Field observations of nearshore bar formation

The formation of an inner nearshore bar was observed during a high‐energy event at the sandy beach of Vejers, Denmark. The bar accreted in situ during surf zone conditions and the growth of the bar was associated with the development of a trough landward of the bar. Measurements of hydrodynamics and sediment fluxes were obtained from electromagnetic current meters and optical backscatter sensors. These process measurements showed that a divergence in sediment transport occurred at the location of the developing trough, and observed gradients in cross‐shore net sediment flux were consistent with the morphological development. The main cause for the flux gradients were cross‐shore gradients in offshore‐directed mean current (undertow) speed which depended upon local relative wave height and local bed slope. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method to estimate the longshore sediment transport at ebb-tidal deltas based on their volumetric growth: Application to the Guadiana (Spain–Portugal border)

Current techniques assessing longshore sediment transport rates have large uncertainties, pleading for the development of alternative and complementary approaches. The present study proposes a method to estimate the decadal average rate of longshore transport at modern ebb-tidal deltas based on a sediment budget analysis of the outer shoal growth. This transport is obtained as the balance of the other contributions to the shoal with the total sediment input rate obtained from an inverse application of the inlet reservoir model. The method is applied to the Guadiana ebb-tidal delta, yielding an average longshore sediment transport rate (~85 000 m3 year⁻¹) in good agreement with expectations for the region. It is exemplified that this decadal averaged rate can be used to improve longshore sediment transport expressions in order to study its variability over shorter time scales. At the Guadiana, the yearly longshore sediment transport from the improved formula ranges from ~25 000 m³ (westward) to ~245 000 m³ (eastward) and is related to the North Atlantic Oscillation index. Overall, the proposed method constitutes an alternative tool to constrain the average longshore sediment transport rate over decades in the vicinity of tidal inlets. It is applicable to ebb-tidal deltas where the outer shoal growth (from an early to a mature stage) is well documented by bathymetric maps, and where the main transport pathways towards the outer shoal can be specified. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alongshore variability of cross‐shore bar behavior on a nontidal beach

We report on a 6‐year nearshore bathymetric dataset from the Danube Delta (Romanian Black Sea coast) that comprises 16 km of erosive, stable and accumulative low‐lying micro‐tidal beaches northward of Sf. Gheorghe arm mouth. Two to three two‐dimensional longshore sandbars exhibit a net multi‐annual cyclic (2.8–5.5 years) offshore migration (20–50 m yr^?1) in a similar way to other coasts worldwide. Bar morphology and behavior on the sediment‐rich accretionary (dissipative) sector differ substantially from that on the erosive (intermediate) sector. Shoreface slope is the most important factor controlling sandbar number and behavior. It determines different wave‐breaking patterns in the surf zone, translated into different offshore sediment transport and bar zone widths along the study site. Additionally, sediment availability, as a result of the distance from the arm mouth and of the long‐term evolution of the coast, controls the sandbar volume variability. These are all ultimately reflected in the variations of sandbar migration rates and cycle periods. A non‐dimensional morpho‐sedimentary parameter is finally presented, which expresses the bar system change potential as offshore sediment transport potential across the bar zone. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross-shore variation of long-term average longshore current velocity in the nearshore zone

The cross-shore variation of long-term average longshore current velocity was investigated on the basis of a 15-year data set of longshore current, wave and wind. The longshore current velocities were measured once a day along a 427-m-long pier. The results show that the direction of the long-term average longshore current velocity away (>200 m) from the shore was the opposite to that near the shore. The southward current was dominant offshore, whereas the northward current was dominant near the shore. The cross-shore variation of the long-term average longshore current velocity was formed owing to a difference between the wave and wind conditions when the northward and southward currents developed. When the northward current developed, the offshore wave height was relatively small and the frequency of the southward wind velocity was almost equal to that of the northward one. As a result, the northward current developed only near the shore and decayed outside the narrow surf zone. On the other hand, when the southward current developed, the offshore wave height was relatively large and the southward wind velocity was predominant, which resulted in the southward current developing not only in the wide surf zone but also outside the surf zone. The superposition of the two cross-shore variations produced a cross-shore variation of the long-term average longshore current velocity with a northward velocity near the shore and a southward velocity away from the shore.     

A model of inter-annual variability in beach levels

Beach profile data, collected twice per year at 19 stations over a 25 km length of coastline in Tremadoc Bay, have been analysed to quantify the inter-annual variability in beach levels over a 7 year period and the results compared against the output of a numerical model. Using hourly wind data as forcing, the morphological development of northern Tremadoc Bay was simulated by wave, tidal, longshore transport, total transport and bed level change models. The modelling methodology was efficient and innovative, allowing realistic simulations of long duration with a time step of 1 h, hence capturing the high frequency nature of wind events. The model was run for each of the 7 autumn/winter periods (generally November–April) and the modelled net change in beach levels compared with the data from all 19 stations. The model results had reasonable agreement with the beach profile surveys. However, the observed magnitude of bed level change in the bay lagged the model output by 1 year, indicating that sediment processes acting over a larger area are important in a relatively localised study of inter-annual variability.     

Coastal profile response to sea level rise: a process‐based approach

Prevailing ideas and calculations of coastal response to sea level rise (SLR) are often based on the Bruun model (Bruun P., Sea‐level rise as a cause of shore erosion, Journal Waterways Harbors Division, ASCE 88 : 117–130, 1962) that predicts upward and landward transfer of an equilibrium profile during SLR through offshore sediment transport on the shoreface. The model is based on a number of assumptions of questionable validity as well as outdated concepts on how sediment is transported across the shoreface. This contribution takes a numerical modelling approach that is based on first‐order processes contributing to the movement of sediment across the shoreface. Using a wave transformation model that predicts hydrodynamic processes driving cross‐shore sediment transport and an energetics‐based model for the coupling between hydrodynamics and sediment transport, we show that cross‐shore sediment transport is mainly onshore directed at the boundary between the lower and the upper shoreface, in agreement with the model proposed by Davidson‐Arnott (Conceptual model of the effects of sea level rise on sandy coasts, Journal of Coastal Research 21 : 1166–1172, 2005). The transition from onshore to offshore directed transport is located well within the surf zone and with a rising sea level this transition point becomes displaced landward and upward. Tests also show that substrate slope is of fundamental importance to the manner in which beaches react to rising sea level. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contrasting geomorphological storm response from two adjacent shorefaces

Shorefaces play a critical role in cross‐shore sediment transport between the beach and inner shelf, particularly during storm conditions. A comparison and examination of storm‐driven sedimentary changes on two adjacent shorefaces in Northern Ireland, located only 5 km apart, revealed significantly different geomorphological responses. The steeper shoreface at West Strand responded with extensive sediment deposition across almost the entire shoreface, in contrast with the more dissipative and quasi‐linear shoreface at Portstewart, which mostly showed nearshore bar changes. Results from the two sites, which have similar wave/wind characteristics and seabed sediments, suggest that: (i) cross‐shore morphology, (ii) immediately previous (antecedent) shoreface morphodynamic behaviour and (iii) the presence, or lack of, offshore sand appear to be the primary controls on storm‐driven sedimentary changes attributed to the high‐energy event. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nearshore bar migration and sediment-induced buoyancy effects

A 1-D General Ocean Turbulence Model that includes the effects of sediment-induced stratification is shown to simulate the observed onshore and offshore migration of a nearshore sandbar. The only two free parameters of the model, the bed reference concentration and the sediment diffusivity, are taken from the literature, rather than tuned to the data used here. The model results suggest that predictions of onshore bar migration, in which wave-induced sediment transport confined to within a few centimeters of the bottom dominates, are not greatly affected by accounting for buoyancy effects. The model results also suggest that both mean flows and waves transport sediment during offshore bar migration, with different components of transport dominating at different cross-shore locations across the bar-trough bathymetry. Neglecting the effects of sediment-induced stratification results in higher model skill during the largest waves, likely because the excess turbulence production simulated by the non-stratified model is counterbalanced by neglected breaking-wave-generated turbulence. Considering both onshore and offshore migration, the model that includes sediment-induced stratification has higher skill than the model without stratification.     

2DV modelling of sediment transport processes over full-scale ripples in regular asymmetric oscillatory flow

Wave-induced, steep vortex ripples are ubiquitous features in shallow coastal seas and it is therefore important to fully understand and model the sediment transport processes that occur over them. To this end, two two-dimensional vertical (2DV) models have been critically tested against detailed velocity and sediment concentration measurements above mobile ripples in regular asymmetric oscillatory flow. The two models are a k–ω turbulence-closure model and a discrete-vortex, particle-tracking (DVPT) model, while the data are obtained in the Aberdeen oscillatory flow tunnel (AOFT). The models and the data demonstrate that the time-dependent velocity and suspended sediment concentration above the ripple are dominated by the generation of lee-side vortices and their subsequent ejection at flow reversal. The DVPT model predicts the positions and strengths of the vortices reasonably well, but tends to overpredict the velocity close to the ripple surface. The k–ω model, on the other hand, underpredicts the height to which the vortices are lifted, but is better able to predict the velocity close to the bed. In terms of the cycle- and ripple-averaged horizontal velocity, both models are able to reproduce the observed offshore flow close to and below the ripple crest and the DVPT model is able to produce the onshore flow higher up. In the vicinity of the vortices, the DVPT model better represents the concentration (because of its better prediction of vorticity). The k–ω model, on the other hand, better represents the concentration close to the ripple surface and higher up in the flow (because of the better representation of the near-bed flow and background turbulence). The measured and predicted cycle- and ripple-averaged suspended sediment concentrations are in reasonable agreement and demonstrate the expected region of exponential decay. The models are able to reproduce the observed offshore cycle- and ripple-averaged suspended sediment flux from the ripple troughs upwards, and as a result, produce net offshore suspended sediment transport rates that are in reasonable agreement. The net measured offshore suspended transport rate, based on the integration of fluxes, was found to be consistent with the total net offshore transport measured in the tunnel as a whole once the onshore transport resulting from ripple migration was taken into account, as would be expected. This demonstrates the importance of models being able to predict ripple-migration rates. However, at present neither of the models is able to do so.     

Observations and modeling of surf zone transverse finger bars at the Gold Coast,Australia

The occurrence and characteristics of transverse finger bars at Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast, Australia) have been quantified with 4 years of time-exposure video images. These bars are attached to the inner terrace and have an oblique orientation with respect to the coastline. They are observed during 24 % of the study period, in patches up to 15 bars, with an average lifetime of 5 days and a mean wavelength of 32 m. The bars are observed during obliquely incident waves of intermediate heights. Bar crests typically point toward the incoming wave direction, i.e., they are up-current oriented. The most frequent beach state when bars are present (43 % of the time) is a rhythmic low-tide terrace and an undulating outer bar. A morphodynamic model, which describes the feedback between waves, currents, and bed evolution, has been applied to study the mechanisms for finger bar formation. Realistic positive feedback leading to the formation of the observed bars only occurs if the sediment resuspension due to roller-induced turbulence is included. This causes the depth-averaged sediment concentration to decrease in the seaward direction, enhancing the convergence of sediment transport in the offshore-directed flow perturbations that occur over the up-current bars. The longshore current strength also plays an important role; the offshore root-mean-square wave height and angle must be larger than some critical values (0.5 m and 20^°, respectively, at 18-m depth). Model-data comparison indicates that the modeled bar shape characteristics (up-current orientation) and the wave conditions leading to the bar formation agree with data, while the modeled wavelengths and migration rates are larger than the observed ones. The discrepancies might be because in the model we neglect the influence of the large-scale beach configuration.     

Berm formation and dynamics on a gently sloping beach; the effect of water level and swash overtopping

Berm formation and morphological development of the beach face have been observed during a neap–neap tidal cycle on the gently sloping and accreting beach at Vejers, Denmark. During the field campaign, an intertidal bar migrated onshore and stabilized as a berm on the foreshore. A new intertidal bar occurred on the lower beach face, migrated onshore on the rising tide and finally merged with the pre‐existing berm. As the tide continued to rise, the new berm translated further onshore as an intertidal bar to the uppermost part of the foreshore. The sediment transport during the berm transition was onshore directed in the upper swash and offshore directed in the lower swash. This berm development can be described through both the neap‐berm, ridge‐and‐runnel and berm‐ridge development concepts proposed by Hine (Sedimentology 1979; 26: 333–351), and all three stages were observed during only three tidal cycles. The main factors controlling this fast transformation were the gentle slope of the cross‐shore profile, rapid water level translation rates, substantial swash overtopping of the berm, and low infiltration rates. Despite the onshore migration of intertidal bars and berm formation, no net foreshore accretion took place during the field campaign. This was largely due to the formation of rip channels with strong rip currents cutting through the intertidal bars and the berm, which acted as a sediment drain in the profile. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The formation and closure of the Big Breach of Sacalin spit associated with extreme shoreline retreat and shoreface erosion

We document a case of exceptionally large natural breaching of a sandy spit (Sacalin spit, Danube Delta) using multiannual to seasonal surveys of topography and bathymetry on successive cross-barrier and shoreface profiles, LiDAR data, satellite imagery, and wind and wave data. The large breach, which quickly reached 3.4 km in May 2014, is attributed to morphological preconditioning of the narrow (50–150 m) barrier, which was susceptible to breaching even during moderate storm conditions. The event switched the barrier's decadal evolution from low cross-shore transport to high cross-shore transport over the barrier, which is an order of magnitude larger than during the non-breach period. Upper shoreface erosion, as indicated by the extensive erosion down to −4 m, indicates that this zone is a significant source for the rebuilding of the barrier. Barrier recovery and widening trigger a negative feedback which limits the back-barrier sediment transfer. As a result, back-barrier deposition decreases whilst the barrier aggradation through overwash becomes more frequent. The Big Breach (TBB) closed naturally in three years. The very high deposition rate of sediment in the breach is a testimony of the high sediment volumes supplied by the longshore transport and the high sediment released through shoreface retreat, and resulted in widening the barrier to a maximum of 1 km. Since the newly-formed barrier shoreline retreated 500 m, this reveals that barrier breaching is an important mechanism which significantly accelerates the landward migration of the barrier system and is a proof of the highly non-linear morphodynamics involved in the barrier island translation. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beach erosion as a function of variations in the sediment budget,Sandy Hook,New Jersey,U.S.A.

Many of the world's beaches have recently been eroding, even on progradational landforms. This study uses the sediment budget approach to identify and rank the causes of the hazard along Sandy Hook spit where the primary recreational beach has been eroding at about 10 m/yr since 1953 and 23 m/yr in the 1970s. Large spatial variations in longshore sediment transport are found to result from differences in refracted wave energies and intersegmental sediment transport. Erosion results from a 60 per cent deficit (-270,000 m³/yr) in the sediment budget that is primarily caused by (1) refraction induced locally high waves that increase the transport rate by 100,000 m³, and (2) shore protection structures that have lessened the longshore sediment inputs by an additional 100,000 m³/yr. A storm index is presented to analyse secular climatic variation. It suggests that the annual sediment transport rate may vary by as much as ±50 per cent about the mean and that recently, above normal storm wave energies are responsible for about 60,000 m³/yr of the budget deficit. Rising sea levels and storm overwash each account for only about one per cent of the sediment loss. Pulses of sediment, induced by accelerated erosion at the feeder beach locale of spit segments, are found to move downdrift. They alter the geomorphology of the spit through episodic extensions of the spit segments with lag times exceeding one year per segment.     

Suspended-sediment transport in the surf zone: response to breaking waves

A field experiment designed to investigate the influence of wave breaking on suspended-sediment transport was conducted at Duck, NC, from 6 to 9 September 1985. Arrays of optical backscatter sensors, electromagnetic current meters and pressure sensors were deployed at five positions on a shore-normal transect that spanned the surf zone. At each position measurements were made of cross-shore and longshore velocity, sea-surface fluctuations, and suspended sediment at five levels above the bed. Experimental data runs were conducted when incident swell waves ( H_s = 0.5m, T= 10–12s) broke (primarily plunging) within the experimental transect. This paper describes the spatial characteristics of the plunge-to-bore tranformation region and describes (1) the cross-shore variability of sediment resuspension, including the mean concentrations and mean suspended load; (2) the net longshore and cross-shore flux across the surf zone; (3) mean suspended-sediment profiles as a function of wave type, e.g. plunging, spilling and bore, and unbroken at four positions across the surf zone; and (4) discusses the relative contribution of each wave type to the net longshore and cross-shore sediment flux.     

Characteristics and dynamics of multiple intertidal bars,north Lincolnshire,England

Multiple intertidal bars and troughs, often referred to as ‘ridges and runnels’, are significant features on many macrotidal sandy beaches. Along the coastline of England and Wales, they are particularly prevalent in the vicinity of estuaries, where the nearshore gradient is gentle and a large surplus of sediment is generally present. This paper examines the dynamics of such bar systems along the north Lincolnshire coast. A digital elevation model of the intertidal morphology obtained using LIDAR demonstrates that three to five intertidal bars are consistently present with a spacing of approximately 100 m. The largest and most pronounced bars (height = 0·5–0·8 m) are found around mean sea level, whereas the least developed bars (height = 0·2–0·5 m) occur in the lower intertidal zone. Annual aerial photographs of the intertidal bar morphology were inspected to try to track individual bars from year to year to derive bar migration rates; however, there is little resemblance between concurrent photographs, and ‘resetting’ of the intertidal profile occurs on an annual basis. Three‐dimensional beach surveys were conducted monthly at three locations along the north Lincolnshire coast over a one‐year period. The intertidal bar morphology responds strongly to the seasonal variation in the forcing conditions, and bars are least numerous and flattest during the more energetic winter months. Morphological changes over the monthly time scale are strongly affected by longshore sediment transport processes and the intertidal bar morphology can migrate along the beach at rates of up to 30 m per month. The behaviour of intertidal bars is complex and varies over a range of spatial and temporal scales in response to a combination of forcing factors (e.g. incident wave energy, different types of wave processes, longshore and cross‐shore sediment transport), relaxation time and morphodynamic feedback. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Short‐term intertidal bar mobility on a ridge‐and‐runnel beach,Merlimont, northern France

Digital elevation models and topographic pro?les of a beach with intertidal bar and trough (ridge‐and‐runnel) morphology in Merlimont, northern France, were analysed in order to assess patterns of cross‐shore and longshore intertidal bar mobility. The beach exhibited a pronounced dual bar–trough system that showed cross‐shore stationarity. The bars and troughs were, however, characterized by signi?cant longshore advection of sand under the in?uence of suspension by waves and transport by strong tide‐ and wind‐driven longshore currents. Pro?le changes were due in part to the longshore migration of medium‐sized bedforms. The potential for cross‐shore bar migration appears to be mitigated by the large size of the two bars relative to incident wave energy, which is modulated by high vertical tidal excursion rates on this beach due to the large tidal range (mean spring tidal range = 8·3 m). Cross‐shore bar migration is also probably hindered by the well‐entrenched troughs which are maintained by channelled high‐energy intertidal ?ows generated by swash bores and by tidal discharge and drainage. The longshore migration of intertidal bars affecting Merlimont beach is embedded in a regional coastal sand transport pathway involving tidal and wind‐forced northward residual ?ows affecting the rectilinear northern French coast in the eastern English Channel. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal and spatial variation in the sediment volume along the beaches between Ovari and Kanyakumari (SE INDIA)

A 2-year set of profile data from Ovari to Kanyakumari Beach,SE India has been analysed by using empirical orthogonal function(EOF) techniques to identify characteristic patterns of temporal and spatial variation in the sediment volume of the beaches.The results show that variation in the sediment volume of the beach is determined by interaction between the biennial and seasonal exchanges.EOF analysis the pattern of alongshore sediment exchange along the study area.The method facilitated separation of onshore-offshore and alongshore modes of sediment transfer and identification of the patterns of alongshore sediment exchange.The eigenfunction modes confirm the dominance of biennial,annual,and biannual sediment transfers occurring on study area.The sediment movement along the shoreline of study area is mainly governed by the forces associated with the incoming waves and the availability of sediments within the area.The present investigation has been made as an attempt to appreciate the sediment movement in relation to wave activity along the coast.The longshore sediment transport is intensive in the northerly direction as compared to southerly direction.The normal condition is for and to be moved annually or more frequently in the shallows and on the beach.Waves and wave-driven currents cause longshore drift of sand along the beach and offshore.     

Sediment transport on the Palos Verdes shelf,California

Sediment transport and the potential for erosion or deposition have been investigated on the Palos Verdes (PV) and San Pedro shelves in southern California to help assess the fate of an effluent-affected deposit contaminated with DDT and PCBs. Bottom boundary layer measurements at two 60-m sites in spring 2004 were used to set model parameters and evaluate a one-dimensional (vertical) model of local, steady-state resuspension, and suspended-sediment transport. The model demonstrated skill (Brier scores up to 0.75) reproducing the magnitudes of bottom shear stress, current speeds, and suspended-sediment concentrations measured during an April transport event, but the model tended to underpredict observed rotation in the bottom-boundary layer, possibly because the model did not account for the effects of temperature–salinity stratification. The model was run with wave input estimated from a nearby buoy and current input from four to six years of measurements at thirteen sites on the 35- and 65-m isobaths on the PV and San Pedro shelves. Sediment characteristics and erodibility were based on gentle wet-sieve analysis and erosion-chamber measurements. Modeled flow and sediment transport were mostly alongshelf toward the northwest on the PV shelf with a significant offshore component. The 95th percentile of bottom shear stresses ranged from 0.09 to 0.16 Pa at the 65-m sites, and the lowest values were in the middle of the PV shelf, near the Whites Point sewage outfalls where the effluent-affected layer is thickest. Long-term mean transport rates varied from 0.9 to 4.8 metric tons m⁻¹ yr⁻¹ along the 65-m isobaths on the PV shelf, and were much higher at the 35-m sites. Gradients in modeled alongshore transport rates suggest that, in the absence of a supply of sediment from the outfalls or PV coast, erosion at rates of ∼0.2 mm yr⁻¹ might occur in the region southeast of the outfalls. These rates are small compared to some estimates of background natural sedimentation rates (∼5 mm yr⁻¹), but do not preclude higher localized rates near abrupt transitions in sediment characteristics. However, low particle settling velocities and strong currents result in transport length-scales that are long relative to the narrow width of the PV shelf, which combined with the significant offshore component in transport, means that transport of resuspended sediment towards deep water is as likely as transport along the axis of the effluent-affected deposit.     

Hydrodynamics and sediment-transport in the nearshore of Poverty Bay, New Zealand: Observations of nearshore sediment segregation and oceanic storms

Nearshore regions act as an interface between the terrestrial environment and deeper waters. As such, they play important roles in the dispersal of fluvial sediment and the transport of sand to and from the shoreline. This study focused on the nearshore of Poverty Bay, New Zealand, and the processes controlling the dispersal of sediment from the main source, the Waipaoa River. Hydrodynamics and sediment-transport in water shallower than 15 m were observed from April through mid-September 2006. This deployment afforded observations during 3-4 periods of elevated river discharge and 5 dry storms.Similar wind, river discharge, wave, current, and turbidity patterns were characterized during three of the wet storms. At the beginning of each event, winds blew shoreward, increasing wave heights to 2-3 m within Poverty Bay. As the cyclonic storms moved through the system the winds reversed direction and became seaward, reducing the local wave height and orbital velocity while river discharge remained elevated. At these times, high river discharge and relatively small waves enabled fluvially derived suspended sediment to deposit in shallow water. Altimetry measurements indicated that at least 7 cm was deposited at a 15 m deep site during a single discharge event. Turbidity and seabed observations showed this deposition to be removed, however, as large swell waves from the Southern Ocean triggered resuspension of the material within three weeks of deposition. Consequently, two periods of dispersal were associated with each discharge pulse, one coinciding with fluvial delivery, and a second driven by wave resuspension a few weeks later. These observations of nearfield sediment deposition contradict current hypotheses of very limited sediment deposition in shallow water offshore of small mountainous rivers when floods and high-energy, large wave and fast current, oceanic conditions coincide.Consistently shoreward near-bed currents, observed along the 10 m isobath of Poverty Bay, were attributed to a combination of estuarine circulation, Stokes drift, and wind driven upwelling. Velocities measured at the 15 m isobath, however, were directed more alongshore and diverged from those at the 10 m isobath. The divergence in the currents observed at the 10 and 15 m locations seemed to facilitate segregation of coarse and fine sediment, with sand transported near-bed toward the beach, while suspended silts and clays were exported to deeper water.     

Two- and three-dimensional double-sandbar system behaviour under intense wave forcing and a meso–macro tidal range

Five weeks of hourly, 10-min time-exposure video images were used to analyze the meso–macro-tidal double-barred Truc Vert Beach, SW France, under intense wave forcing. The four storms experienced, one of which with an offshore significant wave height over 8 m, induced dramatic changes in the double sandbar system. The subtidal outer bar migrated offshore rapidly (up to 30–50 m/day) and its pre-existing crescentic pattern was wiped out. The seaward-protruding parts of the outer bar barely migrated offshore during the most intense storm, whereas a landward-protruding part was shed off. Over the entire study period, the outer-bar dynamics was dominated by alongshore-averaged changes rather than alongshore non-uniform changes, while the opposite was observed for the inner bar. In addition, the outer-bar dynamics was predominantly controlled by the time-varying offshore wave conditions, whereas the inner-bar dynamics was influenced largely by the tide-range variations. Our observations put forward the key role of morphological settings (the presence of a subtidal bar and its shape) and tidal range in governing inner-bar behaviour within a double sandbar dynamics, and provide strong support for previous suggestions that sandbars cannot be studied in isolation.