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.     

Data-based forecasting of beach volumes on monthly to yearly timescales

Data-based methods for forecasting beach volumes are tested using ground-measured bathymetry from Duck, North Carolina, comprising 26 profiles, 20 year duration and one-month resolution. Derived beach volume time series show weak seasonal and strong event signals. The forecasting methods used are: Holt–Winters (standard and modified), three types of linear regression, and a default forecast in which the latest measurement persists unchanged into the future. Improved forecast accuracies are obtained by two modifications to Holt–Winters, involving an autocorrelation correction and long-term trend-damping, and by smoothing the fitting data using running medians or wavelet approximations. Beach volume forecasts are tested mainly at monthly intervals up to 12 months ahead, with further tests at up to 36 months ahead. Overall, modified Holt–Winters performs best and the default forecast second-best. With an added artificial seasonal signal, modified Holt–Winters outperforms the other methods more substantially.     

Lagrangian measurements and modelling of fluid advection in the inner surf and swash zones

New laboratory and field data are presented on fluid advection into the swash zone. The data illustrate the region of the inner surf zone from which sediment can be directly advected into the swash zone during a single uprush, which is termed the advection length. Experiments were conducted by particle tracking in a Lagrangian reference frame, and were performed for monochromatic breaking waves, solitary bores, non-breaking solitary waves and field conditions. The advection length is normalised by the run-up length to give an advection ratio, A, and different advection ratios are identified on the basis of the experimental data. The data show that fluid enters the swash zone from a region of the inner surf zone that can extend a distance seaward of the bore collapse location that is approximately equal to half of the run-up length. This region is about eight times wider than the region predicted by the classical swash solution of Shen and Meyer [Shen, M.C., Meyer, R.E., 1963. Climb of a bore on a beach. Part 3. Runup. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 16, 113–125], as illustrated by Pritchard and Hogg [Pritchard, D., Hogg, A.J., 2005. On the transport of suspended sediment by a swash event on a plane beach. Coastal Engineering 52, 1–23]. Measured advection ratios for periodic waves show no significant trend with Iribarren number, consistent with self-similarity in typical swash flows. The data are compared to recent characteristic solutions of the non-linear shallow water wave (NLSW) equations and both finite difference and finite volume solutions of the NLSW equations.     

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。     

象山皇城海滩稳定性分析与防护对策

以浙江岬湾砂质海岸象山皇城海滩为例,运用抛物线模型,分析得出皇城海滩的冲淤演化动态,并通过历史岸线形态对比探讨皇城海塘对其的影响,最终提出防止海岸侵蚀的对策。研究结果表明,皇城海滩北部有一定的侵蚀,其平面形态还未达到静态平衡,处于不稳定状态;皇城海滩北段海塘修建得过于靠海,致使海滩最重要的泥沙补给源——后滨沙丘被阻断,甚至消失,同时大潮水位可直接淹没海塘堤脚,加上海塘前为近破波,滩面水流和泥沙运动剧烈,最终导致堤前滩面的冲刷。基于此,防止海岸侵蚀的最佳对策是在拆除、重建海滩北部部分海塘后再进行适当的海滩养护。通过对皇城海滩的稳定性研究,了解海塘建设的影响,可为浙江岬湾海滩资源的合理开发、海岸防护工程建设提供一定的科学依据。     

浙江朱家尖岛东沙海滩对热带风暴“娜基莉”的响应及风暴后的恢复

海滩对风暴的响应及风暴后海滩的恢复过程一直以来都是国内外海滩研究的热点。本文通过对浙江舟山市朱家尖岛东沙海滩地形地貌的现场调查,对比分析了热带风暴"娜基莉"影响下东沙海滩剖面的蚀积变化,探讨了海滩在热带风暴发生后的恢复情况。结果表明,在"娜基莉"影响期间,因风暴浪为向岸浪,东沙海滩几乎遭受全线侵蚀,12个剖面单宽侵蚀总量为73.46 m3/m,其中海滩直线段较两个遮蔽段侵蚀显著。由于海滩在风暴前进方向的左侧,且"娜基莉"距东沙较远,使得东沙海滩普遍侵蚀但强度较小。东沙海滩在热带风暴后的恢复过程中,不同部位的地貌调整和冲淤变化不同,下岬角遮蔽段基本趋于稳定,直线段和上岬角遮蔽段在恢复过程中因受海滩季节性调整的影响呈现持续侵蚀。     

Role of geological inheritance in Australian beach morphodynamics

The Australian coast contains 10,685 beaches which occupy 49% of the 30,000 km coast and average 1.37 km in length. Their relatively short length is largely due to the presence of bedrock, calcarenite and laterite, which form boundaries to many of the beaches, as well as occurring as rocks, reefs and islands along and off the beaches. This geological inheritance plays a major role in Australian beach systems — determining their length and through wave refraction and attenuation influencing beach location, shape, type, morphodynamics and circulation, which in turn influence sediment transport and the backing dune and barrier systems. This paper uses a database covering every Australian beach to review the role of headlands, rocks and reefs on Australian beaches. Major effects are the short average beach length; reduction in breaker height resulting in lower energy beach types; wave refraction resulting in increased beach curvature; the presence of topographic rips on moderate and higher energy beaches and megarips during high wave conditions; and the interruption of and/or trapping of longshore sand transport leading to beach rotation.     

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.     

Beach nourishments at Coolangatta Bay over the period 1987–2005: Impacts and lessons

Erosion of the southern Gold Coast beaches (SE Queensland, Australia) was exacerbated after the extension of the Tweed River training walls in the early 1960s. To achieve the objective of restoring and maintaining beach amenity, significant nourishment works have been undertaken in Coolangatta Bay over the past 30 years. Particularly, under the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project (TRESBP) since 1995, a number of nourishment campaigns and the implementation of a permanent sand bypass system in 2001 have resulted in significant changes of Coolangatta Bay morphology. The present case study investigates the influence of both wave climate and nourishment works on the area extending from the updrift Snapper Rocks area to downdrift Kirra Beach. SWAN spectral wave model is implemented at Coolangatta Bay area and forced by the global wave model WW3 to estimate wave forcing and the potential natural longshore drift entering in Coolangatta. Specific transects extracted from accurate bathymetric surveys are used to investigate and quantify Coolangatta Bay sedimentation for the period 1987–2005. A network of Argus video stations provides high sample rate information on the shoreline evolution. Results show that, over the past 10 years, Coolangatta Bay has infilled rapidly. Sedimentation reached up to 6 m in some areas between 1995 and 2005, with beach width increasing by 200 m at Kirra Beach. Rapid seaward shoreline migration is consistent with the intense over-pumping of sand relative to the natural potential to move sand alongshore. The nourishment strategy used during this project has successfully delivered large amounts of sand to the southern Gold Coast embayment, although it has been up to now controversial from many community perspectives. The artificial sand bypassing process proved to be much more efficient than depositing the dredged sand in the nearshore area which requires a significant period of low energy condition in order for the deposited sediment to migrate shoreward and weld to the shore. This case study confirms that, when carefully undertaken, sand bypassing is a sustainable and flexible soft engineering approach which can work in concert with natural processes.     

Nonlinear transfer function modelling of beach morphology at Duck,North Carolina

This paper presents a simple nonlinear data-based modelling approach for predicting the beach profile volume at Duck, North Carolina, USA. The state-dependent parameter form of the general transfer function (SDP TF) model is used to describe nonlinearity influencing these morphological data in two case examples. Case 1 investigates the nonlinearity associated with the dependency of wave forcing on the preceding beach volume. Case 2 investigates the ability to model the variables within the well-known diffusion equation for beach volume using this data-based approach. The results of this study show that the SDP TF approach can be used successfully to develop statistically robust models for describing nonlinearity in beach morphological systems. Furthermore, these models are shown to predict the beach volumes over both short (1 month ahead) and long (2 years ahead) time periods, and thus show great potential for practical applications in coastal zone management and engineering.