Onshore Sandbar Migration

Abstract

Surfzone sand bars protect beaches from wave attack, guide and constrain nearshore currents, and are a primary mechanism of cross-shore sediment transport and beach erosion and accretion. During storms, intense wave breaking on the bar crest drives strong offshore-directed currents that carry sediment seaward, resulting in offshore sandbar migration. If the beach morphology is in equilibrium, the rapid offshore bar migration observed during storms is balanced by slower onshore sediment transport and bar migration between storms.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA414135

Entities

People

  • Steve Elgar

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Army
  • Beach Erosion
  • Beaches
  • Elevation
  • Migration
  • Ocean Waves
  • Offshore
  • Personal Information Managers
  • Research Facilities
  • Scientists
  • Sea Level
  • Sedimentation
  • Sediments
  • Shores
  • Transport Ships
  • Waves

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography