Influence of lateral mixing on longshore currents

A variety of different lateral mixing models have been employed in the equation of motion for determining wave-induced longshore currents. The equation of motion is cast into a general form which enables a comparison of the various models. Analytic solutions for longshore currents are developed for seven different mixing models. A nonplanar beach profile is employed because it has been found to be representative of many beaches and it allows for a distinction between offshore and depth scaling of eddies. The seven different mixing models include models which vary monotonically with horizontal distance offshore and models which change form at the breaker line. Numerical results indicate that the longshore current profile is rather insensitive to the form of the mixing model for nonplanar beach profiles.