Beach Profile

1. Introduction
Beaches are wave-deposited accumulations of sediment located at the shoreline. They
require a base to reside on, usually the bedrock geology, waves to shape them, sediment
to form them, and most are also affected by tides. The beach extends from wave base
where waves begin to feel bottom and shoal, across the nearshore zone, though the surf
zone to the upper limit of wave swash (Figure 5). In the coastal zone ocean waves are
transformed by shoaling, breaking, and swash. In doing so they interact with the seabed,
and determine the beach morphology or shape, a process called beach morphodynamics.

Beaches and dunes are in constant motion, continually changing shape and shifting
position in response to winds, waves, tides, relative sea level, and human activities. The
most significant changes occur seasonally and following storms. During summer, beaches
are generally higher and sandier than they are in winter. During the winter, the missing
sand moves from the beach to nearshore areas to form sandbars. This happens as a result
of changing wave shape due to more intense storm activity. During spring and early
summer, or following a storm, the sand in the nearshore region moves back toward -- and
eventually attaches to -- the beach. Once on the beach, the finer sand grains are moved by
wind action to form higher, wider sand dunes. These seasonal and storm-related

interactions and changes in the form, volume, and position of beaches, dunes, and
nearshore areas produce what is known as dynamic equilibrium (Figure A, below).
Beach and dune profiling is one way to obtain information about seasonal and storminduced beach and dune shapes. Comparing season-to-season profiles and profiles taken
before and after a significant storm clearly illustrates the important changes taking place
along the shoreline and how quickly coastal landforms change.

The beach has three major parts: beach face, berm and backbeach. The beach face is the
zone of most active change. Its inclination may vary from a few degrees to as much as 30
degrees. This slope is dependent on both grain size and wave energy which are
themselves interdependent. The major factors governing the slope of the beach face and
the movement of grains on the slope are: wave height, wave period/length, and grain size
of the particles. Grain size is fundamental in controlling percolation of water into the
sand and thereby the amount of water in the surface backwash and the amount returning
through the beach sediments. This in turn shapes the beach foreshore gradient because the
amount of surface return flow is a factor in the movement of sand grains on the beach.
Coarse sand beaches with a high degree of percolation have steeper gradients than fine
sand beaches because they have less surface backwash and therefore less seaward
movement of the grains.
2. Forces moving the sediment at the beach

Wave, tide and storm surges are the main forces that moving the sediment on the
beach. Waves provide about half the energy to do work at the coast, most of the
waves present on the oceans surface are wind-generated waves. Waves absorb
energy from the wind. That energy is transmitted across the water surface by
waves. At the shoreline, waves break and unleash that energy on the beach. Size
and type of wind-generated waves are controlled by:

(fig 2).

wind velocity

wind duration

Fetch

Original state of the sea surface.

Classification of waves

Ocean waves are classified into seven major groups depending on their size, period and
way of formation. These types are described below.
1. Capillary Waves
Capillary waves are the smallest of these types, having a period generally less than 0.1sec
and a wavelength less than a couple of centimeters. Capillary waves are caused by local
winds, more specifically short bursts of winds. Capillary waves are similar to ripples
created on a body of water by dropping an object into it. The restoring force in the case of
capillary waves is surface tension
2. Chop waves
Chop waves are the common waves in the ocean. These waves have periods of several
seconds, and wavelengths ranging from 1 to 10 metres. Chops are wind generated waves.
A consistent blowing of find over a considerable fetch (sea surface area over which the
wind blows) causes these waves. The restoring force of these waves is gravity.
3. Swells

Swells are much larger wind generated waves. Very powerful winds are required for the
creation of these waves and they are related to distant storm surges. Periods can vary
between 10 and 30 seconds and wavelengths are in the order of hundreds of metres.
Swells occurring alongside a storm in coastal areas can have devastating effects.
4. Seiches
Seiches are standing waves that can be created by wind, seismic disturbances or by tidal
resonance. These waves can be generated at harbours, estuaries, lagoons and even
swimming pools. Seiches can have periods ranging from a couple of minutes to several
hours and wavelengths upto hundreds of kilometres.
5. Tsunamis
Tsunamis are massive and catastrophic waves generated by submarine disturbances. The
most common submarine activity leading to tsunamis is subduction between tectonic
plates. However other disturbances such as landslides could also produce tsunamis.
Tsunamis can have a period of about an hour and wavelength can reach hundreds of
kilometers.
6. Tides
Tides that are caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon are familiar to us
but few realize that it is classified as a wave. Tides have periods of 12.8 or 24.8 hours and
are related to the earths speed of rotation. Wavelengths are in the order of thousands of
kilometres.

Orbital motions in waves

Waves are periodic deformations of an interface. Surface waves in

oceanography are deformations of the sea surface, the atmosphere-ocean
interface. The deformations propagate with the wave speed, while the particles
describe orbital or oscillatory motions at particle speed and remain at the same
position on average.
In deep water, particle paths are circles. In shallow water, the particle paths
flatten to ellipses (Figure 9.1). The change from deep to shallow water waves is
observed when the wavelength becomes larger than twice the water depth h.
A change in wave properties occurs also at = 20h. It is therefore useful to
distinguish between. It is most important to note that the distinction between
deep and shallow water waves has little to do with absolute water depth but is
determined by the ratio of water depth to wave length. The deep ocean can be
shallow with respect to waves provided the wave length exceeds twice the
ocean depth. This is the case for example with tides.

Wave shoaling
Wave shoaling occurs as waves travel toward shore in shallow water. Shoaling is the
changes in wave characteristics that occur when a wave reaches shallow water. The
decreasing depth causes:

An increase in wave height. The conservation of energy results in more energy

forced into a smaller area. Since wave energy is proportional to wave height
squared, this increases wave height as it propagates toward shore even though
some of the energy is dissipated by bottom friction.

A decrease in wave speed. Remember that waves in shallow water have speeds
that are dependent on the square root of water depth. As the depth decreases, so
too will the wave speed.

As the wave moves into shallower water, shoaling affects the wave form by slowing its
base while having less effect on the crest. At some point, the crest of the wave is moving

too fast for the bottom of the wave form to keep up. The wave then becomes unstable and
breaks.