Spatial variability of texture over a beach-dune complex,North Devon,England

The systematic components of spatial variation in texture over a beach foreshore-backshore-dune complex are identified using trend surface analysis. Variability across the foreshore is a function of the vector of sediment movement and reflects both orthogonal and shore-parallel transport processes. In the dune zone, textural variability reflects local topographically controlled environments, source sediments and a temporal factor. The decreasing mean size, increased sorting and decreasing negative skewness from a low water to high water mark are correlated with changes in the linear segments of the cumulative size-frequency curve: a decrease in the coarse traction population is matched by an increase in the major saltation populations. The distinction between wave-laid and wind-laid deposits is also reflected in the segments of the cumulative curve: the latter lack the coarser component but have a distinctly fine tail. Greater spatial homogeneity of textural characteristics is present in the dune sediments but distinct trends in size frequency statistics reflect the variability in a dominant saltation population, the lack of a coarse traction population, and the presence of a fine suspension population dictated by localized transport mechanisms.     

Discrimination between coastal subenvironments using textural characteristics

The objective of this study was to discriminate between modern beach subenvironments based on textural characteristics obtained using the graphical (percentile) method, the moment method, and the log-hyperbolic distribution (LHD). A total of 126 surface sedimentation units were sampled at the nodes of a 21 x 6 rectangular grid (1000 m²) on a carbonate sand beach, Oahu, Hawaii. Sampling was conducted at low energy conditions from the lower foreshore to the backshore. Non-parametric discriminant analysis was used as an objective tool in defining distinct subenvironments. Confidence bands around the canonical variates derived from the graphic mean, sorting, skewness and kurtosis indicated four separate subenvironments (lower foreshore, mid-foreshore, upper foreshore and backshore). Three distinct subenvironments were identified using the mean, sorting (standard deviation) and skewness measures derived by the method of moments. A similar subenvironment distinction was obtained using five statistics of the LHD (gamma, γ; nu ν; delta, δ; tau, τ; and xi, ξ). No significant difference was noted in textural characteristics between the upper foreshore and backshore zones, and these zones were grouped into one subenvironment. These results indicate that different process scenarios would be needed to explain different subenvironment partitioning based simply on the approach adopted. Discriminant analysis indicated that fewer subenvironment samples were misclassified and separation distances between subenvironments in bivariate canonical plots were greater for the standard moment measures compared with the statistics derived from fitting the computationally intensive LHD model. Examination of the mass frequency grain size distributions indicated that the LHD was generally the most appropriate model. These observations were confirmed by the hyperbolic shape triangle which indicated that the LHD rather than the more commonly used log-normal distribution was generally optimal in describing sediments. These results support the use of the LHD statistical measures in subenvironment discrimination over the graphic-inclusive measures.     

Textural parameters of desert sediments — Thar desert (India)

The textural study of a sizable number of samples from the various microenvironments of the Thar Desert reveals that the overall size of the desert sediments corresponds to fine sand (2–3 φ); the crests of the dunes are coarser than the flanks; the sediments have bimodal and/or polymodal population, they show a high sand/silt ratio, are well sorted, and are fine-skewed to strongly-fine-skewed; most of the sediments show platykurtic and very platykurtic curves, exhibit subangular to subrounded outlines, and show a moderate to high degree of sphericity.It is concluded that the scatter plots between moment mean ($\text{χ}$) and moment skewness (α₃), moment mean ($\text{χ}$) and first percentile, graphic mean (M_z) and inclusive graphic skewness (Sk_I), moment standard deviation (σ) and moment mean ($\text{χ}$), moment standard deviation (σ) and first percentile, cubed standard deviation and mean cubed deviation (α₃σ³), moment standard deviation (σ) and moment skewness (α₃), and moment standard deviation (σ) and mean cubed deviation (α₃σ³), can safely be used to distinguished the desert sediments from those accumulated in river and beach environments.     

Textural characteristics of sediments along the southern Red Sea coastal areas,Saudi Arabia

A lack of understanding exists of the origin and textural characteristics of Saudi Arabian Red Sea coastal sediments. This paper concerns the southern coastline of Jizan on the Saudi Red Sea. It is some 160 km long characterised by either narrow rocky headlands with intermittent pocket beaches or wide low-lying beaches dissected by wadis. Granulometric testing of samples from 135 locations showed that beach sand size was mainly very fine to medium grained (M _z = 3.93 Ø), sorting ranged from 1.65 to 0.41 and skewness values from ?051 to 0.39, being mainly negative; dune sands were medium to fine grained (M _z = 1.13 Ø; average sorting 2.8), while skewness variations within dune samples indicated symmetrical to fine skewed values (б _Ι = 0.55 to 0.89). Most foreshore samples were derived from wadis. Wadi mud levels can be high, e.g. Baysh (84%), and wadi Samrah (90%) with mean grain size ranging from very fine to medium sand (M _z = 3.9 Ø), sorting being well to poor (0.45 to 1.52) due to sediment influxes. Sabkha had a wide range of sand/mud and significantly higher carbonate percentages than other environments. Sediment source differences and littoral reworking contributed to grain size variation. The carbonate content varied between 1.5 and 31.5% due to hinterland contributions, and spatial analysis showed increasing quantities of carbonate minerals towards the south. On the wider geographical front, findings from Jizan are similar to those of the Northern United Arab Emirates (UAE), including sabkhas, being composed of sand, skeletal carbonate, fine fluvial material and wind-blown silt and clay components of wadi origin. Further work on the northeastern Red Sea edge can hopefully confirm these findings.     

The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in a sector of the south limb of the Miranda-Treviño synclinal: the first appearance of chelonia and archosauria in the Basque country

This paper presents a study of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the Miranda-Treviño Synclinorium (Basque-Cantabric basin) where two main sequences have been recognised; the lower is regressive and theupper one has a marked transgressive trend. They are separated by a low angled un-conformity which is indicative of the Maastrichtian-Danian boundary.The lower sequence (S1) indicates a clear transition between the shoreface and backshore sub-environments. Bone accumulations are located in the sandy sediments of the upper foreshore and backshore, associated with ferrugenous hardgrounds and gypsum efflorescences.The upper sequence (S2) indicates the beginning of a marine transgression. It is composed a dominantly carbonate-rich sediments and the fauna suggests a deposition in environmental conditions ranging from stenohaline, to littoral, and to a coastal lagoon and inner carbonaterich platform.In the lower sequence (Maastrichtian Unit S₁ U₃), the following herpetofauna have been identified; an eusuchian alligator, and two dinosaurs (an ornithopod and a sauropod). Several plates of chelonia have been identified as? Adocus sp.     

沉积岩粒度分析和石英表面结构特征及其与沉积环境的关系

对粒度分析资料进行各种统计处理来研究沉积环境的水动力条件,前人已做过许多工作。作者将现代沉积物与大庆的古代沉积物的粒度分析数据进行了对比,以研究其沉积环境。     

Grain size analysis and characterization of sedimentary environment along Thiruchendur coast, Tamilnadu, India

Thiruchendur coast of southern Tamilnadu, India has been studied for grain-size spectrum and textural parameters namely mean, sorting, skewness and kurtosis. The grain-size spectrum shows a marked variation in the berm, high tide line (HTL) and low tide line (LTL) stretches. Variation in energy condition is controlled by geomorphology of the sedimentary beach. Textural pattern shows complicated profile as a result of the fluctuation in the physicochemical conditions due to the sediments and the marine interactions. Abundance of the medium sand to fine sand shows the prevalence of comparatively moderate- to low-energy condition in the Thiruchendur area. Linear discriminate function of the samples indicates an aeolian, shallow marine deposition environment and less influence of fluvial (7 %) process. CM diagram (C = one percentile in microns M = medium in microns) of Thiruchendur coast sediments suggests that deposition takes place by (1) rolling, (2) bottom suspension, (3) graded suspension. This is also supported by the wave energy in different stretches in beach line and also tractive current figure implies the sediments disturbed by the tractive and turbidity currents. The heavy minerals are concentrated in the berm (average, 11.8 %) and high tide line (average, 11.2 %) because of high-energy condition and aeolian action. Quartz microtextures show the mechanical action due to high-energy condition in Manapad and Kuduthalai areas, the chemical action because of to low-energy condition along the Thiruchendur, Kallamozhi areas.     

Recent and Pleistocene beach/dune sequences,western Australia

Wave-dominated sandy shores occur along much of the coast of Western Australia. Despite local variations there is a characteristic distribution of lithofacies (corresponding to different geomorphic zones). Five lithofacies are recognised: (1) trough-bedded sand/gravel; (2) laminated sand; (3) laminated/bubble sand; (4) laminated/disrupted sand; and (5) aeolian cross-stratified sand.The trough-bedded sand/gravel lithofacies is being deposited in the shallow shoreface below LWL. The laminated sand and laminated/bubble sand lithofacies are sands with gravel layers being deposited on the foreshore swash zone; extensive bubble (or vesicular) sand is common towards HWL especially in berms. The laminated/disrupted sand lithofacies is being deposited on the backshore between HWL and storm water levels and consists of horizontally layered to homogeneous sands with storm debris, especially wood, weed and floatable skeletons (e.g. Sepla and Spirula). The aeolian cross-stratified sand lithofacies is forming in beach ridge/dune areas and consists of fine sands with large-scale, generally landward-dipping forests; soils and rootlets are common.Recognition of these lithofacies within a sedimentary sequence enables reconstruction of gross shoreline conditions in terms of wave and eolian environments, tidal and storm heights, and palaeogeography. Each of these lithofacies with their characteristic features is recognised in Pleistocene sequences in Perth Basin. The Pleistocene sequences fit a model of coastal progradation with the trough-bedded sand/gravel lithofacies at the base and the aeolian sand lithofacies at the top. The value of such a stratigraphic sequence, however, extends beyond the Pleistocene.     

Estimation of Hydraulic Conductivity and Its Uncertainty from Grain-Size Data Using GLUE and Artificial Neural Networks

Various approaches exist to relate saturated hydraulic conductivity (K _s) to grain-size data. Most methods use a single grain-size parameter and hence omit the information encompassed by the entire grain-size distribution. This study compares two data-driven modelling methods??multiple linear regression and artificial neural networks??that use the entire grain-size distribution data as input for K _s prediction. Besides the predictive capacity of the methods, the uncertainty associated with the model predictions is also evaluated, since such information is important for stochastic groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are combined with a generalised likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) approach to predict K _s from grain-size data. The resulting GLUE-ANN hydraulic conductivity predictions and associated uncertainty estimates are compared with those obtained from the multiple linear regression models by a leave-one-out cross-validation. The GLUE-ANN ensemble prediction proved to be slightly better than multiple linear regression. The prediction uncertainty, however, was reduced by half an order of magnitude on average, and decreased at most by an order of magnitude. This demonstrates that the proposed method outperforms classical data-driven modelling techniques. Moreover, a comparison with methods from the literature demonstrates the importance of site-specific calibration. The data set used for this purpose originates mainly from unconsolidated sandy sediments of the Neogene aquifer, northern Belgium. The proposed predictive models are developed for 173 grain-size K _s-pairs. Finally, an application with the optimised models is presented for a borehole lacking K _s data.     

Sedimentology and stratigraphy of a transgressive, muddy gravel beach: Waterside Beach, Bay of Fundy, Canada

Sediments exposed at low tide on the transgressive, hypertidal (>6 m tidal range) Waterside Beach, New Brunswick, Canada permit the scrutiny of sedimentary structures and textures that develop at water depths equivalent to the upper and lower shoreface. Waterside Beach sediments are grouped into eleven sedimentologically distinct deposits that represent three depositional environments: (1) sandy foreshore and shoreface; (2) tidal‐creek braid‐plain and delta; and, (3) wave‐formed gravel and sand bars, and associated deposits. The sandy foreshore and shoreface depositional environment encompasses the backshore; moderately dipping beachface; and a shallowly seaward‐dipping terrace of sandy middle and lower intertidal, and muddy sub‐tidal sediments. Intertidal sediments reworked and deposited by tidal creeks comprise the tidal‐creek braid plain and delta. Wave‐formed sand and gravel bars and associated deposits include: sediment sourced from low‐amplitude, unstable sand bars; gravel deposited from large (up to 5·5 m high, 800 m long), landward‐migrating gravel bars; and zones of mud deposition developed on the landward side of the gravel bars. The relationship between the gravel bars and mud deposits, and between mud‐laden sea water and beach gravels provides mechanisms for the deposition of mud beds, and muddy clast‐ and matrix‐supported conglomerates in ancient conglomeratic successions. Idealized sections are presented as analogues for ancient conglomerates deposited in transgressive systems. Where tidal creeks do not influence sedimentation on the beach, the preserved sequence consists of a gravel lag overlain by increasingly finer‐grained shoreface sediments. Conversely, where tidal creeks debouch onto the beach, erosion of the underlying salt marsh results in deposition of a thicker, more complex beach succession. The thickness of this package is controlled by tidal range, sedimentation rate, and rate of transgression. The tidal‐creek influenced succession comprises repeated sequences of: a thin mud bed overlain by muddy conglomerate, sandy conglomerate, a coarse lag, and capped by trough cross‐bedded sand and gravel.     

Differentiating fluvio-marine depositional environments in the Nile Delta using textural and compositional components

Textural and coarse fraction compositional components are evaluated to distinguish samples from modern environments of the Nile Delta of Egypt. These environments include: river, coastal dune, accretion ridges, beach, neashore, lagoon and prodelta. In this study petrological variables (12 textural and 18 mineralogical, faunal and floral) were considered for each sample. Discrimination was achieved by using simple bar graphs of the raw data for each environment and Q-mode factor analysis. The factor analysis yielded four compositional assemblages: Factor 1 is dominated by terrigenous fine sand; factor 2 consists of biogenic mud; factor 3 contains terrigenous coarse and medium sands; and factor 4 comprises composite silty sand. Discrimination of the seven environments is generally good, with a lower resolution for beach, coastal dune and river sands.Having discriminating the examined environments using Q-mode factor analysis, a graphic model was constructed to help determine the origin of ‘unknown’ samples. As a test, this model is satisfactory in identifying and interpreting the origin of sediments of Holocene age from two additional cores recovered off the delta coast.     

Evolution and stratigraphy of a regressive barrier/backbarrier complex: Kiawah Island, South Carolina

Analysis of 75 vibracores from the backbarrier region of Kiawah Island, South Carolina reveals a complex association of three distinct stratigraphic sequences. Beach ridge progradation and orientation-controlled backbarrier development during the evolution of Kiawah Island, and resulted in deposition of: (1) a mud-rich central backbarrier sequence consisting of low marsh overlying fine-grained, tidal flat/lagoonal mud; (2) a sandy beach-ridge swale sequence consisting of high and low marsh overlying tidal creek channel and point bar sand, and foreshore/shoreface; and (3) a regressive sequence of sandy, mixed, and muddy tidal flats capped by salt marsh that occurs on the updrift end of the island. Central backbarrier deposits formed as a result of the development of the initial beach ridge on Kiawah Island. Formation of this beach ridge created a backbarrier lagoon in which fine-grained estuarine and tidal flat mud accumulated. Washovers, oyster mounds, and tidal creek deposits form isolated sand and/or shell-rich lenses in the lagoon. Spartina alterniflora low marsh prograded into the lagoon as the tidal flats aggraded. Barrier progradation and sediment bar-bypassing at Stono Inlet created digitate beach ridges on the northeast end of Kiawah Island. Within the beach-ridge swales, tidal flats were disconformably deposited on shoreface and foreshore sand of the older beach ridges. Tidal creek drainage systems evolved to drain the swales. These rapidly migrating creeks reworked the tidal flat, foreshore, and shoreface sediments while redepositing a fining-upward sequence of channel lag and point bar deposits, which served as a substrate for salt marsh colonization. This resultant regressive sedimentary package marks the culmination of barrier island development and estuary infilling. Given enough time and sedimentation, the backbarrier sequence will ultimately prograde over the barrier island, reworking dune, beach, and foreshore sediments to form the upper sand-rich bounding surface of the barrier lithosome. Preservation of the regressive sequence is dependent upon sediment supply and the relative rate of sea-level rise, but the reworking of barrier islands by tidal inlets and migrating tidal creeks greatly alter and complicate the stratigraphic sequence.     

GRAIN-SIZE INDICES, CLASSIFICATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Indices based on Wentworth phi values of Q₁, Md and Q₃ are used for textural classification of sediments. Wentworth phi values enable a detailed subdivision. A nomenclature based on the Wentworth phi indices is developed. The indices, and to a smaller degree the names, show sorting and skewness based on integer phi units. The classification scheme gives a continuous scale from gravel to fine clay. The Q₁MdQ₃-indices can be used for distinction of river, marine and loess deposits. The addition of indices of the 1st and 99th percentile, giving 5-digit indices, augments the possibilities for a determination of the environment: river deposits can be distinguished from beach and dune sediments and in more detail from shallow marine and coastal deposits. The indices can be handled by data-processing machines.     

Effect of source width and tidal elevation changes on aeolian transport on an estuarine beach

Data from a moderate energy, meso-tidal beach on the east side of Delaware Bay, New Jersey, USA, revealed the significance of both beach width as a source for aeolian transport and the effect of tidal rise on source width. Wind speeds averaged over 17·1 min, recorded 6 m above the crest of a 0·5 m high dune, ranged from 11·6 to 12·7 m s^?1 during the experiment. The highest observed rate of transport on the beach was 0·0085 kg m^?1 s^?1, monitored at rising low tide when the average wind speed was 11·6 m s^?1 across 0·35 mm diameter surface sediments. The wind direction was oblique to the shoreline, creating a source width of 34 m. The reduction in the width of the beach as a source for aeolian transport during rising tide was approximately arithmetic, whereas the reduction in volume of sediment trapped was exponential. Aeolian transport effectively ceased when source width was less than 8 m. Wind conditions, moisture content of the surface sediments and presence of binding salts did not appear to vary dramatically, and no coarse grained lag deposit formed on the surface of the beach. The decrease in rate of sediment trapped through time in the tidal cycle is attributed to differences in source width. Sediment deposited in the litter behind the active beach by strong winds during the rising tide was eroded during the high water period by the high waves and storm surge generated by these winds, and net losses of sediment were observed despite initial aeolian accretion.     

昌黎海岸风成沙丘砂组构特征及其与海滩砂的比较

对昌黎海岸沙丘砂进行薄片统计,重砂矿物分析,电镜扫描,粒度分析及与海滩砂的对比研究发现,沙丘砂在物质组成、颗粒形态、石英砂表面结构特征和粒度特征方面均继承了海滩砂特征,不过,海滩砂中也有沙丘砂的某些特征,反映了两者沉积的混合。这是由于向岸风和离岸风共同作用的结果。     

The quartile-deviation/median-diameter relationships of glacial deposits

Quartile-deviation (QDa) and median-diameter (Md) values have been calculated from the grain-size distributions of a variety of Pleistocene and modern glacial and para-glacial sediments. The QDa—Md pairs are plotted on double-log graph paper to determine whether their graphic distributions are distinctive, and to examine their sedimentological implications. Three distributions emerge. The first has a shallow gradient and represents coarse bi-modal tills consisting largely of rock fragments — distribution (a). The second, with an intermediate gradient, represents fine uni- or non-modal tills consisting mainly of monomineralic grains — distribution (b). The third (c) has a steep gradient and consists of bi-modal tills with a dominant proportion of monomineralic grains. Each of these distributions is explained by using the grain-size characteristics of physically weathered rock debris as a starting point for discussion. By a process dominated by the continual addition of weathered-grain populations (population addition), tills with (a) characteristics are formed. By a process dominated by comminution and the selective removal of grains by ablation (population subtraction), tills with (b) characteristics are formed. Any of these tills, when subjected to flowing water, rapidly lose their glacial characteristics and assume QDa—Md characteristics of fluvial deposits (although they are fluvioglacial).     

Influence of waves and horseshoe crab spawning on beach morphology and sediment grain-size characteristics on a sandy estuarine beach

The effects of wave action and horseshoe crab spawning on the topography and grain-size characteristics on the foreshore of an estuarine sand beach in Delaware Bay, New Jersey, USA were evaluated using data collected over six consecutive high tides. Data were gathered inside and outside a 25 m long exclosure constructed to create a control area free of disturbance by crabs. The density of crabs in the swash zone outside the exclosure was 8·1 organisms m⁻². The maximum depth of sediment activation on the upper foreshore where spawning occurred was 0·103 m during periods characterized by low significant wave heights: < 0·08 m. This depth is greater than the depth of activation by waves alone during moderate significant wave heights of 0·16–0·18 m but less than the maximum depth (0·127 m) recorded when spawning occurred during periods of moderate wave heights. Spawning, combined with moderate wave heights, creates a concave upper foreshore that is similar to the type of profile change that occurs during storms, thus lowering the wave-energy threshold for morphological response. Spawning during low wave heights increases the mean grain size and sorting of surface sediments caused by the addition of gravel to the swash. Sedimentological differences are most pronounced on the upper foreshore, and data from this location may be most useful when using grain-size characteristics to interpret the effect of spawning in the sedimentary record. Depths of sediment reworking by horseshoe crabs can be greater than those by subsequent storm waves, so evidence of spawning can be preserved on non-eroding beaches. Greater depth of activation by horseshoe crab spawning than by waves alone, even during moderate-energy conditions, reveals the importance of crab burrowing in releasing eggs to the water column and making them available for shore birds.     

Grain-size information from the statistical properties of digital images of sediment

The autocorrelation technique for estimating grain-size from digital images of sand beds has been extended and validated for use on coarse sand (0·7 mm) and gravel (up to ∼20 mm). A number of aspects of the technique have been explored and some potential improvements suggested. Autocorrelation is just one suitable statistical method sensitive to the grain-size of sediment in digital images; four additional techniques are presented and their relative merits discussed. A collective suite of techniques applicable to the general problem of grain-size estimation from digital images of sediment might broaden the applicability to more sedimentary environments, as well as improve its accuracy. These techniques are compared using a large data set from a gravel barrier beach in southern England. Based on over 180 samples, mean grain-size of sieved and imaged sediments correspond to within between 8% and 16%. Some theoretical aspects of the spatial arrangement of image intensity in digital images of natural sediments are addressed, including the fractal nature of sediments in images, which has potential implications for derivation of grain-size distributions from images of sand-sized material through segmentation and thresholding. The methods outlined in this contribution may also find application in further uncovering the geometric structure of sediment beds, as well as in the simulation of sedimentation processes.     

The relationship of sediment texture with coastal environments along the Kuala Terengganu Coast, Malaysia

The subtidal sediments of four coastal environments (beach, berm, surf zone and nearshore sea floor) of Kuala Terengganu have been studied in terms of their textural characteristics and depositional process. Sampling and statistical analyses of the grain size distributions of beach, surf zone and shallow sea-floor sediments at various locations along the coastline show that they varied in their mean grain size as well as values of sorting and skewness. The statistical parameters of grain size distributions thus allowed recognition of distinct sub-environments. The size distribution of such sediments suggests that the various processes that are responsible for their transportation and deposition are wave, current and wind action. The different energy conditions and the morphology of each coastal environment seem to be reflected in the characteristics of the sediments in each environment.     

Variations in chemical composition and particle size of dune sediments along the west coast of Jutland,Denmark

Geochemical and textural variations in frontal dune sediments along the western coast of Jutland, Denmark, have been investigated in order to identify possible sediment ‘provinces’ and transport pathways. An understanding of sediment sources and sinks is important for both for an understanding of the nature of sedimentary environments and for applied coastal engineering and management purposes. Four coastal sectors were identified on the basis of geochemical composition. One sector is compositionally different from the other three units, having higher concentrations of the trace elements Ni, Cr, V, Sc, Zn, Pb, Ba, Zr and many rare earth elements. Dune sediments on this section of coast also have higher Al₂O₃ to K₂O ratios and lower Al₂O₃ to Fe₂O₃ ratios, reflecting a lower content of feldspar and higher content of heavy minerals. It is inferred that different, or additional, sediment source(s) have supplied sediment to this section of coast. Beach nourishment has contributed to the observed compositional differences, but previous data obtained from the Lodbjerg area indicate that aeolian sands on this section of coast naturally have a relatively high Si, Fe and Ti content, reflecting high quartz / feldspar ratio and relatively high content of heavy minerals, compared with those on other sections of the coast. Frontal dunes along the most northern section show high abundances of K₂O, Rb and Ba, reflecting a relatively high K-feldspar content derived from local sources. Alongshore trends were also identified in the mean particle size and sorting of the frontal dunes, although there is no direct correspondence with the observed geochemical differences. Three coastal units can be identified on the basis of particle size. Frontal dune sediments in the middle section are relatively coarser and less well-sorted than those to the north and south, probably reflecting both the addition of beach nourishment material and greater exposure to strong westerly winds, which are a capable of transporting a wide range of particle sizes. The three units defined on this basis do not correlate directly with the units defined on the basis of geochemical composition.