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Longshore drift is simply the sediment moved by the longshore current. This current and sediment movement occurs within the surf zone. The process is also known as littoral drift. [1] Beach sand is also moved on such oblique wind days, due to the swash and backwash of water on the beach. Breaking surf sends water up the coast (swash) at an ...
Greater swash generally occurs on flatter beaches. [2] The swash motion plays the primary role in the formation of morphological features and their changes in the swash zone. The swash action also plays an important role as one of the instantaneous processes in wider coastal morphodynamics. Figure 1. Beach classification by Wright and Short ...
Coastal sediment supply is the transport of sediment to the beach environment by both fluvial and aeolian transport. While aeolian transport plays a role in the overall sedimentary budget for the coastal environment, it is paled in comparison to the fluvial supply which makes up 95% of sediment entering the ocean. [1]
This movement is known as beach drift (Figure 3). The endless cycle of swash and backwash and resulting beach drift can be observed on all beaches. This may differ between coasts. Rhossili in Wales is a low-energy shoreline. Probably the most important effect is longshore drift (LSD)(Also known as Littoral Drift), the process by which sediment ...
Coastal sediment transport (a subset of sediment transport) is the interaction of coastal land forms to various complex interactions of physical processes. [1] [2] The primary agent in coastal sediment transport is wave activity (see Wind wave), followed by tides and storm surge (see Tide and Storm surge), and near shore currents (see Sea#Currents) . [1]
The bight is chronically eroding because its beaches are starved of sediment. The Rakaia River, incidentally, has a hapau at its mouth. Over geological time, a spit grew, drift-aligned to the current. It was, initially, as to be expected, wide the southern end where it receives the most sand and gravel, and narrow at the northern end.
The oblique approaching waves refract and diffract into the "shadow zone" which can be considered a relatively sheltered hook of beach behind the headland. Increase in sediment size, wave height, berm height, and swash zone gradient from the up coast headland generally characterizes the concave seaward curved part of the beach.
The direction of migration is often indicated by a series of successive beach ridges on the advancing side of the foreland where there is less wave energy. [1] [4] The movement of cuspate forelands is commonly explained by longshore drift acting as the main process. However, there have been observed cases where two cuspate forelands on the same ...