Ireland comprises a series of discrete headland-embayment beaches within which waves and currents recycle a finite sediment volume. It is therefore an ideal setting in which to explore the applicability of the concept. Application of the approach to 9 embayment beaches on the north coast of Ireland provides some insights into the application of the concept. The planform of some beaches does correspond to that predicted while others do not. Those whose measured planform does not correspond to the predicted planform can be interpreted through, (a) difficulty in identifying the wave diffraction point, (b) disequilibrium on the beach (sediment scarcity or excess), (c) geological control of beach morphology. The subjectivity in selecting the diffraction point renders alternative explanations difficult and reduces the utility of the approach on natural shorelines, where significant irregularities render identification of such points difficult.     

海南岛新海湾海滩地貌状态与海岸泥沙纵向运动特征

根据１９９０年现场调查及前期观察资料，论述了海南岛新海弧形海湾不同岸段由主要动力驱动过程和海滩地貌结构组成的４种海滩地貌状态，为Ⅰ．隐蔽段消散类型，Ⅱ．脊－沟体系与低潮台地类型，Ⅲ．韵律海滩与砂坝类型，Ⅳ．开敞段消散类型。应用泥沙粒级参数概率模型分析近岸泥沙纵向运动趋势，结果表明，常波况下，沿岸泥沙存在双向运动，湾顶海滩为汇集地带，泥沙纵向运动主趋势为西南向；高能条件下，海岸北段可出现北向泥沙运动