Physical determinants of intertidal communities on dissipative beaches: Implications of sea-level rise

Sea-level rise is likely to cause significant changes in the morphodynamic state of beaches in the higher latitudes, resulting in steeper beaches with larger particle sizes. These physical changes have implications for beach invertebrate communities, which are determined largely by sediment particle size, and hence for ecosystem function. Previous studies have explored the relationships between invertebrate communities and environmental variables such as particle size, beach slope and exposure to wave action, and often these physical variables can be integrated in various indices of morphodynamic state. Most of these studies incorporated a full range of beach types that included wave-dominated surf beaches, where the wave action is harsh enough to enable reliable estimates of breaker height, a parameter included in several of the indices, and concluded that more dissipative beaches with gentler slopes and finer particle sizes often support a higher number of species and greater abundance than more reflective beaches. Whether these predictions remain valid for less wave-dominated beaches, where breaker height is more difficult to determine, is uncertain. In the present study, the abundance of meio- and macrofauna was quantified across a range of beaches in the UK, which are generally towards the lower energy end of the morphodynamic gradient, and their relationships with beach physical properties explored. No significant relationships were found between abundance and the standard morphodynamic indices, but significant relationships were found for both macro- and meiofaunal abundance when these indices were combined with an exposure index (derived from velocity, direction, duration and the effective fetch). All the relationships identified between abundance and combined morphodynamic indices indicated a higher abundance of both macro- and meiofauna on the more dissipative beaches. The reverse was however found for species richness. If predictions that accelerated sea-level rise will move beaches towards a more reflective morphodynamic state are correct, this could lead to declines in the abundance of meio- and macrofauna, with potential adverse consequences for ecosystem functioning.     

国内外海滩质量评价体系研究

海滩作为宝贵的旅游资源越来越受到关注,国外学者在海滩质量评价方面的研究工作起步较早,多个国家都已经建立了不同的海滩评价体系。其中"蓝旗"评价标准在世界范围内得到了广泛的应用。我国海滩资源较为丰富,但是质量评价体系仍处于起步阶段,尚没有形成完善的体系,仅有少部分海滩进行了质量评价,使用的标准也不统一,多由评价者自己建立标准进行评价。总结了欧洲、北美洲、大洋洲使用的主要海滩评价标准,将国外各海滩质量评价体系的启示和国内海滩质量评价的特点相结合,探讨我国海滩质量评价应选用的评价因子。认为目前建立适应我国国情、充分考虑海滩用途及沉积特征、区分旅游地和乡村的海滩质量评价体系进行海滩评价较为适宜。根据已有研究和实地考察情况,分别对旅游地和乡村海滩从自然因素、环境因素、其他因素3个方面选取了20个、15个评价因子。     

渤海南部碎屑石英表面微结构特征等沉积环境

运用扫描电镜研究渤海南部碎屑石英颗粒表面微结构,并根据各种形痕的组合特征,判断沉积物所处的沉积环境,定性分析控制沉积环境的主要因素。     

岬湾海滩剖面中长期变化特征及其控制因素——以青岛石老人海滩为例

了解海滩剖面变化可以更好地理解海滩动态过程。利用2007年5月~2014年12月近8 a青岛石老人海滩剖面的实测资料,计算剖面各段单宽体积变化量及后滨宽度,结合交叉小波和小波相干分析方法,探讨海滩剖面中长期淤蚀变化特征及其控制因素。结果表明,近8 a来海滩剖面表现为侵蚀状态,不同岸段侵蚀程度不同。剖面1岸段侵蚀明显,剖面2和剖面3岸段轻微侵蚀。剖面的变化过程可划分为平稳期、剧变期和微调期3个时期。各时期剖面的季节性变化较复杂,平稳期具冬蚀夏淤的交替变化特征,整体淤蚀量较小;剧变期剖面呈阶段性蚀退,变化幅度相对较大,微调期剖面可能仍处于剧变期的恢复阶段,季节性变化不明显。剧变期和微调期的小波交叉谱和相干谱分析显示,波浪和前滨单宽体积相干性较好,尤其当大于2 m的波高达到10%以上,海滩地形可以和波高变化产生同周期的变化。因此波高变化基本控制了剖面的季节变化。而海滩长周期变化主要受控于风暴潮作用及其漫长的恢复期,沿岸输沙和海平面变化则一定程度上导致了剖面长期侵蚀格局的形成。     

Static bay beach concept for scientists and engineers: A review

Headland-bay beach (HBB) is one of the most prominent physiographic features on the oceanic margin of many countries in the world. Under the influence of a predominant swell, its curved periphery in natural environment may reach static equilibrium and remains stable without sediment supply from updrift and/or a riverain source within its own embayment. Coastal scientists and engineers have attempted to develop mathematical expressions to quantify this ideal bay shape since the 1940s. As the scenario with depleting sediment supply has become a common reality on many parts of the world coastline in more recent time, some coastal engineers have advocated a rational approach to mimicking the static bay shape found in nature in order to mitigate beach erosion as well as for coastal management. Nowadays, many useful applications have emerged since the publication of the parabolic bay shape equation (PBSE) developed for static equilibrium planform (SEP) in late 1980s. The advance in modern computer technologies and international collaboration has further facilitated the exchange of knowledge and applications of this static bay beach concept (SBBC).     

Measured and modeled wave overtopping on a natural beach

The rate of wave overtopping of a barrier beach is measured and modeled. Unique rate of wave overtopping field data are obtained from the measure of the Carmel River, California, lagoon filling during a time when the lagoon is closed-off with no river inflow. Volume changes are based on measured lagoon height changes applied to a measured hypsometric curve. Wave heights and periods are obtained from directional wave spectra data in 15 m fronting the beach. Beach morphology was measured by GPS walking surveys. Three empirical overtopping models by Van der Meer and Janssen (1995), Hedges and Reis (1998) and Pullen et al. (2007) with differing parameterizations on wave height, period and beach slope and calibrated using extensive laboratory data obtained over plane, impermeable beaches are applied in a quasi-2D manner and compared with the field observations. Three overtopping events are considered when morphology data were available less than 2 weeks prior to the event. The models are tuned to fit the data using a reduction factor to account for beach permeability, berm characteristics, non-normal wave incidence and surface roughness influence. In addition, the run-up model by Stockdon et al. (2006) based on field data is examined and found to underestimate run-up as the calculated values were too small to predict any of the observed overtopping. The three overtopping models performed similarly well with values of 0.72–0.87 for the two narrow-banded wave cases, with an average reduction factor of 0.78. The European model (Pullen et. al., 2007) performed best overall and in particular for the case of the broad-banded, double peaked wave spectrum.     

Offshore sand sources for beach replenishment: Potential borrows on the continental shelf of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

Erosion of sandy beaches is a worldwide problem that elicits innovative geoengineer‐ing techniques to reduce adverse impacts of shoreline retreat. Beach replenishment has emerged as the “soft”; shore‐stabilization technique of choice for mitigating beach erosion. This method of shore protection involves the addition of sand to the littoral sediment budget for sacrificial purposes. Because inland sand sources are often uneconomical or impractical to use, and known nearshore sources are limited, finding adequate quantities of suitable sand on the inner continental shelf is often vital to beach replenishment projects. The technical studies of survey and materials analysis that identify and delineate usable sand sources are sometimes almost as expensive as small‐project dredging, pumping, and placing the sand on the beach as fill. Inadequate quantity or substandard quality of shelf sand, as well as often‐prohibitive overhead expenses, thus compel shoreline managers to seek suitable sand sources offshore.

In the study area off the central‐west coast of Florida, offshore potential borrow areas (PBAs) were identified on the basis of studies conducted in reconnoitory and detailed phases. Sophisticated state‐of‐the‐art equipment used in this investigation provided more detailed subbottom mapping information than is normally obtained with conventional seismic equipment. An example of sand exploration studies was incorporated in a 215‐km² survey of offshore areas by conducting bathymetric surveys and subbottom seismic profiling, collecting jet probes, grab samples, and vibrocores, and analyzing sediment grading in subsamples from vibrocores. These combined analyses indicated that at least 8.8 ×10⁶ m³ of sand is available in potential borrow areas from 7.0 to 12 km offshore in water depths of 8.0 to 11.5 m. In the PBAs, mean grain size of sand falls into the range 0.13–0.53 mm, sorting averages 0.65–1.31ø, and the overall silt content varies from 3.9–8.5%. High silt contents (13–19%) mapped in some areas make these sedimentary deposits unsuitable as fill for artificial beach renourishment.     

海阳市典型砂质海岸侵蚀机制与防护对策研究

海阳市砂质海岸资源丰富,延绵近120 km,尤以万米沙滩浴场著称,但近年岸滩侵蚀严重影响其社会经济发展.本研究基于海阳市羊角畔两侧长约20 km典型砂质海岸连续3 a的海岸线蚀和典型剖面蚀淤调查,定量化研究海滩侵蚀及其变化,辅以一维数值模型,研究人类活动影响下的泥沙运动特征和海滩侵蚀机制.研究结果表明,调查区42.5％...