10.

1 Perspectives on Coastal Geomorphology: Introduction

DJ Sherman, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.1.1 Introduction 1
10.1.2 Nearshore Processes 2
10.1.3 Morphodynamic Systems 2
10.1.4 Coastal Environments 3
References 4

Abstract

Coastal geomorphology studies the interactions of marine, atmospheric, geologic, and anthropogenic systems. It is an
especially important sub-discipline because coastal systems tend to be dynamic, whereas the concentrations of human
populations in coastal zones expect the environment to be static. The volume is organized around three themes. The first
theme is nearshore processes, including those associated with waves and sediment transport. The second theme is mor-
phodynamic systems, and it includes reviews of beaches, nearshore bars, tidal inlets and lagoons, barrier systems, gravel
systems, and beach–dune systems. The third theme is coastal environment, which includes chapters on rock coasts,
estuaries, coral systems, mangrove environments, developed coasts, and the evolution of coastal landforms.

10.1.1 Introduction and morphodynamic interactions, can improve the human

Coastal geomorphology remains one of the most vital sub-
disciplines in the field of geomorphology, and it is concerned
with some of the most dynamic environments on the Earth.
The coast is the triple interface of land, sea, and air. It is also
the environment within which most of the human population
lives and where their activities have impacted coastal processes
and responses. Most coastal environments include, therefore,
overlapping signatures of atmospheric processes, especially
wind and temperature; hydrodynamic processes, especially
waves, currents, tides, and fluvial discharges; sedimentological
and geological controls, especially particle size, bedforms,
sedimentary structure, slope, and materials; and human im-
pacts, especially shore protection structures and beach nour-
ishment. In some coastal environments these signatures are so
closely intertwined that one cannot be distinguished without
reference to others. The difficulty in studying and modeling
coastal environments does not reduce the importance of
doing so. It is estimated that the human population of the
Earth surpassed seven billion in late 2011, as reported in an
article by Smith (2011). A disproportionate number of those
beings live in coastal zones that are, as pointed out by Smith,
exceptionally vulnerable to coastal hazards at present, and
their susceptibility to catastrophe is expected to increase.
Sea-level rise and the resulting erosion of beaches will lead to
dramatic displacements of population and infrastructure. At-
tempts to mitigate these and other coastal changes will require
substantial intervention and investment to offset deleterious
impacts. This threat alone makes coastal geomorphology one
of the most relevant of the sub-disciplines – one where increased
understanding of nearshore processes, landform responses,
Sherman, D.J., 2013. Perspectives on coastal geomorphology: introduction.
In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on
Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal
Geomorphology, pp. 1–4.
condition.
Traditionally, most coastal geomorphologists tended to
focus on either nearshore processes or landform responses.
These foci called for substantially different theoretical and
methodological approaches. Oceanographers and engineers
centered mainly on processes (e.g., Inman and Bagnold,
1963), and geographers and geologists centered mainly on
responses (e.g., Russell, 1942). Much of that changed with the
morphodynamics revolution that began at the Louisiana
State University with the works of Jim Coleman and Choule
Sonu, but exploded with the development of the Australian
School at the Coastal Studies Institute at the University of
Sydney. The broad organization of this volume, therefore,
follows the general categorization of topics into the themes of
Nearshore Processes, Morphodynamic Systems, and Coastal
Environments. Of course this distinction is sometimes mis-
leading, as the overlap between these themes is greater than
ever before.
Because of the complexity of coastal environments, the
professional literature appears in a broad spectrum of jour-
nals, including (but not limited to): Coastal Engineering; Con-
tinental Shelf Research; Earth Surface Processes and Landforms;
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science; Geo-Marine Letters; Geo-
morphology; Journal of Coastal Research; Journal of Geophysical
Research; Journal of Sedimentary Research; Journal of Port, Coastal
and Ocean Engineering; Journal of Sedimentary Research; Marine
Geology; Progress in Physical Geography; and Sedimentology.
Recent textbooks include those by Komar (1998), Woodroffe
(2002), Dean and Dalrymple (2002), Davis and Fitzgerald
(2004), Davidson-Arnott (2010), Bird (2011), and Masselink
et al. (2011); and a large number of more specialized texts and
references are concerned with particular coastal environments.
The interest in the field prompted Elsevier to commission a
Treatise on Coastal and Estuarine Science. Many of the chapters
in that work directly complement the content of this volume.
One purpose of both the Treatise on Coastal and Estuarine

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00269-4 1

2 Perspectives on Coastal Geomorphology: Introduction
Science and the Treatise on Geomorphology is to produce co-
herent and up-to-date reviews of the diverse literature in order
to produce a useful and scholarly professional reference set. In
the chapters included in this volume, I believe that the goal
has been accomplished.
The volume begins with Tony Orme’s comprehensive re-
view of what he has termed the ‘Four Traditions’ (Chapter
10.2) of our discipline. He traces recorded interests in coastal
issues back to the early writings, on clay tablets, from Baby-
lonia, but focuses on developments from the Renaissance to
the mid-twentieth century. The traditions Orme identifies are:
(1) Earth Science; (2) Mathematical Theory; (3) Ocean Sci-
ence; and (4) Coastal Engineering. Developments in the last
half century are discussed in the separate chapters in this
volume or in chapters in the Treatise on Coastal and Estuarine
Science, but the paths established in the four traditions can be
identified still in the modern literature.
10.1.2 Nearshore Processes
The study of nearshore processes concerns mainly the behavior
of waves and wave-driven currents and their interaction with
the underlying surface to erode and transport sediments.
Therefore the second chapter, by David Huntley (Chapter 10.3),
follows the development and application of wave theory, par-
ticularly in the context of nearshore hydrodynamics, sediment
transport, and morphodynamical interactions. In this chapter
we see contributions from, mainly, the two traditions of
Mathematical Theory and Ocean Science, with the Coastal
Engineering tradition a close third. It is notable that all modern
wave theory traces roots to developments by eighteenth century
mathematicians, and underpins the numerical model systems
now used commonly to simulate nearshore processes and re-
sponses. Huntley discusses the performance of several packaged
modeling systems with regard to empirical data, and notes the
importance of improving our understanding of what happens
when waves break and how that process can be described
physically and quantitatively.
Sediment transport, in one sense, is not a process, but a
response to wave and current processes. In the context of
landform evolution, however, sediment transport can be
viewed as comprising the suite of processes that drive change.
It is in this latter context that Troels Aagaard and Michael
Hughes (Chapter 10.4) review the state-of-the-art in nearshore
sediment transport studies, in particular those that treat sandy
systems. They discuss developments in theory and empiricism,
and the chapter underscores the importance of technological
innovation in improving, especially, field studies of across
shore (shore perpendicular) and alongshore (shore parallel)
transport. The review also follows the development of the
Mathematical Theory, Ocean Sciences, and, to a lesser
degree, Coastal Engineering traditions, into the twenty-first
century.
There are several chapters in the Treatise on Coastal and Es-
tuarine Science that are relevant to the theme of Nearshore
Processes. These include the chapters by Reginald Uncles on
Water and Fine Sediment Circulation; Chunyan Li on Free
Surface Motions; Judith Wolf on Waves in Coastal and Estuarine
Waters; Johan Winterwerp on The Physical Analyses of Muddy
Sedimentation Processes; and Andrew Plater and Jason Kirby on
Sea-Level Change and Coastal Geomorphic Response.
10.1.3 Morphodynamic Systems
The study of morphodynamic systems represents an analytical
perspective that explicitly recognizes the close feedback between
form and process. Andy Short and Derek Jackson (Chapter
10.5) review briefly the history of the morphodynamic concept
and then discuss its application to a growing number of en-
vironments, but focus on sandy beaches, where the main
morphodynamic regimes are dissipative, intermediate, or re-
flective. These regimes describe the wave energy characteristics
of different beach environments. In addition to the geo-
morphological applications of the morphodynamic concept,
the authors also discuss applications for coastal engineering
and beach ecology. Finally, they categorize morphodynamic
issues according to time scales of inquiry, and summarize a
number of research questions to advance understanding of
beach morphodynamics. Answering these questions will be
among the challenges posed to the next generation of coastal
geomorphologists.
The development of nearshore bars is an important mor-
phodynamic response to wave forcing and sand transport.
Robin Davidson-Arnott (Chapter 10.6) follows the evolution
of thought associated with the study of bars and their classi-
fication, and then organizes the remainder of his chapter by
addressing four key challenges to understanding the controls
on bar morphodynamics: (1) what are the mechanisms of bar
formation; (2) what environmental factors determine whether
bars will form along a particular coast; (3) what mechanisms
control the modification and migration of nearshore bars; and
(4) what are the morphodynamic controls on the morphology
of nearshore bars? Because nearshore bars play such an im-
portant role in modulating surf zone energy dissipation, this
information is needed to properly model nearshore circu-
lation and beach responses.
The presence of barrier islands and spits is closely associ-
ated with inlets and, in many cases, lagoons. The literature
concerning these systems is reviewed by Duncan Fitzgerald
and Michael Miner (Chapter 10.7). Barrier systems are wide-
spread (see chapter by Randy McBride and friends (Chapter
10.8)), therefore so too are inlets and lagoons. Tidal inlets play
fundamental roles in the exchange of water and sediments
between terrestrial, fluvial, estuarine, and marine environ-
ments. The authors discuss the distinctive morphologies of
different types of landforms associated with inlets, especially
with regard to the formation of deltas, channel morphology,
and equilibrium forms of lagoons. The importance of inlets as
controls on alongshore sediment dynamics is highlighted as
an example where human impacts have been particularly
deleterious.
Randy McBride and a team of 16 other coauthors have
produced a comprehensive overview of the major barrier is-
land and spit systems of the Earth’s coastlines (Chapter 10.8).
The review is organized around a coastal tectonic framework
developed first by Inman and Nordstrom (1971), including
the Amero-trailing edge coasts, marginal sea coasts, and col-
lision coasts. The authors provide tectonic, geological, and

evolutionary models for each of the barrier systems discussed,
and review the dominant environmental controls on large-
scale morphology. The morphodynamic controls, research
developments, knowledge gaps, and future research needs are
discussed for each region.
Julian Orford and Ed Anthony (Chapter 10.9) review beach
morphodynamics in the context of gravel systems, where gravel
is used in the broad sense to represent sediments larger than
sand. Gravel beaches tend to have steep beach slopes, causing
them to be morphodynamically reflective. Partially because of
that, gravel systems tend to be stable relative to their sandy
counterparts. However, there have been relatively few studies to
support this empirically, as the authors point out, and it is
much more difficult to install and maintain instrumentation
systems in gravel systems. Orford and Anthony describe some
of the scaling and human impact challenges facing those sci-
entists who work in gravel environments, especially the dif-
ficulties in applying the results of relatively small-scale field
experiments to long-term gravel barrier evolution.
The complex theme of beach and dune interaction is
reviewed by Chris Houser and Jean Ellis (Chapter 10.10).
Beach–dune interaction concerns exchange of sediments be-
tween beach systems and dunes systems, which have been
generally treated as independent of one another. In the sense
that one system is dominated by hydrodynamics and the other
by aerodynamics, such a partition is sensible. The sediment
exchange between these systems does not recognize the dis-
tinction. Houser and Ellis detail the natural and scale de-
pendency of interactions, and summarize the conceptual
models that treat this theme. Special attention is paid to
complications in modeling sand transport arising from fetch
effects, sediment moisture content, and vegetation.
There are other morphodynamic systems, and several are
discussed in the Treatise on Coastal and Estuarine Science. In
particular, aspects of the morphodynamic approach can be
found in the treatments of River-Dominated Coasts, by Colin
Woodroffe; and Tidal Flat Morphodynamics, by Carl Friedrichs.
10.1.4 Coastal Environments
There are several coastal environments where the suites of
geomorphic processes and responses are altered substantially
by local conditions of climate or material properties. For ex-
ample, Wayne Stephenson, Mark Dickson, and Alan Trenhaile
(Chapter 10.11) review the environmental characteristics as-
sociated with rock coasts. The geomorphic behavior of rock
coasts departs substantially from that of sand or gravel systems
because the strength of the rock materials increases the re-
sistance to change. The authors review the modes and rates of
operation of the variety of processes that modify rock coasts,
and the characteristics of the landforms that result. They
conclude by identifying key challenges for future work, in-
cluding how better to represent rock resistance across scales,
the clarification of the role of inheritance in modern landform
morphologies, and the need for increased understanding of
interactions between biota and substrate, among others.
Nancy Jackson (Chapter 10.12) reviews estuaries, especially
in the context of large-scale morphology, the main estuarine
sub-environments, and the dominant hydrodynamic pro-
Perspectives on Coastal Geomorphology: Introduction 3
cesses. She summarizes the major approaches to classifying
estuaries, how they are affected by water level changes asso-
ciated with sea-level change and tides, how they respond to
wave forcing and fluvial discharge, and how sediments move
through the system. Jackson concludes the chapter with a
discussion of continuing issues such as estuary response to
future environmental changes (such as projected sea-level
rise), and how human activities might impact estuarine pro-
cesses and forms.
The literature on coral systems is reviewed by Paul Kench
(Chapter 10.13), with a strong emphasis on the geomorpho-
logical, rather than biological, characteristics and controls on
coral reefs and related forms. The chapter is organized to
highlight themes of carbonate budgets on and around reef
systems; the distribution and evolution of those systems; de-
velopment of reefs through the Holocene; and morphody-
namics and eco-morphodynamics of reefs. Kench identifies
four research gaps for future study involving a lack of know-
ledge about: (1) regional scale reef development and change;
(2) rates of carbonate cycling; (3) details of formation and
morphodynamics of reef sedimentary landforms; and (4)
hydrodynamics and sediment transport on reef platforms.
The geomorphology of mangrove environments is re-
viewed by Tom Spencer and Iris Möller (Chapter 10.14). There
is, of course, a great deal of interest in mangroves as ecological
systems. Spencer and Möller focus on the close linkages be-
tween mangrove systems and associated geomorphic pro-
cesses and responses, and assess these relationships at global,
regional, and local scales. They describe many of the sensi-
tivities of mangrove systems to environmental change, but
note that existing work has not clearly defined the relative
roles of event-driven versus secular environmental changes
versus human impacts. Therefore, in many mangrove en-
vironments, it is quite difficult to adequately diagnose their
long-term viability.
Karl Nordstrom (Chapter 10.15) has long been at the
forefront of studies of human-altered, or developed, coasts. In
many coastal environments the works of humans dominate
landform change, but mostly in efforts to stabilize or fix
geomorphic and related systems. He surveys first a quick his-
tory of human impacts on coastal environments and the
modes through which change has been affected. Emphasis is
placed on beach nourishment and dune development as im-
portant examples of human works designed to mimic natural
forms. These approaches allow some mobility of the resulting
landform. Nordstrom also reviews key aspects of coastal
structures, which tend to immobilize parts of a landscape. He
concludes the piece with an overview of some of the research
and policy challenges facing geomorphologists working in
developed coastal systems.
Richard Davis Jr. (Chapter 10.16) has produced a concise
review of the evolution of coastal landform types through the
Holocene, a period dominated, in a coastal context, by rising
sea level. He begins with the geological and tectonic controls
on large-scale morphology that provide the framework for
subsequent landform modification. The topic touches upon
many of the themes reviewed in the earlier chapters in this
volume, especially as he traces the development of estuaries,
barrier systems and inlets, glaciated coasts, deltas, and car-
bonate systems. Concepts of long-term coastal change are
4 Perspectives on Coastal Geomorphology: Introduction

exemplified in a series of case studies from Australia, Europe,
and North America.
Several chapters in the Treatise on Coastal and Estuarine
Science also treat the geomorphology of coastal environments
and complement the work presented herein. These include
Megan Dethier on Classes of Nearshore Coasts; Burg Flem-
ming on Estuarine and Coastal Geology and Geomorphology;
Wave-Dominated Coasts by Robin Davidson-Arnott; Dune
Coasts by Patrick Hesp; and Glaciated and Polar Coasts by
Don Forbes. There are also important chapters, closely related
to the study of coastal geomorphology, that appear in other
volumes of the Treatise on Geomorphology. These include the
chapters on The Coastal Weathering Environment, by Derek
Mottershead (Chapter 4.13); Seawater and Biokarst Effects on
Coastal Limestones, by Jo De Waele and Stefano Furlani
(Chapter 6.28); Coastal Dunes, by Patrick Hesp and Ian
Walker (Chapter 11.17); Ecomorphology of Salt Marshes, by
Sergio Fagherazzi (Chapter 12.12); and Electronic Measure-
ment Techniques for Field Experiments in Process Geo-
morphology, by this author with Chris Houser and
Andreas Baas (Chapter 14.17).
Some words of appreciation are also due. Many colleagues
reviewed one or more of the chapters for this volume. They
include: Bernard Bauer, Richard Davis, Sergio Dillenberg, Jean
Ellis, Eugene Farrell, Paul Gares, Patrick Hesp, Diane Horn,
Chris Houser, Art Kroon, Bailiang Li, Richard Seymour, Colin
Woodroffe, and Jan Vermaat. To them great thanks are owed.
Their contributions to improving this volume were immense.
The Editor-in-Chief of the Treatise on Geomorphology also de-
serves thanks for the opportunity and his patience and pro-
fessionalism. Thanks too to the Elsevier staff, especially Claire
Byrne for shepherding this effort.
There are many rewards associated with editing projects
such as this. First, it is a great opportunity to work with col-
leagues new and old. Second, it provides a renewed overview
of the literature of the discipline. Third, it is rewarding to see
how active the community of coastal geomorphologists (and
friends) is. And there is the reward of finishing!
Finally, during the production of this volume, three con-
tributors passed away. Terry Healy, Nick Kraus, and Greg Stone
were lost to our community. Each, in his own way, made
important contributions to our understanding of coastal sys-
tems. Each will be missed.
References
Bird, E.C.F., 2011. Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction, Second ed. John
Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 436 pp.
Davidson-Arnott, R.G.D., 2010. Introduction to Coastal Processes and Landforms.
Cambridge University Press, 442 pp.
Davis, R.A., Fitzgerald, D.M., 2004. Beaches and Coasts. Blackwell, Malden, MA,
419 pp.
Dean, R.G., Dalrymple, R.A., 2002. Coastal Processes with Engineering
Applications. Cambridge University Press, 475 pp.
Inman, D.L., Bagnold, R.A., 1963. Littoral processes. In: Hill, M.N. (Ed.), The Sea.
John Wiley and Sons, New York, vol. III, pp. 529–553.
Inman, D.L., Nordstrom, C.E., 1971. On the tectonic and morphologic classification
of coasts. Journal of Geology 79, 1–21.
Komar, P.D., 1998. Beach Processes and Sedimentation. Prentice Hal, Upper Saddle
River, NJ, 544 pp.
Masselink, G., Hughes, M.G., Knight, J., 2011. An Introduction to Coastal
Processes and Geomorphology, Second ed. Hodder Education, London, pp. 400.
Russell, R.J., 1942. Flotant. Geographical Review 32, 74–98.
Smith, K., 2011. We are seven billion. Nature Climate Change 1, 331–335.
Woodroffe, C.D., 2002. Coasts: Form, Process and Evolution. Cambridge University
Press, 623 pp.

Biographical Sketch

Doug Sherman is a Professor of Geography and Department Chair at the University of Alabama. His academic
credentials include a PhD in Geography from the University of Toronto and he was a postdoctoral scholar in the
Ocean Engineering Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He has been a Professor of Geography
at the University of Southern California and at Texas A&M University. He is a Fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, Past Chair of the IGU’s Commission on Coastal Systems, and a Councilor of the
American Geographical Society. Professor Sherman’s research expertise is in nearshore processes and sediment
transport in coastal and aeolian systems. He has produced more than 100 scholarly publications, and his research
has been supported by numerous state and federal programs.
 10.2 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
AR Orme, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.2.1 Introduction 7
10.2.2 Concepts from the Distant Past 7
10.2.3 Questions of Time and Space 10
10.2.3.1 The Time Factor 10
10.2.3.2 The Space Factor: Mapping Coasts and Plumbing Seas 11
10.2.4 The Earth-Science Perspective – The Landlubbers 12
10.2.4.1 Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment, 1500–1800 12
10.2.4.2 Coastal Form and Process Refined, 1800–1950 14
10.2.5 The Mathematical Theorists 18
10.2.5.1 Foundations of Tide Theory before 1850 19
10.2.5.2 Refinements of Tide Theory after 1850 19
10.2.5.3 Foundations of Water-Wave Theory before 1850 19
10.2.5.4 Refinement of Water-Wave Theory after 1850 20
10.2.5.5 Theories on Ocean and Nearshore Currents, 1850–1950 21
10.2.6 The Ocean Science Perspective – The Seafarers 21
10.2.6.1 Renaissance, Exploration, and Scientific Revolution before 1850 21
10.2.6.2 Emergence of Scientific Oceanography, 1850–1950 22
10.2.6.3 Relative Sea-Level Change 23
10.2.7 The Coastal Engineering Tradition 26
10.2.8 Conclusion: Welding Noble Traditions into Modern Practice 30
10.2.8.1 Information Technology 30
10.2.8.2 Coastal Tectonics 31
10.2.8.3 Relative Sea-Level Change 31
10.2.8.4 Coastal Processes 32
10.2.8.5 Rates and Predictions of Coastal Change 33
10.2.8.6 Coastal Management 34
References 34

Glossary Cnoidal wave A shallow-water wave form defined by an

Bathymetry The measurement of water depth.
Beaufort scale A scale of wind force devised in 1806
by British naval hydrographer, Francis Beaufort, to reflect
the amount of sail a frigate could carry, and revised in 1850
to reflect anemometer data, and again in 1906 to reflect
sea state.
Breaker zone The zone in which incoming translatory
waves become unstable and collapse, normally as spilling,
plunging, or surging breakers whose form influences water
motion in the surf zone farther inshore.
Catastrophism A belief, common in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, that ascribes Earth’s features to divine
creation, or Noah’s flood, or catastrophes like earthquakes
and volcanoes. Rejection of biblical catastrophism was a
thrust of Uniformitarianism during the nineteenth century.
Neocatastrophism recognizes that the present is not always
the key to the past, or the future.
elliptical function.
Coastal ecology The study of coastal organisms and their
habitats.
Coastal engineering The theory and practice of designing,
constructing, and repairing hard and soft coastal structures,
and of their interaction with coastal forms and processes.
Coastal geomorphology The study of coastal landforms
and the processes that shape them.
Coastal management The theory and practice of planning
for and management of coasts, including onshore and
offshore areas directly relevant to coasts.
Continental freeboard Land area above sea level as a
percentage of the continental block area.
Deep water Water deeper than one-half the surface
wave length, such that the sea floor has little if any effect
on surface waves and their impact on sediment
transport.

Orme, A.R., 2013. The four traditions of coastal geomorphology. In:

Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on
Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal
Geomorphology, pp. 5–38.

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00270-0 5

6 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Denudation Literally the laying bare or uncovering of
an underlying object by the removal of overlying material.
In geomorphology, it has come to mean surface lowering
by the combined action of mass wasting and erosion
processes.
Estuary A semienclosed part of a river mouth wherein
outflowing fresh water is measurably diluted by inflowing
sea water.
Eustasy A term for global sea-level change, introduced by
Eduard Suess (1888). In its modern sense, eustasy reflects
changes in ocean volume (e.g., attributable to glaciation) or
in ocean-basin capacity (e.g., attributable to tectonism).
Fathom An ancient but still used measure of water depth,
equivalent to 6 feet or 1.83 m.
Foreshore zone That part of the shore lying between the
swash limit, just above higher high water, and lower low
water that is exposed during a tidal cycle. The zone is
characterized by swash and backwash (onshore and
seaward return flows, respectively).
Isostasy A term for Earth’s potential crustal equilibrium,
introduced by Clarence Dutton in 1882. At the coast,
isostasy is expressed in elevation changes attributable
mainly to crustal loading and unloading by glacier ice
(glacio-isostasy) or water (hydro-isostasy).
Knot A unit of speed equal to 1 nautical mile (B1 min of
latitude, 1.15 statute mile, 1.85 km) per hour.
Littoral drift The nearshore movement of sediment,
generally involving longshore currents.
Longshore current The movement of water, more-or-less
parallel with the shore, triggered by wave approach oblique
to the shore.
Marine biology The study of marine organisms, both
plant and animal.
Marine regression The fall of sea-level relative to the
shore. The last global regression accompanied the growth of
the last Pleistocene ice sheets and was responsible for
exposing much of the continental shelf to a depth of
B130 m below present sea-level.
Marine transgression The rise of sea-level relative to the
shore. The last global transgression, commonly called the
Flandrian Transgression, accompanied the melting of the
last Pleistocene ice sheets and became responsible for
defining most of the world’s coasts.
Mean sea level The average height of the ocean surface for
all tidal stages over a 19-year period. This is not necessarily
the mean tide level or the specific datum used for land and
ocean surveys.
Nautical The vertical distance between waterline and a
ship’s main deck.
Nearshore zone The variable zone extending seaward
from the shoreline to the outer limit of translatory waves
and related wave-induced currents.
Neptunism A belief, attributed to Abraham Werner and
his followers, that Earth’s rocks had been precipitated from
a universal ocean, which shaped landforms as it receded.
Oceanography The study and mapping of the oceans,
including their physical, chemical, and biological
components.
Oscillatory waves Deep-water waves wherein wave forms
move through the water body but, because individual water
particles move in closed or nearly closed orbits, the mass
transport of water is ideally zero.
Plate tectonics A concept developed in the mid-twentieth
century that, building on earlier notions of continental
drift, defines Earth’s crustal mobility in terms relatively rigid
continental and oceanic plates shifting across the litho-
sphere and upper mantle in response to subcrustal forces
and plate dynamics.
Remote sensing The observation and measurement of
data by recording devices not in direct contact with the
object. These devices sense electromagnetic energy (light,
heat, or radio waves) and force fields (electrical, gravity, or
magnetic surveys). Common remote platforms include
aircraft, space satellites, surface ships, and submerged vessels.
Rip current A high velocity component or jet within the
seaward return flow (it is not a ‘rip tide’).
Sea charts Maps of coasts and oceans that record such
variables as coastlines, water depth, tides, ocean currents,
and sea-floor conditions (also called marine charts).
Seaward return flow The broad current that returns
backwash from the shore to the nearshore zone, sometimes
involving rip currents (q.v.).
Shallow water The zone, generally inshore of deep water,
in which water depth is less than one-half the surface wave
length and in which surface waves interact with bedforms
and sediment transport. Gradations of shallow water are
commonly invoked relative to the breaker zone.
Sinusoidal wave An ideal oscillatory wave having the
form of a sinusoid, defined by George Airy in 1845.
Surf zone The zone of agitated water between the breaker
zone and the foreshore.
Swash The uprush of water, generally from a breaking
wave, across the foreshore.
Translatory waves Shallow-water waves wherein, owing
to friction induced by bottom conditions, water-particle
orbits become more elliptical and the upper part of the
wave is propelled more rapidly shoreward. These waves thus
deform, shoal, eventually break, and depending on breaker
type, some water moves onshore as surf and swash. These
waves and the nearshore currents they generate play
important roles in erosion and sediment transport.
Trochoidal wave A progressive nonsinusoidal oscillatory
wave, first defined by Franz Joseph von Gerstner in 1802,
whose form approximates a trochoid or prolate cycloid.
Tsunami A long-period, usually shallow-water wave
triggered normally by underwater earthquakes, volcanic
activity, or landslides. The term means ‘harbor wave’ in
Japanese; if earthquake-triggered, it may be called a ‘seismic
sea wave.’ It is not a ‘tidal wave.’
Uniformitarianism A belief, developed in the late
eighteenth century, that the present is the key to the past,
that Earth’s surface features are mostly shaped by observable
processes over a very long time. The belief stresses
uniformity of physical principles, but not of physical
processes whose magnitude and rate change. The term is
akin to Actualism, but differs from Gradualism.
 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 7

Abstract

Following perspectives on the distant past and changing notions of time and space, this essay identifies four traditions in
the growth of coastal geomorphology from the Renaissance to 1950, namely those based on Earth science, mathematical
theory, ocean science, and engineering. Each with its own methods and goals, and never mutually exclusive, these traditions
reflected the changing scientific milieus of their time. The Earth science tradition grew from quaint description, early
constrained by biblical notions but later enlightened, to a better understanding of coastal forms and processes after 1800.
The mathematical tradition emerged from theoretical and experimental studies of tides, waves, and currents, which earlier
led to equilibrium and dynamic tidal theories and then, after 1800, to distinctions between deep-water and shallow-water
waves, oscillatory and translatory waves, and a better understanding of nearshore wave deformation and decay. The ocean-
science tradition reflected the global explorations and navigational aids of early modern times, and the gradual acquisition
of real data on tides, waves, currents, coastal forms, and sediment. After 1850, scientific oceanography improved under-
standing of ocean processes and sedimentation, and the eustatic and isostatic forcing of sea-level change. The coastal
engineering tradition emerged from the need to address real issues, such as erosion, flooding, reclamation, navigation, and
harbor development. Since 1950, these four traditions have been welded into the modern practice of coastal geomorph-
ology, from which six themes are selected as exemplars: information technology (including emergent remote sensing as a
fifth tradition), coastal tectonics, refinement of form–process relations, relative sea-level change, rates of coastal change, and
coastal management.

10.2.1 Introduction
Coastal geomorphology studies landforms along coasts and
the processes that shape them. By extension, it involves
understanding the drainage basins that provide sediment to
the coast, the continental margins that store sediment and
modify processes approaching from deep water, and biotic
interactions with these systems, all within the context of
changing land and sea levels, and human activity. The field
thus involves those elements of geology, meteorology, hy-
drology, oceanography, and biology that shape coasts; the
mathematics, physics, and chemistry of relevant processes; and
the effects of population pressure, industry, engineering, rec-
reation, and management. This essay is shaped around a se-
lection of this cornucopia of knowledge.
Scientific progress should always be viewed in its human
context. Beyond fisherfolk, traders, and adventurers, most
early peoples viewed coasts as the edge of the habitable world,
as natural obstacles fraught with danger and discomfort. Then,
as human curiosity expanded during and after the Renais-
sance, so too did interest in coasts. When, in the nineteenth
century, steam railways began introducing more people to the
seaside and steamships expanded travel and trade, human
impacts on coasts accelerated. Maritime nations with eco-
nomic, political, and military goals became more aware of
coastal resources and began fostering research. Today, no study
of the coast can ignore the impacts of, and implications for,
human life and livelihood.
As now practiced, coastal geomorphology developed dur-
ing the later twentieth century as advancing technology and
globalization yielded new data and fresh concepts. None-
theless, its lineage stems from roots in the distant past, from
the discoveries and scientific revolution of early modern times,
and the subsequent emergence of differing investigative tra-
ditions. Accordingly, following perspectives on the distant
past and issues of time and space, this essay identifies
four traditions in the growth of coastal geomorphology from
the Renaissance to 1950, namely those emanating from
(1) Earth science, (2) mathematical theory, (3) ocean science,
and (4) coastal engineering. Each with its own methods and
goals, and never mutually exclusive, these traditions reflected
the changing scientific milieus of their time. The conclusion
shows how these themes, aided by an emerging remote-
sensing tradition, were welded into modern practice after
1950.
10.2.2 Concepts from the Distant Past
From earliest times, people acquired an intuitive understand-
ing of coastal habitats and resources, as shown by archaeo-
logical evidence for transient campsites, primitive boats,
fishing tools, and a sense of process. Coastal cultures de-
veloped traditions that were passed, commonly embellished,
from generation to generation. Mesolithic tribes of Dogger-
land in the North Sea and Neolithic farmers near the
Persian Gulf were surely aware of the rising seas driving
them from preferred habitats. When folklore came to be
written down, the documentary record began, albeit often as
legends beguiled by ambiguity and uncertainty, as reflected in
coastal place names such as Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway
and the Pillars of Hercules at the western end of the
Mediterranean.
Early coastal records from the distant past include inci-
dental notes on Babylonian clay tablets, Egyptian papyri,
and Chinese silks. Classical Greek and Roman maps and
charts were more helpful, showing as they did rudimentary
water depths, but where explanations of coastal features re-
mained elusive, the gods could be invoked. Even so, seafarers
of these distant times understood the links between storms
and high seas, the perils of shoaling water and lee shores, the
tranquility of safe anchorages, and the nature of tides and
estuaries.
Gradually, a spirit of more rational enquiry began probing
coasts of the Greek oikoumene, the habitable world, such as
that known to Hecateus of Miletus (550–476 BC, Figure 1).
Herodotus (484–25 BC) viewed sediment delivered seaward
by seasonal floods and equated the Nile’s distributaries with
the Greek letter delta (D). Aristotle (384–22 BC) theorized on
Earth’s sphericity and climates. Theophrastus (371–287 BC)
identified atmosphere–ocean forcing of coastal change. Era-
tosthenes (276–194 BC) constructed wind roses and, whereas
8 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Figure 1 The known world and its coasts around 500 BCE, according to Hecateus (550–476 BC). Reproduced with permission from Ernest Rhys
(Ed.) 1912. A Literary and Historical Atlas of Asia. E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, map credit: courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman.
Mediterranean waters offered limited opportunities to study
tides, recognized hydraulic forcing of tidal currents between
Euboea and mainland Greece. Those who travelled farther,
such as Pytheas (B325 BC) and Posidonius (135–51 BC)
along Atlantic coasts and Seleucus of Babylon (B150 BC)
in the Arabian Sea, pondered ocean currents and the
Earth–Moon–Sun forcing of tides. Such voyages involved a
grasp of celestial navigation and use of crude charts and sailing
directions such as the Periplus of Scylax. Strabo (63 BC–AD
24) blamed sea-level change on earthquakes and volcanoes,
discussed sediment transport by rivers to the sea, and related
delta size to the erodibility of river basins. By this time, sedi-
mentation problems caused by harbor construction were
being noted from Iberia to India, Chinese scholars were ex-
plaining tides, and better maps were being compiled, notably
Ptolemy’s (BAD 90–168) Geographia (Figure 2).
Following the decline of classical Mediterranean civil-
izations, the expansion of Islam from the seventh century saw
Arab and Asian mariners advance understanding of tides,
winds, waves, and monsoons. A ninth-century work on the
astronomical forcing of tides by Abu Ma’shar reached Europe
with returning travelers. Astronomers in tenth-century Basra
conceived a cycle of erosion and transport of terrigenous
sediment to the coast, which reversed the roles of land and sea
over a Great Year of 36 000 years (Ellenberger, 1996). In his
Quadrans Habilitatis, the Muslim scholar Abu Rihan Bir-
unensis (CE 973-1038) depicted improving knowledge of
Asian coasts around 1030 (Figure 3). The seven voyages led by
Zheng He (1371–1435) from China (1405–33) surveyed
Indian Ocean coasts and recorded water depths, winds, and
currents. The Venerable Bede (672–735) and Gerald of Wales
(1147–1220) were among those describing coastal erosion in
Britain, and Heligoland islanders recorded their shoreline
shrinking from 192 km in 800 CE to 72 km in 1300 (and to
5 km by 1900). The portolan charts that began appearing in
thirteenth century Europe combined existing knowledge with
observations using the new mariner’s compass and recorded
in sailing directions (portolanos).
Human impacts on coasts increased over time. For some
communities, defense against the sea and wetland reclamation
became necessary, as shown by dikes in ancient Egypt and
China. Later, where Romans had found a freshwater lake in
the Netherlands, medieval marine transgressions breached
coastal dunes to form the Zuiderzee. Dikes had been built
earlier but rising sea level and compaction of endiked sedi-
ment needed windmill-driven pumps if these polders were to
be reclaimed for agriculture. Across Europe, peat-cutting in
coastal marshes also favored marine incursions, and vege-
tation grazing by domestic animals, deer, and rabbits de-
stabilized coastal dunes, leading to medieval attempts at dune
management.
Human awareness of coasts is thus rooted in the distant
past. But many notions were wrong; others were promising
but vague. Some cultures maintained mystical explanations of
things they did not understand, and imaginative embellish-
ments appeared on maps for the want of real data. Although
social contacts were limited, literacy rare, and religion per-
suasive, scientific issues struggled for debate. This was to
 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 9

Figure 2 The known world and its coasts around CE 150, according to Ptolemy (CE 90–168). Reproduced with permission from Ernest Rhys
(Ed.) 1912. A Literary and Historical Atlas of Asia. E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, a map credit: courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman.

Figure 3 The known world and its coasts around CE 1030, according to Abu Rihan Birunensis (CE 973–1038). Reproduced with permission
from Ernest Rhys (Ed.) 1912. A Literary and Historical Atlas of Asia. E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, with a map credit of: courtesy the private
collection of Roy Winkelman.
10 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
change as travelers, traders, and scholars from the more pro-
gressive societies of Europe and Asia began exchanging ideas,
notably in the emerging academies of medieval Europe and
the Islamic world. By the fourteenth century, the constraints of
feudalism and religious dogma were being challenged by Re-
naissance thinking. Then, over the next two centuries, the
initial pulses of global exploration and discovery emanating
from maritime Europe heralded the scientific revolution.
10.2.3 Questions of Time and Space
Today, it is difficult to credit some early notions of time
and space, but then we benefit from hindsight provided by
better instruments and a plethora of information. Early ob-
servers might describe local coasts, but what did their views
really mean in terms of change over longer time and broader
space? It is thus appropriate to review some concepts of time
and space that long befuddled studies of coasts and
landscapes.
10.2.3.1 The Time Factor
Time is critical to understanding coasts: limited time con-
strains what is possible; extended time makes much possible.
The time factor long confounded scholarship and was not
addressed objectively until the advent of radiometric dating in
the twentieth century. Even then, time issues were mainly the
realm of landlubbers, until evidence that could be dated began
emerging from the ocean.
In the sixteenth century, although Leonardo da Vinci (1452–
1519) invoked Po River sedimentation over 200 000 years,
most Europeans believed Earth to be about 6000 years old. This
was likely based on Moses’ opinion that 1000 years were but
one day in the sight of God (Psalm 90:40), which led later
generations to view the six days of creation as 6000 years. Then,
in 1650, James Ussher (1581–1656) opined that Earth had
been created in 4004 BC, thereby setting the stage for a pro-
longed tussle between persons of faith who believed it and an
initial few who did not (Ussher, 1650). A retrospective view
defined these beliefs as pitting the Catastrophism of religious
orthodoxy against the Uniformitarianism or Actualism of dis-
senters (Whewell, 1832; Orme, 2002, 2012).
Catastrophism’s limited time-frame implied that Earth’s
features must have been formed during creation or, failing
that, by later floods, earthquakes, or volcanoes; and what
better cataclysm than Noah’s flood, which Ussher had dated to
2349–48 BC! Then, for almost 200 years, belief in variants of
the flood theme, or Diluvialism as it came to be called, led to
much mischief. Thomas Burnet (1635–1715) ascribed the
flood to the bursting of a fluid-filled sphere and showed how
nature at one stroke had dissolved the frame of the old world
and made a new one out of its ruins (Burnet, 1681). Abraham
Werner (1749–1817) transmuted this theme into Neptunism,
a belief that all rocks had been precipitated from a primeval
ocean that had shaped landforms as it receded. It was well into
the nineteenth century before surficial deposits, still attributed
to Noah’s flood by William Buckland (1784–1856) in 1823,
came to be seen mostly as the debris of former glaciers
(Buckland, 1823). Those favoring a seismic origin gained
support after major earthquakes rearranged coasts near
Port Royal, Jamaica, in 1692, and Lisbon, Portugal, in 1755.
Modified Catastrophism persisted well into the nineteenth
century. Georges Cuvier (1769–1832) identified six
catastrophes to explain extinctions in the fossil record (Cuvier,
1812–1821), and Timothy Conrad (1803–77) invoked
‘periodical refrigeration’ to explain similar events beneath the
Atlantic coastal plain (Conrad, 1839). In 1821, an American
scholar could still state: ‘‘Is it not the best theory of the earth,
that the Creator, in the beginning, at least at the general
deluge, formed it with all its present grand characteristic
features?’’ (Wilson, 1821: 253).
Uniformitarianism espouses the belief that the present
is the key to the past and that landforms are mostly shaped by
slow observable processes over very long time. If this premise
is accepted, then Earth time must be sufficiently long to
accommodate the many episodes of erosion and de-
position recorded in the rocks. A greater age for Earth had
been implied earlier. Nicolaus Steno (1638–86) had formu-
lated stratigraphic principles, notably the law of super-
position, which needed extended time (Steno, 1669). John
Ray (1627–1705) pondered how fossils in rocks could be re-
stricted to biblical time (Ray, 1692). Mikhail Lomonosov
(1711–65) deduced an age of 390 000 years from Earth’s axial
tilt (Lomonosov, 1763), and Georges Buffon (1707–88)
concluded that it would take up to 75 000 years for a
molten Earth to cool and 3 million years to build its
sedimentary cover (Buffon, 1778). Then, in his enquiry into
Earth’s origins, James Hutton (1726–97) found ‘‘no vestige of
a beginning – no prospect of an end’’ (Hutton, 1788: 304). In
1802, Uniformitarianism gained support from mathematician
John Playfair (1748–1819) and biologist Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck (1744–1829). By 1830, the intellectual climate was
agreeable enough for Charles Lyell (1795–1875) to invoke
limitless time in his defining ‘Principles of Geology’ (Lyell
(1830–33)). As the nineteenth century progressed, Lyell’s
concept of limitless time was in turn challenged by scientists
who, from inferred cooling rates of igneous rocks and accu-
mulation rates of sedimentary rocks, increased Earth’s age
from a few million to hundreds of millions of years (Orme,
2012). Then, as the twentieth century opened, Earth’s age was
greatly extended by reference to radioactive decay rates of
certain minerals, which now date Earth’s origins to approxi-
mately 4600 million years.
Although Earth’s age may seem of little relevance to
modern coasts, it does provide time-frames within which
ocean basins and continental margins come and go, seas rise
and fall, and coastal processes operate. For example, we now
know that most existing ocean basins are no more than 200
million years old and that the last major marine transgression
so important to defining modern coasts began approximately
20 000 years ago – ages that would have been inconceivable
without modern understanding of Earth time. However, we
also now recognize that coastal processes do not act uniformly
over time, and that catastrophes such as earthquakes, tsuna-
mis, and hurricanes do indeed reshape coasts in very short
time, as exemplified by the events that ravaged the east coast of
Honshu, Japan, in 2011.

10.2.3.2 The Space Factor: Mapping Coasts and Plumbing
Seas
Today, the world’s coasts are well defined, thanks to advanced
survey and remote-sensing technology. That this was not so in
past centuries explains the many errors of early observers, in-
cluding medieval perceptions of a flat Earth on which mariners
sailed beyond the horizon at their peril. This was to change as
the Renaissance resurrected Greek calculations of Earth’s shape,
and maps and charts began rolling off printing presses from the
fifteenth century on. These events and the expanding interests
of maritime nations heralded a remarkable phase of ocean and
coastal exploration. Scale globes became popular but, as Greek
scholars had found, projecting Earth’s curvature onto a flat map
might work locally but was no easy task over larger areas.
Mapping coasts did not come easily. Land-based surveys of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were crude and coasts
distorted. Ship surveys were worse, with California commonly
depicted as an island. But the quest for accuracy led to im-
proved instruments and better understanding of geodesy, lon-
gitude, and triangulation. Published in 1693, a ‘Carte de France
corigée par Ordre du Roi sur les Observãons de Mrs. de l’Aca-
démie des Sciences’ shifted France’s west coast 1.5o of longitude
eastward relative to the Paris meridian and brought the north
and south coasts 80 km closer (Figure 4). For narrow seas, pilot
charts and navigation manuals, or waggoners as they came to
be called, were valuable assets, notably the Spieghel der
Zeevaerdt (Mariner’s Mirror, 1584) of Lucas Waghenaer
(1533–1606) and The Seaman’s Secrets (1587) of John Davis
(1543–1605). Beyond coastal waters, European ocean voyages
yielded much new information, notably those of Bartolomeu
Dias (1451–1500) and Vasco da Gama (1469–1524) to the
Indian Ocean; of Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), John
Cabot (1450–99), Sebastian Cabot (1476–1557), and Amerigo
Vespucci (1454–1512) to America’s east coast; and of Ferdinand
Magellan (1480–1521) and Francis Drake (1540–96) to the
Pacific. These new facts reached a wider audience through
Figure 4 Carte de France, 1693, based on surveys by Jean Picard
(1620–82) and Philippe de la Hire (1640–1718), which moved French
coasts inward from earlier locations. Based on surveys ordered by
King Louis XIV.
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 11
Gerhard Kremer (Mercator, 1512–94), whose map projection
became the basis for sea charts, and Abraham Ortelius
(1527–98) who published an atlas of 70 charts, Theatrum
Orbis Terrarium, in 1570 (Figure 5).
Land-survey techniques improved from the late seven-
teenth century on, notably from work by the Cassini family in
France that defined coasts for contemporary sea charts (e.g.,
Cassini de Thury, 1783). Such maps, together with military
needs, paved the way for the formation of national surveys,
like the Trigonometrical Survey of Great Britain (later
Ordnance Survey) in 1791. Long before creation of the US
Geological Survey in 1879, large-scale maps of America’s
Atlantic and Gulf coasts were also appearing.
Continuing marine exploration during the eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, aided by advances in celestial
navigation using improved sextants and marine chronometers,
provided better charts. The invention by John Harrison
(1693–1776) of a timepiece sufficiently robust for ship travel
was a welcome replacement for lunar tables in defining lon-
gitude. Notable voyages included those to then little known
polar and Pacific waters by Vitus Bering (1680–1741), James
Cook (1728–79), George Vancouver (1757–98), John Ross
(1777–1856), Fabian Bellingshausen (1778–1852), James
Weddell (1787–1834), Otto von Kotzebue (1787–1846),
Dumont d’Urville (1790–1842), Charles Wilkes (1798–1877),
and James Ross (1800–67). English commercial needs led the
East India Company and Hudson’s Bay Company to chart
Indian Ocean and Arctic coasts, respectively. Whaling and
sealing vessels added more information. Such charts attracted
mapmakers, such as Bourguignon d’Anville (1697–1782) of
Paris, who had never been to sea, Thomas Jefferys (d. 1771) of
London whose quest for accurate coast surveys bankrupted
him, and the Blunt family of New York who charted American
waters in the early nineteenth century.
Advances in charting coasts were also aided by new
hydrographic agencies in maritime nations such as France
(1720), Spain (1753), Denmark (1784), and Britain (1794).
The Hydrographic Office of the Royal Navy came to produce
Admiralty Charts and descriptive Pilots for most of the world’s
coasts. The United States established a civilian Coast Survey in
1807 and a naval Depot of Charts and Instruments in 1830.
Defense needs produced some accurate harbor charts, notably
of Charleston (1807) and New London (1811), but until the
Hydrographic Office was formed in 1866, the United States
had no coordinated naval charting agency. Charts were aug-
mented by aids such as the Practical Navigator initiated in
Britain by John Hamilton Moore (1738–1807) and The New
American Practical Navigator founded by Nathaniel Bowditch
(1773–1838) in 1802. The Coast Survey became fully oper-
ational in 1832 and, after California joined the union in 1850,
began charting Pacific coasts (Figure 6). Its reports, notably by
George Davidson (1825–1911), are valuable vignettes of the
Pacific coast in the mid-nineteenth century, including Alaska
after its 1867 purchase from Russia. Coastal mapping im-
proved progressively during the early twentieth century, aided
by the gyrocompass, aerial photography, photogrammetry,
echo sounding, and radar (radio detection and ranging). Later,
satellite remote sensing and global-positioning systems refined
coastal mapping and filled many lacunae, notably for polar
coasts and sea ice.
12 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Figure 5 The known world and its coasts in 1570, according to Abraham Ortelius (1527–98). Reproduced with permission from Ernest Rhys
(Ed.) 1912. A Literary and Historical Atlas of Asia. E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, a map credit: courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman.
Mapping coasts in two-dimensions was demanding but
producing three-dimensional images was more challenging.
Soundings had been recorded in fathoms (6 feet, 1.829 m)
for over 2000 years and as these increased so too did
understanding of nearshore bathymetry. Although mapmakers
still struggled to depict onshore relief, chartmakers were
using contours (isobaths) to link soundings of equal depth to
a common datum, illustrated by bathymetric charts of the
Golfe du Lion (1725) by Luigi Ferdinando di Marsigli
(1658–1730), the Merwede estuary (1729) by Nicolaas
Cruquius (1678–1754), and English Channel (1737) by
Philippe Buache (1700–73).
By the late eighteenth century, coastal bathymetry was rea-
sonably defined for Europe but the shape of the deep oceans
remained unknown. Deep-water soundings had been taken
earlier but, before the advent of power winches, hauling in
more than a few fathoms of sounding line was laborious and
the results fraught with error. Then, when nations began en-
gaging their navies in deep-sea research, initially using cannon
balls on heavy hemp lines, the situation improved. Constan-
tine Phipps (1744–92) took soundings in Arctic waters
(Phipps, 1774), and John Ross recovered bottom sediment
from Baffin Bay (Ross, 1819). In 1840, his nephew James Ross
plumbed the sea floor to 5000 m off Antarctica. Soon, closely
spaced soundings and samples were being retrieved before
laying transatlantic telegraph cables. By 1854, sufficient
deep-sea data were available for Matthew Fontaine Maury
(1806–73) to prepare a bathymetric chart for the North At-
lantic, although a 1000-fathom contour interval barely hinted
at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Maury, 1854; Figure 7). Then, as
sampling and winching devices and detachable sinkers im-
proved, the volume of deep-sea data proliferated (McConnell,
1981). A Carte Générale Bathymétrique des Océans first ap-
peared in 1904. Invention of electronic echo sounding (1912)
and sonar (sound navigation and ranging) then revolutionized
the speed and accuracy of underwater mapping.
10.2.4 The Earth-Science Perspective – The
Landlubbers
Landlubbers, from the relative safety of shore, contributed
many early observations on coasts, feeding grist to the Earth-
science mill. They also heard, but did not always believe, the
tales of returning seafarers. As technology improved, so coastal
forms and processes became better understood although,
apart from tides, systematic observations were rare before
1800 (Table 1).
10.2.4.1 Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, and
Enlightenment, 1500–1800
Stimulated by the Renaissance, more people were exposed to
printed maps and literary itineraries rendered in quaint
 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 13

Figure 6 Drake’s Bay, California, in 1853 (Courtesy: US Coast Survey), and in 1973 (Courtesy: US Geological Survey).
14 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Figure 7 Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–73), American naval
hydrographer and geographer. Courtesy: US Navy.
language yet to be standardized. Thus did John Leland
(B1502–52) describe human-induced estuarine sedimen-
tation and a barrier-lagoon system in Devon, England:
The river of Darte by tinne works carieth much sand to Totnes
Bridge and chokith the depth of the river all downward, and doth
much hurt to Dartmouth Haven y. Ther is a very large poole at
Slapton at 2 miles in length. Ther is but a bar of sand twixt the se
and this poole. The fresch water drenith into the sea thorough the
sandy bank. The waite of the fresch water and the rage of the se
brekith sumtime this sandy bank (Leland, 1543; Toulmin Smith
(Ed.), Leland (1906-1910): 219–222).
Then William Bourne (1535–82) captured the essence of
cliff erosion thus:
My opinion is thys, as the age of the worlde is of no small tyme, so
in the process of tyme the often sufferynges of the bellowes of the
Seas have beaten away the feete of those hilles, that are by the sea
coastes. And so undermyning it, although it were of harde stone, yet
the wayght of that which was undermined hanging over, in rayny
wether, or after great frost, must needes fall downe into the Sea.
And then that soyle or substuance that fell downe, in process of
tyme was beaten or washed away agayne, by the often soussing of
the bellowes of the sea, in the time of great wyndes and stormes,.
And then the stuffe so fallen down, being washed and consumed
away, the sea doth begin to undermine it agayne, by litle and lytle
(Bourne, 1578: Bk. V, Ch. III).
William Camden (1551–1623) and John Speed
(1552–1629) showed how the Irish Sea had ‘slashed, mangled,
and devoured’ coasts; Richard Verstegan (1550–1640) claimed
that Britain had been separated from France by seismic or
human activity after Noah’s flood and the Straits of Dover
scoured as the North Sea emptied; and Gabriel Plattes
(1600–44) stated that England had once lain under the
sea (Davies, 1969). Information was also disseminated in
books by Nathanael Carpenter (1589–1628) in 1625 and
Bernhardus Varenius (1622–1650) in 1650, which combined
quaint notions with prescient ideas like Carpenter’s notion of
beach equilibrium (Carpenter, 1625; Varenius, 1650).
Variations on the biblical flood theme long persisted, as in
Burnet’s fanciful model that attributed ragged coastlines to
differential collapse of ocean blocks into an abyss vacated by
Noah’s flood (Burnet, 1681; Figure 8). Gradually, more ra-
tional ideas began to emerge from theorists who sought
mathematical solutions to physical processes based on ob-
servation and experiment, fostered by new academies such as
the Royal Society in London (1662) and the Académie des
Sciences in Paris (1666). Stimulated by Newton, some scho-
lars suggested that the Straits of Dover had been breached by
tidal currents reversing between the English Channel and
North Sea. New ideas also prompted more logical explan-
ations of coastal erosion, notably by Lomonosov for Russia’s
Arctic coast and Jean-Etienne Guettard (1715–86) in France.
10.2.4.2 Coastal Form and Process Refined, 1800–1950
As the nineteenth century dawned, perceptions of coasts as
obstacles threatening danger and discomfort waned as needs
and opportunities emerged to manipulate them for settle-
ment, trade, industry, defense, and recreation. Popular interest
in coasts was also stimulated by the Romantic Movement,
by poets and painters inspired by the sea’s shifting moods
(Figure 9). These attitudes attracted many empirical studies
which, unrelated at the time, paved the way for later research.
By 1800, uniformitarian scientists were explaining coasts in
terms of observable processes. Hutton (1795) discussed river-
mouth bars and estuarine flats. Playfair (1802) distinguished
between oscillatory and translatory waves, onshore currents
and seaward-return flows, and sediment coarser inshore and
finer offshore. He also understood how rock debris derived
from rivers and cliff erosion ‘‘become instruments of further
destruction, and make a part of the powerful artillery with
which the ocean assails the bulwarks of the land’’ (Playfair,
1802: 101). Lamarck (1802) understood the terrigenous
source of most coastal sediment, wave and current power, and
the organic nature of coral reefs but, like Playfair, exaggerated
the erosive effects of tides and puzzled over emerging evidence
for sea-level changes.
Lyell’s rigid Uniformitarianism accorded much importance
to the sea, influenced perhaps by Britain’s insularity and his
belief in surficial sediment deposited onshore by drifting ice-
bergs. Repentant catastrophist Henry de la Beche (1796–1855)
described differential cliff erosion and the effect of tidal ranges
of 15 m in Brittany and the Severn estuary (Beche, 1833;
Figure 10). Andrew Ramsay (1814–91) went farther, assigning
landscape denudation to marine planation, and Ferdinand
von Richthofen (1833–1905) attributed stratigraphic uncon-
formities in China to prolonged marine denudation on
 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 15

Table 1 The four traditions of coastal geomorphology, selected benchmarks, 1500–2000

Date Culture Earth science Mathematicians Ocean science Coastal engineering

1500 Late Leonardo da Vinci Columbus, da Gama

Renaissance Vespucci
Magellan
Leland Copernicus
Alkmaar reclaimed
Mercator
Ortelius Waghenaer
Bourne Drake, J. Davis
Camden, Verstegan
1600 Mare liberum defined
Kepler North Holland meers
Scientific Carpenter reclaimed
Revolution Galileo Reclamation of English
Descartes Fens begins
Ussher, Varenius Vermuyden
Royal Society directions
Brest tidal records
Burnet Newton, Leibniz
Ray Equilibrium tides Density currents
1700 Catastrophism Halley
Bering
Enlightenment Marsigli’s Histoire

Agrarian Bernouilli
Revolution Lomonosov Harrison’s Longitude
Guettard Franklin
Diluvialism Laplace Phipps in Arctic
Hutton Dynamic tides Lamblardie
Brémontier
1800 Industrial Playfair Gerstner Beaufort wind scale US Army engineers
Revolution Lamarck Oscillatory waves Fleming
Uniformitarianism Translatory waves U.S. Coast Survey
Lyell, Palmer Tide tables Beaumont, Maury
Agassiz, Ramsay Airy, Stokes C.Darwin, Dana, Jukes Recreation boom begins
Petro-microscopy Ferrel on Coriolis on coral reef theory Harlemmermeer
Evolution C.Darwin, Wallace Cialdi, Secci Humphreys & Abbot
Cyclicity Rayleigh, G.Darwin Challenger Expedition Hagen, Stevenson
Isostasy, Cornaglia Eustasy, Suess
Lake Bonneville Nansen in Fram Lely
1900 Sokolow Cornish Scripps IO founded
Airplanes Barrell Bergen Institute Marine terraces, Depéret Zuiderzee (Ijsselmeer)
Johnson, Baulig Bjerknes, Ekman Meteor Expedition reclamation begins
Jacotin Sverdrup, Munk Beach Erosion Board
Putnam Albatross Expedition
Spacecraft Plate tectonics Sea-floor spreading
Deep-sea coring US CERC
Electronic Welding of the four traditions, plus remote sensing, geographic information systems, and computer
Revolution modeling, into modern coastal geomorphology after 1950
2000

subsiding land (Ramsay, 1846; Richthofen, 1882). However,
Archibald Geikie (1835–1924) held that ‘‘before the sea y
could pare off more than a mere marginal strip of land y the
whole land would be washed into the ocean by atmospheric
denudation’’ (Geikie, 1868: 254). Even during the supremacy
of the Davisian cycle of subaerial erosion, Joseph Barrell
(1869–1919) and Austin Miller (1900–68) invoked marine
planation for landforms in Appalachia and Ireland, respect-
ively (Barrell, 1920; Miller, 1939), while others linked
subaerial erosion cycles with changing sea levels, notably
Henri Baulig (1877–1962) in 1935, and Sidney Wooldridge
(1900–63) and David Linton (1906–71) in 1939 (Baulig,
1935; Wooldridge and Linton, 1939).
Understanding of coastal form and process gathered mo-
mentum during the nineteenth century. Cliff erosion came to
be attributed to interactive marine and subaerial processes,
with rock falls protecting the cliff base from persistent erosion
(Beche, 1833). Richthofen (1886) wrote: ‘‘The weathering and
loosening of rock by sea salts, carbonic acid, the formation of
ozone, and the gripping of plants and animals – to which
16 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology

Figure 8 The frontispiece Burnet’s Theory of the Earth (1689) showing Earth’s imagined past, present, and future. Clockwise from top right: (1)
initial chaotic liquid, 6000 years ago; (2) smooth crust to a water-filled globe; (3) Noah’s Flood released through crustal fractures, with Ark; (4)
floodwaters abate and return to the abyss; crustal wreckage forms Earth’s modern relief and ragged coasts; (5) conflagration precedes second
coming; (6) Earth restored to a water-filled globe; and (7) becomes a star.

must be added the action of frost in higher latitudes – aids the
mechanical action of the striking billows.’’ Debate on the
effective wave base of marine erosion led to speculation that
broad shore platforms could only form as land subsided or
seas rose (Darwin, 1844; Gilbert, 1885). Richthofen (1886)
used the Spanish term ‘ria’ for drowned estuaries along
unglaciated rocky coasts; Hans Henrik Reusch (1852–1922)
sought to clarify the origins of the Norwegian strandflat in
1894, and John Walter Gregory (1864–1932) puzzled over
fjords along glaciated coasts in 1913 (Reusch, 1894; Gregory,
1913). In 1911, a Royal Commission reported on coastal ero-
sion around Britain and on practical measures to counter re-
treat and promote reclamation.
For sand and shingle coasts, scientists probed the effects of
waves and currents on sediment transport and beach form.
Brémontier (1738–1809) studied the effect of wave deform-
ation and decay (Brémontier, 1809). Beche (1833) showed
how beaches became oriented perpendicular to dominant

Figure 9 Romanticism: Northumberland Coast, by Thomas Harper,
1849. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
Figure 10 H de la Beche (1796–1855), first Director-General of the
Geological Survey of Great Britain (1835–55), made major contributions
to coastal geomorphology. Courtesy: British Geological Survey.
wave approach and wrote that ‘‘shingle beaches travel in the
direction of the prevalent winds, or those which produce the
greatest breakers y until arrested by some projecting land’’
(Beche, 1833: 79). Palmer (1834) expanded this concept of
littoral drift. In the 1850s, lighthouse and harbor engineer
Thomas Stevenson (1818–87) estimated that Atlantic waves
broke with a force of up to 30 000 kg m 2 against his struc-
tures (Stevenson, 1864). From the papal steam sloop
L’Immacolata Concezione, Alessandro Cialdi (1866) studied
waves, bedforms, and littoral currents off Italy while Secchi
tested water turbidity. From Lake Bonneville’s former beaches,
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 17
Grove Karl Gilbert (1843–1918) suggested a wave base below
which waves could not move sediment, and invoked dynamic
equilibrium for shores where sediment transport persisted in
the absence of net erosion or deposition (Gilbert 1885).
From shingle beaches, Paolo Cornaglia, Vaughan Cornish
(1862–1948), and Vaughan Lewis (1907–61) entrenched the
concept of littoral drift propagated by the zigzag motion of
pebbles caused by waves moving obliquely against the beach
face and suggested that concave beach profiles developed from
sediment sorting by swash and backwash, with an equilibrium
or null point on the shoreface (Cornaglia, 1887; Cornish,
1898; Lewis, 1931). On Cape Cod, William Morris Davis
(1850–1934) invoked Gilbert’s equilibrium concept, dis-
tinguished between shore-normal and shore-parallel sediment
transport, and sought to fit coastal change into his cyclic model
(Davis, 1896). Gradually, the role of wave-induced currents in
transporting sediment beyond the beach face became better
understood, specifically littoral drift by longshore currents and
seaward transport by rip currents (Shepard et al., 1941). Beach
cusps also attracted attention relative to swash and backwash
on the shoreface (Johnson, 1919; Evans, 1938, 1939). Linear
shoals in coastal waters were related to tidal currents. These
studies were helped by sediment parameters designed by
Udden (1914), Wentworth (1922), and Krumbein (1934).
River-mouth spits, barrier-lagoon systems, barrier islands,
and cuspate forelands generated much speculation. Before
science became global, such features along Baltic and North
Sea shores attracted most attention, notably by Prussian en-
gineer Gotthilf Hagen (1797–1884) in his influential Das
Meer (1863). Interest in the barrier islands of the Atlantic and
Gulf coasts of the United States came later (e.g., Davis, 1896;
Gulliver, 1896). Barrier beaches and islands were variously
explained by: (1) emergent wave-built offshore bars – Con-
stant Prévost (1787–1856) had thus explained changes from
marine to freshwater faunas in Cenozoic strata of the Paris
Basin; (2) onshore movement of sediment under a stable sea
level (Beaumont, 1845; Johnson, 1919); (3) longshore trans-
port of sediment across estuaries, forming either spits, where
river outlets persisted, or closed barriers otherwise (Gilbert,
1885, 1890; Evans, 1942; Figure 11); (4) spit breaching by
storms to form barrier islands (Hagen, 1863; Penck, 1894);
(5) adjustment of equilibrium beach profiles on emerging
shorelines (Johnson, 1919); (6) marine transgressions across
existing terrestrial ridges (McGee, 1890); and (7) onshore
transport of sediment during marine transgressions.
Varieties of coastal dunes were seen as interactive responses
between aeolian processes, dune morphology, and vegetation
(Sokolow, 1894; Cornish, 1897; Jentsch, 1900; Solger, 1910;
Bowman, 1916). The ecology of Lake Michigan’s coastal dunes
studied by Henry Cowles (1869–1939) fed the evolutionary
concept of plant succession (Cowles, 1899). Studies initiated
in 1919 by William Cooper on the coastal dunes of Wash-
ington, Oregon, and California notably related dune forms to
sediment supply and sea-level change (Cooper, 1958, 1967).
Studies of muddy coasts were long hindered by access
problems. Modern deltas were initially studied by landlubbers
in small boats, for example, in the Mississippi and Fraser
deltas (Beche, 1833; Humphreys and Abbot, 1861; Johnston,
1921). Ancient deltas were identified from former pluvial lakes
and stratigraphic sequences (Gilbert, 1890; Barrell, 1912), but
18 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Figure 11 Stockton Bar, former Lake Bonneville, Utah, depicted by William Henry Holmes, led Grove Karl Gilbert (1890) to ponder barrier
beaches and lake changes. Courtesy: US Geological Survey.
Figure 12 The Mississippi delta. Courtesy: NASA.
Gilbert’s delta model, based on exposed topset, foreset, and
bottomset structures from Lake Bonneville, is now regarded
as a special case. When petroleum was found beneath the
Mississippi delta, scientists began using core and geophysical
data to clarify changing delta forms, switching distributaries,
subsidence patterns, and sea-level relations (Trowbridge,
1930; Russell, 1936), although studies elsewhere have since
shown it to be a river-dominated exception rather than the
rule (Figure 12).
In the early nineteenth century, observations of fresh and
salt water in river mouths led toward better understanding of
estuarine hydrodynamics and salt wedges (Fleming, 1818).
Beche (1844) identified (in modern terms) bidirectional tidal
flows in estuaries, the greater discharge and erosivity of ebb
flows, distinctions between flow competence and capacity, the
shifting form of river-mouth bars and mudflats, and the effects
of engineering structures. Later, in 1893, the concept of a
turbidity maximum was verified in the Gironde estuary
(Glangeaud, 1939).
Coastal wetlands attracted scientific attention during the
nineteenth century, notably from Dutch and German engin-
eers with a heritage of tidal-flat reclamation (Hagen, 1863).
Temperate salt marshes saw pioneering studies of what their
peats revealed about sea-level change and plant ecology (Blytt,
1876), and later on comparative studies of modern and an-
cient tidal flats (Kindle, 1917) and salt pans (Yapp et al.,
1917). Arctic wetlands and tropical mangrove swamps re-
mained little known. Indeed, access problems posed by mud,
tides, and shifting channels meant that studies of most muddy
coasts only began in earnest after 1950 (Orme, 1990).
As more information became available, many scientists
sought to classify coasts. Early attempts were based primarily
on stabilist concepts. Eduard Suess (1831–1914) disting-
uished between Pacific-type coasts, based on the coast-parallel
structures of the western Americas; and Atlantic-type coasts
based on structures perpendicular to northwest European
shores (Suess, 1885–1908). Gregory (1912) offered similar
ideas, and Supan (1930) a rephrased distinction between
concordant and discordant coasts. In 1919, Douglas Johnson
(1878–1944) distinguished between coasts of submergence
and emergence and, adapting Davisian concepts, envisaged
an irregular youthful coast, initiated by submergence, re-
treating over time to become a smooth mature cliffed coast.
Similar schemes appeared from Francis Shepard (1897–1985)
in 1948 and H. Valentin in 1952, and the distinction
between structurally stable and mobile coastal regions
proposed by Charles Cotton (1885–1970) in 1954 anticipated
the plate-tectonic revolution (Shepard, 1948; Valentin, 1952;
Cotton, 1954).
10.2.5 The Mathematical Theorists
The scientific revolution of the seventeenth century generated
much interest in coastal processes among mathematicians,
even as geology and oceanography were still fledgling sciences.
Investigations of gravity and mechanics, specifically force, re-
sistance, and motion, were directly relevant to tides, waves,
and currents. Many early notions did indeed evolve into ele-
gant mathematical theories but these posed problems in
shallow coastal waters. In general, theories developed before
1850 mostly assumed ideal conditions, whereas later theories
involved more variables but more elusive mathematical solu-
tions for coastal waters.

10.2.5.1 Foundations of Tide Theory before 1850
The Earth–Moon–Sun forcing of tides was recognized by some
over 2000 years ago but, despite ingenious tidal predictions,
scientific explanation proved elusive until Copernican theory
became acceptable in the seventeenth century. Even then,
theories developed by prominent scientists of the time,
such as Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) and René Descartes
(1596–1650), succumbed to the gravitational theory of Isaac
Newton (1642–1727; Figure 13) in 1687 (Newton, 1687;
Cartwright, 1999). Although Newton’s Principia devoted few
pages to ocean tides and was based on fewer data, his theory
spawned a flurry of interest, especially in the Académie Royale
des Sciences in Paris, aided by the inception of tide records at
Brest. Based on more tidal data recorded over longer periods,
Daniel Bernoulli (1700–82) refined Newton’s ideas into an
equilibrium theory that favored tidal prediction and de-
veloped principles for incompressible fluids applicable to
tidal currents flowing and ebbing through coastal channels
(Bernoulli, 1738). But equilibrium theory still relied on
Earth–Moon–Sun relationships on a perfect water-covered
sphere whereas, owing to Earth’s rotation and irregular ocean-
basin geometries, actual tides are far more complex.
Recognizing this limitation, Pierre Simon, Marquis de
Laplace (1749–1827, Figure 14), presented a more rigorous
dynamic theory of tides in papers from 1775 on, later restated in
his treatise on celestial mechanics (Laplace, 1799). This work
stimulated hydrodynamic theories for long waves (Airy, 1848)
and empirical analyses and predictions of tides as harmonic
oscillations over time (Cartwright, 1999). After Laplace, initia-
tive in tidal research reverted to Britain, where the first automatic
Figure 13 Isaac Newton (1642–1727) formulated the gravitational
theory of tides. Courtesy: President and Council of the Royal Society
of London.
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 19
tide gauge was installed in 1831. The synthetic predictions of
John William Lubbock (1803–65) were soon accepted by the
British Admiralty, which began publishing regular tide tables in
1833. By 1850, automatic gauges were also in use in France and
India, and by the Coast Survey in the United States, providing
continuous records for harmonic analyses of tidal data.
10.2.5.2 Refinements of Tide Theory after 1850
After 1850, tide theories and harmonic tidal analyses were
advanced in Britain by William Thomson (Lord Kelvin, 1824–
1907) and George Darwin (1845–1912), and in the United
States by William Ferrel (1817–91), among others (Thomson,
1869; Darwin, 1879, 1883; Ferrel, 1874). In the early twentieth
century, the problems of understanding tides in smaller seas of
irregular shape, which had perplexed Newton and Laplace,
were addressed on several fronts. For example, Austrians Robert
von Sterneck (1871–1928) and Albert Defant (1884–1974)
applied hydrodynamic principles to tides in the Arctic Ocean
and Mediterranean and Black Seas. Joseph Proudman
(1888–1975) and Arthur Doodson (1890–1968) at the Liver-
pool Tidal Institute (1919–69) advanced the understanding of
tides for the North and Irish Seas and English Channel.
10.2.5.3 Foundations of Water-Wave Theory before 1850
Studies of wind-generated surface-water waves surged between
1770 and 1850. During this time, wave theories were
Figure 14 Pierre Simon de Laplace (1749–1827) developed the
dynamic theory of tides between 1775 and 1799. Courtesy: President
and Council of the Royal Society of London.
20 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
developed mathematically and from canal and wave-tank ex-
periments, notably by Laplace, Joseph-Louis Lagrange
(1736–1813), Nicolas-Théodore Brémontier, Franz Joseph von
Gerstner (1756–1832), George Biddell Airy (1801–92),
John Scott Russell (1808–82), and George Gabriel Stokes
(1819–1903). Identifying wave length, wave height, and water
depth as the most measurable parameters, these scientists
generated linear and nonlinear wave theories involving both
long-wave and small-amplitude concepts (Le Méhauté, 1976).
From this work emerged the distinction between oscillatory
waves in deep water, in which mass transport of water is
(ideally) zero, and translatory waves in shallow water, which
involve mass transport of water (and sediment) in the dir-
ection of wave travel.
Airy (1845; Figure 15) developed long-wave and small-
amplitude theories for progressive oscillatory waves in both
deep and shallow water, and although the mathematical so-
lutions were imperfect his simple sinusoidal wave form re-
mains a useful starting point for understanding waves.
Following Gerstner’s trochoidal (rotational) deep-water wave
theory (e.g., Gerstner, 1809), Stokes (1847; Figure 16) raised
oscillatory wave theory to higher approximations involving
some mass transport. After Lagrange, Scott Russell (1844)
described translatory waves from canal experiments in 1834
Figure 15 George Biddell Airy (1801–92) investigated wave theory
and crustal geophysics while serving as Astronomer Royal
(1835–81). Picture taken from http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/
timeline/people/antiqueimages/airy.j
and laid the foundations for solitary wave (soliton) theory. To
explain the mathematics of deep-water waves, it is now usual
to distinguish between Airy’s simple linear solutions and the
nonlinear solutions of Gerstner, Scott Russell, Stokes, and later
scholars. Stokes also identified internal waves between fluids
of differing density, relevant to estuaries, and the settling vel-
ocities of small particles in such fluids.
10.2.5.4 Refinement of Water-Wave Theory after 1850
The quest for perfect solutions for water waves was (and still
is) a challenge. Accordingly, in the later nineteenth century,
many scientists sought to refine earlier work, notably William
Rankine (1820–72), Joseph Boussinesq (1842–1929), John
Strutt (Lord Rayleigh, 1842–1919), Osborne Reynolds
(1842–1912), Diederik Korteweg (1848–1941), Gustav de
Vries (1866–1934), and David Gaillard (1859–1913). Rankine
(1863) improved trochoidal theory; Boussinesq (1868) and
Strutt (1877) enhanced translatory soliton theory; Korteweg
and de Vries (1895) developed cnoidal theory for oscillatory
waves; and Reynolds (1877) studied energy dissipation for
progressive waves and, of wide relevance across geomorph-
ology and fluid dynamics, the transition from laminar to
turbulent flow (Reynolds’ Number).
The early twentieth century saw Gaillard (1904) and Corn-
ish (1910) study wave decay and interacting wave trains in
shallow water. In 1932, Dubreuil-Jacotin (1905–72), influenced
by Vilhelm Bjerknes (1862–1951), brought atmospheric
Figure 16 George Gabriel Stokes (1819–1903) contributed to wave
theory and sedimentology. Picture taken from http://cord.edu/faculty/
ulnessd/legacy/fall1998/sonja/stokes.htm

motions to bear on small-amplitude oscillatory waves
(Dubreuil-Jacotin, 1932). In 1925, Jeffreys (1891–1989) at-
tributed wave generation to atmospheric pressure differences
caused by the sheltering effect of wave crests (Jeffreys, 1925).
Internal boundary waves were recognized in shallow waters
stratified by density. During and after World War II, Sverdrup
and Munk (1947) sought principles for forecasting wind waves
and swells, Barber and Ursell (1948) developed spectral an-
alysis for wave trains, and Ralph Bagnold (1896–1990) exam-
ined interactions between shallow-water waves and sandy
bottoms (Bagnold, 1946). Snell’s Law, devised for optics by
Willebrord Snellius (1580–1626) in 1621, was invoked to ex-
plain the relation between incident wave angles and wave re-
fraction, notably by Munk and Taylor (1947).
10.2.5.5 Theories on Ocean and Nearshore Currents,
1850–1950
Following earlier work, Ferrel defined mathematically the in-
fluence of Earth’s rotation (Coriolis effect) on winds and
ocean currents (Ferrel, 1860). Norwegian Harald Sverdrup
(1888–1957), later of Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
was among the first to evaluate Arctic tidal currents. Other
Scandinavian scientists, notably Vilhelm Bjerknes, Fridtjof
Nansen (1861–1930), Vagn Walfrid Ekman (1874–1954), and
Bjorn Helland-Hansen (1877–1957), applied physical the-
ories concerning nonhomogenous fluids to atmosphere-ocean
circulations. This work greatly enhanced the understanding of
three-dimensional fluid processes at the coast and was fol-
lowed, during and after World War I, by research at the Bergen
Meteorological Institute that paved the way for more effective
forecasting of both weather and storm-related coastal pro-
cesses. In contrast, although long recognized in principle, the
theoretical assumptions underpinning wave-induced near-
shore currents only began to be tested and advanced during
and after World War II.
10.2.6 The Ocean Science Perspective – The
Seafarers
Oceanographers often distinguish between blue-water science
in deep oceans and brown-water science nearer shore.
Whereas coastal geomorphology concerns the latter, it also
needs to involve the former, specifically the nature of ocean
basins and of tides, waves, and currents approaching from
deep water. Sea-level change is also discussed here because
early studies onshore were later augmented and better ex-
plained from ocean evidence.
10.2.6.1 Renaissance, Exploration, and Scientific
Revolution before 1850
From the late Renaissance on, European voyages of discovery
increased knowledge of coastal features, processes, and bot-
tom conditions, essential for mariners sailing close to shore.
Data were recorded in ship’s logs, sea charts, and diaries of
tactical and strategic value to competing maritime nations. For
the Americas these were new materials closely guarded from
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 21
political and commercial rivals. For the Indian and western
Pacific oceans these voyages added little that was not already
known to Arab, Persian, Indian, and Chinese navigators.
After 1650, measurements of ocean phenomena produced
data of much practical value and also fodder for theorists. In
1666, the Royal Society in London produced Directions for Sea-
Men bound for Far Voyages, which urged mariners to record
coastal processes and seabed conditions, and to improve navi-
gation aids, sounding gear, and water samplers. Edmond Halley
(1650–1742) improved the magnetic compass, mercury
barometer, and diving bell, and clarified ocean–atmosphere
interactions involving insolation, atmospheric pressure, winds,
currents, salinity, and the hydrologic cycle (Halley, 1686, 1715).
Many mathematical theorists of the eighteenth century also
took systematic observations of tides, waves, and currents in
coastal waters. In 1806, the naval hydrographer Francis Beau-
fort (1774–1857, Figure 17) codified a scale relating wind force
to the amount of sail a frigate could carry. As circumstances
changed, the Beaufort Scale passed through several iterations,
including calibration to anemometer data (1850) and sea state
(1906).
Ocean and coastal currents were of particular interest to
sailing ships of the time. In 1679, Marsigli, using a weighted
line with white cork discs, distinguished between surface
currents and deep counter currents in the Bosporus and
showed how lighter fresher water exited the Black Sea over
saltier bottom water entering from the Mediterranean
(McConnell, 1981). By 1725, he had enough data for a His-
toire Physique de la Mer, which mostly discussed Mediterra-
nean currents and bathymetry (Marsigli, 1725). In 1769,
based on reports from Atlantic seafarers, Benjamin Franklin
(1706–90) produced a map of the Gulf Stream (Figure 18).
James Rennell (1742–1830) then brought formal scientific
Figure 17 Francis Beaufort (1774–1857), naval hydrographer, best
known for the wind-force scale that, with later changes, still bears his
name. Courtesy: Royal Navy.
22 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Figure 18 The Gulf Stream defined by Benjamin Franklin (1706–90). Courtesy: NOAA.
methods to the study of Atlantic and Indian ocean currents
(Rennell, 1832).
Exploration of Pacific and polar waters expanded. Bering
measured currents in the strait that now bears his name. From
his voyage on HMS Beagle (1831–36) and imbued with Lyell’s
brand of Uniformitarianism, Charles Darwin (1809–92) de-
duced that fringing and barrier reefs might eventually grow to
form atolls on subsiding volcanic islands (Darwin, 1842). This
idea was supported by James Dwight Dana (1813–95), who
investigated coral reefs and shore platforms around Pacific
islands on the Wilkes expedition (1838–42), and by Joseph
Beete Jukes (1811–69) on visiting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
in HMS Fly (1842–46) (Jukes, 1847; Dana, 1849, 1872).
10.2.6.2 Emergence of Scientific Oceanography,
1850–1950
This phase saw major advances relevant to coastal science,
notably in physical oceanography, marine geology, and
ocean–atmosphere relations. Oceanography was energized by
Maury’s work (Maury, 1854, 1855), by charts of surface cur-
rents and counter-currents of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
(Findlay, 1853), and by Coast Survey studies of the Gulf
Stream, tides, and tidal currents (1845–60).
In 1872, the steam-assisted corvette, HMS Challenger, ini-
tiated the first modern oceanographic expedition under the
scientific direction of Charles Wyville Thomson (1830–82)
and, later, of John Murray (1841–1914, Figure 19). The ship
circumnavigated the globe and returned in 1876 with a
plethora of sediment samples, biological specimens, and data
on ocean bathymetry, chemistry, and circulation. From these,
50 volumes totaling 29 500 pages were published over a 23-
year period, greatly improving knowledge of the oceans (e.g.,
Murray, 1895; Murray and Renard, 1891). Other expeditions
followed, notably by the German steamer Meteor (1925–27),
which retrieved deep-sea sediment cores and whose continu-
ous echo sounding first revealed the great relief of the South
Atlantic floor; by the global echo-sounding expedition of USS
Stewart in 1922; and by several British expeditions to the
Southern Ocean between 1925 and 1951. These expeditions
were concerned mostly with blue-water oceanography but
smaller ships made significant findings, notably the Austrian
Pola in the Mediterranean and Red Sea (1890–98), the US
Coast Survey steamer Blake in the Caribbean (1877–80), and
numerous inshore and fishery research vessels.
Exploration of polar and subpolar coasts was more chal-
lenging. John Franklin (1786–1847) had traced the Beaufort
Sea coast (1819–27) but his quest for a Northwest Passage
(1845–48) ended in tragedy, as did George DeLong’s attempt
to reach the North Pole from Wrangell Island in 1879. How-
ever, when the Norwegian ship Fram drifted in sea ice across
the Arctic (1893–95), Fridtjof Nansen could show that the
polar region contained neither continent nor ice sheet. Several
expeditions later improved understanding of Arctic coasts
whereas the loss of RMS Titanic off Newfoundland in 1912 led
to founding of the International Ice Patrol. In the 1930s,
Russian scientists began conducting surface and atmospheric
research from drifting ice floes.
Meanwhile, understanding of nearshore and ocean cur-
rents was aided by better current meters. Earlier measurements
by timed-drifters and mechanical logs only approximated
reality, and errors increased with depth (McConnell, 1981).

Figure 19 HMS Challenger which carried the first modern global oceanographic expedition from 1872 to 1876 (Murray, 1895). Courtesy: Her
Majesty’s Stationery Office, London.
Newer meters from the late nineteenth century on used vari-
ous mechanical, photographic, and electrical mechanisms,
and, later, wireless transmissions, to provide better infor-
mation on the speed and direction of surface and subsurface
currents.
The findings of brown-water scientists on the form of
continental margins are germane to coastal geomorphology.
Continental shelves and borderlands, and island margins, may
store both terrigenous sediment and autochthonous waste
derived from marine organisms, whereas submarine canyons
and continental slopes may convey sediment to deep oceans.
Mineralogical studies showed that most shelf sediment was
terrigenous, delivered by rivers, winds, and cliff erosion, ini-
tially sorted and distributed by size and settling velocity.
Coastal sedimentology was facilitated by petrographic micro-
scopy, initiated by Henry Clifton Sorby (1826–1908) in 1849,
and later by refined textural parameters and heavy mineral
analysis. Reworking by wave-induced and tidal currents was
found to shape major shelf bedforms and to move sediment
considerable distances along uninterrupted coasts (Martens,
1939). However, many shelves showed little or no deposition,
leading Sverdrup et al. (1942) to conclude that most shelf
sediment was lost to deep water. Off glaciated lands, debris
delivered by past glaciers was recognized and ice-rafted debris
past and present was found far offshore by Challenger scien-
tists (Murray and Hjørt, 1912). Inorganic precipitation of
carbonate muds was invoked to explain the Bahama Banks
(Smith, 1940), and organic sediment from eroding coral reefs
was found to be important in warm waters off coasts with little
runoff. Ocean currents were invoked for transporting fine
suspended sediment far from shore but rarely for coarse
sediment nearshore.
Submarine canyons off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of
North America attracted much attention during this period,
initially from unexplained breaks in submarine cables off the
Atlantic continental shelf, later from bathymetric surveys (e.g.,
Veatch and Smith, 1939). Some canyons are large and deep,
notably Great Bahama Canyon (4300 m deep) and Monterey
Canyon (3000 m deep) off California; some merely nibble at
the shelf edge. Some head close inshore, commonly toward
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 23
modern river mouths; others are confined to the continental
slope. Some are open valleys; others have steep, even over-
hanging walls. Many have submarine levées and fans toward
their distal ends and extend as fan valleys to the deep ocean. At
one time or another, submarine canyons have been attributed
to tectonic activity, earthquakes, tsunami currents, erosion by
rivers extending across emergent shelves during low sea levels,
spring-head sapping of canyon heads, and turbidity or density
currents generated by cold river flows or storm waves on
continental shelves or by mass failure beyond the shelf edge
(e.g., Daly, 1936; Kuenen, 1938; Johnson, 1939; Shepard and
Emery, 1941; Figure 20). Modern consensus favors a mix of
these processes.
This phase also saw the emergence of oceanographic insti-
tutions whose primary deep-sea focus was augmented by
coastal research. In the United States, these included Scripps
Institution of Oceanography founded in 1903 in California,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1930) in Massa-
chusetts, and Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory (1949)
in New York. In Germany, the Senckenberg am Meer Institute
was founded in 1928 specifically for studying coastal and shelf
sediment dynamics. International cooperation was furthered
by such agencies as the International Council for the Explor-
ation of the Sea (ICES, formed in 1899). This phase ended
shortly after publication of an influential book on ‘The Oceans’
(Sverdrup et al., 1942) and the initiation of many studies
during World War II that were to shape future coastal research.
10.2.6.3 Relative Sea-Level Change
Simply stated, mean sea level may change relative to a meas-
ured datum (traditionally a coastal marker) for two main,
sometimes related, reasons: either (1) from changes in ocean
volume or (2) from changes in ocean-basin capacity and
continental freeboard. Changes in ocean volume are com-
monly due to: (1a) modest thermohaline expansion and
contraction of ocean waters (without changes in water mass)
over short time-scales (100–102 years), or (1b) the growth and
decay of continental ice masses and changing inputs of liquid
24 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Figure 20 Francis Shepard (1897–1985), Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, studied submarine canyons, nearshore currents, and
sedimentology. Courtesy: University of California.
water over longer time-scales (101–105 years). Changes in
ocean-basin capacity and continental freeboard, which be-
come significant over time-scales exceeding 102–103 years, are
caused by: (2a) tectonic activity, generally very slow although
coasts may rise and fall quickly during earthquakes and vol-
canic events, or (2b) ocean sedimentation, which slowly re-
duces accommodation space for water, or (2c) isostatic
responses of Earth’s surface to transfers of mass within and
beneath the crust, which may be measurable on time-scales of
101–102 years. These explanations are examined here for their
influence on continental margins over the past few million
years, the time-frame most relevant to modern coasts. Short-
term changes in the dynamic sea surface caused by wind setup,
storm surges, tides, and thermohalinity, and long-term chan-
ges in Earth’s geoid, are ignored.
Evidence for relative sea-level change for the recent past
takes many forms (Figure 21). Falling seas or rising land are
visibly expressed in raised beaches, shore platforms, coral
reefs, and the like stranded above sea level. Rising seas or
subsiding land are expressed in coastal and terrestrial features
now submerged below sea level but observable from under-
water surveys and coring. This evidence also needs to be dated,
which until the advent of radiometric dating was imperfect at
best. Long time series of tidal data are important measures of
historic change.
Primitive notions of sea-level change are embedded in
many cultures. Whether myth or folklore, notions of lost lands
like Atlantis or biblical events such as Noah’s flood, have long
colored human lore. Among early Greeks, Herodotus and
Aristotle saw relict marine shells inland from the Mediterra-
nean as evidence of former seas. During the Enlightenment,
Earth’s supposed emergence from a universal ocean took
Figure 21 The Roman market place at Pozzuoli in the Campi Flegrei
caldera, near Naples (commonly misnamed the Temple of Jupiter
Serapis). The lithodomous perforations made in the pillars by rock-
boring molluscs reflect post-Roman relative sea-level changes
involving net submergence of B7 m followed by net emergence of
B6 m, attributable to volcanic activity. Charles Lyell used this
drawing by Whitney Jocelyn Annin in later editions of his Principles
of Geology. Reproduced from Lyell, C., 1872. Principles of Geology,
vol. 1. John Murray, London.
pseudoscientific form in Benoı̂t de Maillet’s ‘Telliamed’ of
1748 (Carozzi, 1968), and in Neptunism and Diluvialism. By
this time, reports of offshore ‘submerged forests’ (tree stumps
and peat) were implying sea-level rise (e.g., Borlase, 1758).
However, a more practical concern for sea-level change also
began emerging from Scandinavia where shoreline retreat
around the Gulf of Bothnia had long posed problems for
navigation and land ownership (Dott, 1992). But was this
retreat due to an absolute fall of sea level, favored by Anders
Celsius (1701–44) and Carl Linnaeus (1707–78), or to land
uplift, supported among others by Lyell (1835) who, familiar
with crustal motions in the Campi Flegrei caldera near Naples
(Figure 21), queried its rate and extent? Auguste Bravais
(1811–63) answered by showing that raised beaches in
northern Norway, tilted down-fjord toward the sea, indicated
that uplift rose inland (Bravais, 1840). In 1848, Chambers
(1848) (1802–71) attributed Scottish raised beaches, sea
caves, and cliffs to a global fall of sea level caused by ocean-
basin subsidence. Crustal change remained the preferred

Figure 22 Clarence Edward Dutton (1843–1910) coined the term
isostasy in 1882 to explain crustal adjustments to transfers of mass.
The terms glacio-isostasy and hydro-isostasy came to be widely used
in coastal geomorphology. Courtesy: US Geological Survey.
explanation for sea-level change during the nineteenth cen-
tury. Even so, growing acceptance of glacial theory, a concept
involving extensive glaciation during a former ‘ice age,’
popularized in 1840 by Louis Agassiz (1807–73), led Charles
MacLaren (1782–1866) in 1842 to invoke a fall of sea level
commensurate with continental ice growth (Agassiz, 1840;
MacLaren, 1842).
From the 1880s, sea-level changes began to be seen in
terms of isostasy and eustasy, concepts relevant today but not
as originally intended. The term ‘isostasy’ was coined by
American geologist Clarence Dutton (1841–1912) ‘‘to express
that condition of the terrestrial surface which would follow
from the flotation of the crust on a liquid or highly plastic
substratum’’ (Dutton, 1882, Figure 22). Earth’s crustal dis-
equilibrium had been debated for decades but it was Dutton
who defined isostasy, which he did not fully understand and
applied to the wrong problem (Orme, 2007). In the guise of
glacio-isostasy, the term was applied to crustal adjustments
caused by ice-loading and unloading, suggested in 1865 by
Jamieson (1829–1913) from raised shorelines in Scotland
(Jamieson, 1865). Gerard De Geer (1858–1943) similarly
explained tilting of emergent Scandinavian shorelines and
provided a geochronology for the past 12 000 years by
counting annually laminated lake and shallow marine sedi-
ment (varves) (De Geer, 1892, 1912).
Emergent shorelines were also noted by early travelers in
Canada where survey data began to establish the nature and
rate of crustal uplift (Bell, 1896; Figure 23). Fairchild (1918)
mapped postglacial crustal deformation for northeast North
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 25
Figure 23 Emergent post-glacial nearshore bars in southwest
Hudson Bay, raised by isostatic crustal response to former ice-
loading and temporary submergence. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
America, by which time glacio-isostatic shorelines were known
from the Great Lakes. Evidence for recent uplift was also
emerging from tide-gauge records (Gutenberg, 1941). Al-
though crustal loading by large water bodies had been pos-
tulated for the Great Lakes in 1743 (White, 1951) and for Lake
Bonneville by Gilbert (1890), hydro-isostasy was not seriously
considered for ocean shores during this period.
The term ‘eustatische Bewegungen’ (eustatic movements,
later ‘eustasy’) was coined in 1888 by Eduard Suess
(1831–1914; Figure 24) to describe rhythmic changes of glo-
bal sea level inferred from the stratigraphic record (Suess,
1885–1908). Suess attributed falling seas and emerging lands
to episodic subsidence of the sea floor on a cooling and
contracting Earth, and rising seas to the subsequent displace-
ment of ocean waters by sediment shed from emerging con-
tinents. These mechanisms eventually collapsed alongside the
contracting-Earth hypothesis, but were revived later within the
plate-tectonic paradigm. Regardless, Gilbert (1895) invoked
climate change arising from Earth’s orbital cycles, notably the
precession of the equinoxes, to explain rhythmic bedding in
Cretaceous marine sediment. From here it was logical to at-
tribute global sea-level change to climate forcing, notably
glacio-eustasy related to the growth and decay of continental
ice sheets. Thus did Reginald Daly (1871–1957) revisit the
coral-reef problem in a glacio-eustatic context, while also
speculating on glacio-isostatic forcing of forebulge uplift be-
yond the ice front (Daly, 1910, 1934).
Once glacio-eustasy was accepted, the pendulum of
change swung hard over in favor of the climate forcing of
global sea level. Extending evidence from Algeria (Lamothe,
1899), Charles Depéret (1854–1929) identified suites
of late Cenozoic marine terraces across the Mediterranean
(Depéret, 1918). For many years thereafter, attempts were
made to apply Depéret’s shoreline sequence world-wide,
based on elevation and paleontology, and to correlate this
marine evidence with subaerial planation surfaces and river
terraces. But Depéret’s correlations came in part from severely
deformed coasts, leading their spurious nature to be exposed
by the plate-tectonic revolution. Andrew Lawson (1861–1952)
had recognized tectonic deformation of Pleistocene
marine terraces in southern California as early as 1893, and in
1942 William Putnam (1908–63) showed how marine and
26 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology

Figure 25 Contrasting modes of Pleistocene shoreline emergence.

Upper: eustasy dominant – the 125-ka shore platform on the
relatively stable Prawle coast, Devon, now lying 6–8 m above present
mean sea level, and covered by relict periglacial deposits from
backing frost-riven seacliffs. Lower: tectonism dominant – the suite
of shore platforms dating from 125 ka, 80 ka, and 40–60 ka along the
Ventura coast, California, raised and tilted by powerful tectonic uplift
in a eustatic context. The 80-ka platform now reaches 175 m above
sea level and is tilted 91S. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
Figure 24 Eduard Suess (1831–1914) attributed ‘eustatic
movements’ to ocean-floor subsidence (sea-level fall) caused by
Earth’s contraction, and to ocean-water displacement (sea-level rise)
by accumulating sediment (Joseph Kriehuber, 1869).

estuarine terraces exhibited increasing deformation with

age across an active anticline (Lawson, 1893; Putnam,
1942; Figure 25). As geochronology improved, such evi-
dence was invaluable for understanding neotectonism (e.g.,
Orme, 1998; Stewart & Vita-Finzi, 1998). Nevertheless, where
coasts have escaped massive late Cenozoic tectonism and
glaciation, for example, in southern Africa and southwest
England, glacio-eustasy is the prevailing mechanism
(Figure 25).
The most recent rise of sea level, initiated as the last major
continental ice sheets began melting around 20 000 BP,
shaped the broad outlines of most coasts, augmented by gla-
cio-isostatic and hydro-isostatic adjustments. In 1924, recog-
Figure 26 Submerged forest, Durham. Intertidal peats, often with
nizing the time-transgressive nature of this event, Dubois tree roots intact, have long been invoked as evidence for relative sea-
(1924) named it the Flandrian transgression. Although sub- level change, in this case from postglacial eustatic and isostatic
merged forests and drowned valleys had long suggested recent movements along the North Sea coast. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
submergence (Borlase, 1758; Figure 26), the precise timing
and rate of this event were little known until the advent of
improved geochronologies after 1950.
restricted to the immediate coastal zone. In today’s terms, en-
gineering works generally involve hard structures, such as sea-
walls and breakwaters, which intercept and reflect waves and
10.2.7 The Coastal Engineering Tradition currents, or soft structures, such as nourished beaches and
planted vegetation, which absorb incident wave and wind en-
Coastal engineering involves the planning, design, and con- ergy. Ideally, coastal engineering should involve not only the
struction of works aimed at reclaiming land from the sea, provision of suitable structures but also predictions of the effect
countering subsidence, protecting shorelines, facilitating navi- of coastal processes on, and the environmental impact of, these
gation, and providing harbors. Of these activities, coastal rec- works. Thus coastal geomorphology acquires its engineering
lamation may embrace large areas, whereas the others are more tradition.

Coastal reclamation has long been practiced on a modest
scale, for example, by prehistoric peoples in Asia, the Persian
Gulf, and Europe who endiked intertidal slob for fishponds
and salt-tolerant crops, and built trackways across coastal
marshes; they were simply managing natural sedimentation
processes to their benefit. Likewise, Roman engineers re-
claimed strips of coastal marsh for agriculture, and medieval
monasteries were able to command the labor and resources
needed to effect further reclamation. From the thirteenth
century, the Dutch were constructing windmills equipped with
paddle wheels, and later with Archimedes screws, to remove
water from endiked polders. However, technical limitations
generally restricted impoldering to small areas whose fragile
earthen dikes were often destroyed by storm seas, and where
reclamation was aggravated by the shrinkage and cutting of
exposed peat (Orme, 1966).
Around 1600, with the invention of the revolving cap for
windmills that enabled wind to be used from any direction,
wetland reclamation on a larger scale became a practical
proposition. Many lakes in north Holland, between Amster-
dam and Den Helder, were reclaimed for farming before 1650.
These methods were soon applied to the English Fens, a 4000-
km2 embayment inland from The Wash that had been formed
late in the Flandrian transgression. Reclamation of the Fens
began in earnest around 1630 and, aided by the prominent
engineer, Cornelius Vermuyden (1595–1677), saw vast tracts
drained and endiked by the 1660s (Dugdale, 1662). However,
as in Holland, reclamation led to peat shrinkage, surface
lowering, and reflooding, which remained a problem until the
introduction of steam (B1800), diesel (B1900), and electric
pumps (B1945). These technological advances also allowed
the vision of Cornelis Lely (1854–1929) for the reclamation
of the 5000-km2 Zuiderzee, flooded by medieval incursions
of the North Sea, to be achieved between 1919 and 1986,
producing several large polders and the present Ijsselmeer and
Markermeer (Orme, 1966; Figure 27).
Like coastal reclamation, other engineering works in an-
tiquity were modest compared to the accelerating activities of
recent centuries. More than 2000 years ago, people were
building defenses against the sea and suffering the con-
sequences of their failure. Early Egyptians, Phoenicians,
Greeks, and Etruscans built rubble-mound breakwaters, jetties,
and seawalls, but the practical Romans were the preeminent
engineers of classical times, often building concrete structures
aided by cofferdams, although Strabo described how the
harbor at Ephesus promoted sedimentation (Figure 28). In
later centuries, engineered structures provided storm pro-
tection for subsiding Venice, larger ports for expanding trade,
and promenades and protection for recreation. Until the
nineteenth century, however, these projects were mostly small
– lighthouses to alert mariners, stone harbors in sheltered
bays, short seawalls at exposed localities, bulkheads in estu-
aries, and wooden groins to counter beach erosion. Then, as
projects proliferated, many engineers came to understand the
impacts of coastal processes on their structures and vice versa.
The problems of hard structures were exemplified in a 1789
memoir in which Lamblardie (1747–97) complained that
harbors in Normandy had become choked by a littoral drift of
sand and shingle (Lamblardie, 1789). Conversely, the utility of
soft structures was expressed in the Landes of southwest France
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 27
where Brémontier (1796) countered problems of dune mi-
gration (B20 m yr 1) caused by overgrazing and vegetation
removal by planting maritime pine.
Many early projects were developed by military engineers
because they could call more readily on the resources neces-
sary to design, construct, and repair coastal works. This may
still be true, for example, with the US Army Corps of Engineers
although, from its activation in 1832, the civilian Coast Survey
was also studying sediment encroachment and engineering
impacts on harbors. Over the past 200 years, most coastal
nations have developed agencies to coordinate coastal devel-
opment and, belatedly, to address resulting problems. Until
recently, however, lessons learned in one area were rarely
passed on, thereby allowing problems to develop elsewhere
with scant regard for possible solutions.
As engineering technology improved and ships became
larger, from small trading vessels to modern container ships
and oil tankers, harbors moved from sheltered estuaries to
deeper waters, often requiring dredging, reclamation, and
massive breakwaters (Figure 29). Thus was the medieval Pool
of London succeeded by large Victorian docks down the
Thames estuary, which in turn gave way to distant container-
ship terminals. All such changes provoked impacts, as engin-
eered structures supplanted natural systems and large ports
such as Rotterdam and Los Angeles grew with scant regard
for littoral drift or coastal ecology. Updrift construction of
breakwaters and jetties commonly caused downdrift erosion
problems that, despite improved designs such as offset
structures and sand-bypassing, continue today. In similar
vein, improving technology has come to mitigate natural
hazards, but at a cost. Thus, after hurricane devastation in
1900, the port of Galveston, Texas, was given protection by
raising the land by 3 m with fill dredged from the bay and
providing a seawall that became 15 km long. Nevertheless, the
city of New Orleans, Louisiana, built on and behind natural
levées in the subsiding Mississippi River delta from 1700 on-
ward, was ill-prepared for the consequences of Hurricane
Katrina in 2005.
The growth of seaside holidays in the nineteenth century
stimulated both engineering projects and human awareness
of coastal management issues. Coasts as recreational venues
had attracted the urban wealthy in the eighteenth century,
notably from London to Brighton, and from Philadelphia
to Cape May, but the railway mania after 1840 initiated a
much larger influx of people. The railway reached Brighton
from London in 1841, Blackpool from Lancashire mill
towns in 1846, and Atlantic City from Camden (opposite
Philadelphia) in 1854. For the burgeoning urban societies
of northern Europe and North America, this influx peaked in
the mid-twentieth century, facilitated by the advent of cars,
motor coaches, and holidays-with-pay. After that, cheap air
travel brought greater numbers of people to distant coasts,
notably from northern Europe to Mediterranean and Persian
Gulf shores, which in turn begat further management prob-
lems. Decaying seaside resorts elsewhere often survived as
havens for retirement, second homes, education, and light
industry.
In more developed countries, the coastal recreation boom
between 1840 and 1960 was met by a plethora of engineering
works, notably in northwest Europe. Harbors were enlarged
28 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology

Figure 27 Reclamation of the Zuiderzee, 1966 (inset: Zuiderzee before enclosure by the Afsluitdijk in 1932). In 1986, the proposed reclamation
of Markerwaard was indefinitely postponed and it became Markermeer. Courtesy: Dienst der Zuiderzeewerken.

for pleasure vessels; piers, promenades, and seawalls were
lengthened. Southend pier, in the macrotidal Thames estuary,
eventually became 2158 m long. Beaches backed by seawalls
and promenades suffered erosion from reflected waves but
were denied replenishment from formerly eroding cliffs, for
example, by 16 km of cliff-foot promenade at Bournemouth,
Dorset (Figure 30). Structures were commonly built with
scant regard to historical erosion, notably along the 200-km
New Jersey shore where erosion was attributed initially to
subsidence rather than to storms (Johnson and Smith, 1913).
As recreational boating increased, wetlands were dredged for
marinas, notably in southern California, and harbor entrances
needed longer jetties (Figure 31). The latter in turn trapped
more sediment updrift and caused more erosion downdrift, as
shown by jetties completed at Cold Spring Inlet in 1911 that
caused massive erosion of Cape May beaches (Quinn, 1977).
Barrier islands along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts were invaded
by homes and fixed in place by engineered waterways
between the islands, with major consequences for beach
replenishment.
Figure 28 Roman boat-dock cut into aeolianite at Dor, Israel. Over
the past 4000 years, this locality has seen successive harbors built
by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and others. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
Figure 29 Boso Peninsula, Honshu, showing extensions to Ioka harbor occasioned by increasing boat size and by uplift during the 1923 Kanto
earthquake and tsunami. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 29
In the United States problems of erosion and navigability
led in 1930 to formation of the Beach Erosion Board within
the US Army Corps of Engineers. This agency was charged with
defining problems of coastal erosion, navigation, and harbor
access, and advising local authorities on engineering solutions.
Although stimulated initially by pressing issues along the At-
lantic coast, an early study along the Pacific coast defined lit-
toral drift as a ‘river of sand’ flowing parallel with the shore
(O’Brien, 1931). During World War II, agency scientists con-
ducted significant research from wave-tank experiments, and
real and photogrammetric intelligence on proposed landing
beaches (Quinn, 1977). This research role later expanded,
involving larger wave tanks and experimental basins (e.g.,
Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg), field groups
supported by amphibious vehicles, cooperating universities,
and expanded engineering activity. Traditional hard structures
lost favor to soft techniques, notably sand bypassing
and beach nourishment, designed to work with, rather
than against, natural forces. A manual on Shore Protection
Planning and Design, which first appeared in 1954 and since
Figure 30 Bournemouth seawall and promenade extends 18 km
along the English Channel coast. It was built to protect seacliffs in
erodible Eocene sediment from marine erosion, but the reflective
seawall has also caused net beach loss. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
30 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
Figure 31 Channel Islands Harbor, California, excavated in a former
lagoon and wetland, and accessed through jetties protected by an
offset breakwater. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
revised by the Coastal Engineering Research Center (the
Board’s successor after 1963), became an essential reference
for coastal engineering and coastal geomorphology world-
wide. This agency is matched by similar bodies in other coastal
nations, such as Delft Hydraulics in the Netherlands and
Hydraulics Research Wallingford in Britain.
The coastal engineering tradition has been a mixed bless-
ing. Some impressive structures have been built over the
centuries and much has been learned about coastal geo-
morphology in the process. But as engineered structures, hard
and soft, have grown mathematically, so their impact on
coasts has increased exponentially. Many natural stretches of
coast have disappeared entirely, engineered out of existence in
order to protect and enhance perceived human needs.
10.2.8 Conclusion: Welding Noble Traditions into
Modern Practice
Coastal geomorphology has developed since 1950 against a
backcloth of quickening science and technology. World War II
spurred scientific progress, but later population growth,
resource use, industrialization, trade, engineering, defense,
and recreation have each emphasized the need to understand
better and, where possible, modulate the effects on coasts of
natural hazards and human activities. As interdisciplinary
research and international cooperation have increased,
land-based and shipborne scientists, theorists and coastal
engineers have come to weld their differing traditions into
modern practice. This conclusion outlines six themes of
coastal research, conceptual rather than exhaustive, that have
benefited. Progress since 1950 may be gauged by comparing
texts from the 1950s (Guilcher, 1954; Zenkovitch, 1957; King,
1959) with more recent works (Woodroffe, 2002; Schwartz,
2005; Davidson-Arnott, 2010).
10.2.8.1 Information Technology
Recent decades have seen rapid progress in the collection and
processing of coastal data. Visual observations and soundings
have been augmented by remote sensing wherein traditional
Figure 32 St Lucia Estuary, South Africa. This color infrared image
exemplifies the high-resolution imagery that began to be acquired in
the later twentieth century, here revealing physical and ecological
features in a subtropical estuary. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
aerial photographs have been joined since the 1950s by im-
agery from specialized airplanes and space satellites (Fig-
ure 32). Primitive echo-sounding techniques of the early
twentieth century have given way to modern sonar, radar,
lidar, and acoustic tomography. Photogrammetry has yielded
to digital image processing. Since the 1970s, satellite altimetry
has measured with increasing precision the changing ocean
surface, the vertical motion of tide gauges on which sea-level
measurements traditionally relied, and the sea floor. Today,
data obtained from airborne and space sensors, and from
seaborne and submersible platforms are integral to coastal
research.
Since the 1950s, shipborne drilling and geophysical tech-
niques have been extended from shallow waters to deep
oceans. The Deep-Sea Drilling Project (1963–85) and its
successors have revised notions of marine geology, coastal
origins, and sea-level change. Progressive maritime nations
generally maintain coastal and ocean-going vessels, manned
and robot submersibles, and aircraft for research. These en-
gage in coastal surveys, sediment coring, water sampling,
process measurements, acoustic bottom profiling, and geo-
physical surveys using onboard gravimeters, magnetometers,
and seismic recorders. Larger vessels carry computers for glo-
bal positioning and automated data logging and plotting
systems, whereas miniaturized technology facilitates studies
from smaller boats. Instrument packages on anchored surface
and subsurface buoys record and transmit continuous data on
tidal range, wave height, current flow, and water temperature.
Advances in computing, from the large slow mainframe ma-
chines of the 1960s to modern, high-speed portable com-
puters, have enabled accelerated processing of large data sets,
ideally suited to wave and tide data, and to modeling of
shallow-water processes and sediment responses.

10.2.8.2 Coastal Tectonics
Although the age of discovery invited speculation about the
mirror image of opposing Atlantic coasts, this was ignored
by those who saw only a stable Earth with fixed continents
and oceans. Then, in 1912, Alfred Wegener (1880–1930)
proposed the concept of continental drift, which found sup-
port in fault offsets of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and transatlantic
geological comparisons (Wegener, 1912; Ampferer, 1925;
Du Toit, 1927, 1937). Initially ridiculed, the concept was
resurrected after 1950 by marine scientists investigating the
deep-sea floor (Dietz, 1961; Hess, 1962). During the ensuing
plate-tectonic revolution, ocean ridges became spreading
centers offset by transform faults, ocean trenches became
subduction zones, and coastal origins were rewritten to ac-
commodate crustal mobility (Orme, 1998, 2002). Inman and
Nordstrom (1971) pointed toward an explanation of coastal
origins by distinguishing between collision coasts, where
plates were actively colliding, and trailing-edge coasts, where
plates were separating.
Today, we commonly identify coastal types in terms of
passive and active tectonic margins. Coasts of passive or di-
vergent continental margins range from those of embryonic
oceans, such as the Red Sea, to those flanking the Atlantic
Ocean, with its broad continental shelves and carbonate
platforms. Coasts of active margins include those where
plate convergence, subduction, high seismicity, and earth-
quakes are common, such as Andean-type margins, named
from where the Nazca oceanic plate subducts beneath the
South American continental plate, and Marianas-type and
Japanese-type margins typified by island-arc formation (Fig-
ure 33). California-type active margins occur where plate
convergence is complicated by lateral shear related to trans-
form faults of subducted oceanic ridges, notably along the
San Andreas fault system (Figure 34). Defining plate margins
in these ways has resurrected the interplay between crustal
tectonics and coastal geomorphology (Stewart and Vita-Finzi,
1998).
Figure 33 The major 1923 Kanto earthquake and tsunami,
triggered by Pacific plate subduction beneath the Japanese island arc,
raised a rocky submarine platform and seacliff to form a new coastal
plain for the Boso Peninsula. The devastating Fukushima-Miyagi
earthquake and tsunami of 2011 were similarly triggered. Courtesy:
A.R. Orme.
The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 31
10.2.8.3 Relative Sea-Level Change
Recent progress in understanding sea-level change has seen
concepts of glacio-isostasy and glacio-eustasy refined with re-
spect to orbital forcing of climate change involving cycles of
101–106 years, and changes attributable to tectonic forcing
better constrained over longer time-scales. At shorter time-
scales, tide-gauge and remote sensing data have identified
significant sea-level oscillations over decadal and millennial
time-scales.
Orbital forcing of climate change, invoked earlier (Croll,
1864; Milankovitch, 1920), was resurrected by evidence from
laminated deep-sea cores. Foraminifera from Atlantic bottom
sediment retrieved by the Meteor expedition (1925–27) had
suggested relatively recent warm–cold–warm conditions
(Schott, 1935), and Pacific cores from the Albatross expedition
(1947–48) defined nine warm–cold cycles, thought at the
time to represent the entire Pleistocene (Arrhenius, 1952).
Longer deep-sea cores, notably Core V-28–238 retrieved from
the western equatorial Pacific in 1971 (Shackleton and
Opdyke, 1973), and advances in isotope stratigraphy, micro-
paleontology, paleomagnetism, and radiometric dating, sub-
sequently established the time-frame for correlating sea-level
changes with late Cenozoic cold–warm oscillations. Empirical
and theoretical studies have since advanced understanding of
Figure 34 The San Andreas fault between Bolinas Lagoon (bottom
left) and the Russian River (top center) exemplifies the California-type
transform margin (north is top right corner). The Pacific plate west
of the fault is sliding NNW past the North American plate to the east
(NASA). The present rate of displacement between these plates
averages 48 mm yr 1, distributed between the San Andreas fault
proper and subparallel faults in a zone extending 400 km inland from
the continental margin (Irwin, 1990). Courtesy: NASA.
32 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
sea-level change, notably for links between isostasy and re-
gional glaciation (e.g., Andrews, 1970) and coastal tectonics
(e.g., Peltier, 1998), between eustasy and tectonism (e.g.,
Chappell, et al., 1998; Orme, 1998; Figure 35) and climate
(e.g., Pirazzoli, 1996), and for modern issues of rising sea-level
and global warming (e.g., Douglas et al., 2001). For example,
dated back-barrier marsh and overlying beach deposits suggest
that marine transgressions are the mechanism likely to explain
the development of most barrier beaches (Kraft, 1971), and
Figure 35 Pleistocene marine terraces raised by episodic tectonism
to B200 m above present sea level along the Pacific coast of Baja
California, Mexico. The river is antecedent to, and cuts through, the
rising coast range. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
Figure 36 The semidiurnal tidal range of 2 m at Morro Bay, central
California. Tidal cycles play major roles in estuarine and wetland
dynamics. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
that repeat transgressions can superimpose Holocene barrier-
lagoon systems on similar Pleistocene features (Orme, 1972;
Hobday and Orme, 1975).
Advances in isotope geochemistry and dating techniques
have helped in evaluating marine sediment. Before 1950,
relative ages of past sea levels had been deduced from stra-
tigraphy, paleontology, geomorphology, and other correlative
techniques. Except where defined from historical records and
varves, true dates were lacking. Although developed in the
early 1900s, radiometric techniques began to be applied to
coastal sediment in the 1950s when the radioactive isotope
14
C began constraining the age of the Flandrian transgression
(Figure 26). Other radiometric methods followed, aided by
the advent of accelerator-mass spectrometry in the 1970s.
These included the use of uranium series that could be back-
dated to last interglacial times, potassium-argon methods
applicable to deep time, and other isotopes with half-lives
varying from very short (e.g., 210Pb and 137C dating of recent
marsh sediment) to much longer (e.g., 36Cl, 10Be).
10.2.8.4 Coastal Processes
Coastal processes and their interaction with engineering
structures have become much better understood in recent
decades. Longer time series, combined with high-speed
computers and spectral analysis, have clarified the nature and
effect of waves, tides, and other shallow-water processes
(Figure 36). Building on earlier theories but now wary of
transferring deep-water solutions to shallow water, much re-
search has focused on coastal morphodynamics and sediment
mobility, aided by advanced instruments, information tech-
nology, and modeling. Stimulated by oil exploration, three-
dimensional studies of deltas have proliferated (e.g., Coleman,
1976; Figure 12); navigational and ecological issues have
spurred estuarine research (e.g., Dyer, 1997); and rocky
coasts have been well studied (e.g., Trenhaile, 1987, Suna-
mura, 1992). Among other themes attracting attention include
beach-dune interactions (e.g., Sherman and Bauer, 1993),
river-mouth morphodynamics and sediment mobility
(e.g., Schwarz and Orme, 2005; Figure 37). Davies (1972)
Figure 37 The Tugela River, Indian Ocean coast, South Africa. In
the summer wet season, it delivers much sediment, which is moved
north (right) by longshore currents induced by waves approaching
obliquely from the Southern Ocean. Courtesy: A.R. Orme.
 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology 33

wrote an admirable synthesis of geographic variations in
coastal development.
Models have been prominent in recent decades, from the
conceptually simple, such as the process–response model
(Krumbein, 1963) that invokes complex feedbacks between
form and process, to the hopefully predictive, such as the
dissipative-reflective model (Short, 1979; Wright and Short,
1984) that relates beach morphodynamics to breaker types,
nearshore gradient, and sediment mobility. Many mathemat-
ical models seek to relate measurable processes to definable
forms (e.g., Guza and Inman, 1975). The concept of the
littoral cell, a discrete segment of coast that is more-or-
less self-contained with respect to sediment gain and loss,
has enhanced explanations of spatial change (Inman and
Frautschy, 1966).
10.2.8.5 Rates and Predictions of Coastal Change
Assuming that prediction is the ultimate goal of science,
measuring the nature and rate of recent coastal change must
contribute significantly to future management objectives.
Apart from sea-level change over the longer term, it is im-
portant for management goals to understand shorter term
changes in rates of erosion, sediment transfer, and sedimen-
tation under both natural and human-impacted conditions.
Ideally, this involves time-series of data of sufficient frequency
and duration to identify significant departures from seasonal,
annual, and decadal mean conditions. In this respect, natural
coastal changes attributable to episodic El Niño-Southern
Oscillation (ENSO) forcing have been shown to be important
(e.g., Storlazzi and Griggs, 2000), whereas multidecadal beach

Figure 38 The need for education and coastal management in California. Top: Malibu backshore homes threatened by beach loss. Bottom left:
Santa Barbara cliff-top patio suffering cliff retreat (now lost). Bottom right: Oxnard backshore home (since lost and replaced). Courtesy: A.R.
Orme.
34 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology
changes attributable to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
have also been documented (Zoulas and Orme, 2007; Orme
et al., 2011). Rates of seacliff retreat, beach change, dune mi-
gration, wetland loss, and so forth, whether related to shorter
term cyclic forcing or longer term sea-level change, are clearly
relevant to coastal management.
10.2.8.6 Coastal Management
Geomorphology plays an important role in coastal manage-
ment, provided that jurisdictions can be defined. The doctrine
of Mare liberum, formulated in 1609 by Hugo Grotius, opined
that the ocean was free to all nations. In 1672, England
affirmed its jurisdiction extending 3 nautical miles (5.56 km)
seaward from mean high water, about the distance of
cannon shot at the time. Other nations came to observe
similar limits. The situation changed little until 1982 when the
United Nations recommended a limit of 12 nautical miles
(B22 km) for territorial seas and 200 nautical miles
(B370 km) for an Exclusive Economic Zone. Landward jur-
isdiction, generally defined by local or national authorities,
may vary from an arbitrary limit, say 5 km, to entire drainage
basins. Coastal management within these constraints is in-
evitably contentious.
Human interaction with coasts may be divided into three
temporal phases: survival, development, and management.
These phases vary widely, depending on the social, economic,
and political development of a region or nation. For survival,
hazard mitigation was of primary importance to coastal peo-
ples seeking protection from storms and high water. Once
survival was assured and technology available, coastal devel-
opment became a major objective, involving port construction
and land reclamation in response to population growth, trade,
and industrial needs. Then, in developed coastal nations, the
management phase generally began in response to the unan-
ticipated impacts of hazard mitigation and development, but
by then flexibility was becoming limited. In the United States,
for example, coastal management only began when citizens
said ‘enough is enough’ to development, leading notably in
1960 to a citizen-driven attempt to save San Francisco Bay
from further infilling and pollution, and in 1976 to the
California Coastal Act. Even in Europe, with longer traditions
of coastal awareness and local action, the need for effective
management was only awakened by burgeoning environ-
mental movements of the later twentieth century. Developing
nations, where the three phases are compressed in time, have
to some extent benefited from mistakes made elsewhere.
Modern coastal management needs to involve both relevant
science and social, economic, political, and legal issues. These
are not natural companions. Scientists may understand coastal
problems but be unable to dictate solutions; engineers may
design solutions but be unable to implement them; industrial
and commercial interests may favor solutions at odds with
conservation; and the public may differ widely regarding
proposed alternatives. Education of all concerned is thus es-
sential for effective coastal management (Figure 38).
This essay has examined four traditions in the development
of coastal geomorphology, including concepts accepted or
rejected as befits scientific progress. Information of this nature
is the starting point for understanding coasts, essential to the
continuing educational process that leads to the informed
application of accepted scientific principles to coastal
problems.
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38 The Four Traditions of Coastal Geomorphology

Biographical Sketch

Antony R. Orme (PhD, University of Birmingham, England, 1961) is Emeritus Professor of Geography in the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Raised in Devon, England, his career began at University College,
Dublin (1960–68), before joining UCLA in 1968.
His research interests have embraced many aspects of geomorphology (coasts, rivers, deserts, and mass
movement) and Cenozoic studies (sea-level change, pluvial lakes, neotectonism, and isostasy), as well as the
history and paradigms of the Earth sciences, and issues of coastal and watershed planning and management. He
has worked extensively in western North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Britain, and Ireland. His
research has been supported by the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Coastal
Engineering Research Center, Waterways Experiment Station, Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory),
U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of State (Agency for International Development), U.S.
Department of the Interior (National Park Service), the National Science Foundation, and various regional, state
and city agencies, and several national governments.
His teaching interests involve all the above fields, and he has also been active in university administration. He
has served as editor or editorial board member of numerous journals, including Physical Geography, which he
founded and served as Editor-in-Chief from 1980 to 2010. Recent awards include the Founders’ Medal of the
British Society for Geomorphology (BGRS, 2000), and the Mel Marcus Distinguished Career Award of the As-
sociation of American Geographers (2002).
He has authored or edited several books and monographs, including Ireland (1970), Coasts under Stress
(1982), Lake Thompson: A Desiccating Late Quaternary Lake System (2004). With Andrew Goudie (Oxford), he
developed and edited advanced texts in the Oxford Regional Environments series; and contributed several
chapters to the physical geographies of Africa (1996), North America (2002), and South America (2007). His recent research papers address river-mouth and
beach morphodynamnics, multidecadal coastal changes, Pleistocene and Holocene pluvial lakes, coastal dunes, sea-level fluctuations, geomorphic responses
to interactive tectonic and climate forcing, climate change issues, Clarence Dutton and questions of isostasy, and shifting paradigms in geomorphology.
 10.3 Waves
DA Huntley, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.3.1 Introduction 40
10.3.2 Linear Waves 41
10.3.2.1 Nature and Limitations of Linear Wave Theory 41
10.3.2.2 Descriptors of Coastal Waves 43
10.3.2.2.1 Implications for modeling 46
10.3.2.3 Shoaling and Breaking of Linear Waves 47
10.3.2.3.1 Wave propagation 47
10.3.2.3.2 Wave breaking and surf zone waves 48
10.3.2.4 Currently Available Linear Models 51
10.3.3 Nonlinear Waves 52
10.3.3.1 Introduction 52
10.3.3.2 Overview of Theories 53
10.3.3.2.1 Stokes waves 54
10.3.3.2.2 Boussinesq theories 54
10.3.3.2.3 NSWE 59
10.3.3.2.4 Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models 59
10.3.3.2.5 Parameterization of nonlinear parameters in linear wave models 60
10.3.4 Long-Period Waves 60
10.3.4.1 Introduction 60
10.3.4.2 Nature of Long-Period Waves 61
10.3.4.3 Forcing and Suppression of Long-Period Motion 63
10.3.4.4 Magnitude and Cross-Shore Pattern of Infragravity Wave Energy 66
10.3.4.5 Long-Period Motion and Morphodynamics 67
10.3.5 Summary and Conclusions 69
References 69

Glossary will generate new sinusoidal frequencies, as shown by

Boundary conditions Descriptions of the conditions of
variables at the boundaries of a numerical model domain.
At open boundaries these conditions will specify the flow
of information (e.g., waves) into and out of the domain.
At closed boundaries (e.g., the coastline) they will
specify limits on the motion (e.g., wave reflection or
absorption).
Nonlinear equations In linear equations, changes in one
variable create proportional changes in another variable
(e.g., eqn [5] shows that a doubling of wave height, H, will
result in a doubling of the horizontal velocity, u).
A nonlinear equation does not show this proportional
dependence. For example, the second term on the left of
eqn [50] involves the product of two terms in u, so if u is
doubled this term will quadruple (for the same spatial
scale). The resulting effect on Z will thus be greater than a
proportionate doubling. If u takes a sinusoidal form then
this second term will involve products of sinusoids and thus
eqn [58].
Perturbation expansion An expansion of a nonlinear
equation in terms of small deviations (perturbations) from
its linear form. The small deviations are expressed in the
form of a nondimensional ‘expansion parameter’ and the
expansion generates a series of terms in increasing powers
of this parameter. These terms are expected to decrease in
magnitude with the increasing power (i.e., the expansion
‘converges’). A perturbation theory keeps these terms up to
a given power of the expansion parameter, known as the
‘order’ of the perturbation theory.
Riemann invariant A mathematical combination of
variables, from a nonlinear equation, which remains
constant along a trajectory defined by another
mathematical combination of those variables. For example,
the nonlinear shallow water equations, applied to waves
propagating in the x-direction in water of constant depth,
have Riemann invariants (u72C) which remain constant

Huntley, D.A., 2013. Waves. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J.
(Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10,
Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 39–73.

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00271-2 39

40 Waves
along trajectories given by dx/dt ¼ (u7C), where u is the
horizontal velocity and C the wave phase velocity.
Self-organization The ordering of a system involving
strong feedback into internal patterns not contained in the
external forcing. For example, beach cusps, with regular
alongshore spacing, have been shown to emerge by self-
organization from a system with strong feedback between
swash motion of the water and the morphological response
of the beach face.
Shock waves Waves with a front face, which approximates
to a vertical slope. Stable forms of such waves only exist in
the presence of dissipation at the front of the wave so
cannot be simulated by the standard nonlinear shallow
water equations.
Turbulence closure schemes When the Navier–Stokes
equations are averaged over rapid turbulence timescales, the
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to provide a review of the theory and modeling of coastal waves in the context of modeling
nearshore morphodynamic processes. The first section deals with linear wave theory, with a focus on the shoaling and
breaking of random waves in shallow water. The second section reviews the important nonlinear aspects of nearshore wave
motion. The third section describes the nature and origins of long-period waves, with periods in the range 20–200 s. The
chapter ends by emphasizing the importance of feedback between waves and evolving morphology in creating nearshore
morphological features.
10.3.1 Introduction
Surface waves have a major controlling influence on sediment
transport and therefore on the formation and behavior of
morphological features of the seabed in coastal and nearshore
waters. Over most of the continental shelf, to depths of 100 m
or more, the motion of the water under waves is an essentially
symmetric oscillation, with flow in the direction of wave
propagation under the wave crest balanced by flow in the re-
verse direction under the trough. The wave motion, therefore,
does not in itself cause a net transport of sediment in either
direction. However, the seabed stresses associated with the
oscillatory motion can become large enough to set the seabed
sediments into motion, stirring them so that they can then be
moved by steady or slowly moving currents, driven, for ex-
ample, by tides or winds. For a given instantaneous current
speed, wave motion creates a much larger stress at the seabed
than a steady current, so the influence of waves on sediment
transport rates can be disproportionately large.
As waves travel into shallower water (typically shallower
than about 10 m), the influence of waves in creating a net
transport of sediment can become more direct. Distortion of
the wave profile due to nonlinear effects results in more
peaked wave crests and more flattened wave troughs, causing
the forward flows to be stronger than the reverse flows. This
potentially leads to greater sediment transport under the crests
and therefore a net transport in the wave direction. As the
waves approach the breaking point they also typically develop
steepened forward faces and flattened back faces, resulting in
effect of turbulence is contained in the ‘Reynolds stress’
term, involving products of turbulent velocities. These
turbulent velocities are unknown and attempt to find the
form of the Reynolds stress using additional equations
based on the Navier–Stokes equations result in further
unknown turbulence parameters. This uncertainty must
therefore be ‘closed’ at some level by relating unknown
turbulent terms to known variables (e.g., wave or mean
flows). The simplest closure scheme assumes that the
Reynolds stress term is equal to the transverse gradient (the
shear) of the mean flow multiplied by an ‘eddy viscosity.’
Higher-order schemes generally parameterize the energy
exchange between turbulence and mean flows.
Wind fetch The distance over the water that the wind acts
to generate waves. It is usually taken as the distance to the
nearest upwind point of land.
stronger forward accelerations of the flow which can also in-
fluence net sediment transport.
In shallow water, the orbital motion of the water under
waves also ceases to be entirely closed, with a small net
translation of water particles and, hence, a steady flow in the
wave direction. Although in many coastal situations this flow
may be countered by tilts of the sea surface and return flows,
the resulting patterns can have a strong influence on net
sediment transport rates and directions.
These issues have led to a great deal of research effort to
understand the nature of waves in coastal and nearshore
waters and to model them mathematically. Several excellent
text books describe this research with a range of different
approaches, from broad overviews such as those of Komar
(1998) and Davidson-Arnott (2010) to more detailed
theoretical treatments found, for example, in Dean and
Dalrymple (1984), Dingemans (1997), and Svendsen (2005).
The aim of this chapter therefore is not to reproduce the de-
tails contained in these texts but to provide a review of wave
theory and modeling as it impacts on sediment transport
modeling and hence on the modeling of morphological forms
and morphodynamic processes in coastal and nearshore water
depths. It aspires to provide an overview of the nature of
different wave modeling approaches, to describe their suc-
cesses and limitations and to indicate the current state of the
art in providing wave input to models of coastal morphody-
namics. The resulting sediment transport modeling and
coastal morphodynamics are considered in other chapters in
this volume.
 Waves 41

The next section of this chapter, Section 10.3.2, considers of Laplace, Airy showed that eqn [1] is an exact solution to
linear wave modeling, which remains the most widely used irrotational (essentially meaning frictionless) water motion in
technique. Intrinsically, however, linear theory does not in- water of any depth provided that the wave amplitude is small
clude the nonlinear effects, which are known to be vital for compared to the water depth and to the wavelength of the
successful modeling of sediment transport in shallow water. wave. Airy’s theory gives a ‘dispersion relation’ linking the
Section 10.3.3 therefore reviews the current state of nonlinear wavenumber to the wave frequency, in the form:
modeling, but also considers ways in which nonlinear effects
can be added to linear models, generally through empirical o2 ¼ gk tanh kh ½2
equations.
Section 10.3.4 deals with motion at longer periods than where tanh denotes the hyperbolic tangent, k is the magnitude
incident wave periods, the infragravity motion that can of k, g is the gravitational acceleration, and h is the water
dominate flows close to the shoreline and that can have a depth. In terms of the wavelength, L, and wave period, T, this
significant influence on sediment transport, particularly in the equation is equivalent to:
inner surf and swash zones. The largest contribution to this g 2 2ph
infragravity energy is in the form of free waves that are either L¼ T tanh ½3
2p L
trapped to the shoreline or radiate away into deeper water.
However, in considering the forcing of these waves by non- Since the wave will travel a distance of one wavelength in one
linear interaction of the incident waves, the author touches wave period, the speed of wave propagation, known as the
briefly on the generation of other slowly varying motion in the wave ‘phase velocity’ C, is simply L/T, and from eqn [3], this is:
nearshore zone.
The chapter ends with a brief summary and some com- g 2ph
C¼ T tanh ½4
ments about possible future developments. 2p L

For sediment transport and the resulting morphodynamics,

the velocity of the water under the waves is of primary im-
10.3.2 Linear Waves
portance and the Airy theory also provides equations for these
‘orbital velocities.’ The horizontal velocity, in the direction of
10.3.2.1 Nature and Limitations of Linear Wave Theory
wave propagation, is given by:
The simplest and most fundamental description of wave
H cosh kðh þ zÞ
motion in the ocean is the sinusoid, with a surface elevation, u¼ o sin ðkx  ot þ jÞ ½5
Z, which varies with horizontal position in the direction of 2 sinh kh
wave propagation, x, and with time, t, in the form:
where z is the vertical distance measured upward from the
H water surface. At the seabed, z¼  h, and the cosh term
Z¼ sin ðkx  ot þ jÞ ½1
2 is unity.
Similarly, the vertical velocity under an Airy wave is given
where k is the wavenumber of the wave (¼ 2p/L, with L the by:
wavelength), o is its (radian) frequency (¼ 2p/T, with T the
wave period), j is the phase of the wave, and H is the wave H sinh kðh þ zÞ
w¼ o sin ðkx  ot þ fÞ ½6
height (Figure 1). The minus sign in this equation means 2 sinh kh
that the wave in this case travels in the positive x-direction be-
cause the magnitude of x must increase as t increases in order to The resulting orbital motion of the water under a wave
keep the value of the phase of the wave in the brackets constant takes the form of closed ellipses, with the vertical excursion of
and hence follow a particular position on the wave shape. the ellipse equal to the wave height at the water surface
This form of wave profile is most commonly associated but decreasing with increasing distance below the surface
with the name of the nineteenth century English mathemat- (Figure 2). The horizontal excursion is also greatest at the
ician, Sir George Biddell Airy. Building on the pioneering work surface and decreases with increasing depth.

(x, t)
Crest z
H x

Trough
h

Figure 1 A sinusoidal wave. Reproduced with permission from Figure 1.1 in Dean, R.G., Dalrymple, R.A., 1984. Water Wave Mechanics for
Engineers and Scientists. Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey, USA.
42 Waves

Deep
Long wave/shallow water Intermediate
Figure 2 The orbital motion of water beneath an Airy wave. Reproduced with permission from Nielsen, P., 2009. Coastal and Estuarine
Processes (Advanced Series on Ocean Engineering). World Scientific, 34 pp.

Other important properties of linear waves are the energy incident on beaches. Equation [9] shows that in deep water
per unit area of the sea surface, E, which is given by: such a wave will have a wavelength of 156 m and a phase
speed of 15.6 m s1. Equation [9] will remain approximately
1 valid until the depth reduces to about a half of the wavelength,
E¼ rgH2 ½7
8 so the deep water approximation requires that the water depth
exceeds about 78 m. For the shallow water form of eqn [10],
simple iteration shows that the depth to wavelength ratio of
and the speed of propagation of wave energy, the ‘group vel-
one-twentieth is exceeded if the depth exceeds about 2.5 m.
ocity,’ cg, which is in the direction of wave propagation and is
Thus, unfortunately, for most depths in coastal waters the full
given by
equations must be used and the shallow water forms can only
 
1 2kh be used very close to the shoreline.
cg ¼ nC where n ¼ 1þ ½8 Real ocean waves are not, of course, the regular sinusoids
2 sinh 2kh
given by eqn [1]. However, the major characteristic of Airy’s
These equations reduce to simpler forms when the water linear wave theory is that, because the waves are in principle
depth is more than about half the wavelength, with infinitely small in amplitude relative to the wavelength and
the water depth, waves of different wavelengths, periods,
g 2 heights, and directions of propagation can be superimposed
L¼ T on one another. Their small amplitude means that there is no
2p
g interaction between the sinusoidal waves; they can simply be
C¼ T
2p added together to form a complex combination of wave mo-
pH kz   tions. Fourier’s theory of 1807 showed that any pattern of
u¼ e sin kx  ot þ f ½9
T undulations that repeats itself after a given recurrence length
pH kz   can be reproduced by a combination of sinusoids, which are
w¼ e cos kx  ot þ f
T harmonics of the recurrence length. It was not until after the
C
cg ¼ Second World War that his theory was extended to non-
2 recurring patterns like those of sea waves. The key assumption
is that, for these nonrecurring undulations, the recurrence
The water velocities tend to zero with increasing depth due length is infinite, resulting in an infinite number of harmonics
to the exponential term and are negligible at the seabed. differing in wavelength, period, and direction by infinitely
The equations also simplify when the water depth is much small increments, each harmonic having infinitely small
smaller than the wavelength (generally, taken as less than amplitude. The pioneering work of Rice (1944, 1945) and
one-twentieth of the wavelength), with others developed these ideas in the context of signal process-
ing and Barber and Ursell (1948) were amongst the first to
pffiffiffiffiffi
L ¼ ghT apply them to the complex and changing wave patterns of the
C2 ¼ gh real ocean. The result is a wave spectrum that gives the dis-
rffiffiffi tribution of wave energy in a real wave field as a function of
H g  
u¼ sin kx  ot þ f ½10 both frequency (describing the contributions from different
2 h
wave periods and wavelengths) and direction. Figure 3 shows
pH  z  
w¼ 1þ cos kx  ot þ f an example of a spectrum of wave orbital velocity showing the
T h
cg ¼ C distribution of wave energy as a function of frequency.
The assumption that a real sea is made up of a superposition
of sinusoidal waves also leads to the prediction that the dis-
These equations [10] show that waves in shallow water tribution of wave heights observed over a period of time will
travel with a celerity that depends only on the water depth, approximate to the Rayleigh distribution if the range of wave
and the horizontal orbital velocity is the same at all depths. frequencies is small. This was first shown theoretically by
To gain an assessment of when eqns [9] or [10] might Longuet-Higgins (1952) and subsequently demonstrated to be
apply, consider a wave with a period 10 s, typical of waves true, even for relatively wide ranges of wave frequencies, in
 Waves 43

100

Spectrum 2. 8. 5. 10 AUG 72
N = 1536 Δt = 0.5 s
Δf = 0.025 Hz

Spectral energy ((m/s)2 /Hz)

10-1

10-2

10-3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 3 A typical wave spectrum for wave orbital velocity. The energy centered at a given frequency and within a given bandwidth is given by
the integrated area under the spectrum over the bandwidth. The vertical axis is the one-dimensional frequency spectrum, S(f).

numerous field measurements (see e.g., Tucker and Pitt, 2001).
The form of the Rayleigh distribution is shown in Figure 8.
These developments based on Airy theory provide excellent
descriptors of waves in deep water but as waves move into
shallow water and shoal and eventually break, the funda-
mental assumptions of Airy theory are violated because the
wave height becomes comparable to water depth and to the
wavelength. Fortunately, and rather surprisingly, laboratory
(Flick et al., 1981) and field measurements on real beaches
(e.g., on Torrey Pines Beach, California by Guza and Thorn-
ton, 1980) show that linear theory provides remarkably good
approximations (typically within 10% when computing or-
bital velocities from elevations) for waves in coastal waters,
even, as we shall see in Section 10.3.2.3, for shoaling and
breaking waves. The linear theory does of course omit some
wave characteristics of potential importance for sediment
transport. It cannot, for example, simulate the distortion of
wave shape that occurs as a wave approaches the shoreline and
shoals and breaks, or simulate the observation that the orbital
motion of the water under a wave is not quite closed but has a
small net displacement in the direction of wave propagation.
Both of these effects become increasingly important as the
water depth becomes small and they require a more complex,
nonlinear or parametric approach, as will be discussed in
Section 10.3.3. Linear theory does, however, provide a rea-
sonable quantitative description of wave celerities, the mag-
nitudes of the wave orbital velocities (below the immediate
vicinity of the wave crest) and the propagation of wave mo-
mentum responsible for driving surf zone longshore currents.
It is therefore central to many modeling approaches to the
simulation and prediction of coastal waves and the associated
morphodynamics (see Section 10.3.2.4).
In the sections which follow, the author first looks at de-
scriptors of linear wave fields. In particular he describes the
simplifications that are generally necessary in describing waves
as input to sediment transport and morphodynamic models
and consider the implications of these simplifications. He
then considers the extensions of linear wave theory to model
shoaling and breaking waves in the surf zone. The successes
and the limitations of linear models in such apparently non-
linear conditions are discussed and this leads to a consider-
ation of nonlinear wave theories.
10.3.2.2 Descriptors of Coastal Waves
The most complete description of oceanic waves is the dir-
ectional wave spectrum, S(f, y), where f is the wave frequency
( ¼ o/2p) and y is the direction angle of wave propagation.
This two-dimensional (2D) function gives the spread of wave
energy over both frequency and direction so that waves at each
frequency have an associated spread of directions of propa-
gation, as illustrated in Figure 4. Measurement of a directional
spectrum involves either simultaneous measurement of the
wave field over a range of different horizontal locations, using
an array of sensors or remote imagery, or detailed measure-
ment of the curvature of the sea surface at a point using a
device like the ‘pitch-roll-heave buoy.’ Tucker and Pitt (2001)
give a clear description of the requirements and limitations of
some available methods used to extract directional spectra
from wave measurements.
It is usual to separate the frequency and directional com-
ponents of the directional wave spectrum into the form:
Sðf ,yÞ ¼ Sðf Þ Gðy,f Þ ½11
where S(f) gives the magnitude of the spectrum as a function
of frequency. G(y,f) gives the directional spread at frequency f
and is normalized so that
Z þp
Gðy,f Þdy ¼ 1 ½12
p
44 Waves

2
S (m2 Hz−1 rad−1)
1.5

0.5

0 –1.5

0.05 –1

0.1 –0.5

0.15 0

0.2 0.5

f (Hz) 0.25 1  (rad)

0.3
1.5
Figure 4 An example of a directional wave spectrum, for wave elevation. It shows the wave conditions in 8 m water depth off Duck, NC at
07.00 on 10 October 1990, during the Delilah experiment. The solid line above the frequency axis is the one-dimensional frequency spectrum,
S(f), and the line above the direction axis is the directional energy distribution integrated over all frequencies. Reproduced from van Dongeren,
A.R., Reniers, A.J.H.M., Battjes, J.A., Svendsen, I.A., 2003. Numerical modeling of infragravity wave response during Delilah. Journal of
Geophysical Research – Oceans 108(C9), 3288, with permission from AGU.

The 1D (or omnidirectional) spectrum, S(f), can then be order moment as

treated separately from the directional distribution, G(y,f). pffiffiffiffiffiffi
H1=3 ¼ 4 m0 ½15
The 1D spectrum, S(f), can be computed from measure-
ments of the variation of wave height over time at a single
and this is now generally used as the spectrally derived def-
point and is therefore the easiest to obtain. However, the de-
inition of the significant wave height.
tailed information contained even in such a simplified spec-
The average wave frequency, fm, is given by
trum is generally difficult to incorporate into models of
morphodynamic behavior, and it is therefore useful to reduce fm ¼ m1 =m0 ½16
the spectrum to a smaller number of variables. The frequency
moments of the spectrum (m), in the form: and the average zero-crossing wave frequency, fz, has been
Z N shown by Rice (1945) to be equal to
mn ¼ f n Sðf Þ df ½13 rffiffiffiffiffiffi
0 m2
fz ¼ ½17
m0
provide some useful variables. For example, the zero-order
moment (m0), the integral over the frequency spectrum, Other combinations of frequency moments can be used to
Z N quantify the breadth of the 1D spectrum, i.e., the spread
m0 ¼ Sðf Þ df ½14 around the peak frequency:
0
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
is equal to the overall variance of the water surface elevation. m2 2
When multiplied by the water density, r, and gravitational ep ¼ 1  ðCartwright and Longuet-Higgins, 1956Þ
m0 m4
acceleration, g, it is equal to the wave energy per unit area of
½18
sea surface (eqn [7]). Longuet-Higgins (1952) also showed rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
that the significant wave height, H1/3, the average of the m0 m2
np ¼  1 ðLonguet-Higgins, 1957Þ ½19
highest 1/3 of waves in a wave record, is related to the zero- m1 2
 Waves 45

Both ep and np approach zero for narrow-banded spectra,

with the energy centered closely around the peak, and 1 for
broadbanded spectra. However, ep suffers from the disadvan-
tage that it tends to 1 regardless of the spectral width. This is
JONSWAP SJ(f )
because frequency spectra typically tend to fall off as f5 with
increasing f for large f, so that the value of m4 is large and

Spectral density, S(f) (m2s)

sensitive to the upper frequency bound of the moment inte-
gral. Thus np is to be preferred. It also has been shown to be
inversely proportional to the average number of waves in a SJ(fp)
=
wave group (Longuet-Higgins, 1957). SPM(fp)
Another frequency moment measure of spectral width was
suggested by Goda (1976)
Z N
2
Qp ¼ fS2 ðf Þdf ½20
m0 2 0

and was shown to relate to wave group length and other wave Pierson–Moskowitz
groupiness parameters. However, Tucker and Pitt (2001) and SPM(f )
Elgar et al. (1984) criticize this parameter, particularly for fp
spectra with multiple peaks. Frequency, f (Hz)
In fact all of these moment-based parameters can be mis- Figure 5 Pierson–Moskowitz and JONSWAP spectra. The vertical
leading if the underlying spectrum is not unimodal, as is fre- dashed line shows the peak frequency, fp. Reproduced with permission
quently the case in coastal waters. For example, a bimodal from Figure 3.7 in Dominic, R., Andrew, C., Christopher, F., 2004.
spectrum, with a low-frequency peak due to swell waves and a Coastal Engineering: Processes, theory and design practice. Spon
higher-frequency peak caused by local sea waves, will provide Press, Abingdon, Oxon.
an estimate of mean frequency, fm, which is a weighted average
North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP) spectrum (Hasselmann
over the two spectral peaks, a frequency at which little wave
et al., 1973), which is based on measurements made in the
energy may actually exist. In principle this problem can be
North Sea (Figure 5). In terms of the Pierson–Moskowitz
overcome by computing separate integral moments over
spectrum, SPM(f), the JONSWAP spectrum, SJ(f), takes the form:
bandwidths associated with the two peaks, giving separate
!
swell and sea parameters but this is rarely done. ðf  fp Þ2
A widely used alternative approach to limiting the number exp 
2ðsfp Þ2
of parameters associated with a spectral description of waves is SJ ðf Þ ¼ SPM ðf Þg ½23
to assume that the spectrum matches a ‘standard frequency
spectrum’ with a limited number of parameters to describe the where the multiplier provides for the peak enhancement.
spectral shape. The most widely used standard wave spectrum There are now four fitting parameters, two, fp and a, from the
was obtained by Pierson and Moskowitz (1964) from a study Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum, and a further two, g and s,
of a range of open ocean spectra. The Pierson–Moskowitz from the peak enhancement factor. g is the factor by which the
spectrum takes the form: Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum is increased at the peak fre-
  ! quency and the parameter s determines the width of the
g2 5 5 fp 4 enhanced peak. Generally, the width of the enhanced peak is
SPM ðf Þ ¼ a f exp  ½21
ð2pÞ4 4 f not symmetrical about the peak, so s is further divided into a
value sa for frequencies below and up to the peak and sb for
where a ¼ 0.0081 and fp is the frequency at the peak of the frequencies above the peak.
spectrum (Figure 5). In terms of the mean frequency, fm The values of the JONSWAP parameters are commonly given
(eqn [16]), and the zero-crossing frequency, fz (eqn [17]), as functions of the dimensionless fetch distance of the wind:
derived from spectral moments, the peak frequency is ap- gx
x¼ 2 ½24
proximately equal to 0.77 fm and 0.71 fz (Tucker and Pitt, U10
2001). Pierson and Moskowitz (1964) relate the peak fre-
quency directly to the wind speed measured 19.5 m above the where x is the (dimensional) fetch length and U10 is the wind
water surface, U19.5, in the form: speed 10 m above the water surface. The generally accepted
values then take the form:
1:37
fp ¼ ½22
U19:5
x 0:33 g
fp ¼ 3:5
U10
In coastal waters, wave conditions are likely to be deter-
a ¼ 0:076x 0:22
mined by fetch as well as wind speed and wave spectra are ½25
found to be more peaked around the peak frequency than the g ¼ 3:3
Pierson–Moskowitz standard spectrum. For coastal wave pre- sa ¼ 0:07
diction, the most commonly used standard spectrum is the Joint sb ¼ 0:09
46 Waves
3 that net sediment transport is determined disproportionately
2
G ()
1 s = 12
0
– 0 
Figure 6 The form of the directional spread function, eqn [26], for
s ¼1, 3, 12, 30, and 100.
As an alternative to relating fp and a to wind conditions,
values of fp and H1/3 can be specified and the value of a chosen
so that the integrated area under the spectrum is equal to the
variance for this wave height ( ¼ (H1/3/4)2). The XBeach pro-
gram, for example, uses this approach and ensures the correct
variance by direct integration. Soulsby (1997) however, pro-
vides an analytical expression for a as a function of H1/3 and fp
when g¼ 3.3.
The directional distribution, G(y,f), of eqn [11] is also
frequently assumed to take the parameterized form:
1 ent. This arises because the orbital velocity at a given depth
Gðy,f Þ ¼ NðsÞcos2s ðy  y1 Þ
2 under a linear Airy waves depends upon the wavenumber or
where y1 is the dominant direction and s is a spread par-
ameter, with smaller values of s resulting in broader dir-
ectional spreads (Figure 6). N(s) is the normalization
factor to satisfy eqn [12] (see e.g., Tucker and Pitt, 2001).
In general, both s and y1 can be frequency-dependent. How-
ever, a typical default value of s would be 10 (the XBeach
default value) though it could be substantially higher where a
narrow directional spread is expected (e.g., Reniers et al.
2004). Generally, a single direction for y1 is used for un-
imodal spectra such as the JONSWAP spectrum or two sep-
arate values might be used for bimodal spectra, one for
lower-frequency swell and one for higher-frequency sea
waves.
10.3.2.2.1 Implications for modeling
When modeling sediment transport in coastal waters, it is
clearly simplest to model waves as sinusoids of a single fre-
quency and height (i.e., monochromatic waves) propagating
in a single direction. Waves of this kind simulate most closely
long-crested swell waves approaching a coast, where propa-
gation from a distant storm has created a narrow-banded
spectrum and refraction has narrowed the directional spread.
But what are the disadvantages of using such a simplified
description of waves? What is gained by using a more com-
plete, but more complex, description?
The fact that sediment transport depends upon the current
velocity to a relatively high power (see later chapters) means
by the faster velocities, and hence by the larger waves in the
varying conditions of a real spectrum of waves. Net transport
under a spectrum of waves is therefore likely to be larger than
would be expected from monochromatic waves of the same
overall energy. Energy equivalence would require a mono-
chromatic wave height (or wave velocity) equal to the root
mean square (rms) value of the equivalent spectrum of wave
heights (or velocities). One way to overcome this problem is
therefore to choose a monochromatic wave height or wave
velocity which is larger than the rms value. Ockenden and
Soulsby (1994) found that by using a monochromatic wave
velocity, Uw, given by:
 pffiffiffi
Uw ¼ 2Urms ¼ U1=3 ½27
where U1/3 is the ‘significant wave velocity’ and Tp the peak
period, net bedload transport under combined wave and
current conditions could be simulated to within 20%, except
at very low current speeds (o0.2 m s1). In contrast, Fredsøe
and Deigaard (1992) suggest that suspended load transport
under combined wave and current conditions, with mean
flows of 10% of wave rms velocities, is best modeled using
Hrms and the significant wave period, Ts. The appropriate en-
hancement of the rms characteristics therefore remains
uncertain.
A different but related factor is that, for waves in water of
intermediate depth or deep water, the wave orbital velocities
calculated from spectrum of wave heights and from the
equivalent monochromatic rms wave height will be differ-
½26
frequency as well as the wave height (eqns [5] and [6]).
For example, eqn [5] shows that the horizontal orbital vel-
ocity at the seabed increases with increasing frequency
due to the o term but decreases with increasing frequency
due to the attenuating effect of the 1/sinh(kh) term, with
the latter being dominant. Thus the orbital velocity from the
spectrum will be weighted toward lower frequencies, with
smaller depth attenuation compared to the monochromatic
equivalent. The result is that wave orbital velocities com-
puted from a spectrum are larger than from the equivalent
monochromatic wave. In shallow water, this effect dis-
appears because there is no frequency dependence between
wave height and velocity, but in deeper water the effect can
become large. Soulsby (1987) compared velocities from
JONSWAP spectra and from equivalent monochromatic
waves for a range of depths and peak frequencies, with the
results shown in Figure 7. His SANDCALC sand transport
algorithm (Soulsby, 1997) includes a correction for this
effect.
The directional spread of a real spectrum also has an in-
fluence on the sediment transport. Battjes (1972) pointed out
that, although a monochromatic wave and a wave spectrum
can have the same rms wave velocity, the velocity is entirely in
a single direction for a unidirectional wave whereas it is spread
into different directions for a directional spectrum of waves
and the magnitude of the velocity in the dominant wave dir-
ection is therefore reduced. Battjes (1972) shows that the
relative error in the square of the horizontal velocity in the

0.25
U w Tn
2H
0.2
U rms Tn
Hs
0.15
0.1
Monochromatic
0.05
0
0 0.1
Figure 7 Bottom velocities computed for monochromatic waves, with constant height H and period T, and for random waves with a JONSWAP
spectrum, using the rms wave height, Hrms, and the zero-crossing period, Tz. Depth dependence is included through the parameter Tn ¼(h/g)1/2.
Reproduced with permission from Soulsby, R., 1997. Dynamics of Marine Sands. Thomas Telford, London.
principle wave direction is given by:
nsin2 y
d¼
ncos2 y
where n is the ratio of wave group velocity and celerity (eqn
[8]), y is the difference of angle from the principle direction
and the double overbar represents integration of the dir-
ectional spectrum over both frequency and direction. For deep
water, Battjes (1972) finds that eqn [28] implies that velocity
can be overestimated by assuming unidirectional waves by as
much as 33% but the effect is likely to be smaller in shallow
water, where wave refraction is likely to result in a narrower
directional spread. In fact, Ockenden and Soulsby (1994)
found that the width of the directional spread had very little
effect on mean transport rates.
10.3.2.3 Shoaling and Breaking of Linear Waves
10.3.2.3.1 Wave propagation
Models of the propagation of linear waves through variable
water depths are clearly needed when modeling coastal
morphodynamics and such models can take a variety of
forms. One important distinction is between phase-averaging
and phase-resolving models, the former dealing with quan-
tities averaged over a wave period and the latter resolving
quantities within a wave period (including wave shape and
phase). Most linear models are phase-averaged whereas
phase-resolving models are more typical for nonlinear mod-
els, where wave shape is explicitly modeled (see Sec-
tion 10.3.3). In linear models, wave transformation over
variable depth is generally determined through consideration
of the phase-averaged wave energy and this will be the focus
of this section. Other strictly nonlinear features of coastal
waves such as wave-induced currents and changes of water
level are commonly considered by using the phase-averaged
‘radiation stress’ (Longuet-Higgins and Stewart, 1964) also
Waves 47
Tn= (h/g)1/2
Jonswap
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Tn /T1 Tn /T2
derived from linear wave models, and these will be briefly
considered in Sections 10.3.3 and 10.3.4.
As waves propagate into shallower water they refract and
travel in a direction increasingly perpendicular to local depth
½28
contours, diffract around obstructions which are small com-
pared to their wavelength, and change their height and their
speed of propagation. These processes for linear waves are well
described in many texts, in outline form, for example, in
Komar (1998) and in more mathematical detail, for example,
in Dean and Dalrymple (1984), Horikawa (1988) and
Svendsen (2005) amongst others. They will not therefore be
covered in detail here.
The simplest assumption to make about linear wave
propagation is that the slope of the seabed is small so that the
linear solutions for waves over a constant depth remain
valid. For wave height variations, a wave energy equation can
be used:
qE q
þ ðEcg Þ ¼  D ½29
q t q xa
where q /q xa denotes the horizontal gradient operator and D
is the rate of dissipation of wave energy by bottom friction or
wave breaking. If negative, D can also incorporate the rate of
increase in wave energy due to wave generation and transfer of
energy between wave components in a spectrum. A related
equation for wave energy in the presence of spatially varying
mean currents is given, for example, by Svendsen (2005, p.
317). In eqn [29], the values of E and cg are estimated using
linear theory (eqns [7] and [8]), so that it becomes effectively
an equation for the variation of wave height as a function of
wave period and water depth. For nearshore wave propagation
over short distances, dissipation by bottom friction and wave
generation by the wind are frequently assumed to be neg-
ligible so that, outside the surf zone, eqn [29] implies con-
servation of energy as the wave propagate.
If we assume steady conditions with no dissipation and
ignore wave refraction so that adjacent wave rays remain
48 Waves
parallel to each other as waves propagate into shallow water,
eqn [29] reduces to a requirement that the energy flux, Ecg,
remains constant as wave propagate into shallow water.
Equations [7], [9], and [10] can then be used to relate the wave
height in deep water, H0, to the wave height H in water of
depth h, in the form:
pffiffiffiffiffi
gT
H02 ¼ H2 gh ½30
4p
which in turn leads to Green’s law (Green, 1837)
g 1=4  T 1=2
H frequency. The ratio E/or, often denoted by N, is known as the
¼ ½31
H0 h 4p
Thus we expect wave height to increase with decreasing
water depth as h1/4.
The wave energy equation (eqn [29]) does not provide
information about changes of wave propagation direction due
to refraction and diffraction, so separate equations are re-
quired to model these effects. The simplest models assume
Snell’s law or use ray tracing techniques for refraction (see e.g.,
Dean and Dalrymple, 1984) but these techniques suffer from
predictions of infinite wave height at caustics, where waves
rays cross, a problem that can only be satisfactorily overcome
by including diffraction effects. Diffraction itself can also be
modeled using equations derived originally for light waves
(see Penney and Price, 1952) but these are generally only used
for diffraction around structures such as breakwaters (see
Section 4.9 in Dean and Dalrymple, 1984).
A better approach, and one now more widely used, is to
combine refraction and diffraction into a single equation.
Berkhoff (1972) developed an equation of this type by as-
suming that the slope of the seabed is small so that the depth
change over a wavelength can be ignored (i.e., small vaues of
hxL/h, where hx is the slope of the seabed in the direction of
wave propagation). The resulting ‘mild slope equation’ is
discussed in some detail by Dingemans (1997), and Berkhoff’s
(1972) equation has been extended by Li (1994) to include
wave reflection. Svendsen (2005) describes other develop-
ments of this equation to relax the mild slope assumption.
The original mild slope equation is difficult to solve numer-
ically and requires boundary conditions to be specified
around a closed domain, so its application has been limited. A
computationally simpler form of the mild slope equation,
known as the parabolic approximation, was devised by Radder
(1979). It has the disadvantage that it assumes that waves
propagate primarily in a single direction so is unable to deal
with reflected waves, but it has the advantage that it can be
solved progressively from a single boundary. This parabolic
approximation forms the basis of the refraction/diffraction
(REF/DIF) wave model of Kirby and Dalrymple (1994).
Svendsen (2005) describes more recent work to deal with
wider wave-directional spreads.
Where wave and mean currents occur together, as is typi-
cally the case in coastal waters, the energy eqn [29] can be
extended to include the exchange of energy between the
current and the waves and the change of wave energy flux
as waves travel on a current. The resulting equation is, how-
ever, complex and lacks the simplicity of a conservation
equation (e.g., Svendsen, 2005). To avoid this problem,
Bretherton and Garrett (1968) showed that for linear waves
without dissipation, the energy equation in the presence of a
current can be reformulated into a simple conservation
equation:
 
q E q   E
þ Ua þ cgra ¼0 ½32
q t or q xa or
where Ua is the component of the depth-mean current and cgra is
the relative wave group velocity, as seen by an observer traveling
with the current, both in the direction a, and or is the relative
‘wave action.’ This wave-action conservation equation includes
the effects of refraction but does not include diffraction effects.
Christoffersen and Jonsson (1980) and Christoffersen (1982)
modified the wave-action equation to allow for dissipation and a
similar equation allowing for wave dissipation and for wave
generation is used in the WAve Modelling project (WAM)
(Komen et al., 1994) and Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN)
(Booij et al., 1999; Ris et al., 1999) wave models. The XBeach
model for nearshore morphodynamics also uses a wave-action
equation. These models use the spectral form of the wave action:
Eðf ,yÞ
Nðf ,yÞ ¼ ½33
or ðf ,yÞ
which allows for the transformation of a wave spectrum as the
waves propagate.
10.3.2.3.2 Wave breaking and surf zone waves
The processes of wave breaking through the surf zone cannot,
of course, be simulated using the linear wave equations since
they assume very small (strictly, infinitesimally small) wave
heights. Nonlinear theories for wave breaking are discussed
in Section 10.3.3, but, rather surprisingly, addition of a
parameterization of wave breaking to a linear wave energy or
wave-action propagation equation is found to give results in
good agreement with observations, as we shall see. The wave
velocities near the bed and other properties such as wave ce-
lerity through the surf zone are also found to be modeled with
reasonable accuracy from wave heights by linear theory. In this
section we will therefore review the parameterizations which
are currently in use to determine breaking wave dissipation.
Linear wave theory, combined with conservation of energy,
predicts that waves traveling directly into shallow water,
without significant refraction, breaking or energy loss from
bottom friction, slow down and increase in height as the water
depth decreases (e.g., eqn [31]). Eventually the waves reach a
height at which breaking occurs, and there have been many
empirical studies that show that the form of wave breaking
depends upon the ratio of wave height to wavelength (the
wave steepness) and on the slope of the seabed (see e.g.,
Komar, 1998). For very shallow beaches, waves break as
spilling breakers, developing foaming rollers at the wave crests
as they propagate toward the shore; the wide surf zone on
these shallow beaches will generally contain several spilling
breakers across the surf zone. For very steep beaches, however,
waves typically form surging breakers, where the wave col-
lapses from the base, which surges up the shore with relatively

little surface foam; in these cases only one wave breaks at a
time and the surf zone is narrow and hard to define. For
intermediate beach slopes, waves typically break as plunging
breakers, whose crests overtake the main wave shape and
plunge downward in front of the wave, creating regions of
high turbulent energy and air-filled foam. Several non-
dimensional parameters have been suggested to define the
conditions under which these different types of breaker occur
but the most commonly used is the ‘surf similarity parameter’
or ‘Iribarren number’ (Miche, 1944; Irribarren and Nogales,
1949; Battjes, 1974):
 1=2
H
Waves 49
as for solitary waves. There is, therefore, theoretical justifi-
cation for g to depend also on the wave steepness, H/L, except
where the breaking depth is already shallow water. Empiric-
ally, the laboratory data also suggests that the value of g in-
creases with beach slope, tan b, a suggestion consistent with
the idea that wave breaking takes time to develop, allowing a
wave to travel into shallower water before breaking as the
beach slope increases.
Goda (1970) analyzed laboratory data from eight sources
and for four different beach slopes and suggested a breaking
criterion based on the deep water wavelength, L0, and hence
directly related to the wave period (eqn [7]) of the form:

x ¼ tan b ½34
L0
where b is the beach slope angle and L0 is the wavelength in
deep water. H is usually taken as the wave height in deep water
but sometimes the wave height at the break point is used
(though strictly in this case the equivalent nondimensional
number is x/O(tan b); see, e.g., Huntley et al., 1977). Fol-
lowing Galvin (1968) and others, it is generally agreed that
surging or collapsing breakers occur for values of x greater
than 2 and the transition from spilling to plunging breakers
occurs as x increases above 0.4.
For any breaker type, the first requirement when intro-
ducing wave breaking into a linear wave model is a parameter
that determines the critical wave height at which breaking
begins. The simplest criterion for wave breaking is to assume
that waves break when ratio of wave height, H, to water depth,
h, reaches a given constant value, g (breaker index or breaker
criterion), where wave height becomes the breaker height, Hb
and the depth the breaker depth, hb:
Hb
¼g ½35
hb
McCowan (1894) found that the maximum height for
solitary waves gives g ¼ 0.78 and this is the value frequently
used for regular breaking waves though, as Svendsen (2005)
pointed out, more recent work shows that the theoretical value
of g should be 0.8261 and in any case the peaked but sym-
metrical shape of a solitary wave of maximum height does not
resemble real breakers with steeper forward faces. Laboratory
data using regular waves show g varying from less than 0.5 to
more than 1.5 (e.g., Goda, 2007).
Miche (1951) showed theoretically that the height at which
a monochromatic wave of height H and wavelength L will
break in water of constant depth h is given by:
 
Hb 2ph
¼ 0:142 tanh ½36
L L
which, in the deep water limit, reduces to
Hb ¼ 0:142L ½37
thus limiting the wave steepness, and in the shallow water the
limit becomes
Hb ¼ 0:78hb ½38
Hb hb  
¼ 0:17 1  exp 1:5p 1 þ 15ðtan bÞ4=3 ½39
L0 L0
where the subscript b denotes conditions at the break point.
Goda (2007) reanalyzed these data and modified this equa-
tion, replacing the multiplier of 15 in front of the beach slope
parameter with 11. Where hb/L0{1, eqn [39] reduces to:
g ¼ 0:8 ð1 þ 15ðtan bÞ4=3 Þ ½40
The situation becomes more complex when considering
random waves on natural beaches and a number of studies
have used g to define breaking wave heights throughout
the surf zone and not just at the onset of breaking. Thornton
and Guza (1982) defined g as Hrms/h and found a value
of 0.42 in the inner surf zone. Soulsby (1997) suggested a
value of 0.55 for H1/3/h for a mild beach slope. However,
there is considerable uncertainty about the appropriate de-
pendence of the breaker index on beach slope and on
the wavelength or wave steepness. While eqn [36] suggests no
dependence on hb/L in deep water (reducing to eqn [37])
and only a slowly increasing dependence as water depth
decreases, the field measurements of Raubenheimer et al.
(1996) and Sénéchal et al. (2001) both suggest a positive
linear dependence on tan b /(hb/L) in intermediate
water depths, albeit with significantly different slopes and
intercepts. Ruessink et al. (2003), in stark contrast, found a
direct dependence on hb/L and no dependence on
beach slope. However, it is important to distinguish between
different definitions of g. Although Raubenheimer et al.
(1996) and Sénéchal et al. (2001) used Hrms/h, Ruessink
et al. (2003) used Hb/h, where Hb is the maximum wave
height assumed to be possible due to breaking in a varying
incident wave field, with waves smaller than Hb remaining
unbroken. Overall there is no consensus about the best cri-
terion to define the onset of breaking and different models use
different forms, often treating g as a tuning parameter in
model calibration.
Once breaking, the basis of parameterized surf zone
models is the assumption of a steady state version of the en-
ergy flux balance eqn [29], in the form:
q ðEcg Þ
¼ D ½41
qx
where E is the energy of the wave field, cg is the wave group
velocity, x is the cross-shore direction, positive onshore, and D
is now the time-averaged energy dissipation rate due to wave
50 Waves
breaking and bed friction; both E and cg are generally esti-
mated from Hrms and the water depth and wave period using
linear wave theory (eqns [7] and [8]). Note that eqn [41] does
not include reflected wave energy but this is not expected to be
significant omission except on steep beaches with surging or
collapsing breakers.
To parameterize D, it is usual to consider it as the product
of the dissipation rate associated with a breaking wave of given
height, and the fraction of waves which are breaking at any
given point in the surf zone. Battjes and Janssen (1978;
hereafter BJ78) were the first to apply these ideas to the
transformation of a random wave field through the surf zone
based upon a stochastic approach. To estimate the fraction of
breaking waves, they assumed a Rayleigh distribution of wave
heights outside the surf zone (see Section 10.3.2.1). BJ78 as-
sumed that in surf zone, this distribution is truncated at a
maximum wave height, Hb determined by a wave breaking
criterion. The fraction of breaking waves is then the pro-
portion of waves in the Rayleigh distribution that have heights
above Hb (Figure 8). All of these breaking waves were as-
sumed to have the height Hb and the dissipation of energy by
each breaking wave was modeled by applying a bore model
based on Stoker (1957). The breaking criterion used by BJ78
was a modified version of eqn [36]:
 
H g 2ph
¼ 0:142 tanh ½42
L 0:88L
allowing for a variable g. BJ78 used g¼ 0.88 in eqn [42], but an
alternative form dependent on the offshore wave steepness
was subsequently suggested by Battjes and Stive (1985) and is
1 included rollers and, like TG83, assumed that the wave heights
HR · p(h)
h = Hs
0 In a test of the BJ78, TG83, LBT96, BHBV98, and four other
0 1 2 3
h /H R
Figure 8 Breaking wave height distributions. The incident wave
height is assumed to be Rayleigh distributed and the vertical line
shows an example of the critical wave height for breaking. Different
models make different assumptions about how the breaking wave
energy dissipation is distributed. BJ78 assume that all breaking
waves are at the critical height; TG83 and LBT96 assume that
breaking wave heights are distributed across the Raleigh distribution,
with a weighting toward higher waves based on field observations;
BHBV98 assume that breaking wave heights have the range of
heights under the Rayleigh distribution to the right of the critical
height.
now more widely used:
 
H0
g ¼ 0:5 þ 0:4 tanh 33 ½43
L0
where H0 is the rms wave height in deep water and L0 is the
deep water wavelength associated with the peak frequency.
Thornton and Guza (1983; hereafter TG83) used a related
approach but, based upon field observations, assumed that
the proportion of breaking waves is distributed across the
entire height range rather than centered at the maximum
height, with an empirical weighting toward higher waves.
One problem with the initial parameterization of BJ78 and
TG83 is that they assume that breaking is directly and in-
stantaneously related to the local depth whereas in reality wave
breaking persists beyond the initial point of breaking. This
effect is particularly important on the shoreward side of a
barred beach where wave breaking persists over the bar crest
and into the trough. Initial empirical corrections to account
for this effect included setting the effective depth used in the
breaking criterion as a weighted average of the depth seaward
from the local depth (Roelvink et al., 1995) or defining a
‘transition zone’ with cross-shore length defined as a function
of the local surf similarity parameter (Southgate and Nairn,
1993). However, these ideas have generally been superseded
by direct modeling of the roller of foaming water on the front
face of a breaker, a concept introduced by Svendsen (1984a, b)
and Roelvink and Stive (1989). In roller models, the energy of
the breaking wave is assumed to go into the roller where it
remains locked to the incoming wave, traveling at its phase
velocity, and dissipating by friction at the interface between the
roller and the underlying wave. Lippmann et al. (1996; here-
after LBT96) added the roller energy flux to a surf zone model
similar to TG83. Baldock et al. (1998; hereafter BHBV98) also
in the surf zone remained Rayleigh distributed, but they only
integrated dissipation rates over heights exceeding Hb, ob-
taining another expression for the fraction of breaking.Their
scheme has recently been modified by Janssen and Battjes
(2007) to remove a possible singularity in shallow water.
With these parameterizations of D, eqn [41] can be solved
sequentially from offshore to the shoreline (or inner surf
zone) over arbitrary depth variations to give the mean (or
significant) wave height and the fraction of breaking waves as
functions of distance from the shoreline for given offshore
wave conditions. An example of wave height predictions for
field conditions is given in Figure 9.
closely related models against data from laboratory and field
measurements, Rattanapitikon (2007) found that all of the
models provided reasonable predictions of wave height
throughout the surf zone, with rms errors typically around
10%. All of the models contained empirically derived, nu-
merical constants (between 2 and 5 depending on the model,
mainly associated with the breaking criterion) but, en-
couragingly, only modest improvements were found when
these constants were optimized away from their default values.
The original Battjes and Janssen (1978) model, combined
with the Battjes and Stive (1985) (eqn [43]) values of g, was
found to give the best overall fit. In a similar test, Apostos et al.
 Waves 51

W(H) from eqn [21]

0.75

Hrms (m)
0.5

0.25

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300

−1
Elevation (m)

−2

−3

−4

−5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Cross-shore distance (m)
Figure 9 A comparison between predicted and observed wave heights, Hrms, near to and within the surf zone. The measurements are from the
same location and time as the data shown in Figure 4. The asterisks are the measurements, the dashed, and the dash-dot lines show predictions
made using the roller model of Lippmann et al. (1996) and the model of Thornton and Guza (1983), respectively. Reproduced from Lippmann,
T.C., Brookins, A.H., Thornton, E.B., 1996. Wave energy transformation on natural profiles. Coastal Engineering 27, 1–20.

(2008) investigated nine models (including the four models
named above and closely related modifications) and com-
pared predicted shoaling and breaking wave heights with
observations from six field sites, including barred and non-
barred beaches. They focused particularly on the influence of
the choice of breaker index, g. They found that the use of the
default values for each model resulted in median rms errors
for wave height of between 10% and 20%, while tuning the
free parameter in each model reduced the error by about 50%.
They also found that although no tuned model produced the
best predictions for all field data, a parameterization of g in
terms of the offshore wave height reduced the error for at least
some of the data.
Although the different models can each be tuned to match
observed wave height transformation through the surf zone,
they produce very different predictions of the fraction of waves
which are breaking. Figure 10, from Huntley et al. (2009),
shows an example based upon a deep water rms wave height
of 1 m and peak period of 10 s, where the breaker index, g, has
been chosen for each model (with other parameters set to
their default values) so that the wave height predictions closely
match each other. The predicted fraction of breaking varies
widely between models and can exceed 1. This uncertainty is
recognized (e.g., Stive and de Vriend, 1994) and leads to the
conclusion that the fraction of breaking should be treated as a
tuneable model parameter rather than a realistic physical
characteristic. However, it does highlight the current limited
understanding of the processes of wave breaking and feeds
concerns that models optimized for wave height may not best
simulate other features of surf zone hydrodynamics, including
those more relevant to sediment transport.
10.3.2.4 Currently Available Linear Models
Despite the remaining uncertainties, linear models form the
foundation of many open source, nearshore hydrodynamic
models. The widely used SWAN model, described by Booij
et al. (1999), is based on the wave action eqn [32] and in-
cludes a spectral version of the wave breaking model of Battjes
and Janssen (1978) due to Eldeberky and Battjes (1995), to
allow for breaking of directional wave spectra. The model also
includes nonlinear interactions between wave components,
wave refraction, blocking and reflection by opposing currents,
generation by wind and a range of other important processes.
The MIKE 21 SW model from the Danish Hydraulics Institute
is a similar spectral wave-action model based on work by
Komen et al. (1994) and Sørensen et al. (2004) and also uses
the Eldeberky and Battjes (1995) breaking wave model.
A particularly versatile model for nearshore and surf zone
modeling, specifically designed to simulate erosional con-
ditions and shoreline setback by dune slumping, is the XBeach
model (Roelvink et al., 2009; http://public.deltares.nl/display/
XBEACH/). The wave model in XBeach combines the wave-
action equation based on the HISWA model of Holthuijsen
52 Waves
1.4
rms wave height (m); fraction of breaking waves
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 1
Figure 10 Predictions of shoaling and breaking of waves of 1 m deep water height and period 10 s propagating over a beach slope of 0.01, for
the four breaking wave models described in the text. The curves reducing toward zero as the depth decreases show the modeled rms wave
heights and curves increasing as depth decreases show the fraction of breaking waves. Solid line: Thornton and Guza (1983); Dashed line:
Battjes and Janssen (1978); Dashed-dotted line: Baldock et al. (1998); Dotted line: Lippmann et al. (1996).
et al. (1989) with a roller energy equation after Reniers et al.
(2004). It also provides several options for breaker dissipation
and a range of possible wave inputs at the outer boundary,
including monochromatic or bichromatic regular waves,
waves from JONSWAP spectra or from spectra externally
generated, for example, using the SWAN model. The wave
model is coupled to nonlinear shallow water equations
(NSWE) to drive mean flows and motion at infragravity fre-
quencies (see Section 10.3.4) and an advection–diffusion
model for sediment transport driving a morphodynamic
model for bed level changes. Many of the options in XBeach
need further verification against observations and it is there-
fore primarily a research tool, but it does encapsulate the state
of the art in predictive beach modeling.
For modeling coastal morphodynamics, linear wave mod-
els must be coupled to models that drive mean flows and
flows varying on timescales of wave groups and longer, as in
the XBeach model. These current models are generally based
on the NSWE and are driven by radiation stresses computed
from the linear wave model. Subsequent sediment transport
components of these morphodynamic models typically also
use the wave energies from the linear model to provide wave
stirring. Examples include Reniers et al. (2004) and Ruessink
et al. (2007). These developments are described in other
chapters of this book.
10.3.3 Nonlinear Waves
10.3.3.1 Introduction
The previous section has shown that linear wave theory can be
used with surprising accuracy to model the basic features of
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Depth (m)
nearshore waves such as wave heights, orbital velocities, and
propagation speeds. For wave spectra, integrated character-
istics averaged over many wave cycles, such as wave energy, the
variance of the nearbed orbital velocity, and depth-averaged
radiation stresses are also modeled to a useful degree of ac-
curacy. Empirical expressions to remove energy due to wave
breaking allow linear theory to be extended even into the surf
zone, again with some degree of accuracy. For sediment
transport prediction and morphodynamics, linear theory can
therefore be used to model magnitudes of wave-induced bed
stresses and the stirring effect of waves in putting sediment
into motion (cf. Bagnold, 1963; Inman and Bagnold, 1963).
There are important wave characteristics that cannot be
modeled using linear wave theory. In particular, the readily
observed changes of the elevation profile of waves as they
propagate into shallow water, with the development of peaked
crests and broadened troughs leading to steepened forward
faces and shallower back slopes (Figure 11) cannot be mod-
eled using linear theory. These changes of wave shape are very
important for sediment transport modeling because they
break the symmetry between the forward and backward pat-
tern of wave orbital velocities. Flows under peaked wave crests
are faster, but of shorter duration, than reverse flows under
wave troughs, and this tends to create a net sediment trans-
port, averaged over a wave cycle, in the direction of wave
propagation. This effect is generally characterized by the
skewness (Sk) of the wave orbital velocity, which is the average
of the instantaneous velocity to the third power
Sk ¼ u3 ½44
where the overbar denotes wave averaging (note that this
definition differs from the usual statistical definition of
 Waves 53

Sinusoidal wave
Real wave
MWL

(a)

(b)

Figure 11 Changes of profile as waves propagate into shallow water. (a) Shows the development of a peaked crest and flattened trough,
leading to skewness. Reproduced with permission from Figure 8.1.1 in Svendsen, I.A., 2005. Introduction to Nearshore Hydrodynamics. World
Scientific, Singapore. (b) Shows the development of a steeper front face as the wave propagates further into shallow water, leading to
asymmetry or acceleration skewness.

skewness, which would be a normalized version of Sk ob-
tained by dividing by the velocity variance to the power 3/2).
The skewness of eqn [44] appears, for example, as the driver of
bedload tranport in the theory of Baillard and Inman (1981).
Steepening of the forward face of a wave relative to the
back face, generally known as ‘asymmetry’ to distinguish it
from skewness, is also important for sediment transport be-
cause it breaks the symmetry of the accelerations under the
wave, with higher, shorter duration, accelerations in the dir-
ection of wave propagation and milder, longer, accelerations
in the reverse direction. These accelerations are directly related
to the horizontal pressure gradients that influence sediment
transport (e.g., Bagnold, 1963; Hanes and Huntley, 1986;
Sleath, 1994) and its asymmetry under nonlinear waves is
usually characterized by the ‘acceleration skewness,’ As:
first we consider a context for the different ways in which the
models relax the strict requirements of linear theory.
10.3.3.2 Overview of Theories
Linear wave theory requires that the height of a wave, H, is
much smaller than the water depth, h,
H
d¼ {1 ½46
h
so that the surface boundary conditions can be applied at the
still water surface. However, a closer look at the implications
of relaxing this requirement, using perturbation theory
(see the discussion of Stokes’ theory below), reveals another
parameter which must also be much smaller than one:

A s ¼ ut 3 ½45 Hk cosh khðcosh 2kh þ 2Þ

3 {1 ½47
4 2sinh kh
where ut is the acceleration of the horizontal velocity in the
direction of wave propagation. The influence of acceleration For small water depths, this parameter (neglecting nu-
skewness on sediment transport is parameterized by, for ex- merical constants) reduces to:
ample, Nielsen (1992) and Hoefel and Elgar (2003).    
Terrile et al. (2009) provided a recent demonstration of the H L 3 H L 2
Ur  ¼ {1 ½48
importance of these skewness and asymmetry effects for bed L h h h
stresses under waves, based on laboratory measurements.
Austin et al. (2009) used field measurements to assess the where Ur is known as the Ursell number. Thus the ratio of
relative importance of onshore velocity skewness, asymmetry water depth to wavelength:
(acceleration skewness), and bed-ventilation on the cross-shore h
suspended sediment flux on planar and barred beach faces m¼ ½49
L
during medium-energy wave conditions (Hs ¼ 0.2–1.6 m),
finding that acceleration skewness is the dominant factor. also plays a role in nonlinear extensions from linear wave
Other important features of coastal waves such as the theory. Note that, since in shallow water, m becomes sub-
Stokes drift, a steady flow in the direction of wave propa- stantially smaller than one, the requirement of a small Ursell
gation, are also not included in the linear theory. Considerable number in principle places a severe constraint on d, and hence
effort therefore continues to be devoted to the development of on the wave height, if linear wave theory is to be valid.
nonlinear models for waves that can be implemented in Values of the three parameters, d, m, and Ur (¼ d/m2),
models for coastal sediment transport and morphodynamics. specify the nature of any nonlinear wave model for shallow
In the following sections we review some of these models but water. However, they have distinct physical influences. The
54 Waves
wave height parameter d determines the strength of the non-
linearity of a wave and generally causes a steepening of the
wave profile which eventually can lead to breaking. The
wavelength parameter m, however, determines the degree to
which sinusoidal waves with different wavelengths, contrib-
uting to a steepened wave profile, propagate at different speeds
and hence ‘disperse’ or smooth the steepening shape. The
Ursell number controls the balance between these terms. An
Ursell number of one, for example, allows the formation of a
nonlinear wave of constant form over a flat bed (the solitary
wave), where the steepening influence of d is exactly offset by
the dispersive effect of m.
The family of nonlinear wave models can be classified ac-
cording to appropriate ranges for d, m, and Ur. In the following
sections some of these models are reviewed.
10.3.3.2.1 Stokes waves
Stokes (1847) developed one of the first extensions of linear
theory, using a perturbation expansion based on eqn [47]. The
mathematical details of Stokes’ theory can be found in Dean
and Dalrymple (1984) and Dingemans (1997).
In shallow water, Stokes’ theory involves a perturbation
expansion in the Ursell number which must therefore be small
for the perturbation expansion to converge rapidly. It is not,
therefore, an efficient model for nearshore waves of finite
amplitude. However, in intermediate and deep water, where m
is of the order of one, the perturbation expansion becomes
essentially an expansion in H/L. Taken to the fifth order in the
perturbation parameter, the theory has been widely used for
offshore wave modeling (see Fenton, 1985, 1990). Cokelet
(1977) took the expansion to very high order to study waves at
and close to the maximum height.
Stokes’ theory computes the amplitudes of harmonics of
the fundamental sinusoidal wave. These harmonics are forced
waves, in the sense that they propagate at a phase speed forced
by the fundamental wave rather than the free wave speed and
they are therefore phase-locked to the fundamental. The
result is a wave that is peaked at the wave crest and flattened at
the trough, with a significant elevation (and velocity) skew-
ness as is frequently observed in nature (Figure 11(a)). The
theory also predicts that the motion of the water under the
wave is not a completely closed orbit but has a net displace-
ment in the direction of wave propagation, the Stokes drift.
Another important result from higher-order Stokes models is
that, at third order and above, the dispersion relation, and
hence the phase velocity, involves a dependence on the wave
height as well as the wavelength, increasing as the wave height
increases.
Although Stokes’ theory is generally not used for modeling
nearshore waves, it can be used as a test of the offshore limit of
inshore models. For example, the offshore limits of the
Boussinesq models (discussed below) have been assessed by
comparison with Stokes’ model predictions (Svendsen, 2005).
Li (2008) also uses the velocity profiles of Stokes waves as a
basis for equations, which extend into both shallow and
deep water.
It is worth noting in passing that an alternative approach
used to model high waves in intermediate water depths is the
stream function approach developed by Dean (1965) and
Rienecker and Fenton (1981). It involves writing the stream
function solution to the fundamental irrotational Laplace
equation (described in Dean and Dalrymple, 1984) as a
Fourier series of N harmonics whose amplitudes are deter-
mined by requiring that the surface and bottom boundary
conditions are satisfied at N þ 1 points from the wave crest to
the trough. The solution provides a surface wave profile and
associated depth-dependent orbital velocities. In principle this
technique can provide results which are accurate to any de-
sired level by choosing a large enough value for N, so it has
been used to assess the accuracy of other models and to pro-
vide predictions of the impact of high waves on offshore
structures. It has not been widely used to model waves in
shallow water, though a form of stream function theory was
used by Reniers et al. (2004) to estimate skewness and
asymmetry from a linear wave energy model.
10.3.3.2.2 Boussinesq theories
In shallow water, m becomes too small for the Stokes’ theory
expansion to work well and it is here that the equations first
developed by Boussinesq (1872) become more appropriate.
For Boussinesq models, both m and d are assumed to be o1
but with UrE1. The assumption of small m means that these
models are sometimes known as long wave theories, since the
wavelength is larger than the depth. Allowing Ur to approach
unity also allows modeling of shallow-water waves of realistic
amplitude. For waves of constant form, the Boussinesq equa-
tions lead to the so-called cnoidal waves, of which the simplest
is the solitary wave. However, the equations also encompass
the possibility of waves whose shape evolves as they propa-
gate, so they form the basis of a wide range of nonlinear
coastal models.
The basic equations for Boussinesq waves were given in a
seminal paper by Peregrine (1967). In terms of the depth-
averaged velocity, u, the horizontal momentum equation in
the direction of wave propagation, x, takes the form:
qu qu q Z 1 2 q 3u
þu þg ¼ h ½50
qt qx q x 3 q 2 xq t
and the depth-integrated continuity equation is:
q Z q ½ðh þ ZÞu
þ ¼0 ½51
qt qx
The second term on the left of eqn [50] and the addition of
Z to h in eqn [51] result from retaining terms of order d. These
terms thus represent to first order of the nonlinearity due to
the finite amplitude of the waves. The term on the right of
eqn [50] results from retaining terms up to order m2, and
represents the frequency dispersion effect described earlier.
Higher-order term of O(dm2 and m4) and above are not in-
cluded in these equations.
Since the work of Peregrine (1967), Boussinesq techniques
to model the propagation of waves in shallow water have
continued to develop. Svendsen (2005) provides a detailed
overview of these developments. One major direction of work
has been to extend the model into deeper water, with larger
values of m. It is well known that different forms of the
Boussinesq equation result from the use of different wave
velocities; the depth-averaged velocity (eqns [50] and [51]),

the velocity at the seabed, the velocity at the mean water level
and the instantaneous depth-averaged discharge have all been
used. However, these different versions of the equations have
different properties as m increases above about 0.1, with the
depth-averaged velocity version, for example, showing rapid
divergence from the expected linear or Stokes forms of the
phase speed. These problems have been addressed by multi-
plying the dispersion terms by a factor tuned to give the best fit
to offshore phase speeds or by choosing an optimized depth
for the reference velocity used in the equations (see e.g.,
Svendsen, 2005). These and related developments mean that
the restriction on m is now essentially eliminated. For example,
Madsen et al. (2002, 2003) provided a formulation that claims
to be accurate for simulating wave heights and velocities to
values of m up to at least 2, Lynett and Liu (2004) demon-
strated a multilayer approach accurate to at least m¼ 6 and
Bingham and Agnon (2005) derived Boussinesq-type equa-
tions that are acceptably accurate for any value of m. Thus
modern Boussinesq theories can extend offshore essentially
indefinitely.
There have been similar developments to relax the re-
quirement of small d. Serre (1953) derived a Boussinesq
equation that retains all terms involving d and Wei et al.
(1995) derived an equation set which retains terms to third
order in d and to second order in m. The equations of Madsen
et al. (2002, 2003) combine the advantages of these devel-
opments and the improved methods of dealing with large
values of m to produce equations which are able to model
nonlinear wave propagation from depths with mE2 to the
point of wave breaking.
The Boussinesq equations have also been extended to two
horizontal directions and to varying depth. Extension to 2D is
straightforward (at least in principle) but allowing the depth
to vary is more complex. For simplicity, it is generally assumed
that the slope of the seabed is small (O(m2)) so that the only
modification to the horizontal momentum equation based on
depth-averaged velocity (e.g., eqn [50]) is the addition of a
term that is linear in the bottom slope and proportional to the
local depth (Peregrine, 1967; Svendsen, 2005).
Another vital development of Boussinesq modeling is to
extend the equations into the surf zone where waves are
breaking. The Boussinesq equations do not predict breaking
because they are based on conserving momentum flux, in
contrast to the wave breaking process, which involves en-
hancing the momentum flux compared to an equivalent
nonbreaking wave (Svendsen, 2005). As a Boussinesq wave
steepens, the dispersive effects strengthen and eventually limit
the steepness of the wave and prevent breaking. As with linear
wave theory it is necessary to add an additional physical
process to simulate wave breaking and also to provide a cri-
terion to determine when this process begins, for example, in
the form of a limiting wave steepness or a ratio of wave height
to water depth. However, we cannot simply use the empirical
energy-based breaking conditions used in linear wave models
since the Boussinesq equations are phase-resolving and based
on an instantaneous momentum flux balance rather than a
wave-averaged energy balance. Instead, three different ap-
proaches have been developed.
The first approach, introduced by Zelt (1991) and Karambas
and Koutitas (1992), adds a momentum term in the form of an
Waves 55
eddy viscosity. Kennedy et al. (2000) were able to demonstrate
that this technique adequately reproduces wave height decay
and setup for regular waves breaking on planar beaches. The
second, more physically based, approach uses the concept of a
turbulent roller riding on the front face of a breaking wave, first
introduced by Svendsen (1984a, b). The additional term in the
momentum equation is related to the thickness of the roller
and to the mean front slope of the breaking wave. This is the
most widely used approach and has been further developed by,
amongst others, Madsen et al. (1997a) and also applied to the
propagation of irregular waves (Madsen et al.,1997b; Ozanne
et al., 2000; Bayram and Larson, 2000). The third and most
recent approach, known as the vorticity model, divides the
motion under breaking waves into an irrotational part similar
to the nonbreaking solution and a rotational part resulting
from breaking which provides the additional momentum flux.
This approach was first suggested by Veeramony and Svendsen
(2000) and has been further developed by Briganti et al. (2004)
and Musumeci et al. (2005).
Cienfuegos et al. (2010) comment that none of these ap-
proaches has yet shown a clear superiority over the others. The
roller approach has the advantage of a clearer physical basis
but its numerical implementation is complex and it relies on
at least five different tuning parameters. The vorticity model
provides the most detailed description of the flow within a
breaking wave, predicting a strong vertical gradient in the flow
speed under a roller which is in better agreement with ob-
servations than other approaches. However, it is also compu-
tationally complex. The eddy viscosity approach is the least
satisfactory as a description of the physics but has the ad-
vantage of greatest simplicity. In the context of our currently
very limited knowledge of the appropriate physical scaling of
parameters in the breaking process, all three approaches
continue to be used by different researchers.
An example of comparison between measured and mod-
eled wave profiles, from Cienfuegos et al. (2010), for regular
shore-normal waves in a laboratory flume up to and into the
surf zone, is shown in Figure 12. The model reproduces well
the changes in profile shape, from a predominantly skewed
shape outside the surf zone to an asymmetric shape as it
breaks and then evolves through the surf zone. It must,
however, be emphasized that this encouraging result deals
only with regular, shore-normal laboratory waves.
Extension of Boussinesq models to wave breaking in two
dimensions began with Pruser (1991) and Kabiling and Sato
(1993) who used an eddy viscosity approach. Models using
the roller concept have been developed by Sørensen et al.
(1994; 1998) and Madsen et al. (1997a). A major advantage
of these 2D models is that they can reproduce wave-induced
nearshore currents and long waves (see next section) directly
because they intrinsically include the nonlinear forcing re-
sponsible for these phenomena. This contrasts with linear
models, which typically involve a decoupled process where
wave models are first used to estimate nonlinear parameters,
for example, the radiation stresses, which are then used as
drivers in a separate current model. As pointed out by Sør-
ensen et al. (1998), this decoupling means that interaction
between waves and the induced currents, directly included in a
Boussinesq model, requires an iterative process for linear
models. First attempts to include wave–current interaction in a
56 Waves

 − b = −2.4 m  − b = 2.4 m
15 15

10 10
 − − (cm)

5 5

0 0

−5 −5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
 − b = 0.0 m  − b = 3.6 m
15 15

10 10
 − − (cm)

5 5

0 0

−5 −5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
 − b = 1.2 m  − b = 4.8 m
15 15

10 10
 − − (cm)

5 5

0 0

−5 −5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s) Time (s)
Figure 12 Comparisons between measured and Boussineq-modeled wave profile shapes for regular laboratory waves propagating up a plane
1:35 slope. The breakpoint is at x–xb ¼ 0 so the top left-hand figure is outside the breakpoint and the remaining figures track through the surf
zone down the left-hand side and then down the right hand side. The solid lines and dashed lines are the measured and modeled profiles,
respectively. Reproduced from Cienfuegos, R., Barthelemy, E., Bonneton, P., 2010. Wave-breaking model for Boussinesq-type equations including
roller effects in the mass conservation equations. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering 136(1), 10–26, with permission
from ASCE.

Boussinesq model were made by Yoon and Liu (1989). The
model of Madsen et al. (1997a) provided solutions for weak
currents and Chen et al. (1998) extended the model to cur-
rents as strong as the wave phase velocity, with encouraging
agreement with analytical calculations.
The Boussinesq equations can be solved in the frequency
domain, assuming solutions in the form of a given number of
sinusoidal frequency components (e.g., Kaihatu, 2003), but
the method requires a large number of components for ir-
regular waves and, for breaking waves, involves the unresolved
problem of partitioning energy dissipation from breaking into
the different frequency components. The equations are
therefore most commonly solved in the time domain, with a
time-varying boundary condition propagating wave motion
into the computational domain from an outer boundary. This
method of solution is highly versatile, allowing, for example,
directionally spread irregular waves to propagate over variable
bathymetry in a 2D model, as in Sørensen et al. (1998). Their
model for waves and currents over a rip channel and in the
vicinity of a breakwater shows encouraging semiquantitative
agreement with laboratory wave basin observations (Hamm,
1992; Mory and Hamm, 1997; see Figure 13).
How do these Boussinesq models compare quantitatively
with observed wave characteristics in coastal waters? In a re-
view, Ozanne (1998; see also Ozanne et al., 2000) found that
most tests of Boussinesq models have focused on predictions
of the wave heights of shoaling and breaking waves and on
mean water levels (wave setup), with relatively little attention
paid to parameters of most importance for sediment transport
prediction such as wave velocities and velocity skewness and
asymmetry. For example, Kirby and Kaihatu (1996), Madsen
et al. (1997b) and Koefoed-Hansen and Rassmussen (1998)
considered only elevation skewness and asymmetry, albeit
generally with good results, and Elgar et al. (1997) found
similar good agreement for irregular waves in the field. As a
recent example, Cienfuegos et al. (2010) compared predictions
of a fully nonlinear Boussinesq model which modeled
breaking using a modified eddy viscosity technique, with la-
boratory measurements using a variety of regular and solitary
waves. They find encouraging quantitative agreement for wave
heights and elevation skewness and asymmetry. For example,
for regular spilling breakers, the rms errors, averaged over the
whole shoaling and breaking domain, for elevation, skewness,
and asymmetry were 8%, 15%, and 22%, respectively. Their
model requires fitting five empirical parameters but an en-
couraging result is that a single parameter set can successfully
model a range of different spilling breaker conditions. The
same parameter set cannot successfully model plunging
breakers because of the need for a higher critical value for the
breaking wave slope and a more intense and concentrated loss

(a)
(b)
Figure 13 Comparison between modeled (a) and observed (b) wave
diffraction in the vicinity of a laboratory breakwater. Reproduced
from Sørensen, O.R., Schäffer, H.A., Madsen, P.A., 1998. Surf zone
dynamics simulated by a Boussinesq type model. Part III:
wave-induced horizontal nearshore circulations. Coastal Engineering
33, 155–176.
of energy by breaking, but even for plunging breakers the
conditions in the inner surf zone are reasonably well simu-
lated by the model.
Amongst the few assessments of velocity predictions is the
work of Bosboom et al. (1996) who compared measured and
predicted velocity time series. Bosboom et al. (1997) also
tested model predictions of second and third velocity mo-
ments against laboratory data for long waves and short waves
in the laboratory propagating over complex bathymetry and
found better agreement for the long waves. Ozanne et al.
(2000) compared velocity and velocity moment predictions
measured in large-scale laboratory experiments with predic-
tions using a weakly nonlinear Boussinesq model with wave
breaking due to Madsen et al. (1991), Madsen and Sørensen
(1992) and Schäffer et al. (1993). They found that the pre-
dictions of the higher moments were particularly sensitive
to the assumed critical wave front slope used to trigger
wave breaking but they achieved fair agreement between
measured and predicted higher-order moments and undertow
(Figure 14), despite over-estimation of the depth-averaged
velocities in the cases with regular waves. As expected, the
scatter increased with increasing Ursell number (above about
10), due to poorer modeling of the influence of higher
harmonics.
Despite these encouraging results, the fragmented develop-
ment of Boussinesq models has resulted in a similarly frag-
mented approach to model testing. Surprisingly, Dingemans
Waves 57
(1997) appears to have conducted the only study specifically
aimed at assessing a number of models (in his case, 7) against
a single data set.
Simulations of sediment transport and morphodynamics
using Boussinesq models remain rare. Rakha et al. (1997)
combined the model of Madsen et al. (1991) and Madsen
and Sørensen (1992) with an intrawave boundary layer and
sediment transport model to simulate cross-shore beach
profile changes. Comparisons with the large-scale laboratory
observations of Arcilla et al. (1994) and Roelvink and Reniers
(1995) show some agreement but are of most interest
in showing the sensitivity of the results to the model as-
sumptions and the conclusion that adequate modeling of
the groupiness of the incident wave field is essential to ac-
curate predictions. In a similar study, Long et al. (2004)
combined the Boussinesq model of Wei et al. (1995) with
a boundary layer model to simulate cross-shore bar migration
and compared their results with observations made during
the Duck ’94 campaign (Elgar et al., 2001). Focusing on an 8-
day period when the bar showed a large onshore migra-
tion, they find quantitative agreement with the observed
migration of the bar crest, with an error of less than 25%
in the modeled onshore migration distance, but under-
estimation of the height of the crest. The model runs assumed
alongshore uniformity so the role of alongshore variability in
the differences between model and observed behavior is
unknown.
This brief overview shows that Boussinesq models for
coastal waves are still under development along a number of
different lines, with fully nonlinear and fully dispersive ver-
sions now available and a variety of techniques being used to
parameterize wave breaking. It is far clear which of these
versions is optimum and indeed optimizing depends upon
balancing the competing effects of accuracy and computa-
tional efficiency. However, there are some operational models
available. The model of Madsen and Sørensen (1992), using a
Boussinesq model enhanced to improve behavior for larger
values of m, combined with a roller model for wave breaking
(see also Madsen et al. 1997a, b; Sørensen et al., 2004), forms
the basis for the Danish Hydraulics Institute MIKE 21 BW
model. The TELEMAC suite of 2D finite element models from
EDF-LNHE in Paris also includes a Boussinesq option. The
BOUSS-2D model from the U.S. Army Engineering Research
and Development Center (Nwogu and Demirbilek, 2001) is
also designed as an operationally available model. The public
domain FUNWAVE model, available from the University of
Delaware, is based on the fully nonlinear model of Wei et al.
(1995) and the most recent version uses 2D curvilinear co-
ordinates (Shi et al., 2001). These models, however, are pri-
marily used for coastal and harbor wave predictions rather
than sediment transport.
The use of Boussinesq models for sediment transport is
in its infancy and there is no clear consensus about what
form of model is the most appropriate. The relatively few
tests of model predictions in the context of sediment trans-
port do suggest that they can in principle provide a fair
basis for morphodynamic modeling but the computa-
tional complexities involved mean that the application of
Boussinesq models remains primarily limited to research
activities.
58 Waves

A1 A2
3 2

Velocity skewness
2

1 1

−1 0
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60
12 7

Velocity kurtosis
10 6
8
5
6
4
4
2 3
0 2
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60
1 1
Velocity assymmetry

0
0
−1
−1
−2

−3 −2
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60
(a) x (m) x (m)

B1 B2
2 2
Velocity skewness

1 1

0 0

−1 −1
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60
4 5
Velocity kurtosis

4
3
3
2
2

1 1
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60
1 0.6
Velocity assymmetry

0.4
0 0.2
0.0
−1 −0.2
−0.4
−2 −0.6
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60
(b) x (m) x (m)
Figure 14 Comparisons between predicted velocity moments using a Boussinesq model and measurements in a large wave flume. (a) Runs
labeled A produced plunging breakers while (b) those labeled B were for spilling/plunging breakers. In each case, 1 denotes regular waves and 2
irregular waves. The lines represent the predictions for different values of critical angle for the front face of a breaker, ranging between 171 and
261. Reproduced from Ozanne, F., Chadwick, A., Huntley, D.A., Simmonds, D.J., Lawrence, J., 2000. Velocity predictions for shoaling and
breaking waves with a Boussinesq-type model. Coastal Engineering 41, 361–397.

10.3.3.2.3 NSWE
As waves move into very shallow water and become increas-
ingly steep, the nonlinear influence of the relative wave height
(d) becomes much more important than the dispersive effect
of the relative wavelength (m) and the Ursell number becomes
much larger than one. Under these conditions the high order
derivatives involved in the Boussinesq dispersion term be-
come unreliable and eventually the Boussinesq solution
breaks down. This problem is especially severe at the shoreline
itself, which is an unavoidable boundary condition even when
interest is focused on wave motion in deeper water. It is in
these very shallow water conditions, typically from midsurf
zone into the inner surf zone and up to the shoreline, that the
NSWE are generally used. They are particularly applied to
problems associated with shoreline motion, swash dynamics,
wave run-up and overtopping, and wave propagation around
very shallow, nearshore bathymetry. Brocchini and Dodd
(2008) provided an excellent recent review of the applications
of NSWE to coastal engineering problems so only an outline
will be included here.
In their simplest form, the NSWE take a form similar to the
Boussinesq eqns ([50] and [51]) but omitting the dispersion
term on the right hand side of the momentum eqn [50]. More
generally, terms are added to deal with the forces caused by
dissipation due to breaking and bottom friction. One im-
portant characteristic of the equations is that they do not
allow for waves of permanent form; waves continue to steepen
(Figure 11(b)) and techniques must be developed to deal with
‘shock’ waves with vertical forward faces that eventually form.
These and other problems mean that a great deal of research
has gone into efficient and accurate computational methods
for solving the equations. The choice of the best form depends
on the particular application.
The NSWE were studied first by Stoker (1957), who
modeled wave propagation by using the fact that the equa-
tions possess characteristic curves along which waves propa-
gate, whilst preserving ‘Riemann invariants.’ Application of the
characteristics approach involves propagating forward and
backward characteristic curves from a set of grid points and
then recalculating the characteristics from new points where
these curves intersect. The problem with this approach is that
the resulting grid points are irregularly spaced and change at
each time step, making the scheme computationally difficult.
Generally, therefore, the equations are not usually solved in
their characteristic form. The problem of developing shock
waves was originally solved by so-called ‘shock-fitting’ tech-
niques, where shock waves are detected and then treated using
a different equation set. Following Hibberd and Peregrine
(1979), however, most modern methods apply a ‘shock cap-
turing’ technique that uses artificial dissipation to allow for
stable solutions in the presence of bores or, more frequently,
uses finite volumes based on fluxes. A variety of techniques is
also available to model the wetting and drying of the shoreline
itself and the influence of bed slopes, both factors requiring
careful consideration and subject to continuing research.
Nevertheless, the resulting predictions are found to compare
well with simple situations where analytical solutions are
available and with some 1D and 2D laboratory measurements
(see Brocchini and Dodd, 2008, for a review). Figure 15 shows
an example.
Waves 59
 (m) at  = 0.15, 0.125, 0.10, 0.075,
0.05 and 0.025 m and at shoreline
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0 20 40 60 80
Time (s)
Figure 15 Measured (solid line) and predicted (dashed line) wave
elevations in the inner surf zone and shoreline, based on a nonlinear
shallow-water equation (NSWE) model. Reproduced from Dodd, N.,
1998. Numerical model of wave run-up, overtopping and
regeneration. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean
Engineering 124(2), 73–81, with permission from ASCE.
Recently, the NSWE have been coupled to sediment
transport and morphodynamic models to predict morpho-
logical response to nearshore waves. Hudson and Sweby
(2003) and Hudson et al. (2005) use a 1-D equation set to
model the evolution of a single sand wave on a flat bed as
waves pass over it, with some promising results. Dodd et al.
(2008a) used NSWE to model the development of beach
cusps, and Dodd et al. (2008b) considered the emolding by
the swash and inner surf zones of a beach modified by land-
based processes such as flooding and cliff erosion. It is clear
that the NSWE have a vital role to play in addressing im-
portant coastal engineering and morphodynamic problems
particularly related to swash, run-up, and overtopping.
10.3.3.2.4 Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)
models
Both Boussinesq and NSWE models represent simplifications
of the full 3D Navier–Stokes equations but, with increasing
computer power it is becoming possible, at least for short
time-periods, to use versions of the full Navier–Stokes equa-
tions to predict nearshore wave characteristics. The major
potential advantage of this approach is that the process of
wave breaking is explicitly included without the need to spe-
cify breaking conditions a priori. However, even the
Navier–Stokes equations require some form of simplification
to deal with small-scale turbulence and the most commonly
used simplification is to average over turbulence timescales,
known as ‘Reynolds averaging,’ combined with a ‘turbulence
closure scheme’ to model the turbulence-averaged quantities;
such models are generally called RANS models. To apply to
unsteady wave motion, it is also necessary to include a fluid
tracking scheme to keep track of the complex free surface but
such schemes are now generally available within commercial
computational fluid dynamics (cfd) models.
To date, application of cfd RANS models to shoaling and
breaking waves has been limited to 2-DV (i.e., shore-normal
wave propagation with alongshore uniformity) simulations.
The first such simulation was by Lin and Liu (1998) who
60 Waves
successfully simulated 20 s of data from a single wave breaking
event for comparison with laboratory measurements (Ting
and Kirby, 1995). Bradford (2000) compared instantaneous as
well as ensemble-averaged model simulations with the same
laboratory data, with encouraging results. Chopakatia et al.
(2008) used a similar, commercially available cfd RANS model
to simulate shore-normal wave propagation and breaking over
a natural barred beach, for comparison with field data from
the 1990 Delilah field experiment at Duck, NC (Birkemeier,
1991). They modeled a 35.5 min period, driving the outer
boundary, at 800 m offshore in a depth of around 8 m, with
the measured wave time series. The results are generally good,
with wave heights predicted with an rms error of 0.04 m.
Mean undertow velocities are over-predicted inshore and off-
shore of the bar and under-predicted over the bar, but this is
likely to be attributable to the model assumption of along-
shore uniformity. Wave breaking in the model was defined by
computing the maximum kinetic energy of turbulence be-
tween a wave crest and trough in the top 100 mm of the water
column and setting a threshold value above which breaking is
assumed. With the threshold chosen to best fit field obser-
vations of the fraction of breaking waves, a realistic pattern of
breaking over the bar and into the shoreline was obtained and
the modeled front face slopes of breaking and nonbreaking
waves provided some confirmation of the critical slopes for
the onset of breaking used in Boussinesq models.
Although these early results are encouraging, the compu-
tational demands of RANS models make it unlikely that they
will be used to address practical sediment transport and
morphodynamic problems directly in the near future. How-
ever, the method is being used to address generic questions
relating to parameterization used in other, less computer-
intensive, methods of simulating coastal waves. For example,
both Fuhrman et al. (2009) and Ruessink et al. (2009) use
RANS models to conduct tests of the sensitivity of sediment
transport under waves to wave height, velocity skewness,
asymmetry, and other variables, for comparison with labora-
tory results using U-tubes. Interestingly, Fuhrman et al. (2009)
concluded that wave skewness is the most important con-
tributor to onshore bedload transport outside the surf zone,
whereas Ruessink et al. (2009) found that phase lag effects,
where mobilized sediment has not completely settled before
flow reversal, enhance net transport rates under oscillatory
flows dominated by asymmetry and reduce net transport
under flows dominated by skewness. There is clearly much
work of this kind still to be done to ensure adequate para-
meterization of these wave profile effects in wave models.
10.3.3.2.5 Parameterization of nonlinear parameters in
linear wave models
The review of nonlinear models suggests that the prediction of
velocity skewness and asymmetry is still subject to consider-
able uncertainty and these uncertainties increase further for
sediment transport predictions when it is acknowledged that
sediment response frequently displays a time lag relative to
instantaneous hydrodynamic conditions (e.g., Ruessink et al.,
2009). Nevertheless, there is evidence that skewness domin-
ates outside the surf zone whereas asymmetry increases
shoreward through the surf zone and this had led to some
attempts to develop empirical expressions for these nonlinear
characteristic as functions of wave height which can be used in
the simpler linear wave models.
The earliest and best known functional forms are those of
Doering and Bowen (1995) who used bispectral analysis of
field data to produce empirical equations relating both
skewness and asymmetry of wave orbital velocity to the local
Ursell number. Their expression for skewness shows that the
maximum value occurs for an Ursell number of approximately
one (see Figure 16), in fair agreement with other field results
not used in their original derivation. Ruessink et al. (2009)
find a similar pattern of behavior for skewness and asymmetry
but suggest modeling these variations as functions of the ratio
of significant wave height to water depth, though, as with
Doering and Bowen (1995), the scatter of their data is large.
The laboratory study of Liu et al. (2010) also relates the
skewness to the ratio of wave height to water depth, finding a
relationship of the form:
Hs
Sk ¼ 2:1  0:26 ½52
h
The Xbeach model for nearshore morphodynamics in-
cludes a parameterization of skewness and asymmetry, which
is similar though not identical to that of Doering and Bowen
(1995), attributed to Ruessink and van Rijn. In Xbeach, these
terms are used in the horizontal advection–diffusion equation
for sediment, appearing as an equivalent velocity term, pro-
portional to the difference between skewness and (negative)
asymmetry and to the rms wave velocity; this equivalent vel-
ocity is added to the Eulerian short-wave-averaged mean flow.
Further validation tests are needed to assess whether this
provides a satisfactory simulation of the influence of these
nonlinear terms for a range of wave conditions. More complex
ways of assessing skewness and asymmetry include the use of
stream function theory applied to the wave energy from the
linear model (e.g., Reniers et al., 2004) but these are much
more computer-intensive.
10.3.4 Long-Period Waves
10.3.4.1 Introduction
It is obvious to anyone who has viewed the surf zone of a
relatively shallow beach that the waterline moves up and
down the beach on a timescale that is typically much longer
than that of the incoming breakers. Except on the steepest
beaches, there seems to be very little connection between
waves breaking at the outer edge of the surf zone and the
motion of the shoreline at its inner edge. Low-frequency
motion typically dominates the shoreline movement. This
low-frequency motion is also found in measurements of vel-
ocities under waves in the nearshore zone and in some cases,
particularly, in the inner surf zone where breaking limits the
height of incident sea and swell waves, it can dominate the
total wave energy (Holman et al., 1978; Guza and Thornton,
1985; Russell, 1993 and many others). It is now clear that this
low-frequency motion exists on a wide range of timescales (for
a discussion of the range of frequencies of water motion that
can exist on natural shorelines, see e.g., Masselink and
Hughes, 2003), but particular focus has been given to motion
 Waves 61

1.6

1.2

Skewness
0.8
Equation 4.10 Sww
0.4

−0.4
Asymmetry

Equation 4.11
−0.8 Aww

−1.2

−1.6
0.01 0.1 1 10
Ursell number
Figure 16 The Doering and Bowen (1995) predicted variations (solid lines) of wind-wave skewness (Sww) and asymmetry (Aww) as functions of
the Ursell number. The observed wind-wave skewness and asymmetry are shown by triangles and circles, respectively. Reproduced from
Doering, J.C., Bowen, A.J., 1995. Parameterization of orbital velocity asymmetries of shoaling and breaking waves using bispectral analysis.
Coastal Engineering 26, 15–33.

with periods in the range 20–200 s, known as the ‘infragravity
band,’ where coherent wave motion is known to occur.
Interest in long-period motion is also sparked by recog-
nizing that the scales of many nearshore morphological fea-
tures, in particular typical cross-shore and alongshore scales of
nearshore sand bars, are too large to be related directly to
incident waves but might be linked to waves of longer period
(see, e.g., Bowen and Huntley, 1984). In the context of near-
shore morphodynamics, long-period motion is therefore po-
tentially important as both a component of the total wave
energy and a source of gradients in sediment transport at ap-
propriate scales.
In the following sections the author reviews the nature of
long-period waves, and the processes responsible for gener-
ating them and limiting their size. The author also reviews
current ideas on how they link to the topography of mor-
phological features in the nearshore zone.
10.3.4.2 Nature of Long-Period Waves
Since long-period motion is generally observed to be strongest
close to the shore, it is of interest to investigate what kinds of
wave motion are possible in shallow water over a sloping bed.
The starting point for this investigation is generally the long
wave inviscid mild slope equation, which combines the con-
tinuity and momentum equations into a single equation for
the elevation, Z:
 
q 2Z q qZ
 gh ¼0
q t2 q x qx
where x ¼ (x,y) is the horizontal vector direction. Following
Eckart (1951), we seek solutions for this equation in the form:
Z ¼ X ðxÞeiðky y7ot Þ ½54
denoting a wave traveling in the alongshore (y) direction with
wavenumber ky (2p/alongshore wavelength) and frequency o
and with amplitude varying in the cross-shore (x) direction as
X(x), a function to be determined by solving eqn [53]. If we
assume that the beach is alongshore uniform and planar with
a constant slope angle b, analytical solutions for X(x) are
found, giving Z in the form:
 
Z ¼ eky x Ln 2ky x eiðky 7ot Þ ½55
where Ln denotes a family of Laguerre polynomials (given e.g.,
by Abramowitz and Stegun, 1965) with separate functional
forms for each integer n (0, 1, 2, y..), known as the mode
number. The exponential term in this solution ensures that the
amplitude of the wave tends to zero with increasing offshore
distance but the seaward decay is modulated by the shape of
the Laguerre polynomial. For the zero mode, the decay is a
simple exponential decrease but the mode number gives the
number of zero-crossings in amplitude in the cross-shore
direction; the associated orbital velocities for modes 1 and 2
are shown in Figure 17. Since the wave energy is confined to
the nearshore region, at the edge of the water, these waves are
known as ‘edge waves.’ A schematic picture of the elevation of
a mode 1 edge wave is shown in Figure 18.
An important feature of these edge wave solutions is that
½53
they give different dispersion relationships between wave
62 Waves

frequency and wavenumber for each mode, in the form:
o2 ¼ gky ð2n þ 1Þtan b
Thus for each frequency, there is a family of modes with
wavelengths that increase as the mode number increases.
Also note that eqn [56] gives an alongshore wave phase speed
(o/ky) which is independent of the depth (as required) and
that, for natural beach slopes and small mode numbers, the
phase speed is much smaller than the deep water phase speed.
The long wave mild slope eqn [53] is valid only for shallow
water (long waves) but Ursell (1952) derived more general
(and more complex) analytical solutions for the same along-
shore uniform, planar beach case without this limitation. His
dispersion relationship takes the slightly different form:
o2 ¼ gky sin ½ð2n þ 1Þb
3.0
2.0
n=1
u(x )
1.0
For the mild beach slopes typical of natural beaches, tan
bEb and sin [(2n þ 1)b]E(2n þ 1)b so the wavelengths pre-
½56 dicted by eqns [56] and [57] for the same frequency and mode
number are almost identical.
However, eqn [57] has the interesting and important fea-
ture that a solution only exists for (2n þ 1)bop/2. This means
that, unlike the shallow water solution, there is a maximum
mode number for edge waves, which depends on the beach
slope, large slopes having fewer modes than mild slopes. As
Ursell (1952) pointed out, this limit occurs because, above it,
waves at the shoreline can link directly with offshore waves,
with their alongshore wavenumbers matching those of waves
propagating at an appropriate angle to the shoreline; the angle
will be parallel to the shoreline where (2n þ 1)b ¼ p/2 and
increasingly inclined on- or off-shore for larger values, as il-
½57 lustrated in Figure 19. These links allow waves to ‘leak’ be-
tween the nearshore and offshore regions so they are no
longer trapped at the shoreline as edge waves but become
‘leaky mode waves.’
A helpful physical interpretation of this feature is to con-
sider edge waves to be trapped to the shoreline by refraction. If

0
x
–1.0 v(x)
Free wave
5.0
wavelength
4.0

3.0
Forced wave
2.0 n=2 wavelength
u(x )
1.0 v(x )
0.25 Shoreline
0
0.5 0.75 1.0
x /L Leaky wave Edge wave
–1.0
Figure 17 Variation of edge wave orbital velocities with cross-shore Figure 19 Matching forced wave alongshore wavelengths to
distance, x (divided by the alongshore wavelength, L), for modes 1 and offshore free waves. In the leaky wave case the inshore wavelength is
2. u(x) is the onshore velocity and v(x) is the longshore velocity. The less than the offshore wavelength, so can be linked to the alongshore
amplitudes are normalized so that v(x) ¼1 at the shoreline, x¼0. component of a free offshore wave. In the edge wave case, the
Reproduced with permission from Hails, J.R., Carr, A.P. (Eds.), 1975. wavelength of the inshore wave is greater than that of the offshore
Nearshore Sediment Dynamics and Sedimentation: an Interdisciplinary free wave so no match is possible; the inshore wave is trapped to
Review, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, London, 316 pp. the shoreline.
e
in
el
or
Sh

Mean sea level

Figure 18 Schematic of the edge wave amplitude pattern for a mode 1 edge wave on a plane beach. The viewpoint is over the sea, looking
obliquely toward the shoreline which is at x ¼0. Mean sea level is at z¼ 0.
 Waves 63

we consider waves radiating out from a disturbance created at 0.045

the shoreline, waves propagating directly seaward will radiate
away but as the angle of propagation turns more shore-parallel
there will be a critical angle at which the radiating wave will be 0.040
turned back to the shore by refraction over the sloping seabed.
This wave will reflect from the shoreline, reradiate at the same
initial angle and be refracted back again and so on. Thus it will
be trapped to the shoreline, with an alongshore repeat pattern 0.035
determined by its offshore extension. Waves propagating at
even more shore-parallel angles will move less far offshore
before being refracted back and so have smaller offshore ex- 0.030
tents and shorter distances between shoreline reflections, as
qualitatively predicted for lower mode edge waves. Schäffer

and Jonsson (1992) consider this interpretation more fully.
Analytical solutions to eqn [53] exist for other simple cases,
including exponential beach profiles (Ball, 1967) and planar
slopes truncated to constant depth at a specified offshore
distance, but for more general beach topography, numerical
solutions can be computed (Holman and Bowen, 1979; Howd
et al., 1992). There have also been some developments to deal
with edge waves traveling on longshore currents (Howd et al.,
1992; Falques and Iranzo, 1992).
Huntley and Bowen (1973) were the first to find direct
evidence for edge waves in the field using velocity measure-
ments made close to the shoreline. They found zero-mode
edge wave motion at the first subharmonic (twice the period)
of the incident waves. These observations were of considerable
interest because of the apparent link between the scale of these
edge waves and the alongshore spacing of beach cusps com-
monly observed in the swash zone (Guza and Inman, 1975;
Coco et al., 1999). The existence of edge waves in infragravity
motion on natural beaches was convincingly confirmed by
Huntley et al. (1981), who showed that the frequencies and
alongshore wavenumbers of nearshore velocities in the infra-
gravity band showed good agreement with the expected dis-
persion relationship (eqns [56] and [57]; see Figure 20).
Edge waves are free waves with energy trapped in the
nearshore zone and can be considered ‘normal modes’ of
water motion over a seaward sloping bed. Leaky mode waves
are also free waves but their energy is free to propagate away
from the shoreline into deeper water. However, it is not im-
mediately obvious how such motion is generated and thus
what is the relative importance of edge waves and leaky mode
waves on natural beaches. A related question is how important
these wave motions are relative to long-period motion that is
forced by nonlinear processes acting on the incident wave and
which remain trapped to incident waves. In the following
section the author briefly addresses these questions.
10.3.4.3 Forcing and Suppression of Long-Period Motion
In deep water, the linear sinusoidal components making up a
wave spectrum can be considered uncorrelated, with random
phases relative to each other. However, as we have seen, as
waves propagate into shallow water nonlinear effects create
systematic distortions in wave shape and orbital velocities.
These distortions can be interpreted in terms of interaction
between component sinusoids leading to new contributions
to the spectrum which are locked in phase to the original
Frequency (Hz)
0.025
0.020
0.015
0.010
0.005
0
0 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025
Wave number m−1
Longshore currents November 21 1978
Figure 20 Measured dispersion relationship for infragravity
frequencies. The rectangular regions indicate where the energy is
significantly larger than the background level, with increasing
prominence as the color deepens. The curved lines show the
expected relationships for the first four edge wave modes (n ¼0–3).
Reproduced from Huntley, D.A., Guza, R.T., Thornton, E.B., 1981.
Field observations of surf beat, 1. Progressive edge waves. Journal of
Geophysical Research 86(C7), 6451–6466, with permission from
AGU.
components. At the second order, the nonlinear interaction
between two sinusoids with wavenumbers k1 and k2 and fre-
quencies o1 and o2 takes the general form:
sin ð k 1 x  o1 tÞ sin ðk 2 x  o2 tÞpsin ½ð k1 7k2 Þx  ðo1 7o2 Þt
½58
thus generating new wave components at the sum and dif-
ference of the original component wavenumbers and fre-
quencies. The interaction of a single sinusoid with itself
produces a wave at the first harmonic frequency and wave-
number (and higher harmonics at higher orders) resulting in
distortion of the wave profile, as described by the Stokes’
theory reviewed in the previous section. The difference
frequency in this case will be zero and hence be a steady
flow, the Stokes drift. More generally, interaction between the
64 Waves
Wave group
Bound infragravity wave
Figure 21 Wave group and associated bound infragravity wave.
Reproduced with permission from PhD Thesis of Gerben Ruessink,
Utrecht University, 1998.
components of a wave spectrum produces a wide range of new
motion at frequencies both above and below the original
frequencies.
In general, the waves produced by these interactions do not
obey the free wave dispersion relationships and are therefore
‘bound waves,’ bound to the primary waves and expected to
disappear if the primary wave decays (e.g., by breaking).
However, for long waves in shallow water, with m2{1, the
dispersion relation becomes essentially the same for all fre-
quencies, raising the possibility of the generation of free waves
by a process known as ‘resonance.’
For waves traveling directly onshore (defined as the
x-direction), simple addition of pairs of phase-locked primary
waves with wavenumbers k1x and k2x and frequencies o1 and
o2 results in an envelope of wave height with a repeat length
equal to 2p/(k1x–k2x) propagating at a speed of (o1–o2)/
(k1x–k2x), the group velocity of the primary waves (Figure 21).
The resulting nonlinear forcing at the difference frequency
(eqn [58]) therefore propagates with the group envelope at the
group speed. Longuet-Higgins and Stewart (1964) used their
radiation stress concept to show that, assuming a steady so-
lution, the resulting bound wave consists of a set-down of
mean water level under the maximum of the wave envelope
and a corresponding set up under the minimum. The ampli-
tude of this bound wave is predicted to be proportional to
1/(gh–c2g ), which, as the depth decreases, tends to infinity as
h5/2 (e.g., Svendsen, 2005), a very large rate of increase which
illustrates the problem of resonance. However, these equations
assume that energy transfer to the forced wave occurs in-
stantaneously so that it is always in equilibrium as the depth
changes. In reality, the rate of energy transfer is too small to
keep up with the changes of depth as a wave shoals and as a
result the bound wave lags behind the wave envelope, growing
at a smaller rate than predicted by equilibrium arguments (van
Dongeren and Svendsen, 1997; Battjes et al., 2004).
The bound wave theory of Longuet-Higgins and Stewart
(1964) does not explicitly involve wave breaking but in reality
the strongest forcing of waves at the group period is likely to
occur at the break point. A simple model for this forcing is the
‘breakpoint forcing’ mechanism proposed by Symonds et al.
(1982). Their hypothesis suggests that the movement of the
outer edge of the surf zone, offshore as the high waves of a
group arrive and shoreward for the smaller waves, effectively
acts as a wave-maker, generating free waves at the group
1 ∂sxx
h ∂x
t
surf zone
1 ∂sxx
= const.
h ∂x
1 ∂sxx Break-point
h ∂x = 0
Distance offshore
Figure 22 The moving breakpoint resulting from regular grouping of
incident waves. The forcing of infragravity wave motion depends
upon the gradient of the radiation stress of the incident waves,
denoted here by (1/he)q Sxx/q x. Reproduced from Symonds, G.,
Huntley, D.A., Bowen, A.J., 1982. Two-dimensional surf beat: long
wave generation by a time-varying breakpoint. Journal of Geophysical
Research – Oceans 87, 492–498, with permission from AGU.
frequency that propagate both seaward and shoreward
(Figure 22). The shoreward propagating wave is assumed to
reflect at the shoreline and merge with the seaward-propa-
gating wave of the surf zone. This apparently strong mech-
anism for the forcing of infragravity waves is to some extent
offset by the assumption that the groupiness of the incident
waves is suppressed by wave breaking inside the surf zone so
that forcing is limited to the region of the breakpoint itself.
The relative contributions of bound waves and breakpoint-
forced waves are discussed in the following section.
Regardless of the mechanism of growth of the forced wave
as it propagates through decreasing water depths, once it
reaches the shoreline it takes on the characteristics of a free
wave. Experimental and theoretical evidence suggest that the
wave reflects there and propagates back seaward as a free wave.
The first evidence for this was found by Munk (1949) and
Tucker (1950), who detected seaward-propagating long-period
waves well outside the surf zone that were correlated with
shoreward propagating wave groups but with a time lag con-
sistent with travel to the shoreline and back. More recent ob-
servations confirm this phenomenon (e.g., van Dongeren et al.,
2003) and seaward-propagating long waves have even been
measured refracting and reflecting from offshore canyons
(Thomson et al., 2007). Beaches are, therefore, sources of free
long waves in open oceans and are generally considered to be
the major contributor to ‘earth hum’ at infragravity frequencies
measured in seismic records (Bromirski and Gerstoft, 2009).
Wave groups typically also possess alongshore variations
due to the directional spread and the resulting short-crestedness
of the incident waves. The interaction illustrated by eqn [58]
will therefore also drive forced motion with alongshore struc-
ture and free edge waves can result if the edge wave dispersion
relationship is satisfied. Gallagher (1971) was the first to in-
vestigate this process theoretically and his work was further

developed by Foda and Mei (1981). Analyzing field data from a
barred beach, Ruessink (1998a, b) found that bound wave
energy was equal to or even larger (up to a factor of four) than
free wave energy in the vicinity of the break point but its con-
tribution to total infragravity wave energy diminished rapidly
offshore and inshore. More recent and more extensive field
measurements made during the Delilah campaign at Duck, NC,
USA (Birkemeier et al., 1997; Lippmann et al., 1998; Herbers
et al., 1994, 1995a, b) have shown that bound waves contribute
up to 30% of the total infragravity wave energy, with the con-
tribution increasing with increasing incident wave energy, but
that free edge waves, refractively trapped to the coast, made the
dominant contribution. However, as Herbers et al. (1995a)
demonstrated, the relative contributions of forced and free
infragravity wave energy depends strongly on the regional set-
ting of the beach. They compared energy levels on two beaches
with comparable beach slope, one at Oahu, Hawaii, where
offshore of the beach the depth increases rapidly to over 200 m
within a few hundred meters of the shore, and the other at
Duck, N.C., with a wide and slowly sloping offshore shelf. For
comparable short-wave conditions, the free infragravity wave
energy at Oahu was typically 2 to 4 times lower than at Duck
because offshore-radiating long waves can propagate away into
the deep water rather than be refractively trapped to the shore
as at Duck. In contrast the forced wave contributions were al-
most identical at the two sites.
Numerical modeling of the Delilah measurements, based
on forcing by linear incident waves, by Reniers et al. (2002)
and van Dongeren et al. (2003), provides good agreement
with measured nearshore infragavity spectra, confirming the
dominance of edge waves, but shows that the results are
0.14
0.12
0.1
Hrms.hi Hrms.lo Hrms (m)
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
−0.1 0 0.1
Figure 23 Breaking of infragravity waves in a laboratory flume. The measured Hrms for the high-frequency incident waves is shown as a dashed line,
and for the low-frequency infragravity waves as a solid line. The total wave height is shown as a dash-dotted line. The horizontal axis shows the still
water depth. Reproduced from van Dongeren, A.R., Battjes, J.A., Janssen, T., van Noorloos, J., Steenhauer, K., Steenbergen, G., Reniers, A., 2007.
Shoaling and shoreline dissipation of low-frequency waves. Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans 112(C02011), with permission from AGU.
Waves 65
sensitive to the directional spread of the incoming short
waves. They also suggest that infragravity wave generation can
be modeled well by linear processes, with the forcing dom-
inated by cross-shore gradients in the short-wave radiation
stress.
Processes of energy loss from the infragavity motions have
also been extensively studied since they are clearly important
to predictions of overall infragravity wave energy. As described
earlier, observations (e.g., Ruessink, 1998a) show that the
bound wave energy increases with decreasing depth much
more slowly than predicted by the Longuet-Higgins and
Stewart (1964) theory, leading to the suggestion that surf zone
dissipation is occurring. Initial ideas centered around the hy-
pothesis that the increased frictional dissipation due to the
short waves was responsible for this dissipation of infragravity
wave energy (Guza and Bowen, 1976) but direct breaking of
the infragravity waves (Battjes et al. 2004; van Dongeren et al.,
2004) has also been suggested as a dominant mechanism.
Henderson et al. (2006) compare predictions from an energy
balance model with data from the Duck94 experiment and
find that nonlinear transfer between frequency components
alone could explain the observations, with no need to invoke
breaking and with reduced agreement when a bed friction
term was introduced (best fitting in fact occurred for a non-
physical negative friction coefficient!). However, they con-
sidered only a single, relatively low wave (offshore HsE0.4 m)
condition. The extensive laboratory measurements of van
Dongeren et al. (2007) do convincingly show that breaking of
incoming infragravity waves does indeed occur, as illustrated
in Figure 23, on beaches with shallow slope. The associated
reduction in the reflection at the shoreline was found to be in
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
h (m)
66 Waves
reasonable agreement with the dependence on the surf simi-
larity parameter, x, found by Battjes (1974) to apply to inci-
dent waves:
R ¼ 0:1x2 ½59
showing that infragravity waves break under similar con-
ditions to the incident waves.
10.3.4.4 Magnitude and Cross-Shore Pattern of
Infragravity Wave Energy
For coastal morphodynamic modeling, it is important to be
able to predict the magnitude of infragravity wave energy
compared to incident wave energy, and also to model the
distribution of infragravity wave energy across the nearshore
zone. In this subsection the author briefly reviews current
understanding of these factors.
The field data of Ruessink (1998a, b) from a barred North
Sea beach show the infragravity wave energy in water depths
between 4 and 6 m to be only around 1% of the incident wave
energy, with a maximum value of 6.7%. Similar results are
found for the Delilah data set (Lippmann et al., 1997).
However, this ratio varies with incident wave height. Ruessink
(1998a, b) finds that, outside the breaking wave zone, the total
energy in the infragravity frequency band, Eig, increases with
the offshore short-wave energy, Es, in a power law form:
Eig pEs m ½60
For the total infragravity energy, m was found to be in the
range (0.9–1.2), with higher values for the forced wave com-
ponents (m ¼ 1.4–2.1) and lower values for the free com-
ponents (m ¼ 0.39–0.7); the smaller values tended to be found
closer inshore. For free waves, Herbers et al. (1995a), using
data for depths between 8 and 30 m found larger values of the
exponent, with an approximately linear dependence (m ¼ 1).
Ruessink’s values for the forced wave components are gener-
ally somewhat lower than the value m¼ 2 predicted for bound
waves forced by the Longuet-Higgins and Stewart (1964)
mechanism but are consistent with the empirical equation
found for laboratory waves by Liu et al. (2010):
E1:5
s et al. (2007) noted that bb is directly related to the Irribarren
Eig ¼ 0:344  0:01Es ½61
h Number (Battjes, 1974) and also to the parameter used by
Interestingly, Liu et al. (2010) find the ratio Eig/Es correlates
linearly with the skewness of the short waves, with:
Eig ¼ 0:041Es Sk ½62
When combined with their relationship between skewness
and Hs/h (eqn [52]) this leads directly to eqn [61].
The larger exponents for the forced waves show that, out-
side the surf zone, these waves become increasingly important
as the incident wave energy increases. Inside the surf zone,
however, the free energy increases faster than the power law
would suggest, whereas the forced waves appear to reach a
constant amplitude so, as a result, the free waves become more
prominent.
Turning to the cross-shore variation of infragravity wave
energy, theoretical considerations suggest that the energy of
nonbreaking free waves (including free waves generated by the
break point forcing mechanism) varies with water depth as
h1/2 (Green’s law, eqn [31]), whereas the energy of an iso-
tropic edge wave field varies as h1 (Herbers et al., 1995a). The
Longuet-Higgins and Stewart (1964) bound waves should vary
as h5, though, as argued above, much slower rates of increase
might be expected for forced waves that are out of equilibrium
with the forcing. The depth-dependence of infragravity wave
energy is therefore depends on the relative contributions of
free and forced waves.
Laboratory and theoretical approaches (e.g., List, 1992;
Schäffer, 1993; Svendsen and Veeramony, 2001; Baldock
et al., 2000; Baldock and Huntley, 2002; Baldock, 2006; Liu
et al. 2010) remain ambiguous about the relative importance
of bound wave forcing and breakpoint forcing; Baldock
(2006), for example, described laboratory experiments where
breakpoint forcing of free waves was found to be the dom-
inant mechanism for long wave generation, whereas Liu
et al. (2010) described other laboratory experiments where
the bound wave mechanism dominates. Baldock et al.
(2000) suggested that dominant breakpoint forcing requires
that the excursion of the breakpoint under groups must be
less than around 0.2 or 0.3 times the long wave wavelength.
Baldock (2006) further argued that the break point forcing
mechanism is likely to dominate if the primary short waves
and the bound wave are not in shallow water at the
breakpoint. Battjes et al. (2004) and van Dongeren et al.
(2007) studied forced waves in a laboratory flume and
suggested that the exponent of h depends upon a dimen-
sionless bed slope:
rffiffiffi
tan b g
b¼ ½63
o h
where o is the (radian) frequency of the long-period waves.
Using the depth at the breakpoint as the reference value of h,
values of b (denoted bb) larger than about one give an ex-
ponent similar to that for free waves but for bbo0.1 the ex-
ponent approaches the much larger bound wave value, with
intermediate values of bb providing intermediate values of the
exponent (Figure 24). Battjes et al. (2004) and van Dongeren
Symonds et al. (1982), with larger values indicating pre-
dominance of their breakpoint forcing process. The slope
dependence implied by bb is also consistent with the sugges-
tion by Baldock (2006) that breakpoint forcing dominates if
waves break in water of intermediate depth rather than in
shallow water. This arises because a forced wave approaching
the breakpoint on a steep beach will be smaller than on a
beach where the bound wave has developed over a long run of
incident wave groups over shallow water before reaching the
break point. The beaches and wave conditions in the USA and
the Netherlands where most infragravity wave measurements
have taken place have values of bbo0.25, so the larger ex-
ponents associated with shoaling zone forcing of bound waves
is expected to dominate. However, it should be noted that the
dependence of bb on the inverse of the wave height (through

2.5
2
××
×××
+×
1.5
+ ×
× ×
++
+
1 ×
0.5 ×
× +
0
0 0.5 1 1.5
Figure 24 The depth-dependence of incoming infragravity wave height as a function of bb (eqn [63] with h¼hb), based on laboratory
measurements. The parameter a is the exponent of the local depth, where the infragravity wave height is proportional to ha. Reproduced from
van Dongeren, A.R., Battjes, J.A., Janssen, T., van Noorloos, J., Steenhauer, K., Steenbergen, G., Reniers, A., 2007. Shoaling and shoreline
dissipation of low-frequency waves. Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans 112 (C02011), with permission from AGU.
the breakpoint depth) appears contrary to Baldock’s (2006)
suggestion since it increases the relative contribution of the
bound wave for waves breaking in deeper water. Further work
is clearly required, particularly, for storm wave conditions with
high waves.
Regardless of the nature of infragravity wave forcing, the
total infragravity wave energy is likely to be dominated by free
waves. Comparing measurements of total infragravity wave
energy in 15 m depth and 5 m depth off the Californian coast,
Thomson et al. (2007) found a best fit dependence of between
h1/2 and h1, and a scatter of values mostly confined between
these limits; none of the measurements came close to an h5
dependence.
Another interesting conclusion is that an incoming forced
wave increases in height as it shoals faster than an outgoing
free wave decreases in height as it moves offshore, so we might
expect the ‘reflection coefficient,’ defined as the ratio of out-
going to incoming infragravity wave energy, to be large when
measured offshore, possibly exceeding unity even if reflection
at the shoreline is incomplete. Measured offshore reflection
coefficients do indeed often exceed unity, with van Dongeren
and Svendsen (1997), for example, finding values as high
as 100.
The overall conclusion from this overview is that the dis-
tribution of infragravity wave energy is highly dependent on
the topography of the nearshore zone as well as the incident
wave conditions. Estimates based on local conditions are in-
adequate and prediction of the distribution therefore requires
modeling of the overall nearshore region.
Waves 67
× × ×
2 2.5 3
b
10.3.4.5 Long-Period Motion and Morphodynamics
As the introduction to this section pointed out, a major reason
for the interest in long period, infragravity waves stems from
their potential link to nearshore morphological features. It
is, therefore, pertinent to review ideas on the interaction be-
tween the infragravity wave and nearshore morphology.
Initial ideas were based on the hypothesis that long-period
motion, and particularly long period, edge-wave motion of
low mode number, could create morphology at the longshore
and cross-shore scales of the wave motion if the patterns were
arrested in space by reflection, to create standing waves
(Bowen and Inman, 1971), or by phase coupling between
edge wave modes of the same frequency (Holman and Bowen,
1982). Bowen and Huntley (1984) reviewed these ideas but
recognized that the strong frequency dependence of the
alongshore wavelength and cross-shore scales of edge waves
demands that they have a very narrow frequency range if they
are to produce morphological features with the well-defined
length scales observed in nature. Field observations, on the
contrary, tend to show edge wave existing over a wide fre-
quency band (e.g., Figure 20).
More recently, the importance of feedback between fluid
motion and sediment response has been recognized and
‘coupled models’ where this feedback is explicitly included
have been very successful in simulating the development of a
range of nearshore morphological features. Thus it now ap-
pears much more likely that infragravity waves respond to
changes in morphology rather than being themselves the
68 Waves
creators of that morphology. Some of the results of studies of
interaction between long-period motion and morphology are
briefly reviewed below.
Bowen and Huntley (1984) had hinted that one possible
mechanism linking broad banded edge wave to morphology
might be feedback between the water motion and developing
morphology, with edge waves of a scale that matches the
morphology growing preferentially. Bryan and Bowen (1996)
studied this hypothesis theoretically for the case of a beach
with an alongshore bar at a given distance offshore. They
found bar-trapped edge-wave modes that have maximum
elevation amplitudes or longshore velocities over the crest
of the bar and exponentially decreasing amplitudes away from
the bar crest. In the presence of a steady alongshore current,
the maximum of the edge wave can be displaced from the
actual bar crest to the ‘effective minimum depth’ of Howd
et al. (1992). Edge waves trapped at the shoreline have their
maximum amplitude at the shoreline, so bar-trapped edge
waves can be detected by comparing energies at the shoreline
and over the bar crest. Bryan and Bowen (1998) analyzed data
from the Delilah field campaign and found some evidence for
bar-trapped modes, and van Dongeren et al. (2003) used their
nonlinear model of the Delilah conditions, driven by the
measured incident waves, to show that bar-trapped modes do
indeed occur, at least in the presence of a well-defined bar and
broad alongshore current, though their energy accounted for
only 12% of the total infragravity wave energy. However, there
was no suggestion that these bar-trapped modes were re-
sponsible for the location of the bar.
Considerable research has been devoted to studying the
coupling between edge wave motion and beach cusps, since
there does appear to be a strong link between the alongshore
scales of the cusps and the zero-mode edge wave at the sub-
harmonic (twice the period) of the incoming waves. However,
the alongshore scales appear to be equally consistent with
forcing by self-organization feedback (Werner and Fink, 1993;
Coco et al., 1999) and other evidence that edge waves create
beach cusps remains elusive. The most direct study of the
potential link was made by Coco et al. (2001), who ran their
self-organization model using a regular alongshore template
of swash amplitude to simulate a preexisting standing edge
wave. They found that cusps developed about twice as quickly
and with slightly more pronounced relief after only two cycles
of the regular template with an alongshore wavelength which
matched the cusp wavelength obtained from random swash
by self-organization. The conclusion is that cusps might be
rather more likely to occur in the presence of edge waves but
are not essential to their formation. The numerical study of
beach cusp formation using a NSWE approach by Dodd et al.
(2008a) found that cusp growth is dominated by nonlinear
interaction between the water motion and the developing
topography, a self-organization mechanism, rather than being
a response of the beach to edge wave motion.
A number of theoretical studies show edge waves re-
sponding to morphology rather than vice versa. Guza and
Bowen (1981) found theoretically that the formation of cusps
from a planar, alongshore uniform beach can reduce edge
wave amplitude by detuning the edge wave dispersion rela-
tionship. Bowen (1997), however, hypothesizes that the rela-
tive proportion of edge wave energy increases with cusp size
due to nonlinear interaction between them. Chen and Guza
(1998, 1999) show theoretically how interaction of edge
waves with morphology can scatter energy into other modes.
Field measurements of flows in the presence of beach cusps
are inconclusive about whether cusps and edge wave coexist.
Masselink et al. (2004), for example, found no evidence for
edge waves in cusps on a natural beach but Ciriano et al.
(2005) did find significant motion consistent with low mode
edge waves in a field of beach cusps developing from an ini-
tially alongshore-uniform beach. This motion increased in
energy as the cusps grew and the predominant direction of
alongshore propagation of the edge waves changed as the
orientation of the cusp horns changed, confirming a coupling
between the motion and the cusps. However, the role of the
edge waves in the growth of the cusps could not be deter-
mined and these authors concluded that beach cusp evolution
‘might control the dynamics of the low mode edge waves.’
Bowen and Inman (1969) hypothesized that the along-
shore spacing of rip currents is also related to the presence of
edge waves but, despite numerous attempts (e.g., Huntley and
Short, 1992), the link has proved difficult to establish. On the
contrary, an extensive NSWE model study by Reniers et al.
(2004) of the development of morphology on an embayed
beach, driven by realistic, incident wave-directional spectra,
concluded that no preferential, infragravity-wave length scale
developed in the water motion over initial alongshore uni-
form bathymetry that could trigger a quasiperiodic morpho-
logical response. Instead, quasisteady flows resulting from
group-induced vortices did exhibit a preferred length scale and
these flows generated quasiperiodic morphology of the scale
of observed rip-current spacing. Edge wave motion was ob-
served in their model but it was influenced by the topography
rather than vice versa.
Thus, there is growing evidence that, in the link between
morphology and hydrodynamics, the morphology comes first,
through self-organization, and changes in the infragravity
wave hydrodynamics are a response to it rather than driving it.
This is not, however, to say that infragravity wave motion is
unimportant for nearshore morphodynamics. The fact that
infragravity wave energy is greatest in the surf zone, and
dominates in many cases close to the shoreline itself (e.g.,
Russell, 1993) means that it has a vital role in the pattern of
overall nearshore wave energy and therefore the stirring effect
in sediment transport. Although the drift velocity patterns
suggested by Holman and Bowen (1982) are probably too
small to be important, other more direct influences, for ex-
ample, the advection process proposed by Aagaard and
Greenwood (2008), might be important in very shallow water.
Roelvink et al. (2009) found that infragravity wave energy is
important for dune erosion because it can extend the reach of
the waterline up the beach to the dune foot. Greenwood et al.
(2009) found from field experiments in a rip channel, that
infragravity waves control net magnitude and direction of
sand transport rate when other influences caused by the rip
current and the shoaling incident waves are close to a balance.
These rather subtle effects can be important but the domin-
ating influence of long-period wave motion on coastal
morphology proposed in the 1970s and 1980s cannot now be
sustained. The observations do not show the required spatial
patterns of flow, and the feedback between flow and

morphology has been shown to be much stronger and more
diverse than originally expected.
10.3.5 Summary and Conclusions
This brief review of models to predict wave conditions in the
coastal, nearshore and surf zones has demonstrated that
considerable progress has been made in the development of
both linear and nonlinear methods. Linear models remain the
most widely used since they are computationally less de-
manding than other alternatives and, though unable to deal
directly with nonlinear effects, can include the most important
of these effects using semiempirical algorithms. Nonlinear
Boussineq models are also widely available and can reproduce
with some accuracy the changes of wave profile up to and
through the surf zone, at least on relatively shallow beaches.
Although to date comparisons with observations are limited,
the NSWE also appear to provide reasonably accurate simu-
lations of wave profile changes in the inner surf zone and up
to the shoreline. All of these models, however, require add-
itional assumptions about the nature of wave breaking and,
although considerable progress has been made in finding
appropriate algorithms, they remain essentially empirical de-
vices with tunable parameters to optimize model fits to ob-
servations. There is still much to be learned about how best
to describe the wave breaking process. Initial attempts to get
round this problem by solving the full Navier–Stokes equa-
tions show considerable promise, but are at present too
computationally demanding to be used for practical predic-
tions. Nevertheless they will undoubtedly have an increasingly
useful role in helping to improve understanding of nearshore
and surf zone processes.
From the standpoint of morphodynamics, two important
conclusions may be drawn. First, most of the comparisons
between modeled and observed wave conditions continue to
focus on wave heights rather than the orbital velocities that are
of more relevance to sediment dynamics. The relatively few
assessments which use velocities generally show rather less
agreement than is achieved using elevations. It is also not clear
that model parameters optimized for wave heights are neces-
sarily appropriate to optimize predicted velocities.
Second, although this chapter has focused on waves, it is
now clear that coastal morphodynamics depend upon the close
interaction between the water motion and the morphological
response. Wave models must include the evolution of the sea-
bed, or be coupled to models for sediment response in a
feedback loop, if they are to simulate the variety of morpho-
logical forms and behaviors observed in coastal and nearshore
waters, at least over timescales longer than a single storm.
And there is one further important point. Coupled models,
such as that of Reniers et al. (2004), show that the precise
nature of the morphological response is highly sensitive to the
detailed form of the stochastic wave conditions. This sensi-
tivity can readily mask differences in the detail of para-
meterization of individual processes both of wave modeling
and sediment dynamic modeling. Refining the modeling of
individual processes in wave models may therefore be less
important than dealing adequately with the feedback between
wave conditions and evolving morphology.
Waves 69
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Biographical Sketch

David Huntley is emeritus professor of Physical Oceanography at the University of Plymouth, U.K. He has 40
years of experience in the study of nearshore processes and coastal physical oceanography, including 13 years as a
professor in the Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University in Canada. He pioneered the use of fast-
response sensors to measure wave and sediment dynamics in and near surf zones, resulting in a much clearer
understanding of beach dynamics. In coastal physical oceanography his interests have centered on the meas-
urement and modeling of seabed stresses, and on turbulent mixing and dispersion at the sea surface. His recent
modeling research has demonstrated the value of simplified models for the simulation and prediction of coastal
and shelf seabed forms. He was associate editor of Continental Shelf Research between 1992 and 2009 and
recently was Visiting Scientist at the UK Met Office in 2006, Visiting Scientist at the University of Waikato, New
Zealand in 2007 and Associate Faculty at Oregon State University, USA in 2007. He has authored over 100 refereed
publications and has given many invited talks on his research both at Conferences and at public events.
 10.4 Sediment Transport
T Aagaard and M Hughes University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K., Denmark, and University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.4.1 Introduction 75
10.4.2 Measuring Nearshore Sediment Transport 76
10.4.2.1 Measurement Devices for Suspended Load 76
10.4.2.2 Measurement Devices for Bedload 78
10.4.2.3 Measurement of Total Sediment Transport 78
10.4.3 Sediment Mobilization and Suspension 79
10.4.4 Cross-Shore Sediment Transport 82
10.4.4.1 Transport Mechanisms 82
10.4.4.2 The Cross-Shore Distribution of Suspended Sediment Transport 87
10.4.4.3 Cross-Shore Suspended Sediment Transport on Dissipative, Intermediate, and Reflective Beaches 88
10.4.4.4 Sediment Transport in 3D Morphological Settings 88
10.4.4.5 The Role of Bedload Transport 90
10.4.4.6 Numerical Models of Cross-Shore Sediment Transport and Beach Profile Change 90
10.4.5 Longshore Sediment Transport 91
10.4.6 Swash Zone Sediment Transport 93
10.4.7 Concluding Remarks 101
References 101

Glossary Lagrangian/Eulerian reference frame There are two

Acceleration skewness The third-order moment of
instantaneous fluid acceleration, du3t /dt. It is associated with
an asymmetry of the wave shape about the vertical axis and
typically occurs under sawtooth-shaped bores in the surf zone.
Boundary layer streaming A (Eulerian) net current in the
wave boundary layer, generated by the oscillatory flow.
Expansion and contraction of the bottom boundary layer
associated with the passage of waves create weak vertical
flows. Due to the presence of the seabed, the horizontal and
vertical flows in the boundary layer are not 901 out of phase,
and the time-averaged product of horizontal (u) and
vertical (w) flows is nonzero over a wave period. This
generates a shear stress (t¼ uw) on the fluid particles, which
results in a weak, generally onshore-directed, mean current.
Gravity waves They are generated by the wind and
comprise wind waves and swell. They have wave periods
between 1 and 20 s (0.05–1 Hz) and their main restoring
force is gravity.
Infragravity waves They have periods between 20 and
200 s (0.005–0.05 Hz) and they are forced directly or
indirectly by groups of gravity waves. Bound long waves
are locally forced (infragravity) waves that are bound to
and propagate with groups of gravity waves, whereas
two-dimensional standing (infragravity) waves and
three-dimensional (infragravity) edge waves are free waves
that are reflected against the shoreline and form cross-shore,
standing wave patterns.
fundamental ways to describe fluid flow. One is the
Lagrangian description that tracks each fluid particle at all
times. For example, the Stokes drift can only be resolved in
a Lagrangian reference frame. The other is the Eulerian
description, where the fluid motion is specified at a fixed
point in the water column. Spatially fixed instruments
(current meters) can only resolve the Eulerian velocity.
Stokes drift A (weak) onshore-directed mean current
that arises because the fluid particle orbits are not
closed under waves. The wave orbital diameter depends
inversely on distance below the mean water surface and it is
therefore larger under wave crests than under wave troughs.
This leads to a slow onshore drift of the fluid particles. The
name is associated with the British mathematician G. G.
Stokes who introduced a theory for finite-amplitude waves.
Another term for this phenomenon is Lagrangian drift.
Velocity skewness The third-order moment of
instantaneous fluid velocities, u3t . It is associated with an
asymmetry of the wave shape about the horizontal axis. As
waves shoal, wave crests become narrow and peaked,
whereas wave troughs become wide and shallow. Fluid
velocities become larger under wave crests than under wave
troughs and seen over a wave period, and the velocity
skewness becomes positive (i.e., onshore directed).
 3 
/u S
Normalized velocity skewness is expressed as /u2 St 3=2 ,
t
where /S indicates the time-average.

Aagaard, T., Hughes, M., 2013. Sediment transport. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in
Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press,
San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 74–105.

74 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00273-6

 Sediment Transport 75

Abstract

Sediment transport is the mechanism that translates the work of hydrodynamic processes into morphological change. This
chapter discusses the transport of noncohesive sediment in wave-dominated settings. Following an introductory section,
techniques for measuring sediment transport are described, providing context for the following sections. Section 10.4.3
discusses the physical mechanisms that mobilize and suspend sand into the water column. Processes resulting in cross-shore
(onshore/offshore) sediment transport, and ultimately beach erosion and accretion, are described in Section 10.4.4 and
longshore sediment transport in Section 10.4.5. Finally, sediment transport in the swash zone is discussed in Section 10.4.6.

10.4.1 Introduction
Sediment transport is the process that provides the coupling
between hydrodynamic processes and beach morphology.
Without any transport of sediment, there would be no mor-
phological change and there would be no beaches. The rela-
tionship between sediment transport and morphological
change is described by the sediment conservation equation:
 
dz dq dC
¼  þ ½1
dt dx dt
where z is the bed elevation, q is the sediment transport rate, C
is the amount of sediment in the water column (the sediment
load), t is the time, and x is the distance in the direction of
transport. The first term on the right hand side of eqn [1]
states that a positive gradient in sediment transport rate along
the transport path results in a lowering of the seabed along
that path over time, whereas a negative transport gradient
leads to accretion. The second term on the right hand side of
the equation describes the temporal change in the amount of
sediment kept in suspension above the seabed. This term can
be ignored if the timescale considered is longer than a few
wave cycles (seconds or minutes), because sand is rarely kept
suspended in the water column for longer periods of time.
This chapter provides a discussion of noncohesive sedi-
ment transport in the nearshore with a focus on the transport
of sand- and gravel-sized sediment under the influence of
wave action. The nearshore is defined here as consisting of the
lower shoreface, the upper shoreface, and the beach face
(Figure 1). Different wave regimes dominate across the near-
shore, resulting in distinctly different sediment transport
characteristics. The lower shoreface is dominated by shoaling
wave processes, and wind- and tide-generated currents are
additional significant contributors to the transport of sedi-
ment. The morphologically active upper shoreface, generally
containing one or more nearshore bars, is dominated by
various instants in time. Grains may also come to rest at or in
the bed, only to be exposed and/or transported during the
next wave cycle. Any exclusive mode of sand transport is dif-
ficult to identify in the nearshore (Hanes, 1988), so for con-
venience the transport mode is generally classified as either (1)
dominantly bedload where the sediment grains are moving in
contact with the bed and are supported by other grains, or (2)
dominantly suspended load where the grains are supported by
turbulence in the surrounding fluid (Bagnold, 1966). An ap-
proximate threshold that distinguishes bedload from sus-
pended load is a volume concentration of 0.08 m3 m3
(corresponding to about 140 g l1), above which significant
intergranular collisions occur and bedload dominates (Komar,
1998).
Another generally applied simplification is the separation
of the sediment transport vector into cross-shore and long-
shore components relative to the orientation of the shoreline
or to the depth contours. This makes transport concepts and
modeling much more tractable, and the sediment conser-
vation equation is then generally modified to:
dz dqx dqy
¼   ½2
dt dx dy
where qx is the cross-shore sediment transport rate, and qy is
the longshore sediment transport rate, and x and y are the
cross-shore and longshore coordinates. In most cases both
terms on the right hand side of the equation are nonzero and
sediment is transported obliquely to the orientation of the
shoreline. Note that the temporal variation in sediment load
(eqn [1]) has been ignored here.
Upper shoreface Lower shoreface
surf zone shoaling wave zone
4
MWL
0
Elevation (m)

breaking wave processes in the surf zone. In addition to waves

incident from offshore, secondary, low-frequency waves, and
mean currents generated by the processes of wave breaking are −4 Beach
face
responsible for the movement of sediment. Finally, the beach swash
face is affected by the high-velocity uprush and backwash −8
zone
flows of the swash zone, which produce large landward- and
seaward-directed transport rates. −12
Coarse sediment such as gravel is typically transported as 0 1000 2000 3000
bedload, when grains roll, slide, or hop along the bed, Distance from shoreline (m)
whereas the finer sand fraction can also be suspended in the Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the nearshore showing the
water column and carried along with the flow. The strongly morphological and hydrodynamic zones considered in this chapter.
oscillatory velocity field under waves means that individual MWL is mean water level. Note that elevations and distances are not
sand grains can be subjected to any of these transport states at absolute.
76 Sediment Transport
10.4.2 Measuring Nearshore Sediment Transport
Measurement of sediment transport under waves is not a tri-
vial task because of the different modes of transport, reversing
flows, generally high-energy conditions which make instru-
ment deployment and maintenance difficult, and large sedi-
ment transport gradients that make for a highly dynamic
seabed that rarely remains in the same vertical position for
long periods of time. Furthermore, despite the fact that great
strides have been made recently, instruments and equipment
for measuring sediment transport still suffer from various
limitations and several complementary techniques must
commonly be employed.
10.4.2.1 Measurement Devices for Suspended Load
One of the first to investigate suspended sediment concen-
tration under waves was Watts (1953) who used suction
pumps, originally devised for measuring sediment transport in
rivers, to determine mean suspended sediment concentration
profiles. Suction pumps and bottle sampling have since been
used by Nielsen (1984) and Kroon (1991), for example. A
comprehensive study on the efficiency of pump samplers was
performed by Bosman et al. (1987), who found that pump
sampling yielded satisfactory results, provided that pump in-
take velocity exceeds the ambient flow by a factor of three.
Given the relatively small and strongly time-varying sediment
concentrations in the water column throughout most of the
nearshore zone, the sampling bottles need to be large to yield
a reliable measure of mean sediment concentration over a
reasonable timescale.
An alternative method for sediment trapping and for dir-
ectly computing sediment transport rates was introduced by
Hom-ma and Horikawa (1962) and later refined by Kraus
(1987). The measurement devices are called streamer traps, and
they consist of a vertical array of polyester, sieve cloth bags that
are mounted on a stainless steel rack. The traps are carried
manually to the deployment site where samples are taken over
a time frame of 5–10 min. The contents of the bags are then
dried and weighed. Field deployments indicate that the traps
provide consistent and robust estimates of longshore and cross-
shore transport rates (Kraus and Dean, 1987; Brander, 1999).
However, the technique is limited to favorable (relatively shal-
low) water depths and wave heights (relatively small) inside the
surf zone. It can only be used under low-energy conditions and
in situations where unidirectional currents are sufficiently
strong to avoid entangling the bags, thus limiting the technique
to measurements of longshore transport and cross-shore
transport in rip currents under relatively small waves. The
technique has also proved useful in the swash zone to sep-
arately quantify uprush and backwash sediment transport during
single swash events (Hughes et al., 1997a).
Although trap-based techniques are useful for estimating
the amount of sediment carried by mean currents, they cannot
resolve the time-dependent nature of sediment concentration
nor the transport due to oscillatory wave motions. Measure-
ment devices for both flow velocity and suspended sediment
concentration have become increasingly sophisticated, and are
now capable of measuring suspended sediment transport due
to both mean and oscillatory flows using the following rela-
tionship. The instantaneous suspended transport rate, qs(t) at
a given elevation above the bed, z, is the product of sediment
concentration, c, and the velocity by which the grains are
transported by the fluid, ug,
qs ðtÞ ¼ ug ðtÞcðtÞ ½3
The equation can be integrated over the timescale of
interest and over water depth to yield the net suspended
sediment transport rate. It is generally assumed that ug ¼ u,
where u is the speed of the surrounding fluid. Although ap-
proximately true for fine sand (or smaller grain sizes), the
assumption becomes increasingly difficult to justify for me-
dium and coarse sand.
Techniques to resolve the time-dependent nature of sus-
pended sediment concentrations (eqn [3]) began when
Brenninkmeyer (1976) deployed an optical transmissometer
to measure the attenuation of light due to suspended particles.
Downing et al. (1981) later introduced an improved device;
the optical backscatter sensor (OBS) that is smaller in size and
less sensitive to air bubbles in the water. The OBS-sensor
works by emitting an infrared light that is reflected and
backscattered by sediment in the water. The backscattered
signal is detected by a photodiode and transformed to a
voltage, which is a linear function of sediment concentration.
The rapid frequency response (sampling rates of 10–20 Hz can
be achieved, depending on exact sensor type) of the OBS
means that they are capable of resolving the detailed features
of fluctuating sediment concentration under waves. The in-
struments can be deployed in vertical arrays to resolve sedi-
ment concentrations through the water column over long
periods of time. Consequently, they have been widely used for
suspended sediment concentration and transport measure-
ments in the nearshore. An example of a sediment concen-
tration time series obtained from an OBS deployed close to
the bed in the inner surf zone is illustrated in Figure 2.
Sediment concentration and velocity were recorded at 10 Hz
and sediment response to sequences of large and small waves
is evident. It is abundantly clear, however, that there is no
straightforward relationship between sediment concentration
and velocity magnitude.
Despite the general success of OBS-sensors in providing
realistic, quantitative measures of suspended sediment con-
centration, they do suffer from several shortcomings. The
output voltage depends not only on sediment concentration,
but also on sediment grain size and color (Black and Rosen-
berg, 1994; Battisto et al., 1999; Hatcher et al., 2000; Down-
ing, 2006). Therefore the sensors must be calibrated with the
local sediment at the deployment site, ideally with a sample of
the sediment in active suspension. The sensor sampling vol-
ume decreases with increasing sediment concentration, and
because sensor diameter is typically about 15 mm, care must
be taken when deploying these instruments near the bed. At
elevations less than 40–50 mm, the sensors can create turbu-
lence and artificially enhance sediment suspension. Sensors
are typically deployed in a spatially fixed position, so if the
seabed accretes or erodes, the vertical sensor positions need to
be adjusted or measured frequently in order to provide rea-
sonable estimates of sediment concentration profiles and
 Sediment Transport 77

100 2

Sediment concentration (g l−1)

80
1

Velocity (m s−1)
60
0
40

−1
20

0 −2
1900 1950 2000 2050
Time (s)
Figure 2 Time series of cross-shore velocity (thick line) and suspended sediment concentration measured at 10 cm above the bed (thin line).
Data were recorded in the surf zone at Vejers on the Danish North Sea coast. The water depth at the instrument station was 1.32 m and the
significant wave height was 0.82 m.

transport (Ogston and Sternberg, 1995). Finally, the OBS is

sensitive to air bubbles and foam, which may increase sensor
outputs by 25% (Puleo et al., 2006). Care must therefore be
taken when interpreting OBS-signals obtained under breaking
waves in the inner surf zone, or in the highly aerated swash
zone.
To overcome some of these instrument deficiencies, smaller
fiber-optic backscatter sensors (FOBS) were developed (Beach
et al., 1992). The diameter of these sensors can be made as
small as a few mm, and therefore vertical sensor arrays can be
deployed very close to, and, indeed, into the seabed (Foster
et al., 2000; Aagaard et al., 2005; Austin and Masselink, 2008).
By using laser diodes, some sensor types, such as the UFOBS-7
(Downing, 2006), sample sediment concentrations in fixed
sampling volumes located some distance away from the sensor
head. Problems with sensitivity to air bubbles have not been
Figure 3 Arrays of OBS and FOBS sensors deployed on a stainless
identified with this latter type of sensor (Aagaard and Hughes, steel H-frame with an electromagnetic and an acoustic current meter.
2006), but clearly the deployment of such instruments still A second instrument station is submerged in the background, and
represents a physical intrusion in the bottom boundary layer. the photo was taken at low tide.
Instantaneous sediment concentration measurements ob-
tained with vertical arrays of OBS-sensors (such as illustrated
in Figure 2 for a single sensor) can be paired with measure- The introduction of acoustic backscatter sensors (ABS)
ments of ambient fluid velocity from colocated fast-response overcame some of the disadvantages associated with OBS-
current meters (Figure 3) to provide estimates of the net sensors by providing the capability of obtaining remote
suspended sediment flux (eqn [3]). The resulting transport measurements of suspended sediment concentration con-
estimates can then be split into transport contributions from tinuously through the water column at a resolution as fine as
mean flows and waves using the uc-integral concept (Jaffe about 5 mm, with sampling rates of several Hz (Hay and
et al., 1984): Sheng, 1992; Osborne et al., 1994). When two or more sen-
sors with different acoustic frequencies are deployed, estimates
hqs i ¼ huci ¼ huihci þ u0 c0 ½4 of suspended sediment grain size can be made (Crawford and
Hay, 1993). The drawback with ABS-sensors is their very high
where u is the instantaneous fluid velocity and c is the in- sensitivity to air bubbles (Hanes et al., 1988) and the intricate
stantaneous sediment concentration. Brackets denote time- algorithms required to invert the backscattered signal to ob-
averaged quantities and primes represent oscillatory terms. tain sediment concentration (Sheng and Hay, 1988; Thorne
Huntley and Hanes (1987) demonstrated how the u0 c0 term in and Hanes, 2002; Betteridge et al., 2008). Nevertheless, these
eqn [4] can be resolved in frequency space, by using cospectral sensors are seeing increased use, particularly in deep water
techniques, to obtain information on sediment transport rates and/or on the lower shoreface where bubbles from wave
and directions associated with different wave frequencies. breaking do not penetrate to the sensor sampling depths
78 Sediment Transport
0.4
Elevation above the bed (m)
0.3
0.2
0.1
0 rates using sonars (Greenwood et al., 1993). The determin-
0.01 0.1
Sediment concentration (g l−1)
Figure 4 Profile of suspended sediment concentration calculated
from a pulse-coherent acoustic Doppler profiler. Measurements were
obtained under nonbreaking waves in a bar trough. Wave ripples on
the seabed had a wavelength of l¼11 cm and a height Z¼2 cm.
(Traykovski et al., 1999; Cacchione et al., 2008; Dolphin and
Vincent, 2009). Acoustic/Coherent Doppler Profilers (ADP/
CDP; Zedel and Hay, 1999; Newgard and Hay, 2007; Ha et al.,
2011) offer some of the same possibilities as the ABS with
the added advantage that colocated velocity measurements
for sediment transport calculations are obtained. Figure 4
shows a mean sediment concentration profile obtained with a
pulse-coherent ADP under shoaling waves and on a
rippled bed.
It should be clear from the preceding discussion that per-
fect sensors for quantitative measurements of suspended
sediment concentration and transport in the field do not yet
exist. However, reasonable estimates can be made and the
techniques are more robust and reliable than techniques for
estimating bedload transport.
10.4.2.2 Measurement Devices for Bedload
Early studies of bedload transport used sediment tracer tech-
niques (e.g., Ingle, 1966; Komar and Inman, 1970), which
involved the injection of tagged sediment grains and a tracking
of their dispersal in the direction of transport. The technique
has mainly been applied to study longshore transport, and the
bedload transport rate (qb) is given by
X
qb ¼ vðxÞbðxÞDx ½5
x application of the sediment conservation equation (eqn [1])
where v(x) is the advection velocity of the tracer at a given
cross-shore coordinate, x, and b is the mixing depth of the
tracer (Madsen, 1989; White and Inman, 1989). Estimates of
net longshore (bedload) sediment transport are obtained by
integrating qb across the surf zone. Considerable effort has
been invested in attempting to develop predictive equations
for tracer mixing depth (e.g., Kraus, 1985; Ciavola et al.,
1997), however, several problems exist with the tracer tech-
nique. For example, it is not clear how tracer diffusion caused
by oscillatory flows should be interpreted in terms of a net
transport, and it is not clear that the assumption that ad-
vection velocity is uniform over the entire mixing depth is
valid. Moreover, it was originally assumed that tracer dispersal
is exclusively a measure of bedload transport (Komar and
Inman, 1970). This, probably erroneous, assumption was
made on the basis that suspended sediment transport is
characterized by more or less permanent suspension of the
particles. This is certainly not the case under waves (Hanes,
1988; see also Figure 2), so tracer techniques should at best
yield an estimate of bedload plus some/most suspended load
transport.
A methodology that has shown some promise for the es-
timation of bedload transport is the remote imagery of the
seabed geometry and measurement of bedform migration
ation of bedload transport rates from this technique relies on
1 10
the assumption that bedform migration rate is directly com-
parable to bedload transport (Hay and Bowen, 1993; Tray-
kovski et al., 1999). Hoekstra et al. (2004) obtained
agreement within a factor of two between estimated bedload
transport determined by bedform migration as recorded by a
ripple profiler and model predictions from a numerical bed-
load transport model. However, the method is only applicable
in situations when distinct bedforms appear on the seabed.
Moreover, it is not clear to what extent suspended load might
contribute to bedform migration.
For laboratory measurements, Ribberink and Al-Salem
(1995) developed a conductivity concentration meter that
measures sediment concentration in the bedload layer. The
measurement principle uses the difference in conductivity
between water and sediment and through calibration, the
relative quantity of the two phases can be determined. A sys-
tem consisting of two such probes was used by McLean et al.
(2001) to estimate bedload transport, based on the cross-
correlation signal between the two probes. The sensors, which
have a diameter of about 4 mm, are inserted through the
bottom of a flow tunnel or a wave flume and point upward
through the bed. These devices rely on very precise positioning
to resolve the bedload layer at mm-scale and would require
almost continuous re-positioning on a dynamic natural beach,
making them impractical for field measurements. The devel-
opment of devices for bedload measurement is still in its
infancy and remains a priority research issue.
10.4.2.3 Measurement of Total Sediment Transport
Determination of temporal bed-level changes and the direct
can be used to estimate indirectly the total transport of sedi-
ment, i.e., the sum of bedload and suspended load. Bed-level
changes can be determined using conventional survey tech-
niques (Dean et al., 1987), rods inserted into the seabed
(Greenwood and Hale, 1980), electromagnetic bed-level sen-
sors (Ridd, 1992; Aagaard et al., 2001), or acoustic devices
installed at some distance above the seabed (Thornton et al.,
1998). In the intertidal and swash zones, buried pressure
sensors (Baldock et al., 2005) and ultrasonic altimeters
(Blenkinsopp et al., 2011) have been used to resolve bed-level

changes and sediment transport gradients at high temporal
and spatial resolution. In order to resolve both the magnitude
and direction of the transport bed-level measurements at
several positions are required. In the case of a cross-shore
transect (assuming no longshore transport) there must also be
closure (no bed elevation changes) at one end of the profile.
In the case of a 2D array of measurements there must be
closure along two boundaries of the array.
10.4.3 Sediment Mobilization and Suspension
Sediment is mobilized by friction between the moving fluid
and the sediment grains resting on the seabed. In the bottom
boundary layer, friction generates small turbulent vortices that
set up stresses between fluid and grains, termed bed shear
stresses. The bed shear stress is a quantity that is of major im-
portance in determining the way sediment reacts to fluid
forcing.
A rigorous definition of the bed shear stress is t ¼ r(u00 w00 )
where r is the fluid density, and (u00 w00 ) is the Reynolds stress
which is the product of turbulent horizontal (u00 ) and vertical
(w00 ) velocities in the bottom boundary layer. Until recently,
this formulation has seen little use in wave-dominated en-
vironments, because it has been difficult to measure a three-
dimensional (3D) velocity field in thin wave boundary layers
at the high frequencies required to resolve the turbulent vel-
ocity components. An alternative and more conventional
definition of the bed shear stress reads t ¼ ru2 , where u is the
friction velocity at the bed and it depends on the near-bed
velocity gradient du/dz. In the nearshore, peak wave orbital
velocities are, in most circumstances, faster than mean
current speeds, and because of the reversing nature of the
flow, wave boundary layers are much thinner than current
boundary layers. Consequently, velocity gradients in the
wave boundary layer are generally much steeper than in
current boundary layers. Waves therefore generate more bed
friction and larger bed stresses, and thus they are the main
mechanism responsible for stirring sediment in the nearshore.
The thickness of the wave boundary layer is generally on
the order of 0.10 m or less. Shear plates have recently been
used in the laboratory to directly measure the bed shear stress
(Barnes et al., 2009), but such equipment is too fragile to use
in field settings. A common circumvention of the problem has
been to define the bed shear stress under waves as
t ¼ ½rfw u2 ½6
where u is the maximum horizontal free-stream velocity in the
wave cycle (at the top of the wave boundary layer) and fw is a
wave ‘friction factor,’ or a transfer function between free-stream
velocity and friction velocity. The friction factor is often spe-
cified after Jonsson (1966) or Swart (1974). The latter ex-
pression reads:
! (8), and the Swart friction factor (eqn [7]) as a function of relative
 0:194
ks
fw ¼ exp 5:213  5:977 ½7
A
where fw is expressed as a function of orbital amplitude
(A¼uT/2p, where T is the wave period) and bed (grain)
Sediment Transport 79
roughness (ks ¼ 2.5D, where D is the mean sediment grain
size) with additional terms added when ripples exist on the
seabed (see Nielsen, 1986, 1992). For nearshore oscillatory
flows over sandy beds, calculated wave friction factors are
typically of the order of 0.01.
The abovementioned parameterizations of fw were de-
veloped from laboratory experiments over fixed beds and it
could be questioned how well such conditions represent the
real world. Moving sand grains increase the roughness above
that expected for fixed grains. In addition, since the dynamic
forcing that generates bed friction is expressed exclusively
through orbital amplitude, the parameterizations do not take
into account turbulence generated by other sources, for ex-
ample wave breaking, which in some cases can penetrate to the
seabed (Cox and Kobayashi, 2000; Aagaard and Hughes, 2010).
Smyth et al. (2002) used a coherent acoustic Doppler
profiler and the Reynolds stress concepts to introduce a
method to derive the friction factor directly from near-bed
measurements of (turbulent) vertical and horizontal flows:
 00 2
2w
fw ¼ 2 ½8
u
where w00 is the vertical turbulent flow component and u is the
horizontal velocity vector. Friction factors are typically larger
for breaking than for nonbreaking wave conditions because of
the vertical flux of horizontal momentum into the boundary
layer caused by turbulence associated with wave breaking
(Feddersen et al., 2003). Inner surf-zone field measurements
of the ratio of fw determined from eqn [8] to fw determined
from the Swart-equation (eqn [7]) are shown in Figure 5. The
ratio between the two expressions for fw ranged from 2 to 10
and it increased with local relative wave height, the latter being
10
8
6
fw/fw; Swart
4
2
0
0 0.4 0.8 1.2
Hs h−1
Figure 5 The ratio between friction factors fw determined from eqn
wave height Hs/h. Measurements were obtained in an inner surf
zone with breaking waves. Adapted from Dohmen–Janssen, C.M.,
Hanes, D.M., 2002. Sheet flow dynamics under monochromatic
nonbreaking waves. Journal of Geophysical Research 107(C10), 3149,
doi:10.1029/2001/JC001045, with permission from American
Geophysical Union.
80 Sediment Transport
a measure of the ability of wave-generated surface turbulence
to reach the bed. Turbulence injected from wave breaking
therefore appears to be a significant added source of bed shear
stress in shallow water depths on the upper shoreface.
The mobilization of bed sediment by waves can be esti-
mated using the Shields parameter, which is a nondimen-
sional expression for the bed shear stress and is defined as
t column can occur either through diffusion of the suspension
y¼ ½9
rðs  1ÞgD
where s is the relative sediment density. Based on field
and laboratory experiments, Nielsen (1986) found that the
threshold of sand motion occurs for ywE0.05, where the
subscript denotes the Shields parameter calculated for wave
motion only. This is a value that is typically assumed in ap-
plications, but the uncertainties involved in calculating the
bed shear stress in eqn [9] make the procedure of using a
threshold Shields parameter less than straightforward. Green
(1999) used orbital velocity measurements and a video cam-
era to test the threshold velocity equation proposed by Komar
and Miller (1973):
 ½
u2 A ws CðzÞ þ es
¼ 0:21 ½10
ðs  1ÞgD D
Using ‘significant’ orbital velocity to arrive at orbital
amplitude, Green (1999) found that this equation is a good
predictor of initial sediment movement outside the surf zone
and it circumvents the difficulties of using the Shields par-
ameter approach.
The methodology expressed by eqns [10] and also [9],
when fw is specified by the Jonsson/Swart approach (e.g., eqn
[7]), assumes that sediment stirring is a function of orbital
velocity magnitude and grain size only. An increasing body of
literature indicates that wave shape, causing fluid accelerations
and decelerations, also has an impact on sediment mobiliza-
tion (e.g., Chapter 10.3, this volume). For example, Foster
et al. (2006) provided field evidence suggesting that pressure
gradients derived from fluid accelerations under asymmetric
waves were important to the incipient motion of sediment.
The observed thresholds of sediment mobilization under
asymmetric waves were smaller than predicted using equations
that consider exclusively horizontal fluid velocity. Moreover,
shear stresses generated by mean currents, although being
subordinate in most cases, are clearly not negligible and they
interact nonlinearly with wave-generated, bed shear stresses,
thus enhancing the total bed shear stress. Models for bed shear
stresses in combined wave–current boundary layers have been
proposed by Grant and Madsen (1979) and Soulsby (1997).
Once the sediment grains have been mobilized, they can
move as grain-supported bedload, either in a sheet flow layer
where the volumetric concentration decreases from
CE0.6–0.7 in the stationary bed to CE0.08 (where inter-
granular forces become unimportant), or in a layer corres-
ponding to the height of migrating bedforms (Hoekstra et al.,
2004). In the sheet flow case, the bedload layer is on the order
of 10 grain diameters thick and the thickness increases with
bed shear stress (Dohmen-Janssen and Hanes, 2005). Above
the moving bed layer, sediment moves in intermittent
suspension where the grains are principally supported by the
surrounding fluid.
Lifting of sediment grains into suspension occurs when
turbulent fluctuations near the bed become sufficiently large,
and it is generally assumed that this occurs when the ratio
between friction velocity and grain settling velocity increases
above unity. The upward mixing of sediment in the water
or as convection, in which case the sand grains are lifted as
more or less coherent clouds of sediment. Convection dom-
inates when steep ‘vortex’ ripples (Bagnold, 1946) are present
on the bed and vortex shedding occurs from these bedforms.
The generation of small sediment-laden vortices typically takes
place in the lee of steep bedforms at orbital velocity maxima
under wave crests and wave troughs, and these vortices are
subsequently ejected from the bed at velocity reversals
(Nakato et al., 1977; Osborne and Greenwood, 1993; van der
Werf et al., 2008; Mignot et al., 2009).
The vertical distribution of suspended sediment, averaged
over several wave periods, can be described by the time-
averaged sediment convection-diffusion equation:
dc
¼0 ½11
dz
where C is the (mean) sediment concentration, z is the vertical
distance above the bed, and the overbar indicates wave-
averaged terms. The equation states that the upward mixing of
sediment, expressed through a ‘sediment diffusivity,’ es, is
balanced by sediment settling, expressed by the sediment fall
velocity, ws. Several expressions for es exist in the literature and
one of the most recent formulations was proposed by Van Rijn
(2007). It is likely that sediment diffusivity scales with near-
bed turbulent velocity and the rate at which this turbulence is
produced; such that large waves, short wave periods and fine
sediment grain sizes result in large diffusivities and mean
concentration profiles where sediment concentration de-
creases relatively slowly with distance above the bed. A more
rapid decrease in sediment concentration above the bed will
then occur for smaller, long-period waves and coarse grain
sizes, where the sediment diffusivity will be small. The
micromorphology of the seabed also affects sediment diffu-
sivity and larger values of es are observed with wave ripples
than with flat beds (Vincent and Downing, 1994). This is
partly because of the larger roughness elements that cause
additional turbulent vortex generation over ripples.
Wave breaking is another mechanism that affects sediment
diffusivity. In shallow water depths and particularly when
waves are plunging, surface-generated turbulence can reach
the bed and may significantly increase sediment concen-
tration/diffusivity and sediment transport (Kana, 1978; Yu
et al., 1993). In a recent study, Aagaard and Hughes (2010)
observed that wave impact on the bed can generate large
sediment clouds, and under plunging waves in the breaker
zone up to 85% of the suspended sediment load in the water
column may be associated with large vortices generated by
wave breaking. When a breaking wave vortex hits the bed,
clouds of sediment are lifted upward in a convective process,
and such clouds may be advected several meters away from the

breakpoint before sediment settles out (Black et al., 1995;
Beach and Sternberg, 1996).
The shape of the suspended sediment concentration profile
depends on the process that dominates the upward mixing of
the sediment grains. When convection is dominant, for ex-
ample, due to vortex shedding from bedforms or breaker vor-
tices lifting the sediment in coherent packages, vortex size and
intensity is near-constant over the lower part of the water col-
umn and sediment diffusivity is therefore near-constant in the
vertical. Mean sediment concentration profiles will then take on
an exponential shape. In cases when diffusion dominates, tur-
bulent vortices generated by bed friction expand as they
propagate upwards; diffusivity then increases linearly with
height and mean suspended sediment concentration profiles
approximate a power-function (Dolphin and Vincent, 2009).
It is clear that the theoretical descriptions of sediment
mobilization and the vertical distribution of sediment con-
centration (e.g., eqn [11]) are oversimplified. Figure 2 illus-
trated the seemingly erratic nature of sediment suspension
under strongly breaking waves in the surf zone. Figure 6
shows a contrasting example of sediment concentrations re-
corded under shoaling waves at 8 m water depth on the lower
shoreface, and under these less complex conditions there is
still no straightforward relationship between orbital velocity
and sediment concentration. The time series shown in Figures
2 and 6 also demonstrate the strongly time-dependent nature
of sediment suspension under natural conditions. It is
clear that no single process can explain the variability in
concentration magnitude, but that many processes interact.
The following is a list of factors that have been demonstrated
to affect near-bed sediment concentrations during field
experiments:
1. Fluid velocity – larger (horizontal) fluid velocities, whether
of wave or current origin, enhance the bed shear stress and
therefore mobilize and suspend larger amounts of sedi-
ment. The coexistence of waves and currents results in
nonlinear enhancement of the total shear stress and sedi-
ment mobilization.
2. Sediment grain size – finer sediment is more easily sus-
pended and mixed upward in the water column. Further-
more, a distribution of grain sizes exists in the bed and the
finer grains will be suspended to larger elevations, resulting
10
Sediment concentration (g l−1)
8
6
4
2
0 −50
0 50
Figure 6 Time series of cross-shore velocity (thick line) and suspended sediment concentration at 5 cm above the bed (thin line), recorded at
7.6 m water depth off the Danish North Sea coast. The significant wave height was 1.32 m and the sampling frequency was 2 Hz.
Sediment Transport 81
in vertical grain size fractionation. Under full-scale shoal-
ing waves in a laboratory wave flume, Greenwood and Xu
(2001) observed an 18% decrease in mean grain size be-
tween elevations of 4 and 24 cm above the bed.
3. Bedforms – ripples on the seabed enhance bed shear
stresses and both vertical mixing lengths and sediment
diffusivities are much larger when the bed is rippled than
when it is flat. With flat beds, sediment diffusivity is rela-
tively smaller and the suspended sediment may be con-
fined to the lower tens of mm of the water column where
the sediment moves in a high-concentration, carpet-like
sheet flow. Bedforms further affect the phase relationship
between fluid velocity and sediment concentration in a
nontrivial way, especially under irregular waves.
4. Wave groups – a successive ’pumping up’ of sediment oc-
curs under groups of large waves, because of the finite
sediment settling velocity, leading to much larger sediment
concentrations at the end of a wave group than at the be-
ginning of a group (Hanes, 1991; Osborne and Green-
wood, 1993; Williams et al., 2002).
5. Wave breaking – the added turbulence due to wave
breaking creates additional bed shear stress and vertical
sediment mixing (Yu et al., 1993; Scott et al., 2009). Under
plunging breakers, large vortices with vertical velocities up
to 1 m s1 have been observed in the field, and they can lift
large clouds of sediment upward from the bed (Aagaard
and Hughes, 2010). However, vortices from spilling
breakers are much more limited in vertical extent and
rarely reach the bed. Consequently, sediment loads under
plunging waves are typically larger than under spilling
waves (Kana, 1978).
6. Infragravity waves can become very energetic in the inner
surf zone where they may contribute significantly to sedi-
ment suspension, as suggested by modulations of the
sediment concentration magnitude at time scales of
20–100 s (Russell, 1993; Aagaard and Greenwood, 1995a).
Attempting to disentangle and model the contributions
from each of these processes – and probably more – is a major
task and bulk parameterizations may presently prove more
successful.
Another complication is phasing of sediment concentration
relative to fluid velocity (Figures 2 and 6). Instantaneous
50
25
Velocity (cm s−1)
0
−25
100 150 200 250
Time (s)
82 Sediment Transport
suspended sediment concentrations (and sediment concen-
tration profiles) under waves fluctuate continuously over a wave
period, and the way that instantaneous concentration (c(t)) is
related to instantaneous fluid velocity (u(t)) is of critical im-
portance to the direction and net magnitude of sediment
transport. Increasing time lags often exist between fluid forcing
and sediment concentration for increasing elevations above the
bed, because of the time it takes for sediment to respond to
fluid motion and mix upward in the water column. Such time
lags significantly impede our ability to predict (suspended)
sediment transport rates. Not only do the time lags depend on
elevation above the bed, but they also depend on the shape of
the bed. There are relatively small time lags for flat beds and
large phase lags when ripples and vortex shedding occurs
(Osborne and Greenwood, 1993). Very detailed laboratory
measurements of phase relationships between fluid velocity
and sediment concentrations in and above the bed were ob-
tained under regular, monochromatic, nonbreaking waves in a
large wave flume by Dohmen-Janssen and Hanes (2002). The
waves were strongly skewed with large velocities under the wave
crest (Figure 7). Their measurements indicate that sediment
was almost exclusively mobilized under the wave crest, and in
the bedload layer, sediment concentrations were nearly in
phase with fluid velocity. A significant time lag relative to the
fluid forcing was introduced for the suspended sediment, and
for elevations above 18 mm, maximum concentrations ap-
peared on the offshore wave stroke leading to offshore trans-
port of sediment. Dohmen-Janssen and Hanes (2002) also
observed that time lags increase for fine sand and short wave
periods.
It is likely that such time lags become less systematic with
natural waves, further complicating a detailed description and
modeling of sediment mobilization and transport.
10.4.4 Cross-Shore Sediment Transport
The fluid velocity required to transport sediment in the
nearshore (eqn [4]) can be produced by a variety of
hydrodynamic processes, some of which are dominant in
the cross-shore dimension and some of which are dominant
in the longshore dimension. This section discusses cross-
shore transport. In most cases, spatial gradients in cross-
shore sediment transport are much larger than longshore
transport gradients and therefore the configuration and mor-
phologic change of the nearshore profile over time is a re-
flection of the integrated result of cross-shore sediment
transport processes.
Because of instrumental constraints, experimental work
has dealt mainly with suspended sediment transport rather
than bedload transport and consequently most of the fol-
lowing will address suspended load. A more specific dis-
cussion of the aspects of bedload transport will follow
separately in Section 10.4.4.5.
Despite the difficulties just described with modeling the
detailed mechanics of sediment transport under waves, cross-
shore sediment transport and the process mechanisms in-
volved in that transport are fairly well understood in a
qualitative sense.
10.4.4.1 Transport Mechanisms
On the upper shoreface it is generally accepted that – to a first
approximation – cross-shore sediment transport is controlled
by the balance between onshore transport oscillatory motions
caused by incident wind waves and swell and offshore trans-
port due to wave-generated mean currents. On the lower
shoreface transport due to wave motions is still important, but
mean currents generated mainly by tides and winds are also
important (Seymour, 1980; Fewings et al., 2008). The orien-
tation of these mean currents is typically alongshore, although
significant on/offshore-oriented mean currents occur near the
bed in situations with up/downwelling. Sediment transport rates
are generally smaller on the lower shoreface than on the upper,
as wave stirring of sediment is weaker.
Focusing for the moment on the effect of wind waves and
swell, a wave-cycle-averaged net transport is usually caused by
an asymmetry in the velocity field, for example, caused by
wave shoaling. During shoaling, wave and orbital velocity
skewnesses develop such that the magnitude of onshore-
directed orbital velocities become larger than offshore-directed
orbital velocities and the duration of onshore flows becomes
shorter than the duration of offshore flows. In the absence of
further complicating factors (e.g., bedforms altering the phase
relationship between flow and sediment suspension) this
velocity skewness leads to a net onshore transport by wind
waves, because sediment transport is a nonlinear function of
fluid velocity. Velocity skewness has long been perceived as the
major cause for net onshore wave-induced sediment transport
(Wells, 1967).
A theoretical example of the development of velocity
skewness and sediment transport potential is illustrated in
Figure 8. Wave shape and orbital velocity have been computed
using second-order Stokes wave theory and assuming a wave
height of 1 m and a wave period of 10 s. The sediment transport
potential is calculated by assuming qpu3 (Bagnold, 1963;
Bailard, 1981) and the lower panels illustrate transport poten-
tial integrated over wave crest and wave trough, respectively.
As illustrated in Figure 8, when waves propagate into
shallower water, the wave shape and the sediment transport
potential become increasingly asymmetric and increasingly
larger (wave-averaged) onshore sediment rates occur. Doering
et al. (2001) found that a relationship exists between the
magnitude of the wave orbital velocity skewness and the Ursell
number, defined as:
HL2
Ur ¼ ½12
h3
where H is the wave height, L is the wavelength, and h is the
water depth. If that is the case, then in theory it should be
possible to predict the wave-induced sediment transport rate
and direction from the Ursell number. However, it is well
known that the net suspended sediment transport rate under
skewed waves can be directed against the waves if the bed is
covered by steep vortex ripples (Section 10.4.3). Bedforms
induce phase lags between (orbital) velocity and sediment
concentration through the ejection and subsequent con-
vection of sediment-laden vortices at flow reversal (Vincent
and Green, 1990; Doucette, 2000; van der Werf et al., 2007).
Such phase lags are also a major reason why the direction of
 Sediment Transport 83

Velocity (m s−1)
0.5

−0.5

0.7

−1.4 mm
0.6

0.5 −0.4 mm
Concentration (m3 m−3)

0.4

−0.0 mm
0.3

0.2

0.1 0.5 mm

1.0 mm
2.3 mm
0 4.2 mm
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
t /T (−)

3
10.6 mm
18.0 mm
2.5 25.3 mm
40.1 mm
77.0 mm
202.0 mm
2
Concentration (m3 m−3)

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
t/T (−)
Figure 7 Laboratory measurements of ensemble-averaged sediment concentration at different elevations in and above the bed, plotted against
wave phase t/T, where T is the wave period. The top panel shows horizontal fluid velocity with positive velocities directed onshore. Negative
elevations are below initial bed level.
84 Sediment Transport

h = 50 m h = 10 m h=5m
0.08 0.6 1

Orbital velocity
0.04 0.3 0.5

(m s−1)
0 0 0
−0.04 −0.3 −0.5
−0.08 −0.6 −1
0 5 10 0 5 10 0 5 10
(a) Time (s)
Transport potential

0.001 0.15 0.8

0.0005 0.075 0.4
(m3 s−3)

0 0 0
−0.0005 −0.075 −0.4
−0.001 −0.15 −0.8
0 5 10 0 5 10 0 5 10
(b) Time (s)
transport potential

0.0015 0.3 1
Cumulated

0.5
0 0 0
−0.5
−0.0015 −0.3 −1
0 5 10 0 5 10 0 5 10
(c) Time (s)
Figure 8 (a) Theoretical wave orbital velocities computed from second-order Stokes wave theory for a wave height of 1 m and a wave period of
10 s at water depths of h ¼50, 10, and 5 m. (b) Shows sediment transport potential computed from q¼u3, and (c) shows total transport
potential under wave crests and wave troughs for the three depths. Note that y-axis extremes are different for different water depths. Positive
values are directed onshore.

suspended sediment transport is not uniform in the vertical,
or why transport magnitude is not simply related to the
magnitude of C. Figure 9 shows a set of illustrative measure-
ments of suspended sediment transport profiles obtained by
Vincent et al. (1991) during a minor storm event on the lower
shoreface off Queensland Beach in Nova Scotia, Canada. The
wave-induced transport was directed offshore very close to the
bed at the beginning and end of the event when orbital vel-
ocities were relatively small, and ripples with a height 41 cm
were believed to exist on the seabed. The wave-related trans-
port reversed to onshore at higher elevations in the water
column. During the maximum of the storm event, when
ripples were likely washed out or small in amplitude, the
wave-related transport was directed uniformly onshore in the
vertical. Vincent et al. (1991) hypothesized that the shifting
transport patterns were intimately related to changing bed-
form geometries, which in turn affected the phase relation-
ships between u and C.
When energy levels increase and bring about an increase in
wave orbital velocity and bed shear stress, bedform steepness
decreases and bedforms eventually disappear as the plane bed
stage is initiated. This causes decreasing phase lags between u
and C (Osborne and Greenwood, 1993). Detailed, large-scale
laboratory experiments on such phase lags were reported for
plane bed sheet flow conditions by Dohmen-Janssen et al.
(2002). They found that phase lags scaled with z/wsT where z
is the elevation above the bed, ws is the sediment fall velocity,
and T is the wave period. Thus, phase lags decrease with
proximity to the bed, large grain sizes and long-wave periods
(see also Figure 7).
Orbital velocity skewness continues to increase as long as
waves continue to shoal, but once the waves reach the upper
shoreface and begin to break, the skewness decreases. Instead,
a wave shape asymmetry develops that is expressed by a steep
front face and a gently sloping rear of the wave; the wave form
assumes a sawtooth shape, approximating a bore. Surf bores
are associated with fluid acceleration skewness; large acceler-
ations occur at the bore front and weaker decelerations occur
after passage of the bore crest.
Numerical models for sediment transport that rely ex-
clusively on orbital velocity skewness as the only mechanism
for onshore transport (e.g., Bailard, 1981; Marino-Tapia et al.,
2007a,b) have tended to under-predict the onshore com-
ponent of sediment transport. This has prompted researchers
to search for alternative mechanisms for onshore sediment
transport and Drake and Calantoni (2001) and Hsu and
Hanes (2004) suggested that fluid acceleration skewness may
be one such mechanism. Fluid acceleration is a useful means
for quantifying the asymmetric nature of waves, encapsulating
processes such as phase shifts of the bed shear stress relative to
free-stream velocity (caused by the thin bottom boundary
layer and thus large bed shear stresses under the front face of
 Sediment Transport 85

301/3 Houser and Greenwood (2007) found large sediment sus-

Wave transport pension events correlated well with large fluid accelerations.
Current transport
10.0 In the surf zone, fluid acceleration may also be a proxy for
Total transport
breaker/bore turbulence (Puleo et al., 2003) since turbulence
0.0 levels may be large and reach the bed at the front face of
301/5 breaking waves, especially when the waves are plunging
(Aagaard and Hughes, 2010). There appears little doubt that
10.0
onshore, wave-induced transport is strongly related to asym-
metries in the wave form, whether these are expressed through
0.0
301/7 fluid velocity or fluid acceleration skewness. The significance
of such skewness is likely to be more important for long-
10.0 period waves (and/or coarse grain sizes), because the sediment
grains mobilized and transported onshore under the wave
0.0 crest then have more time to settle (and/or settle more
301/9 quickly) before velocity reversal.
The foregoing discussion might suggest that sediment
10.0
transport due to wind waves is always onshore directed. As the
authors have touched upon earlier, this is not the case. Off-
0.0
301/11 shore wave-induced transport may occur if velocity skewness is
negative and/or if bedforms (e.g., steep vortex ripples) shift
10.0 the phase relationships between fluid velocity and sediment
concentration by more than approximately 901, or because of
0.0 bed slope. Strong wave/current interaction within the surf
301/13 zone can also lead to larger amounts of sediment being mo-
bilized on offshore wave strokes with a resulting offshore
10.0
wave-related transport.
Wave-induced transport may be either augmented or op-
0.0
302/2 posed by the transport due to mean currents. In Figure 9, for
example, the wave-induced onshore transport is opposed by
10.0 an offshore-directed mean transport caused by a quasi-steady
mean current. On the lower shoreface, mean cross-shore
0.0 transport may be caused by downwelling or upwelling flows
302/4
due to onshore- or offshore-directed wind stress (Wright et al.,
1991), tidal flows in cases when these are not oriented quite
10.0
parallel with the shoreline (Houwman and Hoekstra, 1999),
or Lagrangian Stokes drift. These types of flows are commonly
0.0
302/6 relatively weak and waves are generally perceived as domin-
ating the net cross-shore (onshore) sediment transport under
10.0 nonbreaking wave conditions, for example, on the lower
Onshore Offshore shoreface. Because beaches exist in the first place and because
0.0 it is a general observation that they tend to accrete under
8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 −2.0 −4.0 −6.0 −8.0 nonbreaking wave conditions, this assumption makes intui-
Transport rat (mg cm−1 s−1) tive sense. Although it is probably fair to say that the process
Figure 9 Record-averaged sediment transport profiles recorded by assemblages and the relative strength of various transport
Vincent et al. (1991) on the lower shoreface of Queensland Beach, processes are reasonably well known for the upper shoreface,
Nova Scotia using an acoustic backscatter system. The panels are such is not the case at intermediate (and large) water depths
arranged sequentially; the onset of the storm is represented by the on the lower shoreface. Laboratory experiments conducted
upper panel and the end of the storm by the lower panel. Total under more or less idealized conditions are generally in-
transport is the sum of transports due to incident waves and mean conclusive and only a few field experiments exist with an aim
currents, respectively. The wave contribution is highlighted with dark
to document net long-term cross-shore sediment transport.
shading showing the onshore wave-related transport component,
while light shading represents the offshore wave-related component.
Consequently, the cross-shore exchange of sediment between
Adapted from Vincent, C.E., Hanes, D.M., Bowen, A.J., 1991. Acoustic the lower and the upper shoreface is poorly known.
measurements of suspended sand on the shoreface and the control Once waves start to break in the surf zone on the upper
of concentration by bed roughness. Marine Geology 96, 1–18. shoreface velocity skewness decreases and offshore-directed
mean currents are enhanced significantly; the latter because of
the shallow water depths and the added contribution to the
waves), as well as pressure gradients into the bed (Austin et al., offshore-directed return currents from wave breaking and
2009). Predictions of observed, onshore oscillatory sediment surface rollers (Svendsen, 1984). Consequently, inside the
flux using a Meyer-Peter/Müller type of model improved breakpoint the mean (current-induced) transport may, in
when fluid acceleration was included (Austin et al., 2009) and some cases, assume complete dominance leading to large, net
86 Sediment Transport

offshore suspended sediment transport. As sediment concen-
trations are much larger on the upper than on the lower
shoreface (Figures 2 and 6), mean currents on the upper
shoreface are generally instrumental in creating large mor-
phological changes during storms.
Offshore-directed mean currents on the upper shoreface
comprise both undertow and rip currents. When wave break-
ing is strong, both types of flows can attain large velocities, up
to ca. 0.5 m s1 for undertows (Aagaard et al., 2005), and in
excess of 1 m s1 for rip currents (Brander and Short, 2000).
However, onshore-directed mean currents and mean transport
may also occur on the upper shoreface, for example in cases
when cell circulations exist in 3D morphological settings.
Onshore-directed mean flows can develop across shallow bars
between rip current channels, representing the onshore-
directed limb of the circulation cell (Aagaard et al., 1998;
2006), and the speed of such onshore-directed rip feeder flows
may be of the same order of magnitude as the offshore-
directed rip current (MacMahan et al., 2005).
Oscillatory flows due to infragravity waves are another
significant mechanism for cross-shore suspended sediment
of example QIG is plotted as a function of local water depth
relative to water depth at the wave breakpoint, h/hb, for two
beaches in Figure 10(a). Seaward of the wave breakpoint,
oscillatory infragravity flux is mostly offshore directed, as ex-
pected, probably due to bound long-wave motions. Inside the
wave breakpoint the importance of infragravity motions po-
tentially increases approximately linearly, such that it may
constitute about 70% of the total sediment flux near the
shoreline. However, the transport can be either offshore-, or
onshore-directed and it may also be negligible.
Calculating the absolute magnitude of infragravity flux and
plotting these data against distance to the wave breakpoint
demonstrated a clear transport pattern. Landward of the
breakpoint, infragravity transport was onshore, consistent
0.8
0.6 Dissipative beach
Intermediate beach
0.4
0.2

Qig
transport in the nearshore. Contrasting reports have emerged 0.0
on the relative importance and directional attributes of the
−0.2
infragravity-wave transport component. Seaward of the
breakpoint, oscillatory infragravity transport typically consti- −0.4
tutes only a minor fraction of the net transport and it is dir- −0.6
ected offshore (Ruessink et al., 1998). The reason for such a
−0.8
preferential direction of transport is tied to the occurrence of
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
short wave groups and the bound infragravity waves forced by
(a) h/hb
these groups. Groups of large wind/swell waves result in en-
hanced mobilization of sediment from the bed and this 1
sediment is advected offshore by bound long-wave troughs Dissipative
that are phase-locked to the groups of large wind/swell waves Intermediate
(Shi and Larsen, 1984). 0.5
Inside the (incident) wave breakpoint, infragravity motions
are commonly standing in the cross-shore dimension. Net
qIG (kg m−2 s−1)

suspended-sediment transport rates due to oscillatory infra- 0

gravity waves have been found negligible in some cases
(Ruessink et al., 1998; Conley and Beach, 2003), and in other
cases they dominate the total transport (Beach and Sternberg,
1991; Russell, 1993). In the inner surf zone of a dissipative
beach, Houser and Greenwood (2007) found that infragravity
sediment fluxes were large and their direction depended on
the position of the wave breakpoint. When waves broke sea-
ward of a bar crest the infragravity transport was directed
onshore and forced an onshore migration of the bar. When
waves broke landward of the bar crest the infragravity trans-
port component was directed offshore.
These conflicting reports on the role and significance of
infragravity waves were partly reconciled by Aagaard and
Greenwood (2008). They normalized the infragravity sus-
pended sediment flux by the total sediment flux at a point,
nominally located at 5 cm above the bed:
qig
QIG ¼   ½13
qig þ jqinc j þ jqm j
where qig, qinc, and qm are the sediment fluxes due to infra-
gravity waves, incident waves and mean currents, respectively.
In this formulation, qig expresses the relative contribution of
oscillatory infragravity motions to total sediment flux. By way
−0.5
−1
−1.5
−40 −20 0 20 40
x−xb (m)
(b)
Figure 10 (a) The contribution from oscillatory infragravity waves to
total suspended sediment flux, QIG (eqn [13]), plotted against local depth
relative to water depth at the wave breakpoint, h/hb. The breakpoint is
located at h/hb ¼1. (b) Infragravity oscillatory suspended sediment fluxes
plotted against distance relative to the nearest breakpoint, x  xb.
Positive values of x  xb indicate measurement positions landward of the
breakpoint, and positive sediment fluxes are directed onshore. Data were
collected at a dissipative beach (Skallingen, Denmark; circles) and at an
intermediate-state beach (Staengehus, Denmark; crosses). Reproduced
from Aagaard, T., Greenwood, B., 2008. Oscillatory infragravity wave
contribution to surf zone sediment transport – the role of advection.
Marine Geology 251, 1–14.

with Houser and Greenwood (2007), and decreased with
distance from the breakpoint, while the opposite was true
seaward of the breakpoint, with a cross-over in transport dir-
ection at the breakpoint (Figure 10(b)). Aagaard and Green-
wood (2008) proposed that wave breaker zones constitute
pick-up areas where large amounts of sediment are entrained
and suspended in the water column, and that standing infra-
gravity motions then act as an advection mechanism for
moving sediment away from the breaker zone. Both the
magnitude and direction of infragravity transport at a given
position on the upper shoreface is determined by the relative
position of the wave breaker zone.
Under storm conditions, infragravity oscillations can be-
come very large, particularly in the innermost surf zone. In
such cases it has been shown that they may assume a dom-
inant role in the suspension of sediment (Beach and Stern-
berg, 1988; Aagaard and Greenwood, 1995a). Oscillatory
infragravity transport direction and magnitude may well then
be a function of local infragravity velocity skewness rather
than sediment pick-up in a breaker zone.
The net suspended-sediment transport at any given position
on the upper shoreface is generally regarded as the sum of the
three transport components discussed above: (1) incident
wind waves and swell that mainly, but not always, transport
sediment onshore; (2) mean flows that mainly, but not always,
transport sediment offshore, and (3) infragravity waves that
commonly transport sediment in either direction. The largest
transport rates occur in the bottom 50 or 100 mm of the water
column (Conley and Beach, 2003) where sediment concen-
trations are large, an exception perhaps being in zones of
plunging breakers where sediment is lifted to higher elevations
(Yu et al., 1993). Furthermore, net sediment fluxes may be
vertically segregated, with oscillatory (onshore directed) fluxes
dominating in the very near-bed region where phase coupling
between u(t) and c(t) is large, and mean fluxes dominating at
larger elevations because of increasing current speed and de-
creasing phase coupling with distance from the boundary.
This simplification ignores potential sediment transport
processes such as Lagrangian mass transport due to Stokes drift
and boundary layer streaming. Such processes are generally
neglected, mainly because the former cannot be observed using
stationary instruments and the latter is difficult to resolve.
Boundary layer streaming causes weak mean currents that are
confined to the bottom boundary layer and oriented in the
direction of wave propagation, but they have not been posi-
tively identified in field measurements. This may be due to ei-
ther the small vertical scales involved or because these currents
are insignificant compared to other mean flows. Nevertheless, in
a numerical modeling study Henderson et al. (2004) con-
cluded that boundary layer streaming and Lagrangian mass
transport may both be important and potentially contribute to
onshore sediment transport and nearshore bar migration.
10.4.4.2 The Cross-Shore Distribution of Suspended
Sediment Transport
The way that cross-shore sediment transport varies across the
shoreface determines how the morphology changes. Spatially
changing transport rates and directions set up transport con-
vergences and divergences corresponding to zones of accretion
Sediment Transport 87
and erosion, respectively. A typical example is shown in Fig-
ure 11 from a double-barred beach where suspended sediment
fluxes are plotted for both a high- and low-energy situation. In
the former situation wave breaking occurred across both
nearshore bars, whereas some wave reformation occurred in
the troughs between the bars. In the latter situation wave
breaking only occurred over the inner bar.
In the high-energy case, the net suspended sediment fluxes
were directed offshore at all measurement positions, except at
the outermost station at the toe of the outer bar. The offshore
sediment fluxes were caused by a dominance of the mean
transport component caused by undertow. Sediment fluxes
increased seaward and reached a maximum on the crest of the
outer bar, and then decreased down the seaward slope of that
bar. Such a transport pattern will generate a zone of erosion
on the landward slope of the outer bar and a zone of accretion
on the seaward slope, resulting in offshore bar migration. In
the low-energy case sediment fluxes were directed mainly
landward. Specifically, fluxes were landward directed at bar
crests and seaward on the landward bar slopes. The onshore
fluxes were driven by incident waves with positive orbital-
velocity skewness, and such a transport pattern generates
erosion over the seaward slope of the bar and deposition on
the landward slope causing an onshore bar migration. Note
the much smaller observed transport rates during low-energy
conditions, which is consistent with observations that mor-
phological relaxation times are much longer under low-energy
conditions compared to high-energy conditions.
A similar spatial distribution of cross-shore transport was
observed by Marino-Tapia et al. (2007a). Following Russell
and Huntley (1999), they obtained a large number of velocity
measurements from six different beaches and they calculated
the third and fourth cross-shore velocity moments, which
were used as proxies for bedload and suspended load
(kg m−2 s−1)
0.1
0.0
−0.1
qx
−0.2
−0.3
(kg m−2 s−1)
0.5
0.0
qx
−0.5
−1.0
2
Elevation MSL (m)
0
−2
−4
0 50 100 150 200
Distance from baseline (m)
Figure 11 Net cross-shore suspended sediment fluxes measured at
5 cm above the bed at an intermediate-state beach, Staengehus,
Denmark. The upper panel shows fluxes during a low-energy
situation and the middle panel is for a high-energy situation. The
cross-shore profile is shown in the bottom panel for reference.
Positive sediment fluxes were directed onshore.
88 Sediment Transport
transport, respectively. The best-fit lines through the data
points were termed transport shape functions and these shape
functions showed that velocity moments were positive (due to
positive orbital velocity skewness) in the wave shoaling re-
gions seaward of wave breaker zones, indicative of net onshore
transport, whereas velocity moments were negative (due to
offshore-directed mean currents) through the majority of the
surf zone, indicative of net offshore transport. These shape
functions therefore predict erosion over much of the surf zone
with sediment transport convergences in breaker zones, con-
sistent with the patterns illustrated in Figure 11. The general
form of the proposed shape function was confirmed qualita-
tively by Tinker et al. (2009) who measured suspended sedi-
ment transport directly instead of using velocity moment
proxies, which formally assume proportionality between u(t)
and c(t).
10.4.4.3 Cross-Shore Suspended Sediment Transport on
Dissipative, Intermediate, and Reflective
Beaches
Cross-shore sediment transport is qualitatively and quantita-
tively different on different types of beaches, because of the
different history of wave transformation on each beach type
(see Chapters 10.5 and 10.12, this volume). Dissipative bea-
ches exhibit gentle cross-shore slopes, a relatively small vertical
relief between nearshore bars and intervening troughs, and
therefore (almost) continuous wave breaking through a wide
surf zone. Breaking waves are mostly of the spilling type.
Intermediate-state beaches possess steep, prominent bars with
strong wave breaking, commonly of the plunging type and
wave reformation in troughs (Wright and Short, 1984). Since
wave set-up and undertow speed depend on the slope of the
bed (Longuet-Higgins and Stewart, 1964; Longuet-Higgins,
1983; Aagaard et al., 2002), the mean current speed and hence
the offshore-directed (mean) sediment transport component
can be expected to be smaller, but extending over longer
horizontal distances on dissipative beaches compared with
intermediate-state beaches. On intermediate beaches strong
undertows occur over bars with weak undertows in troughs.
Moreover, suspended sediment loads will be locally large
under plunging waves on intermediate beaches and small in
troughs where wave breaking does not occur. In contrast,
cross-shore gradients in sediment load tend to be smaller on
dissipative beaches because turbulence from spilling breakers
does not impact the bed to the same extent as turbulence from
plunging waves. As a consequence, gradients in cross-shore
suspended-sediment transport rates are expected to be larger
on intermediate-state beaches than on dissipative beaches,
causing the former to be more dynamic in terms of mor-
phological change, which is in agreement with observations
by Wright and Short (1984).
Infragravity motions are generally more important to the
net sediment transport on dissipative than on intermediate
beaches, because of the continuous dissipation of incident
wave energy and the concomitant growth of infragravity waves
on the former. Figure 12 shows cross-shore velocity spectra
and cospectra of sediment flux from the surf zone of a dissi-
pative beach. Across the nearshore bar the oscillatory sediment
flux occurred mainly at incident wave frequencies, but as in-
cident wind wave energy decayed over the bar, infragravity
waves dominated the velocity field in the inner surf zone. The
oscillatory sediment flux, displayed by the cospectra, occurred
exclusively at low frequencies. Such infragravity-band,
cospectral dominance is rarely seen on intermediate beaches
where incident waves reform in troughs between bars. On
such beaches, dissipation of incident wave energy is not as
strong and the infragravity-wave flux tends to remain sub-
ordinate to sediment fluxes by incident waves.
Direct field measurements of nearshore sediment transport
on the shoreface of reflective beaches are lacking. On this
beach type the lower shoreface extends to the wave breakpoint
at the toe of the beach face and mean currents, such as
undertows, are probably confined to a very narrow region near
the foreshore and probably indistinguishable from swash
flows. As waves are shoaling almost all the way to the beach it
is to be expected that sediment transport will be dominated by
wind/swell wave skewness, with a secondary offshore-directed
contribution from bound infragravity waves. As wave skew-
ness increases with decreasing water depth, and sediment
stirring increases with increasing wave-orbital velocity toward
the beach, onshore-directed sediment transport rates probably
increase consistently toward the beach, potentially leading to a
transfer of sand directly from the shoreface to the beach, again
depending on the complications introduced by bedforms.
10.4.4.4 Sediment Transport in 3D Morphological Settings
The spatial distribution of cross-shore sediment transport de-
scribed above strictly only applies when the morphology is
homogeneous alongshore. In the shallow inner surf-zone the
morphology is commonly rhythmic with crescentic or trans-
verse bars interspersed with rip channels. The mean current
circulation is then horizontally segregated, with strong off-
shore-directed rip currents in rip channels and weaker on-
shore-directed flows across the bar shoals completing the
circulation cells (Haller et al., 2002). Due to the difficulties
with installing instruments in an active rip current and the
positional instability of rip channels, only a few studies have
obtained measurements of sediment transport measurements
in rips. Because rip current velocity depends on the intensity of
incident wave dissipation across the shoals and the cross-sec-
tional area of the rip channel that the return flow is forced
through, rip velocity and related suspended sediment trans-
port is typically tidally modulated, with maximum current
speeds and offshore sediment transport rates occurring at low
tide (Aagaard et al., 1997; Brander, 1999; MacMahan et al.,
2005; Austin et al., 2010). When the rip current is most active
at low tide, net sediment transport in rip channels is offshore
directed because the mean (current-induced) transport com-
ponent is dominant, but at high tide, or when waves are small,
wave dissipation across bar shoals and ensuing rip velocity are
weak and onshore transport due to incident wave velocity
skewness may prevail.
Suspended sediment transport across bar shoals in be-
tween rip channels is almost persistently onshore directed,
perhaps due to acceleration skewness under breaking waves.
The onshore-directed mean currents that are generated across
 1E + 002 80 1E + 002 80 10 2 1E + 002 40 10 80
10 40 10 40 1 10 40
1 1
0.1 0 0.1 0 0 0.1 0 0
0.1 0.1
0.1 −40 0.1 −40 −1 0.1 −40
0.01 −80 0.01 −80 0.01 −2 0.01 −40 0.01 −80
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
f (Hz) f (Hz) f (Hz) f(Hz) f(Hz)

2.0

1.0
Elevation (m DNN)

0.0

−1.0

−2.0

−3.0
40 90 140 190 240
Distance (m)

Sediment Transport
Figure 12 Cross-shore velocity spectra (black, and left ordinate axis) and cospectra of cross-shore oscillatory sediment flux (blue, and right ordinate axis) at a dissipative beach. Note the progressive
decrease in sediment flux at incident wave frequencies (f40.05 Hz) as the shoreline is approached, and the simultaneous increase in sediment flux at infragravity frequencies (fo0.05 Hz). The offshore
significant wave height was 1.9 m and the mean water level was þ 0.9 m relative to mean sea level.

89
90 Sediment Transport
the shoals and that feed the rip currents increase in strength
with decreasing water depth because of more complete wave
dissipation and depth confinement. Hence, the onshore
transport at bar shoals is typically dominated by mean cur-
rents at low tide while oscillatory wave motions may dominate
when water depths are larger at high tide (Aagaard et al., 1998,
2006) leading to onshore bar migration (Bruneau et al.,
2009).
10.4.4.5 The Role of Bedload Transport
Previous sections have focussed on suspended sediment
transport. There has been a long-standing debate concerning
the relative significance of bedload versus suspended load. The
debate has come about partly because of semantic difficulties:
What exactly is bedload? In some cases, the distinction has
been made on the basis of sensor location relative to the
seabed, but a more rigorous definition was provided by Bag-
nold (see Section 10.4.1). The fact that bedload cannot yet be
reliably measured in natural shoreface settings contributes to
the uncertainty surrounding its importance.
Based on sediment tracer measurements Komar (1978)
argued that bedload contributes by far the largest fraction
(75–90%) of the total longshore sediment transport. The ar-
gument was made that the tracer centroid in those experi-
ments moved much more slowly than the mean current.
Hanes (1988) later pointed out that these observations
could be equally well explained by intermittent sediment
suspension.
Given the difficulties with measuring bedload reliably,
techniques using bedform-tracking devices have been used on
the assumption that bedform migration mirrors bedload
transport (Hay and Bowen, 1993; Osborne and Vincent, 1993;
Hoekstra et al., 2004; Maier and Hay, 2009). Dyer and Soulsby
(1988) tracked migrating ripples to estimate bedload transport
along with measurements of suspended sediment concen-
tration and they found that for steady (tidal) currents on the
lower shoreface of Start Bay, UK, bedload dominated imme-
diately above the threshold velocity whereas suspended load
was up to a factor of 17 times larger when flow velocities were
strong. Styles and Glenn (2005) used a data-driven bottom
boundary layer model to conclude that bedload on the mid-
Atlantic shelf was more important than suspended load. On
the upper shoreface and under strong wave action, Aagaard
et al. (2001) used a bed-level sensor to track migrating
megaripples and OBS-sensors were used for recording sus-
pended sediment transport; the tentative conclusion was that
bedload constituted 25% of the total sediment transport, with
the remainder being transported in suspension. Other ex-
perimental work (Kobayashi et al., 2005; Kleinhans and
Grasmeijer, 2006) and model tests (Li and Davies, 1996;
Wenneker et al., 2011) have also suggested that suspended
load is far more important than bedload under most
conditions.
When shear stresses become large bedforms are washed out
and it is usually assumed, for example, based on Shields-
diagrams, that suspended load becomes even more dominant
than in situations when bedforms exist. This assumption is
contradicted by the detailed large-scale laboratory experiments
by Dohmen-Janssen and Hanes (2002, 2005). Estimates of
grain velocities were obtained in the sheet flow layer under flat
bed conditions in a large wave flume using conductivity
probes. The imposed fluid motions had large velocity skew-
ness. Consistent with definitions, the top of the sheet flow/
bedload layer was selected as the level at which sediment
concentration dropped below c ¼ 0.08 m3/m3, and based on
this criterion, the observed sheet flow layer was in the order of
10 grain diameters thick and the experimental results indi-
cated that on flat beds and in pure wave motion, bedload
transport is about an order of magnitude larger than transport
in suspension. However, the measured suspended sediment
concentrations were 1–2 orders of magnitude smaller than
what is typically observed in natural surf zones.
The experimental evidence is thus highly contradictory on
the issue of bedload relative to suspended load magnitude.
Until reliable instruments for measuring bedload under nat-
ural conditions become available it is unlikely that the issue
will be resolved.
With regard to the processes driving nearshore bedload
transport, orbital velocity skewness is a critical ingredient,
because wave-induced bed shear stresses are larger than shear
stresses generated by mean currents. Bedload transport is
typically directed onshore (Styles and Glenn, 2005) consistent
with onshore-directed orbital velocity skewness, and
in situations when mean currents and net suspended sediment
transport are directed offshore this offers an explanation for
the often-observed cross-shore grain size segregation with a
seaward-fining trend, since coarse grains are likely to travel in
close vicinity to the bed and finer grain sizes higher in the
water column (Vincent et al., 1983).
In addition to velocity skewness, acceleration skewness
may also be important to bedload transport. Hsu and Hanes
(2004) and Calantoni and Puleo (2006) applied two-phase
and discrete particle numerical models, respectively, to suggest
that under sawtooth waves, horizontal pressure gradients
generated by fluid acceleration contribute significantly to the
net transport in the sheet flow layer, although they found that
the effects were still subordinate to those of velocity skewness.
10.4.4.6 Numerical Models of Cross-Shore Sediment
Transport and Beach Profile Change
Field and laboratory measurements of sediment transport
have contributed vastly to our understanding of how beaches
behave in nature. The question then is how well does the
assimilation of this knowledge into numerical models quan-
titatively reproduce natural beach behavior? Many math-
ematical/numerical models for cross-shore sediment transport
exist and these were typically validated using measurements of
cross-shore profile change and applying the sediment con-
servation equation.
One model frequently used by the scientific community is
the energetics model which was originally formulated by
Bagnold (1963) and later modified for wave-current flows by
Bowen (1980) and Bailard (1981). The model relies on a
velocity time series input, and it predicts bedload transport as
a function of the third-order, near-bed, velocity moment and
suspended transport as a function of the fourth-order

moment. Omitting the gravity terms that arise because of
sloping seabeds and which are negligible in most applications,
the model can be expressed as:
eb   es   involved in observed onshore bar migration during beach
iðtÞ ¼ rcf juðtÞj2 uðtÞ þ rcf juðtÞj3 uðtÞ ½14
tan j ws
where i(t) is the instantaneous immersed-weight sediment
transport at the point where velocity measurements are made,
u(t) is the instantaneous fluid velocity, r is the fluid density, cf
is a drag coefficient analogous to a friction factor, eb and es are
‘efficiency factors’ for bedload and suspended load, respect-
ively, f is the internal angle of friction, and ws is the sediment
fall velocity. The model has been tested on numerous occa-
sions, for example, using high-quality survey data from Duck,
N.C., USA (Thornton et al., 1996; Gallagher et al., 1998;
Marino-Tapia et al., 2007b). These tests all agree that the
model works well under erosive conditions when the net
sediment transport is directed offshore due to the undertow,
but it cannot simulate profile development under fair-weather
accretion conditions when sediment is driven onshore by the
dominance of oscillatory wave motions (Voulgaris et al., 1998;
Marino-Tapia et al., 2007b). With respect to the relative frac-
tion of bedload and suspended load, model predictions in
moderately or highly energetic situations indicate that sus-
pended sediment transport is typically a factor of 3–5 larger
than bedload transport, but any conclusions obviously
depend on how well the model represents nature.
The problems concerning a general underprediction of
onshore wave-induced transport, and the fact that the ener-
getics model does not specifically consider sediment concen-
tration, but instead models sediment stirring/concentration
implicitly through u2 and u3, have prompted researchers to
propose more detailed numerical models and to consider
additional mechanisms beyond (oscillatory) velocity skewness
for onshore sediment transport. For example, Henderson et al.
(2004) presented a wave phase-resolving model that includes
sediment transport due to boundary layer streaming and
Stokes drift (but excluding bedload and turbulence generated
by breaking waves) and their tests of this model were prom-
ising since the model was able to simulate onshore sediment
transport and ensuing landward bar migration at Duck.
Similar results were obtained from an alternative phase-
resolving model proposed by Hsu et al. (2006) that intro-
duced different friction factors for waves and currents.
A two-phase model developed specifically for sheet flow
sediment transport, and driven by measured wave, current and
turbulence information was proposed recently by Amoudry
et al. (2008). This model calculates the Reynolds-averaged, 1D
vertical mass and momentum equations of the separate fluid
and sediment phases in order to predict suspended as well as
high-concentration bedload transport. A later model-exten-
sion by Scott et al. (2009) included turbulence from breaking
waves and tests in a large-scale laboratory experiment
demonstrated an ability to reasonably predict instantaneous
near-bed suspended-sediment concentration profiles, but
the model could not simulate onshore sediment transport
associated with observed landward bar migration and
beach accretion. The reasons for the failure of the model
were suggested to include nonlocal (onshore-directed)
Sediment Transport 91
advective sediment transport and nonlinear boundary layer
streaming.
Thus, a wide range of possible mechanisms has been tested
to explain the onshore transport of sediment that must be
recovery. These mechanisms include velocity skewness, accel-
eration skewness, boundary layer streaming, Stokes drift, and
turbulence generated by wave breaking. The conclusion must
be that no single mechanism in isolation appears to be suf-
ficient to fully account for observed and inferred onshore
sediment transport on the upper shoreface.
Research models for sediment transport have also found
their way into engineering models for beach profile change.
Examples include LITCROSS (STP; Fredsøe, 1993), CROSMOR
(TRANSPOR; Van Rijn (2007)) and UNIBEST and its extension
Xbeach (Roelvink and Stive, 1989; Ribberink and Al-Salem,
1995; Roelvink et al., 2009). These models are morphody-
namic models in which a sediment transport module is in-
cluded in looped computational schemes that also include
input of offshore boundary conditions, wave transformation
and nearshore profile change. A number of these morphody-
namic models were tested by Van Rijn et al. (2003) against
large-scale laboratory and field data sets. Reasonable simu-
lations were obtained of beach response to storms (when
mean currents (undertow) dominate the sediment transport
and when the net transport is consequently directed offshore),
but again the models were less successful during beach re-
covery phases and when longer time scales were considered,
partly because of inadequate modeling of 3D phenomena in
the inner surf zone. It is probably fair to conclude that our
ability to quantitatively predict and model nearshore profile
change through detailed cross-shore sediment-transport
models is still some way into the future.
10.4.5 Longshore Sediment Transport
Longshore sediment transport rates are commonly consider-
ably larger than cross-shore transport rates. In most cases,
however, longshore transport gradients are much smaller than
cross-shore gradients and hence the effect of longshore
transport is generally more limited in influencing beach pro-
file change along open beaches. Quantitative studies of long-
shore sediment transport have a much longer history than
studies of cross-shore transport, partly because of the engin-
eering need to solve siltation problems experienced at tidal
inlets and harbor entrances.
In contrast to cross-shore transport, longshore sediment
transport is typically unidirectional over large spatial and
temporal scales and the transport is mainly driven by mean
currents. The longshore component of orbital velocity tends to
be small on the upper shoreface, due to refraction of incident
waves. Furthermore, in many cases, mean longshore currents
are stronger than oscillatory cross-shore currents and hence
exhibit proportionately larger transport rates. Consequently,
longshore sediment transport due to wind waves can be
considered negligible and this considerably simplifies the
problem of identifying and separately quantifying the causa-
tive mechanisms. Incident wind/swell waves are perceived to
provide the main part of the bed shear stress for mobilizing
92 Sediment Transport
the sediment, which is then advected alongshore by quasi-
steady currents.
The terms ‘longshore sediment transport’ and ‘littoral drift’
generally refer to the transport driven by wave-induced long-
shore currents on the upper shoreface. If the shoreline is
straight and uninterrupted, then annual net alongshore
transport can become very large; sometimes on the order of
106 m3 a1, for example, along the Danish North Sea coast.
Historically, the amount of sediment transported along the
coast (within the surf zone on the upper shoreface) has been
related to the amount of energy available in the waves arriving
at the wave breakpoint (Dean and Dalrymple, 2002), such
that the volumetric transport rate can be determined by:
KPl KECg sin ab cos ab
Ql ¼ ¼ ½15
ðrs  rÞgð1  pÞ ðrs  rÞgð1  pÞ
In this equation, which probably has its origin with the Los
Angeles District of the US Army Corps of Engineers (Eaton,
1951), E is the wave-energy density, Cg is the wave group
velocity, ab is the wave incidence angle at the breakpoint, rs is
the sediment density, r is the fluid density, p is a correction
factor for pore space, and K is a constant of proportionality.
Instead of considering the processes actually driving the
sediment transport, bed shear stress and longshore current
speed are replaced by a proxy which is the longshore com-
ponent of incident wave-energy flux. Much effort has been
invested in trying to arrive at a single, optimum value of K.
Early tests of eqn [15] relied mainly on field and laboratory
measurements using tracer data, and/or sediment impound-
ment techniques. Later, streamer traps and vertical arrays of
OBS were used. In a review of the then-available literature,
Komar (1998) arrived at an optimum value of K¼ 0.70 when
using the root-mean-square wave height in the expression of
the longshore component of wave-energy flux. This was
slightly lower than the K¼ 0.77 previously suggested by Komar
and Inman (1970) on the basis of their pioneering tracer
studies on two different California beaches.
Instead of considering wave-energy flux, Inman and Bag-
nold (1963) developed a model based on the amount of power
utilized by the flow to transport sediment and they arrived at an
equation of the same form as eqn [15], but naturally with a
different constant of proportionality. Using engineering quan-
tities and assumptions about the relationship between long-
shore current magnitude and wave-energy flux, the Inman and
Bagnold (1963) equation can be simplified to
Ql pK 0 Hb2 V ½16
where V is the longshore current speed and Hb is the
(significant) wave breaker height (see Kraus et al., 1982;
Komar, 1998). Such a model is intuitively more appealing
than that represented by eqn [15], because it explicitly con-
siders the speed of the longshore current (and is not limited to
longshore currents generated by wave breaking) and the bed
shear stress is modeled through the squared wave height,
which is proportional to the squared wave orbital-velocity.
Field studies (Miller, 1999) have suggested that this equa-
tion may indeed be more reliable than the wave-energy flux
approach. The formulation of Inman and Bagnold (1963) was
later extended by Bailard (1981) who integrated the instant-
aneous transport equations for bedload and suspended load
to arrive at a set of equations involving the higher-order mo-
ments of orbital velocity. To arrive at a total longshore trans-
port rate across the surf zone these equations need to be
integrated across that distance. They have also been applied in
the study of cross-shore transport (eqn [14]).
Controversy has surrounded whether K (and K0 ) are really
constants, or whether they depend on wave/sediment charac-
teristics. Komar (1988) found no dependency of K on mean
sediment grain size or beach slope, although this might have
been expected unless the motion/suspension threshold was
significantly exceeded for all grain sizes. Based on laboratory
data, Kamphuis and Readshaw (1978) suggested that K varies
with the Iribarren-number (i.e., beach slope, wave steepness
and thus breaker type) and this was later supported through a
literature survey that demonstrated a clear dependency of K on
the Iribarren-number. Plunging/collapsing breakers result in
larger K than spilling breakers (Bodge, 1989). Different studies
have obtained K in the range 0.08–2.2 (Dean and Dalrymple,
2002). Based on impoundment studies, Dean et al. (1987)
obtained K¼ 0.84–1.43, with a grain size dependency such that
K increases with decreasing grain size, as expected. Wang et al.
(1998) used streamer traps to measure longshore sediment
transport on 29 low-energy beaches exhibiting a wide range of
bathymetries (barred/nonbarred; steep/gently sloping) and a
wide range of sediment grain size distributions (albeit all sandy
beaches). They found that measured transport rates were an
order of magnitude smaller than predicted by eqn [15] when
using the recommended value of K. This study cast doubt on
the practice of employing different measurement techniques to
arrive at a singular value of K, and Wang et al. (1998) con-
cluded that it is essential to reconcile the different measurement
techniques of tracers, traps and short-term impoundments. By
inference, it appears likely that one or more of these techniques
is incapable of reliably measuring sediment transport.
A comparative study, involving several measurement tech-
niques, was undertaken by Tonk and Masselink (2005). From
an intercomparison of longshore suspended-sediment trans-
port measured simultaneously with streamer traps and with an
array of OBS-sensors, they showed that the two techniques
yielded similar transport rates. Through combination of the
two techniques, the authors succeeded in obtaining longshore
transport rates over large spatial and temporal scales. The
calculated rates showed good agreement with the wave power
approach and the recommended magnitude of K. It was evi-
dent that Ql is a strongly fluctuating quantity, however, which
calls into question the approach of using short streamer trap
deployments for making inferences about long-term, long-
shore transport rates.
The large range of optimized calibration factors (K and K0 )
obtained on different types of beaches suggests that the vari-
ability may not only be due to measurement inaccuracies and
partly flawed measurement techniques, but also due to im-
portant processes that are not accounted for in these ap-
proaches. Clearly, in order to obtain scientific understanding
and more precise predictive capabilities of longshore sediment
transport rates, such processes need to be identified. For ex-
ample, Smith and Kraus (2007) stated that it is necessary to
explicitly consider the oscillatory velocity component in shear

stress estimates for quantifying the amount of sediment mo-
bilization. Furthermore, they demonstrated that much larger
longshore transport rates occur for plunging breakers than for
spilling breakers of the same wave height, which is consistent
with the study of Tonk and Masselink (2005).
A similar conclusion was reached by van Maanen et al.
(2009) who tested the more detailed Bailard equation (eqn
[14]) for suspended load. Using field measurements of sus-
pended sediment concentration and fluid velocity in the
shallow intertidal zone, they found that the Bailard model
often underestimated observed longshore transport rates.
Apart from potential experimental errors associated with the
measurements of concentration using OBS-sensors, reasons
for the underprediction were suggested to be a failure to ac-
count explicitly for wave breaking in the prediction of sedi-
ment mobilization.
Despite inconclusive evidence, sediment grain size must
also have an effect on longshore transport magnitude. The
constants of proportionality in the longshore transport equa-
tions were derived for sandy beaches. In the case of coarser
sediment fractions, mobilization thresholds should become
increasingly important. For example, van Wellen et al. (2000)
found that K-values on shingle beaches were much lower than
standard values given in the literature for sandy beaches.
Another plausible reason for the wide range of observed
K-values relates to the fact that longshore transport in the
surf zone cannot always be perceived as a ‘wave-stirring,
current-transport’ mechanism. When longshore currents are
strong, low-frequency (fE0.001–0.01 Hz) fluctuations of
the current may develop. These fluctuations are super-
imposed on the steady current; they exhibit a meandering
pattern alongshore and are termed shear waves, although
they possess little or no surface expression. Current shear is
strongest where the current is fast, and consequently, shear
waves are often observed over nearshore bars and/or in the
wave breaker zone. Since the sediment transport rate is
generally considered dependent upon higher-order mo-
ments of velocity, fluctuations in longshore current speed
(due to shear waves for example) might be expected to have
a significant effect on longshore sediment transport rates
and hence the magnitude of K. Aagaard and Greenwood
(1995b) monitored longshore suspended sediment trans-
port during a storm across a bar, and they reported that an
average of 15% of the net (suspended) transport was due to
shear waves and this transport was directed with the mean
current. In a similar study conducted within the intertidal
zone, Miles et al. (2002) found that shear waves contributed
12% to the longshore transport of sediment, but in this case
the low-frequency oscillatory transport was directed op-
posite to the longshore current direction. The explanation
for the contradictory transport directions probably rests
with the phasing of suspension events relative to the oscil-
latory motions (Miles et al., 2002).
Much effort has also gone into studying the cross-shore
distribution of longshore sediment transport. Maximum
transport rates tend to occur where waves are breaking and
where energy dissipation is at a maximum. Since barred bea-
ches commonly exhibit multiple zones of breaking located
over successive bars, peaks in longshore transport are associ-
ated with bars, and lower transport rates occur in troughs.
Sediment Transport 93
A further transport maximum is generally located at the
shorebreak close to the beach face (Bodge, 1989; Rosati et al.,
1991). Seaward of the surf zone, longshore sediment transport
driven by wave-generated currents rapidly drops off (Kraus
and Dean, 1987).
More sophisticated numerical models than eqns [15] and
[16] exist for longshore sediment transport in the surf zone.
Numerical models commonly use sediment diffusivity con-
cepts (eqn [11]) to describe the mean and/or time-varying
vertical distributions of suspended sediment concentrations,
and bed concentrations are parameterized using mean or in-
stantaneous bed shear stress (e.g., Rakha et al., 1997; Van Rijn
(2007)). The magnitude and vertical distribution of sediment
loads are then coupled to the vertical distribution of longshore
current speeds.
Reflecting the overwhelming dominance of studies on
longshore sediment transport in the surf zone rather than on
the lower shoreface, this section has so far covered only
longshore transport driven by wave-induced currents. How-
ever, waves are capable of stirring sandy sediments at depths
much larger than the wave breaker depth, and longshore
transport also occurs on the lower shoreface where it is mainly
driven by tidal and wind-induced currents. Since tidal currents
are reversing, such transport is often considered to balance in
the long term with negligible net transport of sediment. Ob-
servations of large bedforms (sand waves and sand ridges) on
the lower shoreface (McBride and Moslow, 1991; Cacchione
et al., 1994; van de Meene and van Rijn, 2000; Anthony and
Leth, 2002) indicate that this is not always the case, however.
Symmetric tidal flows augmented by wind driven currents can
transport considerable amounts of sediment alongshore in the
shoaling wave zone (Hequette et al., 2008). Field measure-
ments by Cacchione et al. (1999) also indicated that large
amounts of (fine) sand are transported at considerable depths
along the California coast during storms.
Figure 13 shows field measurements of suspended sedi-
ment transport at 8 m water depth on the lower shoreface off
the Danish west coast. The reversing alongshore tidal currents
are reflected in reversing sediment transport, but during en-
ergetic events, current speed and direction is strongly affected
by the wind and sediment transport tends to be unidirectional
for several tidal cycles. For this particular site, Aagaard et al.
(2010) estimated an annual northward directed transport on
the lower shoreface that was in the order of 105 m3 yr1, thus
in some cases, longshore transport on the lower shoreface
cannot be neglected.
10.4.6 Swash Zone Sediment Transport
Investigation of swash zone sediment transport, in terms of
both experimental effort and knowledge, is still in its infancy
compared with studies of the other nearshore environments.
But the efforts have accelerated rapidly over the past 15 years.
The approaches available to measure sediment transport in the
swash are the same as those further offshore, but their appli-
cation is more challenging due to the shallow and intermittent
water depths. Early experimental studies used bedload traps,
modified from those used in fluvial environments (Hardisty
et al., 1984; Jago and Hardisty, 1984), as well as streamer traps
94 Sediment Transport

0.06

qy (m3 m−1 hr−1)

0.03

−0.03

−0.06
(d) 0 200 400 600 800 1000

0.3

0.15
V (m s−1)

−0.15

−0.3
(c) 0 200 400 600 800 1000

8
h (m)

6
(b) 0 200 400 600 800 1000

2
Hs (m)

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
(a) h
Figure 13 Field measurements of (a) significant wave height, (b) mean water depth, (c) longshore mean current velocity, and (d) longshore
suspended sediment transport in the lower 30 cm of the water column on the lower shoreface, off Vejers on the Danish North Sea coast.
Reproduced from Aagaard, T., Kroon, A., Greenwood, B., Hughes, M., 2010. Observations of bar decay and the role of lower shoreface
processes. Continental Shelf Research 30, 1497–1510.

to measure total load transport rates (Hughes et al., 1997a;
Masselink and Hughes, 1998). On high energy, dissipative
beaches with relatively deep, infragravity swash, OBS have
been used to measure the suspension concentration and infer
suspended load transport rates (e.g., Butt and Russell, 1999;
Puleo et al., 2000; see also Section 10.4.2). The ultimate goal
of modeling sediment transport rates is generally to predict
morphological change, which is the result of spatial gradients
in net sediment transport. Recent experimental methodology
has attempted to resolve the critical net transport gradients
more directly by measuring rapid bed elevation changes across
the beach profile (Baldock et al., 2005; Masselink et al., 2009;
Blenkinsopp et al., 2011).
The current state of the art with respect to sediment
transport modeling has not advanced far beyond ad hoc
modifications to equations initially developed for steady
flows. Implicit in these is the assumption that the sediment
transport rate is in equilibrium with the local forcing; i.e., the
bed shear stress. The usual approach uses the horizontal flow
velocity and a friction factor to obtain the bed shear stress
(eqn [6]). Most observations of the local horizontal flow vel-
ocity over a swash event are consistent with the following
pattern in an Eulerian reference-frame (Figure 14): peak vel-
ocity in the landward direction occurring at the start of the
swash event when the shoreline arrives at the measurement
location; decelerating flow toward the time of flow reversal; an
acceleration of the flow following flow reversal in a seaward
direction; and finally the peak velocity in the seaward dir-
ection occurring near the end of the swash event, marked
when the shoreline recedes past the measurement location.
The duration of the uprush is typically shorter than the
backwash, thus the velocity skewness is directed offshore
(Masselink and Russell, 2006), although this is not necessarily
the case and depends on a swash boundary condition in a way
that is still not yet fully understood (Guard and Baldock,
2007; Power et al., 2011). Even under modest wave conditions,
peak flow velocities routinely reach 1–2 m s1, and up to
3 m s1 on the steepest beaches where swash is driven by a
 Sediment Transport 95

30 where q is the immersed-weight sediment transport per unit

X (m) width of beach integrated over the half-swash cycle of interest
ADV (uprush or backwash), u is the mean flow velocity during the
location half-swash cycle, t is the duration of the uprush or backwash,
25
tan j is the friction angle of the sediment, and tan b is the
beach gradient. In the case of the uprush, tan b is positive and
0.1
in the case of the backwash it is negative. The parameter k is an
h (m)

empirical coefficient. Theoretically, it represents friction effects

in relation to the bed shear stress as well as the Bagnold’s
0 transport efficiency factor.
The Meyer-Peter and Müller sediment transport equation,
100
modified for the swash, can be written as (Hughes et al., 1997a)
Cor. (%)

++ + ++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++ ++ ++++++++++++++++++++
50 ++ F ¼ kðy  yc Þ3=2
+++ ++
++ ½18
+ ++
++++ +
0 ++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++
where F is the dimensionless sediment transport over a half-
1 swash cycle, y is the Shields parameter (eqn [9]) in which the
u (m s−1)

bed shear stress t (eqn [6]) is calculated based on the peak

0 flow velocity, and yc is the critical Shields parameter required
−1 for sediment motion. The parameter k is again effectively a
calibration coefficient accounting for a range of physical pro-
cesses not explicit in the model (see below). Masselink and
1
u (m s−1)

Hughes (1998) also provide formulations of these two models

0 (eqns [17] and [18]) based on instantaneous flow velocities.
−1
460 462 464
t (s)
Figure 14 Example of a single swash event showing (from top to
bottom): time series of the shoreline position X (with location of the
Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) used to measure flow velocity
marked); the local swash depth h; the signal correlation (Cor., solid
line) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, crosses) of the ADV signal used
as indicators of data quality; the unprocessed horizontal velocity
record u (solid line); and the processed record (open circles). The
vertical dashed lines through the bottom three panels delimit reliable
ADV data. Note that in the bottom panel, the flow velocity is
undefined when the beach is ‘dry’. Reproduced from Hughes, M.G.,
Baldock, T.E., 2004. Eulerian flow velocities in the swash zone: field
data and model predictions. Journal of Geophysical Research 109,
C08009, doi: 10.1029/2003JC002213, with permission from American
Geophysical Union.
shore-breaker (Masselink and Hughes, 1998; Butt and Russell,
1999; Hughes and Baldock, 2004; Masselink and Russell,
2006). Bed shear stresses and sediment transport loads are,
therefore, large in the swash zone. Near-bed suspended sedi-
ment concentrations can reach 100–200 kg m3 (e.g.,
Osborne and Rooker, 1999; Butt and Russell, 1999; Puleo
et al., 2000; Masselink et al., 2005; Miles et al., 2006), and the
total immersed mass transported in a half-swash cycle can
reach several tens of kg m1 beach width (Hughes et al.,
1997a; Masselink and Hughes, 1998).
Two equilibrium-type sediment transport equations that
have been applied to the swash are those initially developed by
Bagnold (1963; 1966) and Meyer-Peter and Müller (1948). The
Bagnold sediment transport equation, modified for application
to the swash zone, can be written as (e.g., Hardisty et al., 1984)
ku3 t
q¼
tan j7tan b
Several studies have tested the accuracy of the models against
field measurements and some examples are listed in Table 1.
466 468 470
There appears to be little in the way of consistency in the
calibration coefficient k for either the modified Bagnold or
Meyer-Peter–Müller transport equations (Table 1). This
probably reflects the fact that each of the studies has measured
different modes of sediment transport – either bedload, sus-
pended load, or total load. Rather than an explanation, this
further highlights inconsistencies. For example, the modified
Bagnold model is for bedload, so one might expect the k-value
in studies measuring total load would be larger than those
measuring bedload only, but the reverse appears to be the case
(Table 1). Similarly, in the case of the modified Meyer-
Peter–Müller equation, one would not expect k-values be-
tween those studies measuring total load and those measuring
suspended load only to be so similar (Table 1). These in-
consistencies are at least in part due to the inherent errors in
measurements of sediment transport, flow velocity, and the
methods used to estimate bed shear stress. It has been recog-
nized for some time, however, that there are other relevant
factors that are not yet fully understood or included in the
current generation of sediment transport models.
What is consistent across the studies listed in Table 1 is that
the calibration coefficient for the uprush is significantly larger
than the backwash (with the exception of Hardisty et al.,
1984). Comparing the measured suspended sediment con-
centration over a typical swash cycle with that expected from
an equilibrium-type transport model (i.e., concentration pro-
portional to the velocity-cubed) confirms the general im-
pression that processes not accounted for in this model type
make sediment transport during the uprush appear more
effective than the backwash (Figure 15); particularly given that
the velocity skewness is directed offshore (e.g., Hughes and
Baldock, 2004; Masselink and Russell, 2006). Unaccounted
for processes that have been proposed include: (1) settling lag;
½17
(2) advection of bore-suspended sediment; (3) unsteady and
96 Sediment Transport

Table 1 List of studies testing eqns [17] and [18] against field data

Model and study k-up k-back k-up (inst.) k-back (inst.) tan b D50 (mm)

(Modified) Bagnold
Hardisty et al. (1984) – bedload 70 70 – – 0.03–0.05 0.23–0.66
Hughes et al. (1997a, b) – total load 13.4 – – – 0.12 0.3
Masselink and Hughes (1998) – total load 25.9 14.4 14.5 7.4 0.14 0.5
Masselink et al. (2009) – total load – – 9.0 6.5 0.06 0.4
(Modified) Meyer-Peter–Müller
Masselink and Hughes (1998) – total load 19.9 8.9 – – 0.14 0.5
Masselink et al. (2005) – suspended load 16.4 11.3 – – 0.015–0.025 0.27–0.29

Also listed are the calibration coefficients for each study, reduced to a common dimensional form (kg m  3) in the case of the Bagnold equation and a common nondimensional
form in the case of the Meyer-Peter Müller equation. For the Bagnold equation either the mean flow velocity over the half-swash cycle or instantaneous flow velocities were used. In
the case of the Meyer-Peter Müller equation, the peak flow velocity was used.
Source: Data from Hardisty, J., Collier, J., Hamilton, D., 1984. A calibration of the Bagnold beach equation. Marine Geology 61, 95–101; Hughes, M.G., Masselink, G., Brander,
R.W., 1997a. Flow velocity and sediment transport in the swash zone of a steep beach. Marine Geology 138, 91–103; Hughes, M.G., Masselink, G., Hanslow, D., Mitchell, D., 1997b.
Towards a better understanding of swash zone sediment transport. Proceedings Coastal Dynamics. ASCE, New York, pp. 804–823; Masselink, G., Hughes, M.G., 1998. Field
investigation of sediment transport in the swash zone. Continental Shelf Research 18, 1179–1199; Masselink, G., Russell, P., Turner, I., Blenkinsopp, C., 2009. Net sediment
transport and morphological change in the swash zone of a high-energy sandy beach from swash event to tidal cycle time scales. Marine Geology 267, 18–35, and Masselink, G.,
Evans, D., Hughes, M.G., Russell, P., 2005. Suspended sediment transport in the swash zone of a dissipative beach. Marine Geology 216, 169–189.

1 1

0.75 0.75
0.1

0.5 0.5
X

0.05
0.25 0.25

0 0 0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
(a) t (b) t
Figure 15 (a) Measured normalized suspended sediment concentration mapped onto the x–t plane. Concentration was normalized against the
maximum observed value in the data set, and x and t were normalized against the maximum runup length and swash period. (b) Predicted
suspended sediment concentration on the basis of a transport model of the form q¼f(u3). Reproduced from Hughes, M.G., Aagaard, T., Baldock,
T.E., 2007. Suspended sediment in the swash zone: heuristic analysis of spatial and temporal variations in concentration. Journal of Coastal
Research 23, 1345–1354, with permission from Coastal Education and Research Foundation.

nonuniform flow; (4) turbulence; and (5) vertical flow
through the bed (Hughes et al., 1997a, b, 2007; Masselink and
Hughes, 1998; Turner and Masselink, 1998; Butt et al., 2001,
2004; Masselink and Puleo, 2006).
Despite the assumption inherent in eqns [17] and [18] that
the sediment transport rate is in equilibrium with the bed
shear stress, in reality this cannot be true, particularly for the
suspended load component since it takes a finite time for
sediment to settle to the bed. In decelerating flow during the
uprush, this settling lag will have the effect of more sediment
being transported than expected under equilibrium con-
ditions, thus requiring a greater calibration coefficient for the
uprush compared with the backwash in eqns [17] and [18].
This effect may be enhanced by hindered settling due to tur-
bulence (Nielsen, 1992) or the presence of high sediment
concentrations. A 50% reduction in the settling velocity of
sediment with high suspended sediment concentrations has
been demonstrated for swash flows (Baldock et al., 2004).
Using a nonlinear shallow water model to describe the swash
hydrodynamics, Pritchard and Hogg (2005) showed that set-
tling lag can overcome offshore-directed velocity skewness and
produce net transport in the onshore direction.
Advection of presuspended sediment from the bore front
and the bore collapse zone would also increase the sediment
transport rate in the uprush above that expected from the local
bed shear stress alone. The ability of the bore to deliver sedi-
ment into the swash depends on the concentration carried by
the bore as well as the volume flow that the bore delivers. The
former is probably related to the bore strength and the intensity
of any interaction with the preceding backwash (Puleo et al.,
2000; Butt et al., 2004; Hughes et al., 2007). The latter has been
investigated in the laboratory and it appears that fluid from a
distance of up to half of the swash length behind the bore front
is advected into the swash zone, and approximately 25% of the
sediment carried by the bore can reach the midswash zone
(Baldock et al., 2008; Alsina et al., 2009).

Vertical velocity gradients in the bottom boundary layer of
the swash seem to be greater during the uprush compared
with the backwash; the most likely explanation being
the unsteady nature of the flow (Cowen et al., 2003; Rau-
benheimer et al., 2004; Masselink et al., 2005). Larger vel-
ocity gradients mean that there will be larger bed shear
stresses for a given free-stream flow velocity during the up-
rush, thus requiring a larger calibration coefficient for the
uprush in eqns [17] and [18]. Furthermore, during the up-
rush, the flow is decelerating so the flow velocity responsible
for entraining sediment will always be larger than that as-
sociated with the sediment in transport, while the opposite is
true in the backwash. This advection lag also works to make
the transport during the uprush appear more efficient than
equilibrium concepts would predict (Hughes et al., 2007;
Pritchard, 2009).
Turbulence in the swash zone is locally generated at the
bed throughout the swash cycle due to shear, and is also
generated at the free-surface and advected into the region
during bore collapse (Yeh and Ghazali, 1988; Petti and Longo,
2001). The net result is that the uprush is more turbulent than
the backwash, particularly in the region near the bore collapse
point (Hughes et al., 2007). Consequently, larger bed shear
stresses will occur during the uprush than expected from the
horizontal flow velocity alone (Aagaard and Hughes, 2006).
This, together with a lower settling velocity for suspended
sediment due to the turbulence, would enhance the sediment
transport efficiency of the uprush over that expected from the
equilibrium transport models.
The final unaccounted for process in the energetic-based
transport models that has been recognized is the effects of
vertical flow through the bed. These effects may increase the
apparent efficiency of the uprush over the backwash in two
ways. First, infiltration of the swash flow into the beach can
lead to thinning of the boundary layer and bringing faster
velocities closer to the bed, hence greater bed shear stresses
and sediment transport for a given free-stream flow velocity.
Second, downward seepage through the bed may have a sta-
bilizing effect due to drag on the sediment grains and an in-
crease in their effective weight (Turner and Masselink, 1998;
Baldock et al., 2001). Groundwater exfiltration has the reverse
effect in both cases. Using field data and a modified sediment
transport model, Butt et al. (2001) argued that boundary layer
thinning/thickening will dominate on beaches where the
sediment size is greater than 0.4–0.6 mm, and seepage effects
will dominate for smaller grain sizes. The effects seem small
for sandy beaches compared with likely measurement errors;
an apparent difference in the uprush transport of 10% and
backwash transport of 4.5% (Butt et al., 2001). Based on
morphodynamic evidence, others have argued that infiltration
effects on sediment transport are insignificant for sandy bea-
ches (Weir et al., 2006). It seems likely that the effect on
sediment transport from vertical flow through the bed will be
best developed on gravel and coarser beaches where the
backwash discharge can be reduced by up to 50% due to in-
filtration of the uprush (Austin and Masselink, 2006).
Efforts have been made to increase the sophistication and
accuracy of eqns [17] and [18] by modifying them to address
some of the issues just discussed. For example, the unsteady
nature of the flow has been addressed through inclusion of a
Sediment Transport 97
term describing landward-directed flow acceleration (Nielsen,
2002; Puleo et al., 2003), but this appears to be important in
only a very localized region close to the bore collapse point,
with acceleration over the majority of the swash zone being
always directed seaward (Hughes and Baldock, 2004; Pritch-
ard and Hogg, 2005; Baldock and Hughes, 2006). Aagaard and
Hughes (2006) attempted to account for some turbulence
effects by using a bed shear stress formulation that more ex-
plicitly includes the Reynolds stresses, rather than adopting
the usual assumptions associated with a formulation based on
the horizontal flow. They achieved some improvement in
predictive skill, as did Butt et al. (2004) by including bore-
generated turbulence into the energetic-based equations.
Notwithstanding these efforts, however, a usable sediment
transport model that includes all of the important physical
processes recognized above is still some way off. All available
formulations require calibration for the beach and wave
conditions of interest, as well as the position of interest in the
swash zone (Aagaard and Hughes, 2006).
It is still a matter for debate as to what proportions of
sediment transport occur as bedload versus suspended load in
the swash. It is generally acknowledged that both occur, and
some suggest a separation between the half-cycles: pre-
dominantly suspended load during the uprush and bedload
during the backwash (Horn and Mason, 1994; Masselink and
Puleo, 2006). It is clear that transport occurs at high shear
stress levels, as indicated by the calibration coefficients for eqn
[18], which are generally larger than the usual value of 8–12
(Table 1; cf. Nielsen, 1992). The Wilson (1987) criterion for
sediment transport as sheet flow (y40.8) is typically satisfied
in the swash zone (Hughes et al., 1997b; Masselink and
Hughes, 1998). By most definitions, sheet flow includes both
bedload and suspended load transport modes, albeit the
suspended load generally stays very close to the bed. There is
again debate as to which transport mode will dominate sheet
flow. Arguments based on Bagnold (1966) would suggest
predominantly suspended load, whereas arguments based on
Wilson (1987) or Nielsen (1992) would suggest bedload (see
Hughes et al., 1997a for discussion).
Putting semantics aside for the moment, it certainly be-
comes easier to obtain high temporal-resolution measure-
ments of sediment transport as one moves away from the bed,
thus the detailed nature of suspended sediment transport has
been a focus of many recent studies. As suggested above,
however, there is no clear understanding of how representative
this is of the total load transported. The vertical distribution of
suspended sediment in the nearshore zone commonly con-
forms to an exponential profile, and this appears to also be
true for the swash zone (Miles et al., 2006). In this case, the
concentration Cz at elevation z above the bed is
Cz ¼ Co ez=ls ½19
where Co is a reference concentration at the bottom of the
vertical profile representative of the mobile bed, and ls is a
mixing length scale defined as the ratio of the sediment diffu-
sivity to the settling velocity of the sediment. Some measured
values of reference concentrations and mixing lengths inferred
from fitting eqn [19] to field data are listed in Table 2. Both
variables are larger for the uprush than the backwash, which is
consistent with the general observation that suspended
98 Sediment Transport
Table 2 List of reference concentrations and mixing lengths
measured in the swash zone on two beaches of contrasting beach
slope and grain size
Site Co ls tan b
a
Perranporth 0.015–0.025
Uprush 130 0.039
Backwash 71 0.023
Perranporthb 0.032
Uprush 188 0.05
Backwash 42 0.04
Sennenb 0.084
Uprush 255.3 0.06
Backwash 172.3 0.068
a
Data from Masselink, G., Evans, D., Hughes, M.G., Russell, P., 2005. Suspended
sediment transport in the swash zone of a dissipative beach. Marine Geology 216,
169–189.
b
Data from Miles, J., Butt, T., Russell, P., 2006. Swash zone sediment dynamics: a
comparison of a dissipative and an intermediate beach. Marine Geology 231,
181–200.
sediment concentrations are largest during the uprush, and also
that the sediment is mixed higher up into the water column.
The latter is probably due to the greater turbulence intensities
already described for the uprush as well as the greater accom-
modation space (or depth). The two variables are not steady,
but rather they change with time during a swash event. Avail-
able observations from a single beach show that the reference
concentration is maximum at the start and end of the swash
event, whereas the mixing length is largest at the start of the
uprush, falls off rapidly and then remains relatively constant
over the remainder of the swash cycle (Masselink et al., 2005).
Figure 16 depicts a useful summary of sediment transport
under free (noninteracting) swashes. The generally negatively
skewed velocity time series is shown, together with the gen-
erally deeper uprush compared with the backwash. The earli-
est stages of the uprush and the latest stages of the backwash
are shown associated with the deepest mobilization of the bed
and the greatest transport, consistent with the largest flow
velocities and bed shear stresses at these times. Turbulence
intensity is greater and vertical mixing is larger in the uprush
than in the backwash. Sheet flow transport is shown associ-
ated with the times of largest flow velocity and bed shear
stress, whereas bedload is shown dominating either side of
flow reversal. Around the time of flow reversal, the water
column can be clear of sediment. The boundary layer decay
and growth with time for the uprush and backwash, respect-
ively, are also shown and they highlight the importance of the
unsteady nature of the flow.
Most of the studies summarized to this point have sought
to minimize the complexity of the problem by hand-selecting
swash events that are largely free from interaction with pre-
ceding swashes or following waves; so called free swash
(Hughes and Moseley, 2007). Most existing hydrodynamic
models for swash are only suited to this situation (e.g.,
Pritchard and Hogg, 2005; Guard and Baldock, 2007), and as
we have seen, existing sediment transport models are certainly
not up to dealing with the complexities of interacting swash.
The region of the swash zone that is dominated by free swash
may be nearly 100% on steep beaches, but is usually well
below 50% on gently sloping beaches (Hughes and Moseley,
2007). So despite having learnt a great deal about the nature of
sediment transport under free swash, it is uncertain how
helpful this will be to predicting morphological change on the
D50 (mm)
beach if it represents significantly less than the whole picture
0.27–0.29 of the swash zone. Moving forward, the nature of swash
interactions and their influence on sediment transport as well
as the connection between the swash zone and inner surf zone
0.24 are critical areas for investigation.
A partial response to these complexities is the use of sedi-
ment-transport shape functions, which largely circumvent the
0.58
difficulties of wave–swash interactions and coupling with the
inner surf zone. Shape functions describe the net sediment flux
as a function of the independent variable distance, or some
variable that has a consistent behavior with distance, usually in
the cross-shore direction. Early shape functions involved
measuring the moments of flow velocity across the surf and
swash zones and then deriving the net sediment-transport
function through application of energetics-based transport
models (e.g., Russell and Huntley, 1999; Masselink, 2003).
However, these suffer from the shortcomings described earlier
for equilibrium-type transport models. More recently, meas-
urements of the net sediment fluxes have been used to derive
the shape function, either from coincident measurements of
flow velocity and suspended sediment concentration (Butt
et al., 2002; Aagaard and Hughes, 2006; Tinker et al., 2009), or
from measurements of bed elevation change and applying the
principle of mass conservation (Weir et al., 2006; Masselink
et al., 2009). The independent variable in sediment-transport
shape functions is often scaled to be dimensionless with the
intention that the shape function can be applied to a variety of
beaches. To date, a shape function from one beach has not
been applied to another, however, and it seems unlikely that
such an exercise would be successful given the degrees of free-
dom associated with shape functions. For example, Weir et al.
(2006) described four different shape functions for berm
morphodynamics alone. Considerably more field measure-
ments are required to determine if there is a relatively man-
ageable set of unique shape functions that account for most of
the morphodynamic behaviors one seeks to model. Even then,
predicting the correct rate of morphological change will almost
certainly still require tuning of the shape functions for each
situation.
Net sediment fluxes over a single or a group of swash events
can be very large (up to 100 kg m1 beach width (Masselink
et al., 2009)). Nevertheless, to maintain a stable beach slope the
sediment transported landward by the uprush must be bal-
anced by that transported seaward by the backwash when
averaged over a relatively small number of swash cycles. On a
natural beach, individual random swashes begin at different
points on the beach face, run up to different elevations, and
interact to a lesser or greater extent with preceding or sub-
sequent waves at different locations on the beach face. While
sediment transport by free swashes are an important part of
beach morphodynamics, dealing with sediment transport in
the presence of random interacting swash is clearly equally
important. When incoming bores are traveling over an existing
swash lens, there are landward-directed flow accelerations,
horizontal pressure gradients, and injections of near-bed
turbulent kinetic energy with the passage of each bore front

Swash velocity
Uprush
Swash depth
Suspension Settling
Dry bed + + At rest
sheet flow bed load
Figure 16 Schematic of the sediment transport process during a swash event, free from interaction with preceding or following waves; in an
Eulerian reference frame. Reproduced from Masselink, G., Puleo, J., 2006. Swash zone morphodynamics. Continental Shelf Research 26, 661–680.
(Puleo et al., 2003; Butt et al., 2004). These can significantly
enhance sediment mobilization (Calantoni and Puleo, 2006).
Similarly, when strong backwash flows arrest the passage of the
next incoming wave in a hydraulic jump, the large vertical flow
velocities can also enhance sediment mobilization (Butt and
Russell, 2005). Whether a beach face erodes or accretes prob-
ably has as much to do with the net transport direction under
interacting swash as it does with that under free swashes.
The degree to which wave–swash interactions are influ-
encing sediment transport on the beach face must be re-
flected in the ratio of the wave period in the inner surf zone
(Tis) to the swash period (Ts). If Tis/Tso1, there should be
considerable wave–swash interactions on the beach face (cf.
Kemp, 1975). Under increasing wave-energy conditions, the
wave spectrum generally becomes more broad-banded lead-
ing to increased wave–swash interaction, and Kemp (1975)
showed that these conditions lead to offshore sediment
transport. If the net sediment transport direction is offshore
on the lower beach face where swash interactions are most
common, and hence there is no sediment advection to the
upper beach, then velocity skewness on the upper beach
Sediment Transport 99
Backwash
Top boundary layer
Turbulence
Sediment settling
Infiltration
Exfiltration
Immobile bed
Sheet flow layer
Sediment suspension
Suspension Sheet flow
Bed load + + Dry bed
bed load suspension
where free swashes are most common would ensure that
offshore sediment transport occurs across the entire swash
zone, thus causing beach erosion (Hughes and Moseley,
2007). Alternatively, if the net sediment transport direction is
onshore on the lower beach face, then advection of sediment
onto the upper beach face could overcome the offshore-
directed velocity skewness, thus resulting in beach accretion
(Hughes and Moseley, 2007). The next generation of swash
zone sediment-transport models almost certainly requires
capability to describe interacting and free swash to correctly
predict the exchange of sediment between the lower and
upper beach face.
As an extension to Figure 16, Figure 17 presents a con-
ceptual description of sediment transport in a natural swash
zone consisting of random interacting swashes in a Lagrangian
reference-frame. An incoming bore is shown in panel (a),
carrying suspended sediment toward the beach face where the
preceding swash cycle has fully completed. In panel (b), the
incoming bore has collapsed and the swash lens is moving up
the beach carrying residual turbulence and sediment from the
incoming bore, as well as sediment locally entrained in the
100 Sediment Transport

Interacting Free Interacting Free

swashes swashes swashes swashes

(a) (d)

(b) (e)

(c) (f)

Figure 17 Schematic of the sediment transport process during a swash cycle that includes interaction with following waves during the uprush and
backwash; in a Lagrangian reference frame. The lengths of straight arrows indicate relative flow velocity, short curved arrows indicate turbulence or
vertical flow, and gray dots indicate suspended sediment. The zone of wave-swash interactions is characterized by positive and negative flow
accelerations and potentially positive or negative velocity skewness, whereas the zone of free swash is characterized by only negative accelerations
and skewness.

swash zone. The flow throughout the uprush is decelerating and
most of the sediment is shown being carried by the swash tip,
where the bed shear stresses and turbulence are greatest (Barnes
et al., 2009). Panel (c) shows a following bore moving up the
beach and interacting with the existing swash lens while it is
still climbing the beach. The modified flow field due to the
second bore is shown enhancing sediment mobilization in the
interior of the underlying swash lens. In panel (d), the swash is
shown having almost reached its runup length and the internal
flow is approaching reversal. In this example, the flow is shown
as being relatively clear, but the entire suspended sediment load
need not necessarily settle before the backwash commences.
The backwash is shown accelerating down the beach face in
panel (e), picking up sediment from the bed as it progresses. In
panel (f), another bore is shown approaching the beach before
the preceding backwash is complete. The opposing horizontal
flows and the vertical flow associated with the hydraulic jump
enhance the sediment load carried by the next bore, increasing
the sediment that will be carried by the next swash cycle, ir-
respective of the fact that its runup length will probably be
relatively modest due to the energy dissipation in the hydraulic
jump.
To summarize, the zone of wave–swash interactions is
characterized by positive and negative flow accelerations and
potentially positive or negative velocity skewness, whereas
the zone of free swash is characterized by only negative ac-
celerations and skewness. The advective exchange of turbu-
lence and sediment between these two parts of the swash
zone are critical to morphodynamic modeling. A variety of
alternative interaction scenarios could have been presented
in Figure 17, and the point is that random interacting swash
will likely confound the modeling efforts long after the
complexities of sediment transport by free swash have been
solved.

10.4.7 Concluding Remarks
This chapter has summarized the current state of the art in our
understanding of nearshore sediment transport, specifically in
wave-dominated settings composed of sandy sediment. The
knowledge base in this particular area of geomorphology is
large, yet many gaps remain. The subject area continues to be
the focus of a dynamic research effort by geomorphologists, as
well as engineers and oceanographers. There are many ques-
tions at the fundamental level that remain to be resolved; for
example, the relative contributions of bedload and suspended
load transport across the nearshore zone. Bed shear stress
continues to be the preferred parameter for predicting sedi-
ment transport processes, but the most appropriate means for
quantifying and accounting for all the important contributors
is still evolving. These and similar issues are important to our
fundamental understanding of sediment transport, but the
solving of all these alone will probably not provide the pre-
dictive capability required by geomorphologists to understand
and model coastal morphodynamics. There remain many re-
search problems to explore at the broader system level. For
example, the impact of short- and long-wave interactions on
sediment transport gradients and morphology. Parametric
models and numerical models have been commonly used to
explore issues at this level, but systems analysis techniques
might offer significant advances in the near future. Research
into nearshore sediment transport will continue for some time
yet and will benefit greatly from ongoing development on
several fronts: for example, technological improvements in
instrumentation, integration of in situ instrumentation with
remote sensing techniques that can provide the system-scale
context, and advances in computational efficiency, to name
a few.
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Biographical Sketch

Troels Aagaard is an associate professor in physical geography at the Institute of Geography and Geology, Uni-
versity of Copenhagen, Denmark where he obtained his PhD in Coastal Geomorphology in 1990 and a DSc in
2003. He held an NSERC International Fellowship in 1991–92 to conduct postdoctoral research on coastal
sediment transport at the University of Toronto and was head of the Coastal, Estuarine, and Marine Research
Group at the Institute of Geography, U. Copenhagen in 2004–06. He received the Niels Nielsen award from the
Royal Danish Geographical Society in 1993. His main research interests are coastal processes, morphodynamics,
and sediment transport, and he has published about 80 papers on these topics. Through his career, he has
collaborated with scientists from, and on beaches in, Denmark, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands,
and the UK.

Michael Hughes completed his PhD at the Coastal Studies Unit, University of Sydney investigating wave runup on
beaches. Since then, he has worked in both academia and government research agencies. Michael has maintained
his initial research interests in beach and surf zone morphodynamics, but also enjoyed opportunities that
broadened his research experience to include most marine environments; from coastal estuaries and beaches,
across the shelf to ocean basins. This experience includes investigating cohesive sediment dynamics in estuaries
and deltas, quantifying seabed dynamics in the vicinity of sand banks occupying shallow seaways, characterizing
physical aspects of benthic habitats, and modeling physical disturbance as an ecological factor in determining
marine biodiversity.
 10.5 Beach Morphodynamics
AD Short, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
DWT Jackson, University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.5.1 Introduction 107

10.5.2 Beach Morphodynamics 109
10.5.2.1 Beach Time Series 110
10.5.2.2 Empirical Relationships 110
10.5.2.3 Beach Experiments 110
10.5.2.4 Swash Morphodynamics 111
10.5.2.5 Geological Control on Beach Morphodynamics 112
10.5.2.6 Morphodynamics and High Magnitude Events 113
10.5.2.7 Wave–Beach–Dune Interactions 114
10.5.2.8 Engineering Impacts on Morphodynamics 114
10.5.2.9 Shoreface Morphodynamics 114
10.5.2.10 Beach Monitoring 115
10.5.2.11 Modeling 116
10.5.2.12 Beach Ecology 117
10.5.3 Beach Morphodynamics – Status 117
10.5.3.1 Instantaneous 117
10.5.3.2 Event 118
10.5.3.2.1 Beach experiments 118
10.5.3.2.2 Video and remote technology 118
10.5.3.2.3 Beach types and states 119
10.5.3.3 Large Scale Coastal Behavior (Engineering) 120
10.5.3.4 Geological 122
10.5.4 Beach Morphodynamics – the Way Forward 122
10.5.4.1 Impacts of Climate Change 122
10.5.4.2 Sediment Transport 122
10.5.4.3 Beach Erosion 123
10.5.4.4 Beach Type and Changes in Beach Type 123
10.5.4.5 Formation of Rhythmic Features 123
10.5.5 Discussion and Conclusion 123
References 124

Glossary Berm A near horizontal swash deposited accumulation of

Bar A generally submerged raised area of sand, located
in the surf zone and lying adjacent to or seaward of a beach.
Beach A wave deposited accumulation of sediment,
generally sand, but ranging up to boulders, deposited
between the upper swash limit and wave base.
Beach cusp Regular undulation in the upper swash zone
produced by edge waves and swash.
Beach morphodynamics The mutual interaction of
waves, tides, and currents with the seabed and impact of the
seabed on those processes.
Beach type The form of a beach which is dependent on
the relative contribution of waves, tides, and sediment size.
Beaches may be wave-dominated, tide-modified or tide-
dominated.
sand on the upper beach face.
Dissipative beach A wide, low gradient, multi-bar, higher
energy wave-dominated beach across which waves break
several times thereby dissipating their energy.
Edge wave A low frequency wave trapped in the surf zone
between the shore and the bar may be stationary as a
standing edge wave or propagated alongshore as a
progressive edge wave.
Eulerian circulation Fluid motion that focuses on
specific fixed locations in space which fluid flows as time
passes.
Intragravity wave energy Surface gravity wave
with frequency lower (30–300 seconds) than wind
waves.

Short, A.D., Jackson, D.W.T., 2013. Beach morphodynamics. In: Shroder, J.

(Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology.
Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology,
pp. 106–129.

106 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00275-X

 Beach Morphodynamics 107

Langrangian circulation Fluid motion where the observer
follows the fluid particles as they move on a pathline of the
whole water mass through space and time.
Nearshore zone The area between wave base and the area
of wave breaking the area over which waves shoal prior to
breaking.
Reflective beach A steep, narrow beach fronted by deeper
water, with waves only breaking at the base of the beach and
being partially reflected back out to sea.
Rip current A narrow strong flow of water from the
shoreline seaward through the surf zone.
Sand Grains with diameters between 0.06 mm and 2 mm.
Sediment Material that has been eroded and transported
by gravity, wind, water or ice; includes silt, sand, gravel,
boulders, and organic debris.
Surf zone The area between the point of wave breaking
and the shoreline, also known as the breaker zone.
Contains surf zone currents that may move onshore,
alongshore and offshore.
Swash Occurs when a wave reaches the dry shoreline and
immediately collapses and run up the beach face as a thin
layer of water, known as swash and up rush.
Swash zone The area between the shoreline where waves
collapse and run up the beach as swash, and the landward
limit of that swash.
Tide-dominated beach A beach where the tide range
is more than 10 times the wave height. Typified by
a wide intertidal zone and daily migration of the surf
zone.
Tide-modified beach A beach where the tide range is
between 3-10 times the wave height. Typified by a steeper
high tide beach and wider low tide beach, which may have
rips.
Wave-dominated beach A beach where the tide range is
less than three times the wave height. Typified by surf, bars
and rips.

Abstract

The morphodynamic approach to the study of beaches had its origins at the Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State
University in the late 1960s and formed the basis of the Australian approach beginning in the mid-1970s where it was
formalized by Wright and Thom (1977). Unlike the previous fragmented approach to beach studies, the morphodynamic
approach provided a time–space framework within which all beach systems could be located at timescales from the
instantaneous to the Quaternary, and spatially across all coastal environments. Equally important was the interdependence
of processes and morphological response, so that beach systems could be studied in a state of dynamic equilibrium with
the prevailing processes and boundary conditions. This approach enabled the full spectrum of beach systems and types to
be identified and characterized and is utilized to examine beach response at scales from the instantaneous, to event, to long
term. This chapter covers the development of the morphodynamic approach; its application within and across the beach
environment; the present level of understanding; and areas requiring more research.

10.5.1 Introduction
Beach morphodynamics refers to the dynamic interactions
between wave shoaling and breaking processes and bed re-
sponse across a range of time–space scales. This interaction
becomes more complex with additional processes, such as tide
and wind, and boundary conditions such as antecedent
morphology, geology, sediment characteristics, and biota. The
morphodynamic approach to beaches and coastal systems
involves the recognition of the range of interactions occurring
across the full beach system (wave base to swash limit). It
attempts to measure and model both salient processes and
morphological responses, together with the positive and
negative feedbacks between process and response, which,
through time, maintain a dynamic equilibrium across the
beach system.
The morphodynamic approach to coastal systems had its
origins at the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) at Louisiana State
University (LSU) in the 1960s, led consecutively by Richard
Russell, William McIntire, and Jim Coleman. These intrepid
geoscientists, with Office of Naval Research (ONR) funding,
roamed the world’s coasts and in doing so developed a holistic
approach to the study and understanding of coastal systems.
This was first applied in a truly morphodynamic approach in
Wright and Coleman’s (1971) classic study of deltas (also
Wright, 1976). When the CSI moved into beaches in the late
1960s, it coincided with the arrival of Choule Sonu. Sonu
analyzed an 18-month time series of daily beach change col-
lected at Nags Head, North Carolina, by then graduate student
Bob Dolan. He used these data to develop a two-dimensional
(2D) beach change model (Sonu and van Beek, 1971). Then,
he led the first truly morphodynamic beach experiment called
‘SALIS’ for sea–air–land–interactions. This experiment took
place at rip-dominated Destin Beach on the Florida panhandle
in the summer of 1971. The study included measurements of
sea breeze, which generated the waves, beach and surf
zone topography, wave breaking, and surf zone circulation
(Figure 1; Sonu, 1972; Sonu et al., 1973); and out of which
Sonu and James (1973) recognized the Markovian nature of
beach behavior and Sonu (1973) developed the first three-
dimensional (3D) beach model. CSI’s next field experiments
on the north Alaskan coast (Figure 2) resulted in Wiseman
et al. (1973) and Short et al. (1974) applying these models in
their study of the beaches along the north Alaska coast. Short
(1975) also used wave measurements and field surveys from
the multibarred, north Alaskan coast to corroborate the link
between standing waves and bar formation proposed by
Suhayda (1974) and Bowen (1975).
108 Beach Morphodynamics
Figure 1 Swash zone measurements at Destin, Florida during the
1971 SALIS experiments. Photo by A.D. Short.
Figure 2 Surveying a north Alaskan barrier island beach in 1972,
while waves break and ice grounds on the offshore bar. Photo by
A.D. Short.
Two CSI members of both the Destin and Alaskan field
teams, Don Wright and Andy Short, went on to form the
Coastal Studies Unit (CSU) at the University of Sydney in
1976 and in doing so took the morphodynamics approach
with them to Australia. It was in Australia, using the country’s
vast range of wave–beach–tide environments, that the CSU
team was able to rigorously apply the morphodynamic
approach across a wide range of coastal domains.
The breadth of their approach was detailed in Wright and
Thom (1977) wherein Wright teamed with another CSI–LSU
graduate, Bruce Thom, to write the first paper to review the
morphodynamic approach to what they called ‘coastal de-
positional landforms’. Although the paper had its foundations
in their experience at CSI–LSU, they also appreciated the re-
cent advances in mathematical modeling of hydrodynamic
processes and the rapid advances being made in both com-
puter technology and the instrumentation with which to
measure, record, store, and analyze the vast quantities of field
data becoming available. For the first time, it was possible to
accurately and simultaneously record waves and currents,
sediment transport, and bed changes, and to test these against
theories of nearshore wave behavior and bed response (e.g.,
Bowen and Inman, 1969, 1971).
Atmosphere and ocean Fresh water
Beach system
Coastal flows
Energy
losses Topography
Boundary layer
flows
Terrigenous
sediments
Sediment transport
Sediment Stratigraphy
loss
Sediment balance
Autogenic
sediment
gains and
Erosion/deposition
losses Δt
Environmental conditions
Figure 3 The morphodynamic relationships between boundary
conditions (topography), inputs, interactions (central boxes) and
resulting surface morphology (topography), and underlying stratigraphy
in the coastal environment. Reproduced from Cowell, P.J., Thom, B.G.,
1994. Morphodynamics of coastal evolution. In: Carter, R.W.G.,
Woodroffe, C.D. (Eds.), Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Shoreline
Morphodynamics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 33–86.
Wright and Thom (1977) defined the morphodynamic
approach as involving the analyses of:
1. the character and spatiotemporal variability of coastal en-
vironmental conditions;
2. the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic processes of
interaction and transformation which operate within the
coastal system to produce morphologic patterns and mor-
phologic changes; and
3. the short- and long-term evolutionary sequences that ul-
timately yield preserved morphologies and stratigraphies,
and which progressively alter the dynamic environment
and process combinations.
These interactions, illustrated in Figure 3, show topographic
and process boundary conditions; interactions between dy-
namic process and morphology that produce sediment trans-
port and change; and, finally, the topographic expression and
underlying stratigraphy, that partly records these events and that
forms the basis of coastal depositional landforms.
Wright and Thom (1977) clearly saw the approach being
applied at all timescales, from the instantaneous to the Qua-
ternary, and in all manner of coastal depositional systems
from beaches to deltas and dunes. It is interesting that al-
though the beach fraternity has grasped this approach, it has
not had the same reception in other fields of geomorphology.
This may be explained in part by the fact that Wright, Thom,
and colleagues in Australia were already applying it to beach
morphodynamics with a series of papers in the late 1970s to
the early 1980s establishing a firm foundation in the beach
environment, as well as presenting the now well-entrenched
 Beach Morphodynamics 109

Time scale Process

Geological Climate change
Large scale Tectonics
Millennia Net shoreline Sea level
(engineering)
Net shoreline
Centuries movement Sediment supply
(horizontal)
Large size beach cycles
Decades Major storm erosion Wave climate cycles

Years Annual wave climate

Events Beach position tide regime

Seasonal wave
Seasons
climate
Seasonal beach cycles
Months Tide cycles storm
events
Instant- Beach migration
Days aneous Beach face Wave trains

Hours Ripple migration Tide

Ripples
Seconds Waves
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
Length (feature) scale (km)
Figure 4 The relationship between the scale of coastal sedimentary features and their temporal variability, together with the four major
time–space paradigms used in the study of coasts. Reproduced from Cowell, P.J., Thom, B.G., 1994. Morphodynamics of coastal evolution. In:
Carter, R.W.G., Woodroffe, C.D. (Eds.), Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Shoreline Morphodynamics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
pp. 33–86.

beach model. What followed was a series of morphodynamics
papers and reports from the CSU reporting on: time series of
beach change (Short, 1978, 1979; Wright et al., 1979; Thom and
Hall, 1991); beach experiments across a wide range of wave–tide
environments (e.g., Wright et al., 1982a, 1982b, 1982c); dune
environments (Short and Hesp, 1982; Hesp, 1983); regional-
scale morphodynamics and its relation to coastal evolution
across contemporary to Quaternary timescales (Short and Hesp,
1984; Short and Fotheringham 1986; Short et al., 1986); and
across the shoreface (Cowell et al., 1992, 1999).
The best review of the morphodynamic approach can be
found in Cowell and Thom (1994) where, following on from
Wright and Thom (1977), they emphasized the applicability
of the approach across a broad range of time and space scales
(Figure 4). The following year, Wright (1995) published his
book dealing with the morphodynamics of continental
shelves, thereby taking the approach into the larger time and
space scale (Figure 5). The morphodynamic approach can
therefore be applied to any geomorphic system across any
time and space scale. The remainder of this chapter focuses on
its application across the beach–shoreface environment, as
defined in Figure 5.
10.5.2 Beach Morphodynamics
Beach morphodynamics refers to the mutual interaction be-
tween hydrodynamic processes (principally shoaling-breaking
swash waves, tide, and wind), the sediment of the beach en-
vironment, and any ancillary boundaries, such that changes
in one lead to adjustment and changes in the other in an
attempt to maintain a dynamic equilibrium, minimizing the
need for further change. The development of a morphody-
namics approach to beach studies in the 1970s provided
a major new paradigm that revolutionized the way beaches
were studied and accompanied an explosion in our under-
standing and study of beach systems. In theory, at least, it
enabled the study of beaches to be scaled up from the in-
stantaneous to the Quaternary and vice versa. The fragmented
approach to beaches and beach systems was replaced with an
integrated approach that linked the full spectrum of beaches
in time and space. Within each beach system, the morpho-
dynamics approach accommodated the 2D, cross-shore rela-
tionship between shoaling and breaking waves, the surf zone
and swash, and the underlying mobile topography, including
the nearshore slope, surf zone topography, and beach face
slope; as well as 3D beach responses to changing wave–tide
conditions. Between beach systems, the approach explains
the transition in processes and form across the spectrum from
high-energy, wave-dominated beaches to low-energy tide-
dominated systems. The level of interactions and explanation
can be scaled from the instantaneous as the boundary layer
interacts with sand gains and bedforms, through beach
erosion–accretion cycles, to large-scale coastal behavior, to
Holocene and Quaternary shoreline evolution and stratig-
raphy (Figure 4).
110 Beach Morphodynamics

y
x
Dunes and Beach Upper shoreface Lower shoreface
backshore berm
Surf zone Nearshore (wave shoaling zone) Offshore

Low tide

Limit of runup
Break Wave base?
in slope?
(a) Johnson shoreface

(b) Niedoroda shoreface

Seasons

Years
Decades
(c) Time-scale dependent extent of shoreface
Centuries
Millennia

Figure 5 The shoreface is affected by shoaling waves, breaking waves and swash at scales from instantaneous to millennia. Each produces a
characteristic bed response and all are linked through time and space by morphodynamic couplings. Reproduced with permission from Cowell,
P.J., Hanslow, D.J., Meleo, J.F, 1999. The Shoreface. In: Short, A.D. (Ed.), Handbook of Beach and Shoreface Morphodynamics. Wiley,
Chichester, pp. 37–71.

10.5.2.1 Beach Time Series
The Australian approach to beach morphodynamics sparked
an immediate reaction as other coastal groups took on a more
morphodynamic approach to the beaches they were studying.
This was first manifest in a number of publications primarily
based on time series of beach change from a wide range of
micro- through macro-tidal regimes, as well as swell through
sea conditions (e.g., Aubrey, 1979; Willyams, 1980; Goldsmith
et al., 1982; Shaw, 1985; Short, 1992; Carter and Orford,
1993; Wijnberg and Wolf, 1994; Klein and Menezes, 2001;
Norcross et al., 2002). The most ambitious was at Duck, North
Carolina where Lippmann and Holman (1990) pioneered the
use of video technology to monitor long-term beach change
and classify beach states; whereas the regular Duck cross-shore
surveys were used by Larson and Kraus (1994) and Lee et al.
(1998) to monitor longer-term and storm-driven beach
change. It quickly became apparent that the wave-dominated
(micro-tidal) beach model of Wright and Short (1984) was
not directly applicable to meso- to macro-tidal situations and
to multibar (predominately sea) environments. This situation
has been remedied through fieldwork in higher-tide ranges
and sea environments.
10.5.2.2 Empirical Relationships
Because of the inherent complexity of the beach environment,
an empirical approach has been successfully used to predict a
range of beach conditions, including beach type (relative tide
range (RTR), Masselink and Short, 1993); beach state (O,
Wright and Short, 1984); changes between beach states (Oe,
Wright et al., 1985); bar number (B Short and Aagaard,
1993); and embaymentized circulation (d’, Short, 1999); all of
which are summarized in Table 1 to provide an overview of
the contribution of various environmental parameters to the
description and classification of beach type and state. The O
was modified by Klein and Menezes (2001) in their study of
Brazilian beaches; while McLachlan et al. (1993) also used O
in their examination of the relationship between beach ecol-
ogy and morphodynamic state. In Australia, Hegge et al.
(1996) proposed a morphodynamic classification of sheltered
beaches; whereas more recently Short (2010a) has examined
the role of geological inheritance in influencing contemporary
beach behavior and linked barrier type and volume to
wave–beach morphodynamics (Short, 2010b).
10.5.2.3 Beach Experiments
The morphodynamic approach was also applied to beach ex-
periments involving selection of type sites and measurements
of both processes and beach response across a wide range of
environments. Experiments continued in eastern Australia
(Masselink and Hegge, 1995; Turner, 1995); western Australia
(Masselink et al. 1997, Masselink and Pattiaratchi, 1998,
2001); New Zealand (Brander and Short, 2000); Canada
(Greenwood and Davidson-Arnott, 1979; Canadian Coastal
Sediment Study, Willis, 1987); Japan (Horikawa, 1988); and
in the USA, where the Field Research Facility at Duck has
been the focus of ongoing multifaceted experiments since
the 1980s. Bryan et al. (1998) used field observations from
the Duck DELILAH experiments to verify that bar-trapped
edge waves can be the dominant edge wave modes driving
 Beach Morphodynamics 111

Table 1 Impact of environmental parameters on beach type, state, stability, circulation, and bar number

Tide range Wave height Wave period Sediment size Embayment geometry (Gradient)
–1
TR (m) Hb (m) T (s) Ws (m s ) D50(mm) Sl (m) Cl (m) tanb

Beach type Beach state Embayment impact Bar number

RTR ¼ TR/Hb O ¼ Hb/WsT d0 ¼ Sl 2 =100 Cl Hb B ¼ Xs=tanbTi 2
x ¼ (as2)/(g tan2b)

Wave-dominated Circulation Bar number

o3 Oo1, xo2.5 1 Reflectivea d0 419 Normal o20 ¼ 0 Bar
O ¼ 2–5, x ¼ 2.5–20 2–5 intermediate d0 ¼ 8–19 Sub 20–50 ¼ 1
O46, x420 6 Dissipative d0 o8 Cellular 50–100 ¼ 2
Tide-modified 100–400 ¼ 3
4400 ¼ 4 þ
3–10 Oo2 7 Reflective þ LTT d0 419 Normal
O ¼ 2–5 8 Reflective þ LT bar and rips d0 ¼ 8–19 Sub
O45 9 Ultradissipative d0 o8 Cellular
Tide-dominated
10–B50 Oo2 10 Beach þ ridged sand flats
11 Beach þ sand flats
12 Beach þ tidal sand flats
13 Beach þ mud flats
Tidal flats
4B50
a
Numbers refer to beach state (see Figures 13 and 14).
Shaded areas indicate beach type.
Source: Modified from Short, A.D. (Ed.), 1999. Beach and Shoreface Morphodynamics. Wiley, Chichester, 379 pp.

longshore currents over the bar, a mechanism predicted by
Bryan and Bowen (1996).
On the USA west coast, Seymour (1989) coordinated the
ambitious Nearshore Sediment Transport experiments. More
recently MacMahan et al. (2004, 2006, 2009) have investigated
the rip-dominated Monterey Bay beaches, where they have
conducted some of the most advanced experiments monitoring
surf zone bathymetry and both Eulerian and Lagrangian cir-
culation. This approach has also been successfully applied by
Austin et al. (2010) on macro-tidal English beaches.
In Europe, there has been a surge in beach studies since the
early 1990s, many in sea-driven and/or meso- to macro-tidal
environments, particularly in the United Kingdom (Jago and
Hardisty, 1984; Kroon and Masselink, 2002; Voulgaris et al.,
1998; Masselink and Puleo, 2006; Masselink et al., 2008b;
Jackson et al., 2007; Austin et al., 2009; Masselink et al., 2006,
2009, 2010); Spain (Guillen and Palanques, 1993); Denmark
(Aagaard et al., 1998a, 1998b, 2002; Vinther et al., 2004;
Greenwood et al., 2004; Hughes et al., 2007); and France
(Levoy et al., 2000, 2001; Anthony et al., 2004; Lafon et al.,
2005; Masselink et al., 2008a; Dehouck et al., 2009; Almar
et al., 2010).
10.5.2.4 Swash Morphodynamics
The swash zone represents an important wave-driven transport
zone in all beach systems and is the visible expression of both
beach erosion and accretion. It is defined as the section of the
beach profile where fluid coverage is intermittent, or that part
of the beach which stretches from the bore collapse point (on
the beachface) to the highest limitation of the uprush (see
Hughes and Turner, 1999, for review). Morphologically, the
swash zone is planar and seaward sloping, and expressed
sometimes as low-elevation swash bars associated with inter-
storm or post-storm recovery periods. Occupying a low vertical
structure, swash bars can, and frequently do, superimpose
themselves on top of the much more visually apparent inter-
tidal bars at the beach. Swash bars usually move shoreward
and spill into the troughs of larger bars, helping to refill the
main beach volume and to accrete the back beach zone
(Jackson et al., 2007).
The wave conditions of the inner surf zone and the local
beach gradient will largely drive the hydrodynamics of the
swash zone. Within dissipative beaches, incident wave energy
dissipates and decays shoreward across the surf zone. There is
a simultaneous growth in infragravity energy, as energy is
transferred from one wave mode to the other. The latter
therefore generally dominates the inner surf zone where it is
manifest as wave setup and setdown. During larger wave
conditions, as the surf zone widens and dissipation increases,
the infragravity element increases even more. Conversely, on
more reflective steeper beaches, incident waves are dissipated
much less and wave energy propagates with little hindrance to
reach the beach, contributing higher-incident wave energy
levels at the swash zone (Ruessink et al., 1998).
Field studies have shown there to be a combination of
shoreward sediment transport in the uprush and seaward sedi-
ment transport in the backwash (Miles et al., 2006). This results
in a high, total sediment transport, but a sometimes small, net
transport (e.g., Butt and Russell, 1999; Osborne and Rooker,
1999). The overall direction of transport and therefore profile
change will be dictated by the subtle balance of two large sedi-
ment transport magnitudes (Osborne and Rooker, 1999).
112 Beach Morphodynamics
Resulting shear stresses from the overturning wave front plus local
turbulence creates ideal conditions for suspending and trans-
porting sediment. Work has shown higher turbulence during
uprush events than during back rush phases and therefore overall
net transport is usually onshore within the swash environment
(Butt et al., 2004). Houser and Barrett (2010) found a strong
relationship between the behavior of the inner bar, the nature of
the swash, and whether the swash zone eroded or accreted.
Considering the swash in more detail, Guard and Baldock (2007)
examined the influence of the seaward boundary condition on
the internal swash hydrodynamics, which they found to be
dependent on the shape and wave length of the incident bore.
The swash zone is therefore an important element of the
coastal beach system, providing the conduit through which
bars attach to the shore and resupply the beach and ultimately
backshore (Jackson et al., 2007) and provide aeolian sand for
foredune construction (Aagaard et al., 2004). However, during
periods of high waves, the swash zone sediments become
saturated and sediment is eroded and transported into the
surf zone.
10.5.2.5 Geological Control on Beach Morphodynamics
All beaches exist within a particular 3D geological framework,
which determines the boundaries within which the beach
Figure 6 Example of subsurface geological control present on beaches along the Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland. Here sandy beaches are
accommodated within the local geology which at times is seen protruding through the beach matrix. The volume of sand within the beaches is
likely to be finite, highly mobile with unstable beach states, driven by local wave events. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland.
forms (accommodation space) and changes. The volume of
beach sediment fluctuates in time and space as it is worked
upon by dynamic forcing through the action of waves and
currents (Jackson et al., 2005; Jackson and Cooper, 2009).
Those forces are themselves mediated by certain geological and,
in places, biological parameters. These include rock and reef
boundaries and outcrops which change bed roughness, influ-
ence wave refraction, attenuation and breaking, and moderate
water flow through the beach (McNinch, 2004). Much of
our thinking on beach morphodynamics is dominated by
consideration of unconstrained beach environments, particu-
larly in the profile dimension. This is exemplified by the 2D
shoreline profile of equilibrium concept and the Bruun rule.
Our understanding of the relationship between dynamic
forcing and beach response, expressed as combined indices
such as the surf-scaling parameter, O and relative tide range
(RTR), has evolved into a suite of conceptual models of beach
morphodynamics (Table 1). Although the identification of
beach states using this approach has been used widely, there
have been some noted differences between beach states pre-
dicted and beach states observed (Jackson et al., 2005; Gómez-
Pujol et al., 2007). This is partially a product of the lag
between changing processes and beach response. Furthermore,
where the volume of beach sediment is constrained in depth
(Figure 6) through the presence of an immobile substrate or

Figure 7 An example of the influence of geology on the beach at
Point James, South Australia. The headlands define beach length, as
well as circulation with a single topographic (headland) rip draining
the surf zone. Photo by A.D. Short.
geological intrusion, the beach morphodynamic behavior may
be somewhat different than that within an unconstrained
(sediment abundant) setting (Browder and McNinch, 2006;
Schupp et al., 2006; Hapke et al., 2010).
Beaches that are constrained by a finite sediment supply are
likely to be more unstable, flipping from state to state within a
highly mobile envelope of change. Also, because of the pres-
ence of topographic and megarips, these beaches are exposed to
more rapid and more severe erosion than unconstrained bea-
ches. Short (2010a) summarized the impact of geological con-
trol on Australian beaches as causing ‘‘y relatively short often
embayed beaches; greater wave attenuation and resulting lower
breaker waves and associated lower energy beach types; greater
wave refraction and thereby more crenulate beaches; induce
topographic and during high waves megarips (Figure 7); and
bi-directional wave climates to induce beach rotation.’’
10.5.2.6 Morphodynamics and High Magnitude Events
Observations of low-frequency but high-energy storm events
and their impacts on coasts have been made in a variety of
settings. In general, these events are believed to be important
drivers of coastal systems, accomplishing much more mor-
phological change in single storms than during long periods
of fair weather conditions (Morton et al., 1995). Storms are
thus commonly regarded as key drivers of medium-term
coastal evolution. Recently, however, Zhang et al. (2002) have
questioned the significance of storms in shoreline recession in
the United States and concluded they are unimportant in the
medium-term (decadal scale) because of rapid, post-storm
recovery mechanisms. Sallenger (2000) examined storm im-
pact on US barrier islands and found four regimes of impact:
swash, collision, overwash, and inundation. The dominant
regime depends on the coupling of forcing processes and
barrier morphology. Similarly, Cooper and Jackson (2003)
noted that the indented, embayed Atlantic-facing coastline of
western Ireland demonstrated only limited impact from major
storm events. They noted that for major storm impact on the
coastal morphology to take place, there must be a coincidence
Beach Morphodynamics 113
(a) 1977
(b) 2000
Figure 8 Five Finger Strand, NW Ireland. (a) In 1977 a series of
foredunes backed by a steep scarp (previous high-magnitude storm
event) cut into the high-vegetated dune. The same view (b) in 2000
illustrates the removal of foredunes and active erosion on the dune
scarp from more contemporary high-magnitude events. Reproduced
from Cooper, J.A.G., Jackson, D.W.T., 2003. Geomorphological and
dynamic constraints on mesoscale coastal response to storms,
Western Ireland. In: Davis, R.A., Howd, P.A., Kraus, N.C. (Eds.),
Coastal Sediments ’03. Proceedings 6th International Symposium on
Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes.
American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Virginia, pp. 1–13.
of high tide, sufficient storm duration, and favorable coastline
orientation. Over a 170-year period, only two major storms
(evolved hurricanes from the Atlantic) produced any real sig-
nature along the Irish coastline. However, outside these high-
end events, other less powerful storms can, at particular sites
like Five Finger Strand, NW Ireland, drive local beach and
dune morphodynamics by bringing sediment on and off the
beach and dune systems in large quantities (Figure 8). Add-
itionally, tidally influenced responses during storms were re-
corded by Etri and Mayerle (2006) along the Dithmarschen
Bight on the German North Sea coast. They found that when
storms occurred during neap tides they produced a more fo-
cused response (erosion) whereas spring tides helped smear
the storm energy across a wider spatial area, thus reducing the
seabed erosion. Houser and Greenwood (2005) monitored
the behavior of a multibarred system in Lake Huron during
storm events. They found a threshold existed between wave
conditions and bar decay and growth, and between onshore
114 Beach Morphodynamics
and offshore migration. They recognized the importance of
morphodynamic feedback between bars and local wave dis-
tribution in developing predictive models of bar behavior.
10.5.2.7 Wave–Beach–Dune Interactions
The beach is the primary source of sand for coastal dune
systems. As such, the supply of sand to dunes is intimately
linked to beach morphodynamics. The nature of foredune
morphodynamics was first examined by Hesp (1983), whereas
Short and Hesp (1982) examined the relationship between
beach state, beach stability, foredune type and stability, and
rate of aeolian sand supply to dunes, as well as the type of
backing dunes. Soon thereafter, Psuty (1987) edited the first
volume on beach–dune interactions.
In Denmark, Aagaard et al. (2004) examined onshore bar
migration, bar welding, and aeolian sand transport and found
a persistent link between sand transport across the surf zone
and into the dunes. Davidson-Arnott et al. (2005) then
measured aeolian sand transport across the same beach and
found that it responded instantly to wind velocity and was
very dependent on moisture content.
Sherman and Bauer (1993) commented that ‘‘Although the
important first steps of producing conceptual models of
beach–dune interaction related to nearshore morphody-
namics y. have been made, it remains a daunting prospect to
develop the appropriately parameterized, process-based, nu-
merical equivalent.’’ Houser (2009) added ‘‘in retrogressive
environments synchronization of transport and supply
suggests that dune evolution is quasi-periodic y and
predictable by considering the dune within the broader con-
text of the beach-nearshore system.’’ He added at present ‘‘the
lack of information in this regard remains a central barrier to
the development of a theory of beach-dune interaction that
can be translated across scales and between field sites.’’
10.5.2.8 Engineering Impacts on Morphodynamics
Human habitation of many of the world’s coastlines has at
times introduced a conflict between natural processes and
human activities. The construction of structures such as groins,
seawalls, and breakwaters or attempts to modify local mor-
phodynamics through engineering approaches can dramatic-
ally alter the natural functioning of the coastal system. The
conflict between engineers and scientists over how they solve
coastal issues has had a long and at times vitriolic history (e.g.,
Pilkey and Dixon, 1998). Differences in the appropriate
timescale over which the coastal system should be examined,
along with the perceived impact engineered structures have on
local morphodynamics, are just some of the traditional areas
of conflict.
Mass tourism to beaches developed over a relatively small
timescale (decades) such as that witnessed along the southern
Spanish and Italian coastlines of the Mediterranean during the
1970s, and can have enormous impacts on the natural be-
havior of beach systems (Figure 9). The need for the presence
of a beach of a particular size to attract and accommodate
large number of visitors becomes paramount. This, combined
with the building of marinas, promenades, large-scale sea
Figure 9 Breakwaters constructed at the popular Marina di Pisa
beach, Italy. Although the breakwaters shelter the coast, they are both
a hazard in themselves as well as resulting in strong topographic rips
flowing out between the gaps in the walls. Photo by A.D. Short.
defenses, and the damming of catchment areas for water de-
mand, depletes net sediment supply, interrupts or stops
longshore sediment transport, and ultimately leads to beach
erosion and the need for beach nourishment projects along
major tracts of coastline. The introduced sediment is generally
mined offshore and placed in an area either on the shore face
or on the beach itself to produce an overfull profile. The
sediments are then reworked alongshore and offshore by the
local wave and current regime (Grunnet and Ruessink, 2005;
Ojeda et al., 2008). This can result in the introduced sediment
being rapidly eroded from the beach and redistributed to at-
tain a more equilibrium profile. In doing so, this changes the
local bathymetry of the surf and breaker zone of the site.
Coastal engineering works can and do impact beach
morphodynamics (see e.g., Tanaka, 1983). Hard structures
permanently modify the beach morphology, which reduces
beach permeability; modifies waves breaking and surf zone
circulation; as well as locking or trapping sediment (Sherman
et al., 1990). All of these are a predictable result of the inter-
action of the structure or works within an existing and
modified morphodynamic regime. The important factor is to
predict, acknowledge, and prepare for these changes as part of
the engineering design, and not, as is often the case, feign
ignorance when the beach disappears. Coastal engineering can
play a positive role in coastal management as illustrated in
successful projects such as the massive Gold Coast sand by-
passing system (Figure 10). However, to be successful, the full
ramifications of the projects must be modeled, predicted,
prepared, and budgeted for, with the local community fully
informed throughout.
10.5.2.9 Shoreface Morphodynamics
The shoreface extends from wave base to the limit of run-up
(Figure 5), and represents a complex and poorly understood
part of the coastal zone. It plays a critical role in acting as a
transport corridor, a sediment source area, and an exchange
zone between the beach and inner shelf zone, ultimately
driving the dynamics of beach behavior. Modeling of the

Figure 10 Training walls constructed in 1967 at the mouth of the
Tweed River, New South Wales, interrupted the northerly longshore
sand transport, trapping millions of cubic meters of sand and causing
downdrift erosion. Sand bypassing commenced in 2000 and by 2010
had pumped 6 million cubic meters from the pumping jetty (in
background above) north under the river mouth. Photo by A.D. Short.
shoreface has provided significant clues to sediment transport
rates and qualitative behavior under a number of scenarios.
The stochastic, nonlinear, and multidimensional variables
operating on the shoreface change continuously with time and
therefore remain notoriously difficult to quantitatively predict
(Cowell and Thom, 1994). Given its sometimes high-energy
setting, the shoreface is also difficult to observe over sufficient
periods to fully understand its behavior (Backstrom et al.,
2008). In fact, the high spatial and temporal variability in
shoreface morphodynamics normally result in simplistic
shoreface models, like the Bruun rule (Bruun, 1954, 1962) or
the profile of equilibrium (Dean, 1991), to be largely in-
effectual in predicting coastal response to changing conditions
(Cooper and Pilkey, 2004).
Worldwide investigations of shoreface environments have
been performed along the largely straight coastlines of the
eastern USA (Niedoroda et al., 1984; Wright, 1995) and the
Netherlands (van de Meene and van Rijn, 2000; Stive and
Vriend de, 1995) as well as off the more geologically con-
strained coasts of southeast Australia (Roy et al., 1994) and
Canada (Hequette and Hill, 1993; Hequette et al., 2001); and
more recently, along the higher-energy coast of Northern Ire-
land (Backstrom et al., 2007, 2009a, 2009b). Many of these
studies have shown that the morphodynamics of the shoreface
are driven largely by the frequency and magnitude of high-
energy storm events that mobilize the seabed and dramatically
shift sediments across the entire shoreface. Previous investi-
gations have demonstrated that sand is commonly transported
far beyond the surf zone and upper shoreface during storms,
with transport occurring as far offshore as the inner shelf
(Smith and Hopkins, 1972; Pearson and Riggs, 1981; Snedden
et al., 1988; Hequette et al., 2001; Thieler et al., 2001; Amos
et al., 2003; Roy et al., 1994). Moreover, longer-term studies of
shoreface processes have shown that seabed changes can ex-
tend further offshore (Nicholls et al., 1998). All these events
have consequences for the availability of sediment to the
beach.
Beach Morphodynamics 115
Compared to other shoreface settings, relatively little is
known about shoreface morphodynamics of steep, high-
energy, and geologically constrained (embayment) locations
(Roy et al., 1994; Backstrom et al., 2009a, 2009b). Most
shoreface studies have been undertaken in sediment-abundant
areas where the profile can adjust to a more stable form.
However, where there is a sediment deficit, the profile steepens
and becomes increasingly mobile, with an immediate impli-
cation for the onshore beach systems. Beaches backing such
systems are likely to be more mobile, routinely switching be-
tween beach states. Medium-term studies (2–5 years) are re-
quired to gain an improved understanding of shoreface
behavior in these environments. Furthermore, it is important
to determine whether the morphodynamics of steep embay-
ment shorefaces are significantly different from those on long,
straight, and gentle shorefaces, which are currently better
understood.
10.5.2.10 Beach Monitoring
Beaches are inherently dynamic features, which led to the early
recognition of the need to continuously monitor their be-
havior. This was initially, and in many locations still is,
achieved through laborious beach-profiling programs. Al-
though this provides valuable data, they are limited in their
spatial and temporal coverage, and are expensive and time
consuming. Similarly, aerial photographs provide excellent
spatial coverage of beach systems, but are also limited in their
temporal coverage. Beach profiling has been supplemented in
recent years by a growing array of remote sensors that can
provide both real time and continuous spatial and temporal
coverage of beach behavior.
Video imaging of beaches commenced in the 1980s
and became best developed as part of the ARGUS program
(Holman and Stanley, 2007). The images (Figure 11) have
been used to provide time series of beach evolution, shoreline
and bar patterns, bar migration, beach morphodynamics,
and wave measurements (Almar et al., 2008; Lafon
et al., 2004; Ranasinghe et al., 2004b; Shand, 1999; Quartel
et al., 2007; McNinch, 2007; Smit et al., 2007); and they are
often used for beach management (Turner and Anderson,
2007).
Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) survey methods
(Figure 12) have also provided a significant step forward in
the ability to accurately measure the nearshore and coastal
zone and provide large spatial measurement of bathymetry
and topography over a relatively short survey time. Although
the depth of water through which LiDAR can operate is re-
duced by breaking wave conditions and turbidity, the method
is otherwise capable of providing a high-resolution framework
(bathymetry) over which, for example, shallow water wave-
refraction models such as SWAN can be used. Other techni-
ques such as ground-based radar are also providing useful
(and cheaper) ways of measuring wave heights in the near-
shore zone (Wolf and Bell, 2001; Ruessink et al. 2002;
McNinch, 2007). Deronde et al. (2006) used airborne hyper-
spectral data and airborne LiDAR data to assess beach
morphodynamics along the entire Belgian backshore and
foreshore.
116 Beach Morphodynamics

On a global scale, satellite imagery, such as that presented
by Google Earth,TM provides complete spatial coverage of the
world’s beaches. Although limited in its temporal domain, the
wide coverage and high resolution permits the desktop
examination of all beach systems and today is the major
source of images for any presentation on beaches.
Remote-sensing techniques will likely be the most realistic
way forward in providing useful data for studies of nearshore
morphodynamics. They represent a method capable of col-
lecting information over the required spatial and temporal
scale to be of use in future investigations and therefore help
examine more realistically the behavior of nearshore circu-
lation patterns and associated coastal responses in this com-
plex environment.

Figure 11 Argus time exposure image of Palm Beach, Australia. The
intensity fluctuations in the real time images have been averaged,
resulting in a stable depiction of the wave-breaking pattern which
reflects the bar and rip pattern. Reproduced from Ranasinghe, R.,
Symonds, G., Black, K., Holman, R., 2004b. Morphodynamics of
intermediate beaches: a video imaging and numerical modelling
study. Coastal Engineering 51, 629–655, with permission from
Coastal Engineering.
10.5.2.11 Modeling
Modeling beach morphodynamics requires the ability to
model all the parameters outlined in Figure 3. To date, this is
not possible, so at best models are restricted to 2D represen-
tations of cross-shore behavior or to generating 3D patterns
that, although resembling aspects of beach morphology, have
no physical linkage. The most commonly used models are
therefore based on 2D representation, which can only repli-
cate the 3D beach environment, by generating multiple
transects. The best known of these are the increasingly re-
dundant Bruun rule (Pilkey and Cooper, 2004), which some
still use, and increasingly S-Beach (CHL, 1989) and GENESIS
(Hanson and Kraus, 1989), which are both used to model
cross-shore response to changing conditions. The shoreface
translation model (STM) (Cowell et al., 1992) is used to plot
cross-shore response at scales from days to millennium. More
recently, the XBeach model, in development since 2006, is a

00
10

55
−10

11
06
00
16
61
0
50
16
61
0
00
17
61
0
50
17
61
0
00
18
61
0
50
18
61

Figure 12 LiDAR (LADS) image of Magilligan, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland, revealing a complex picture of successive foredune ridges
as well as nearshore bathymetry. Image resolution is at 4 m spacing of sample points; vertical exaggeration 3 . Reproduced from Jackson,
D.W.T., Beyers, J.H.M., Lynch, K., Cooper, J.A.G., Baas, A.C.W., Delgado-Fernandez, I., 2011. Investigation of three-dimensional wind flow
behaviour over coastal dune morphology under offshore winds using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and ultrasonic anemometry. Earth
Surface Processes and Landforms 36, 1113–1124.

2D model that considers wave propagation, long waves, and
mean flow, sediment transport and morphological changes of
the nearshore area, beaches, dunes, and back-barrier during
storm conditions. The model is still in its infancy, but has been
used recently by Roelvink et al. (2009) to assess dune erosion
and breaching along a number of sandy, dune-fringed sites on
the coast of the Netherlands.
Morphodynamic models often demonstrate poor per-
formance when compared with natural beach response
(de Vriend et al., 1993; Nicholson et al., 1997; Sutherland
et al., 2004) partly because the physical processes that are
driving morphological change occur on much shorter time-
scales than the actual changes themselves. Short-term forcing
parameters such as tides and waves drive the redistribution of
sediment across particular 3D framework surfaces. This pro-
duces sediment transport pathways that are driven temporally
and spatially by both cyclical and random events, leading to
highly complicated fluid and sediment motions, making
realistic modeling extremely difficult. Attempts at under-
standing the behavior of these systems have been undertaken
using a number of techniques and applied under a range of
scales. One approach that is gathering increasing momentum
is the concept of system self-organization (Falqués et al.,
2008). Nonlinear behavior in any natural system can exhibit
complex patterns that in themselves are not related to similar
patterns within an associated forcing environment. Observed
rhythmic patterns found within 3D beach morphology (e.g.,
cusps) have been proposed to be driven by self-organized
processes related to the interaction between fluid flow and
morphology. If we consider a hypothetical situation with an
initial linear (flat) sediment surface (e.g., beach face) with
uniform wave forcing, it gives rise to beach morphology in
equilibrium. In reality, this could not be sustainable as het-
erogeneous breaking wave conditions would give a nonuni-
form energy distribution along this morphology. If one
perturbation occurs as a result, then this sets up a chain
reaction of events and leads to a spontaneous growth of
morphological features across what was once a smooth
surface. Nearshore models describing morphodynamic self-
organization generally consist of the following elements: (1)
wave transformation – refraction, shoaling, and breaking
descriptors; (2) mean currents and water levels over hetero-
geneous bathymetry; (3) sediment transport induced by wave
and currents; and (4) bathymetric updating (Caballeria et al.,
2002; Reniers et al., 2004; Coco and Murray, 2007; Gallagher,
2011). Although still in its infancy compared to other scientific
analyses of complex systems, the self-organization concept
appears to be a pragmatic approach for modeling coastal
morphodynamics across a range of spatial and temporal
scales. However, as discussed below, there remain concerns
about this approach.
10.5.2.12 Beach Ecology
Sandy beach ecology is generally related to morphodynamic
conditions (waves, tide and sediment) occurring at a site and
ecologists have commonly attributed zonation of organisms
in the intertidal zone to certain elevation levels of wave–swash
exposure (e.g., McLachlan and Jaramillo, 1995; Alves and
Pezzuto, 2009). Although characteristically linked in nature,
Beach Morphodynamics 117
the relationship between beach morphodynamics and local
biological behavior has received only modest attention
over the years. Within sandy beach systems, both benthic
and in situ biota are dependent on habitat type and stability
and water circulation, and as these vary through time so
must the biota adjust to wave, tide, and storm forcing. The
beach biota both represent an important coastal ecosystem
and provide also positive and negative feedback on bed
behavior. Within certain beach environments, bioturbation
(feeding birds, worm casts, etc.) of the sediments can play
important roles in sediment dynamics (Grant et al., 1982;
Jackson et al., 2005), commonly leading to increased sedi-
ment transport potential. For example, bioturbation may lead
to roughening of the surface, reduced sediment cohesion and
higher mobility of the sediment itself (Fries et al., 1999;
Quaresma et al., 2004). Conversely, algal mats and seagrass
debris on the surface may help bind the surface sediments into
a less mobile substrate, increasing the energy levels at which
the sediment can move (Grant et al., 1986; Escartin and
Aubrey, 1995).
10.5.3 Beach Morphodynamics – Status
In the 40 years since beaches were first viewed from a mor-
phodynamic perspective, there has been a surge in the number
of coastal groups working on beaches; the variety of beach
environments being investigated; and the sophistication of
both hardware and software used to monitor, measure, model,
and analyze beach systems. Where does this leave us in 2011?
One way to assess our present understanding and application
of beach morphodynamics is to use Figure 4 as a framework
within which to locate progress since the 1970s with the four
major space–time approaches: instantaneous, event, large
scale (engineering), and geological.
10.5.3.1 Instantaneous
At the instantaneous level (seconds to hours) there has been
limited progress owing to the difficulty in obtaining mean-
ingful measurements at this scale, in particular, during high-
energy events. There are also inherent problems associated
with scaling up the complex interactions and nonlinear rela-
tionships based on those measurements. Most studies at this
level tend to focus on boundary-layer dynamics and sediment
transport, most of which, by logistical necessity, are confined
to fair weather conditions, whereas most change takes place
during high-wave conditions. Some of the most ambitious
experiments took place during the 1990s at the Duck facility
including DELILAH (1990), Duck94, and Sandy Duck (1997).
The aims of Sandy Duck were to measure small- and medium-
scale sediment transport and morphology (sediment grains to
100 m scale); wave shoaling, wave breaking, and nearshore
circulation; and swash processes including sediment motion,
with the overall aim of integrating these across the time–space
scales.
On the west coast was the similarly ambitious 1978–81
Nearshore Sediment Transport Study (Seymour 1989) and
in Canada the 1983 Canadian Coastal Sediment Study
(Willis, 1987). More recent research at this level has been
118 Beach Morphodynamics
undertaken in Denmark by Aagaard and colleagues (see e.g.,
Aagaard et al., 1998a, 1998b, 2002); and the Coastal Process
Research Group at Plymouth which has been working at
timescales from the instantaneous to event to seasonal across a
range of generally meso- and macro-tidal beaches around
southern England and in France (see e.g., Masselink et al.,
2008a, 2008b; 2010; van Houwelingen et al., 2008). All the
above led to considerable improvement in our understanding
of the range of motions in the surf zone and their impact on
sediment entrainment and transport. However, linking these
to the next step, the formation, movement, and erosion of
mesoscale topography including the swash zone, bars, trough
and channels, is proving more difficult.
10.5.3.2 Event
The beach changes at the event scale (days to years) are the
most readily observable and remain the focus of most mor-
phodynamic studies. It spans the time frame of most field
experiments; of all shoreline monitoring programs; of LiDAR
and video technology; and of the major storm and recovery
events that periodically impact the coast. It is also the scale
that the public, politicians, and the media turn to when
looking for the impacts of climate change, even though the
impacts are usually not detectable at this scale.
10.5.3.2.1 Beach experiments
Beach experiments still remain the most productive means
of investigating beach morphodynamics, particularly those
that encompass both hydrodynamic processes across the
surf zone and the associated morphological change. Our
ability to investigate both these areas has been enhanced in
recent years with improved instrumentation, in particular, the
acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) for Eulerian flows
and the use of global positioning system (GPS) buoys to
monitor Lagrangain flows. These have been used in the surf
zone to monitor 3D current and wave flows, particularly in rip
currents. Surf zone topography can now be measured using
GPS-depth sounders mounted on jet skis. When combined,
these provide the most comprehensive overview of beach
morphodynamics over timescales of hours to days. The
best examples of this approach have been undertaken by
MacMahan et al. (2009) along the rip-dominated beaches of
Monterey Bay.
10.5.3.2.2 Video and remote technology
The event level understanding has seen most progress. This
has been achieved through the monitoring and measurement
of beach processes and changes using a range of techniques;
the use of empirical relationships to explain this change; and
the limited application of both edge wave, self-organizing and
modeling approaches to predict the changes. The advent of
increasingly low-cost video cameras and their application to
monitor surf zone behavior, through the Argus video-moni-
toring system, for example, has provided the greatest insight
into the nature and behavior of the surf zone topography
across a wide range of settings. The Argus system was de-
veloped under the hypothesis that nearshore hydrodynamics
and morphodynamics are governed by a finite set of physical
laws whose observable manifestations depended on a number
of bulk site characteristics such as beach slope and wave height
and period. By sampling a set of end-member beaches, insight
into the underlying physics should be made obvious (Holman
and Stanley, 2007). The Argus network now includes 10
cameras worldwide; whereas the comparable European
CoastView project involves cameras operated by 12 groups
(Huntley and Stive, 2007).
In recent years, beach experiments have also tended to
focus more on the event scales, commonly coupled with video
monitoring to obtain at least an understanding of bulk mor-
phological changes. Lippmann and Holman (1990) used the
Duck video to characterize the full sequence of beach types
observed. Aagaard and Holm (1989) monitored wave run-up;
Shand (1999) monitored bar migration patterns; van Encke-
vort and Ruessink (2003a, 2003b) monitored bar patterns
over weekly to yearly timescales; and more recently, Almar
et al. (2010) have monitored bar migration during storm
events.
Today videos can monitor shoreline position and change
(Turner et al., 2006), surf zone topography and beach state
(Ranashinghe et al., 2004b; Figure 11), bar migration (Shand,
1999); wave period and bathymetry (Aarninkhof et al., 2003;
Stockdon and Holman, 2000); breaker wave height and per-
iod across the surf zone (www.coastalcoms.com/); shoreline
oscillation (swash) including wave runup and infragravity
setup and setdown (Holland and Holman, 1993); and surf-
zone currents (Chickadel et al., 2003). They can also be used
for counting people on the beach (www.CoastalCOMS.com).
Since the mid-1990s, CoastalWatch.com has monitored over
100 coastal sites globally. The data from these sites are being
used by their research arm CoastalCOMS to provide time
series of beach state and morphological change. The data are
being interrogated to provide accurate measurements of
shoreline position and change, wave height and period,
infragravity wave period, wave runup and setup; and surf zone
currents, as well as counting people on the beach. In Australia
and the US, these data are being used to monitor shoreline
change and public safety.
One of the most ambitious programs to monitor beach–
nearshore changes has been associated with the Tweed River
Sand Bypassing System (TREBS) on the border of New South
Wales and Queensland (Figure 10). Established in 2000, it has
been continuously bypassing sand under the Tweed River at a
rate between 500 000 and 600 000 m3 yr–1. Detailed seabed
surveys on both sides of the bypass site, coupled with wave-
rider data and modeling of cross-shore sediment transport,
have resulted in the development of very accurate models of
cross-shore and longshore transport (Boswood et al., 2001).
These data clearly demonstrate that most transport takes place
during high-wave events on the inner and outer bar, with
relatively little moving along the shoreline. The results are in
stark contrast with some of the more simplistic models of
longshore transport.
LiDAR technology developed during the 1990s can now
provide very accurate 3D mapping of the land surface in-
cluding beaches and shallow seabed. This has been applied in
the coastal zone to accurately map the beach environment
(Figure 11) and monitor beach changes, particularly following
serve coastal erosion events. In the era of rising sea level,
 Beach Morphodynamics 119

1. Dissipative 4. Transverse bar and rip

0
0
0
10
5
0
20
0
m 10
300
0m
15

5. Low tide terrace

2. Longshore bar and trough

0 0

10
0 50

0 0
20 10

0m 0m
30 15

3. Rhythmic bar and beach

6. Reflective

0 0

10
0 50

0 0
20 10

0m 0m
30 15
Figure 13 The 13 wave-dominated (1–6), tide-modified (7–9), and tide-dominated (10–13) beach states occurring around the Australian coast.
See Figure 14 and Table 1 for their relation to wave height, sand size, O, and RTR. Reproduced from Short, A.D., Woodroffe, C.D., 2009. The
Coast of Australia. Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 288 pp.

LiDAR mapping is now being used to map areas of potential
inundation.
10.5.3.2.3 Beach types and states
In Australia, Short (2006) completed a 14-year circum-
Australia research project that provided information on
every Australian beach, and from this the full spectrum of
beach types and their associated environmental controls from
high-energy wave-dominated through to the lowest energy
beaches fronted by mud flats (Figures 13 and 14; Short,
2006). As mentioned above, the morphodynamics of many of
these systems, particularly in higher energy micro- through
macro-tidal environments are now being investigated. The same
cannot, however, be said for beaches at the lower energy end
120 Beach Morphodynamics

10. Beach + ridged sand flats

7. Reflective + low tide terrace (+rips)

0 HT
HT
0 0
10 LT

1 00 LT 2 00

00
2 0m
30
0m
30
11. Beach + sand flats
8. Reflective + low tide bars and rips

0 HT
HT
0 0
10 LT
LT
100 200

200 0m
30
0m
30
12 and 13. Beach + tidal sand/mud flats

9. Ultradissipative

HT
0 0 HT
LT
0 0
10 10 LT
0 0
20 20

0m 0m
30 30
Figure 13 (Continued)

of the spectrum, where the infrequency of dominant processes
makes field experimentation logistically difficult. Houser and
Hill (2010) conducted one of the few field experiments across a
lower-energy environment. They measured wave attenuation
across a sand flat and found that attenuation increased with
increasing wave height and/or decreasing water depth. This
provides a mechanism for limiting sediment resuspension and
accumulation of fine sediments on the flats.
10.5.3.3 Large Scale Coastal Behavior (Engineering)
Following a low-key, invited symposium in Amsterdam in
1989 (Terwindt and Battjes, 1990), large-scale coastal behavior
(LCSB) (years–decades–centuries) burst upon the inter-
national scene with a 1993 conference in Clearwater, Florida
(List, 1993). The rapid rise of the study of LSCB is owing
to its relevance (decades to 100 years) for coastal planning,
 Beach Morphodynamics 121

3.0
Ω
2.5 0 5 10 15
0
Wave height (m)
2 1
2.0 5 43 WD
6
1.5 8
TM
1.0
9 10
0.5 10 7

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
1.8
1.6
1.4 20 11
Sand size (m)

1.2

RTR
1.0 TD

0.8
0.6
30
0.4
12
0.2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
90
80 40
Relative tide range

70
60
50
40 13
30 50
20
10
0 Tidal flats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
(a) Beach state (b)

Figure 14 (a) The relationship between beach state and wave height, sand size and relative tide range (bars ¼ standard deviation) (Short, 2006);
and (b) the relationship between beach type and O (Hb/Tws) and RTR (TR/Hb). WD ¼ wave dominated; TM ¼ tide modified; TD ¼ tide dominated.
Numbers (see Figure 12) refer to modal beach state location on Australian coast. Based on data from Short, A.D., 2006. Australian beach
systems – nature and distribution. Journal of Coastal Research 22, 11–27.

management and, particularly, politicians in an era of
climate change. Moderate progress has occurred here with
some of the longer-term monitoring sites now having
been observed for several decades and providing an accurate
insight into decadal scale changes, trends, and climatic
forcing. At the same time, 2D shoreface modeling has pro-
gressed substantially since the Bruun Rule, with an array of
models including SBeach (CHL, 1989), GENESIS (Hanson
and Kraus, 1989) and STM (Cowell et al., 1992). Although
some models use the self-organizing approach to predict
patterns in beach and surf zone topography, they are not
based on any physical connection to the salient environ-
mental parameters and produce intriguing patterns rather
than robust predictions.
The renewed focus on longer-term beach behavior that
commenced in the late 1960s was followed by the establish-
ment of a few long-term, beach-monitoring sites, some of
which have now recorded monthly beach behavior for periods
of 30–40 years. The Duck facility, for example, commenced in
1977, and daily video monitoring began in 1986. In Australia,
the Moruya surveys initiated by Thom and Mclean in
1972 (Thom and Hall, 1991) provide extremely valuable
information on the size of storm demand and the rate of
beach and foredune recovery. The Narrabeen surveys initiated
by Short in 1976 provided the first of a growing body of evi-
dence of the link between beach oscillation and rotation and
various climate indices such as the Southern Oscillation Index
(SOI) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) (Ranasinghe
et al., 2004a; Short and Trembanis, 2004; Harley et al.,
2011). What is important about these relationships is that they
can provide a surrogate for how the wave climate might be-
have in a changing climate and thereby how beaches may
behave in the future. Weinberg and Terwindt (1995) utilized
decades of shoreline monitoring to quantify the behavior of
122 Beach Morphodynamics
the Dutch coast, whereas in Ireland, Cooper et al. (2007) re-
ported on decadal scale coastal behavior based on a 170-year
record. On the US west coast, Komar et al. (2001) and Dingler
and Reiss (2002) monitored the impact of El Nino-SOI
(ENSO)-generated cyclone conditions.
The past decade has also seen the increasing application of
the results of event and LSCB studies to address coastal
management issues, particularly in the field of beach safety
(Short and Hogan 1994; Scott et al., 2007; MacMahan et al.,
2010) and shoreline management (Turner et al., 2006; Turner
and Anderson, 2007). These approaches are also being called
upon to provide insight into the coastal impacts of climate
change, particularly the impact of rising sea level and changing
wave climate.
10.5.3.4 Geological
The geological scale (centuries to millennium) has seen
some exceptional work being undertaken by Goodwin (2003)
and Goodwin et al. (2006) who are reconstructing long-term
wave climate and using it to explain Holocene shoreline
evolution along parts of southeast Australia. Apart from
this groundbreaking research, there has been little other pro-
gress, primarily because there has been little interest in
applying morphodynamic principles to long-term shoreline
evolution. Interestingly, as Figure 4 illustrates, this was one of
the tenants of the original Wright and Thom (1977) paper,
which was in fact titled ‘Coastal depositional landforms’.
However, as is common within the community of geo-
morphologists, most of those interested in longer time frames
have yet to grasp the interdependence on processes as well
as stratigraphy.
10.5.4 Beach Morphodynamics – the Way Forward
Although beaches are superficially simple and can empirically
be defined with the use of three to four variables, in detail
they become incredibly complex, sometimes appearing
chaotic. As a consequence, although there has been good
progress in establishing empirical relations between process
and beach response, the same cannot be said for those
pursuing an approach based on first principles that endeavors
to scale up from sediment transport into meso-scale beach-bar
forms. Attempts to model the beach environment are
hampered by the inherent complexity of its interactions,
as well as their linear and nonlinear relationships, positive
and negative feedback within and between the interactions;
considerable inertia and lag owing to the vast quantities
of sediment that must be moved every time conditions
change; and the influence of external factors such as
sediment supply, wave and wind regimes, ice on high latitude
beaches, and geological and biological controls. Given the
present state of knowledge, where does this leave us as we face
the future with increasing demand for predictions of how
coasts, and particularly beaches, will behave in an era of rising
sea levels, changing wave climates, increasing human pressure
and pollution, and in many places, diminishing sediment
supply?
10.5.4.1 Impacts of Climate Change
How beaches will respond to climate change, in particular,
how climate change leads to continued sea-level rise, are
questions being asked by scientists, managers, and politicians.
However, it is the coastal scientists and engineers that must
provide the answers. The simplistic approach is to apply the
Bruun rule (Bruun, 1962). However, several studies have
questioned this approach as being too simplistic and too
ignorant of the many ancillary parameters that can affect
shoreline response (Pilkey and Cooper, 2004). The most so-
phisticated of these approaches is the application of the STM
developed by Cowell et al. (1992) and applied to climate
change scenarios by Cowell et al. (2006). The STM considers
all parameters that may modify the shoreface, including
its topography and composition, cross-shore sediment char-
acteristics, all potential sources and sinks of sediment, and
structures such as seawalls.
Response to changes in wave climate will be just as im-
portant on many beaches, as wave climate will vary the in-
tensity, frequency, and direction of major events, causing
changes in the level of beach oscillation, longshore and cross-
shore transport, and on embayed beaches – beach rotation.
The most productive approach to date has been the use of
longer-term wave-beach monitoring programs, that have pro-
vided a sufficiently long time series (years–decades) to permit
preliminary correlation with climate indices such as the SOI
and PDO (Short and Trembanis, 2004; Ranasinghe et al.,
2004a). Although beaches make the headline in the climate
change debate, it is in fact the lower-lying, low-gradient coastal
areas that will be most impacted by sea-level rise. The approach
for these coasts is to use LiDAR mapping to produce high-
resolution maps that identify areas of potential inundation.
10.5.4.2 Sediment Transport
The prediction of sediment transport rates and directions,
both cross-shore and longshore, has been one of the holy
grails of coastal science since Cornaglia (1889). Longshore
transport models have typically been based on simplistic
empirical relationships; attempts to quantify sand transport in
the field; and back scaling through measures of down drift
sand accumulation. The best outcomes to date have been
based on both modeling of sand entrainment and transport
across the shoreface (Bayram et al., 2007), coupled with sea-
bed mapping to monitor bed changes and rates of actual
transport (Boswood et al., 2001). By contrast, studies of cross-
shore transport have largely been based on measures of surf
zone transport and attempts to scale up from there as manifest
in S-Beach and GENESIS modeling. At longer timescales, Short
(2010b) has used measures of Holocene barrier volume to
provide rough estimates of rates of onshore Holocene sand
supply around the entire Australian coast.
The study of wave–beach–dune morphodynamics and the
controls of sand transport from the beach to dunes was ini-
tiated with Short and Hesp (1982), followed in North America
by Sherman and Lyons (1994); and more recently Thornton
et al. (2007), who verified the relationship between rip lo-
cation and dune erosion. In an era of rising sea level and
predicted massive dune erosion, this generally neglected field
is in need of more attention (Houser, 2009).
 Beach Morphodynamics 123

Figure 15 High waves have inundated the beach and are eroding
the dune in this view of Narrabeen beach, Australia. Photo by A.D.
Short.

10.5.4.3 Beach Erosion

Prediction of beach erosion from whatever cause is one of
the prime requirements in coastal management (Figure 15).
It forms the basis of setback and hazard lines, buffer zones and
retreat strategies, as well as estimations of sediment volumes
required in beach nourishment projects. To date, volumes of
storm demand sediments are usually based on beach profile
data, whereas predictions of extreme water levels, which can
then be used to predict erosion, are based on models such as
SBeach (Hanson and Kraus, 1989) and Xbeach (Roelvink
et al., 2009). A more recent approach is to use all processes
that contribute to elevated sea level and their probability of
occurrence to provide a probabilistic approach to elevated
water levels (Callaghan et al., 2008, 2009).
Figure 16 Rhythmic beach and bar, western Cape York Peninsula,
Australia. Photo by A.D. Short.
interactions between wave dynamics and sediment. With edge
wave theory, the waves initiate sediment movement, whereas
with self-organization theory, a perturbation in the sediment
surface initiates a change in wave dynamics. Each theory has
critical problems that need to be resolved before we can begin
to confidently model beach behavior. Beach cusps are, how-
ever, just one component of the total beach topography, which
is in turn an expression of the beach morphodynamics. Ap-
proaches to modeling these components need to be expanded
to include the entire beach system.

10.5.4.4 Beach Type and Changes in Beach Type

10.5.5 Discussion and Conclusion
Beach type and state (Figures 13 and 14) can be predicted using
the empirical relationships shown in Table 1. However, although
The morphodynamic approach to coastal systems had its
these provide insight into the combination of parameters re-
origins in the USA in the late 1960s and was formally intro-
quired to produce each type and state; our ability to predict real
duced by Wright and Thom (1977). Since then, while it has
time changes in beach state has not progressed much since
had a wide range of applications across the coastal sphere, in
Wright et al. (1985). They predicted beach state based on both
both coastal science and engineering, the focus has been on
the prevailing O and a weighted mean O, which decreased in
beach research. Also, although the approach is equally rele-
value at a given rate over a set number of days. At Narrabeen
vant across the field of geomorphology, no other subfields
Beach, for example, they found a decrease of 10% over 30 days
have taken it up, staying with more traditional and fragmented
provided the best predictor, however, other environments will
approaches.
require different combinations. This is a research area where
Within the coastal field, the predominant applications are
continuous video monitoring is producing excellent time series
relatively narrow, generally focusing on single beaches or ex-
of both wave–tide processes and associated beach change. Such
periments and over relatively short time frames (hours to
data should be able to provide more information on their
weeks). The advent of video technology has been rapidly ex-
interrelationships (Price and Ruessink, 2011).
tending this time frame to months and years. Outside of work
in Australia, there has been sparse application of morphody-
namic approaches to longer time frames, especially millennial,
10.5.4.5 Formation of Rhythmic Features
and to regional coastal systems. This reflects, in part, the
The formation of rhythmic features, in particular, beach cusps, nature of funding for coastal research, which tends to be
megacusps, and rips (Figure 16) is, at present, predicted using experiment based, and again a reticence on the part of Qua-
either edge wave or self-organization theory. Both rely on ternary researchers to consider a more morphodynamic
124 Beach Morphodynamics
Figure 17 Transition from a cuspate pattern to a straight berm over a six-day period, Tairua Beach, New Zealand. Reproduced from Almar, R.,
Coco, G., Bryan, K.R., Huntley, D.A., Short, A.D., Senechal, N., 2008. Video observations of beach cusp morphodynamics. Marine Geology 254,
216–223.
approach to the systems they study. Although the beach lends
itself to this approach, with highly visible and measurable
processes and rapid and visible changes, all other geomorphic
systems, no matter what time–space scale, can be studied from
a morphodynamic perspective.
The morphodynamic approach has been utilized for
the study of beach systems for over 40 years. Combined
with increasingly sophisticated field instrumentation and
experimentation, it is providing a unified understanding
of both the complex and dynamic interactions within
these systems. Although beaches occur across a wide range of
wave–tide–sediment environments, located within an ever-
changing range of boundary conditions, all beaches can be
readily located within a relative small range of beach types and
states, types that are both predictable and, at an empirical
level, readily explained.
The issues still facing the study of beaches include our
inability to scale up from first principles because of the in-
herent nonlinearities, positive and negative feedback, and
overall 3D complexities of surf zone interactions. Another
major issue is the edge waves versus self-organization debate.
While we still await substantial confirmation of field evidence
of the geomorphological work of edge waves, likewise, self-
organization models produce interesting and realistic patterns
but their operation continues to elude field verification. For
example, the concept of the system self-organization of beach
cusps results in predictions of erosion and accretion and
conservation of mass, whereas in the field, typical beach cusps
have been shown to be not only accretional but also to involve
net sediment volume changes (Figure 17; Almar et al., 2008).
In the validation of nearshore models, there is a pressing need
for much more extensive sediment transport measurement at
the appropriate spatial scale for the model being applied.
Reliable information on local bed slope, now attainable
through modern LIDAR surveys, for example, will also be
crucial in determining the influence of bed slope on total
transport. Furthermore, detailed field measurements exam-
ining local wave entrainment will help to produce a more
rigorous field validation of models and feed into examination
of cross-shore sediment transport on beaches. Detailed ex-
periments should also be conducted to accurately assess the
bed shear stress within surf and swash zones and thus the
resulting turbulent mixing that occurs within planar and
barred systems. The shear stress parameter is currently only
afforded a single, homogeneous value in models, but in reality
is likely to be spatially and temporally heterogeneous across
the beach face zone. This shortcoming has serious reper-
cussions for modeling efforts.
Finally, while this chapter has focused on beach morpho-
dynamics one must ask why a similar approach has not been
taken up not only in other coastal fields but also in other fields
of geomorphology. Woodroffe (2003) has shown how it can
be applied across the full range of coastal fields from beach to
muddy shore, rocky coast and coral reefs, and as mentioned
earlier it has been applied across the Quaternary in relation to
coastal evolution. However, this has not been so in related
geomorphological fields. In part, this can be explained by its
early and rapid acceptance by coastal scientists who can clearly
see and monitor the dynamic interactions that are beach
morphodynamics. However, although coastal scientists have
initiated its application into coastal dunes, this has not been
the case with dune scientists focused on arid systems, nor the
fluvial, glacial, desert, mountain, and other geomorphologists.
Perhaps each needs a seminal paper, such as Wright and Thom
(1977) to kick start a fresh paradigm in their respective fields,
followed by research applying it to their landscapes.
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Relevant Websites
http://www.CoastalCOMS.com
Coastal Observation and Monitoring Solutions.
http://www.googleearth.com
Google Earth.
http://csc.noaa.gov
NOAA Coastal Services Center: Coastal Inundation Toolkit.
http://www.tweedsandbypass.nsw.gov.au
NSW Government Land and Property Management Authority: Tweed River
Entrance Sand Bypassing Project.
http://www.frf.usace.army.mil
US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS:ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
CENTER: Field Research Facility.
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov
USGS: St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Center.
 Beach Morphodynamics 129

Biographical Sketch

Andrew Short is a coastal geomorphologist specializing in coastal processes and beach dynamics. He has degrees
from the University of Sydney, University of Hawaii, and Louisiana State University and has worked on the coasts
of North and South America, including north Alaska and Hawaii, Europe, New Zealand, and the entire Australian
coast. He is presently Honorary Professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney, Adjunct
Professor in the Griffith (University) Centre for Coastal Management, Senior Coastal Scientist (part-time) with
CoastalCOMS.com, Scientific Adviser to Surf Life Saving Australia, Deputy Chair of National Surfing Reserves
(Australia), and on the Executive Committee of World Surfing Reserves. He also runs his own consultancy called
Coastal Studies and serves on the NSW Coastal Panel and the Eurobodalla Coastal Management Advisory
Committee. He has written 12 books including ‘The Coast of Australia’’ published in 2009, over 200 scientific
publications. His extensive contribution to both coastal science and beach safety was recognised on Australia Day
2010 with an Order of Australia Medal.
Short has also investigated all 10685 mainland beaches (inc Tasmania) plus another 1500 beaches on 30 major
islands, and all 1245 Australian coastal barrier systems. The beach information is available on line (http://
beachsafe.org) and as an Iphone app. It is also written up in an eight volume eight beach series, one for each state
and territory, published by Sydney University Press.

Derek Jackson is a Professor of Coastal Geomorphology at the Centre for Coastal & Marine Research, School of
Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Since graduating in 1993 as PhD student of the
late Bill Carter at Ulster, he has focused his research efforts on examining coastal morphodynamics and geo-
morphology at a number of spatial and temporal scales. Specifically, this includes aeolian sediment transport on
beaches and dunes, nearshore wave/sediment transport processes as well as investigating long-term coastal
change. He has worked on beaches and dunes of the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Japan, and U.S.A. Prof.
Jackson acts as advisor to European Union and UK funding bodies and is a peer review college member for the UK
Natural Environment Research Council. He has published extensively in the field of coastal morphodynamics and
is currently co-director of the Centre for Coastal & Marine Research at the University of Ulster, a Fellow of the
Royal Geographical Society and Fellow of the Geological Society of London.
 10.6 Nearshore Bars
RGD Davidson-Arnott, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.6.1 Introduction 130

10.6.2 Nearshore Bar Morphology 133
10.6.3 What Mechanism(s) Related to Waves, Currents, and Sediment Transport in the Nearshore Lead to the
Formation of Nearshore Bars? 136
10.6.3.1 Template Models of Bar Formation 137
10.6.3.2 Self-Organizational Models of Bar Formation 138
10.6.4 How Do Controls Such as Sediment Size, Nearshore Slope, and Wave Climate Determine Whether
Nearshore Bars Form on a Sandy Coast? 139
10.6.5 What Are the Mechanisms Related to Waves, Currents, and Sediment Transport That Control Morpho-
logical Change in Nearshore Bar Systems on a Time-Scale of Hours to Weeks and Months? 141
10.6.6 How Do Factors Such as Sediment Size, Nearshore Slope, and Wave Climate Interact with the Short-Term
Morphodynamics to Control the Number, Size, and Spacing of Bars in the Nearshore and Intertidal
Zones? 143
10.6.7 Summary and Conclusions 145
References 145

Glossary that generate fluctuations in the water level close to shore

Antinodal point A point associated with a standing wave
where the vertical motion is a maximum and horizontal
motion is zero.
Bound long wave The long-period wave associated with
the passage of a series of wave groups. The long wave travels
at the speed of the wave groups and is therefore bound to
them.
Edge wave A wave formed as a result of the interaction of
surface waves with a topographic boundary – commonly
the beach, cliff, or seawall. Edge waves oscillate in an
alongshore direction and in addition may have one or more
undulations perpendicular to the shoreline. Edge waves
may be either progressive or standing.
Infragravity waves Waves with a period much longer than
that of the incident wind waves. They may be produced by
the interaction of incident waves with the beach or by the
presence of alternating groups of higher and lower waves
with a period that is determined by the passage of a pair of
high and low wave groups. This may also be termed
surf beat.
Nodal point A point associated with a standing wave
where the vertical oscillation is zero and horizontal
movement is a maximum. The amplitude of the vertical
oscillation increases away from the nodal point.
Progressive wave A wave on the water surface whose form
travels in a horizontal direction. Waves generated by winds
blowing across the sea surface are progressive waves and
travel initially in the direction that the wind is blowing
toward.
Standing wave A wave on the water surface characterized
by oscillations in the vertical plane but no movement of the
wave in the horizontal plane. May be formed as a result of
reflection of a wave from the shoreline and may also be
associated with the movement of tides in a basin.

Abstract

Nearshore bars are formed in the nearshore and intertidal zone of shoaling and breaking waves. They are 0.25–4 m high,
25–150 m wide, and 50 m to several kilometers long. Most bars form parallel to the coast and have a gently sloping stoss
slope, rounded crest and a steeper lee slope that may approach the angle of repose. The most accepted models of bar
formation involve the convergence of onshore sand transport under shoaling and breaking waves with offshore transport by
undertow near the bed. Bars migrate offshore during storms accompanied by strong onshore winds. Onshore bar migration
occurs under swell waves during periods between storms and may lead to welding of the bar(s) with the beach if the period
between storms is sufficiently long.

Davidson-Arnott, R.G.D., 2013. Nearshore bars. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in

Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press,
San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 130–148.

130 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00277-3


10.6.1 Introduction
Nearshore bars are large bedforms aligned roughly parallel to
the shoreline that are present in the inner shoreface on many
sandy coasts (Greenwood and Davidson-Arnott, 1979; Short,
1999; Wijnberg and Kroon, 2002). They are typically asym-
metric in profile with a relatively gentle seaward slope, a
rounded or nearly flat crest, and a steeper landward slope with
a curved or rectilinear transition to the trough landward of the
bar (Figure 1). The number of bars present ranges from 1 to 3
on most barred coasts, but in a few locations where the
nearshore slope is very gentle it may exceed 10 (Greenwood
and Davidson-Arnott, 1979; Short and Aagaard, 1993;
Wijnberg and Kroon, 2002). Bar height and depth of water
over the bar crest scale with breaking wave height and increase
with distance offshore, as does the spacing between bars,
which is generally on the order of many tens of meters. In plan
view, bar shape ranges from linear, to sinuous, to crescentic,
with increasing complexity close to the shoreline (Figures 2
and 3). The innermost bar or bars (inner bar system) are
commonly attached to shoal areas at the base of the foreshore
through transverse or crescentic bar forms and the alongshore
wave length corresponds to that of the dimensions of rip cell
circulation (Figures 2 and 3(a)). The bar or bars located fur-
ther offshore (outer bar system) are physically separated from
direct interaction with the beach. Visual observations, re-
peated profiling, and monitoring using video and still cameras
have shown a wide range of bar dynamics with onshore, off-
shore, and alongshore movement, and changes in the form
and number of bars all being recorded over periods ranging
from o1 day to weeks and months. Short-term measurements
of waves, currents, and sediment transport associated with
nearshore bars show that the bars have a significant impact on
the characteristics and location of wave breaking, longshore,
and rip current generation and on the patterns, direction, and
magnitude of instantaneous sediment transport.
As is true for most geomorphological studies, the history of
research on nearshore bars reflects in part the growth in the
technology available to measure both morphological change
and the dynamics of fluid flow and sediment transport in an
energetic environment where such measurements are quite
difficult. The few studies of nearshore bars before 1945 were
largely qualitative observations of the number and spacing of
bars in selected locations and some measurements using sur-
veying and sounding (Evans, 1940 – see also earlier work cited
in this paper). After 1945 through to the mid-1970s, field
studies of nearshore bars consisted primarily of mapping their
form and movement through repeated surveys using a com-
bination of standard surveying equipment and echo sounding
from a small boat, and through analysis of aerial photographs
(King and Williams, 1949; Shepard, 1950; Clos-Arceduc,
1962; Hom-ma and Sonu, 1962; Davis et al., 1972; Green-
wood and Davidson-Arnott, 1975; Exon, 1975; Short, 1979).
Concurrent measurements of hydrodynamics and sediment
transport were rare and largely confined to measurements of
wave transformation and nearshore circulation using wave
staffs and drogues. Some indirect measures of sediment
transport were obtained through the study of bedforms and
sedimentary structures (Clifton et al., 1971; Davidson-Arnott
and Greenwood, 1974, 1976).
Nearshore Bars 131
Beginning in the mid-1970s, the development of fast re-
sponse pressure transducers, electromagnetic current meters,
and optical backscatterance probes (Downing et al., 1981;
Sherman et al., Chapter 14.18) initiated a proliferation of field
experiments designed to measure waves, fluid flow, and sedi-
ment transport processes in the nearshore, including the
breaker and surf zones associated with both planar and barred
beaches (Huntley and Bowen, 1973; Wright et al., 1982;
Sherman and Greenwood, 1984; Holman and Sallenger, 1993;
Aagaard et al., 1998), and this has been accelerated in the last
two decades with the work of large research groups associated
with government institutions as well as individual universities
in Japan, Europe, and the USA (e.g., Seymour, 1989). These
field experiments, together with advances in the development
of theoretical and numerical models of all forms of water
motion and sediment transport have led to significant ad-
vances in our understanding of the short-term (seconds to
hours) hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics of the inner
nearshore, including barred beaches. They have also permitted
the linkage of measurement of flow and sediment transport
processes with measurement of morphological change meas-
ured over hours to days. However, except for measurements at
a few sites using specialised machines, towed sleds, or scaf-
folding erected in the surf zone (e.g., Birkemeier and Mason,
1978; Sallenger et al., 1983), continuous measurement of
morphological change has proven difficult under energetic
conditions beyond the intertidal zone. Point measurements
can be obtained using some form of sonar, an array of light-
emitting diodes, or resistance staff (e.g., Greenwood et al.,
1993; Aagaard et al., 2001), but these are generally expensive
and subject to erosion, burial, or saturation of the signal by
high concentrations of sediment near the bed.
The difficulties of measuring hydrodynamics and sediment
transport in the field resulted in numerous studies of the
controls on nearshore bar formation in wave tanks (Keulegan,
1948; Watts, 1955). However, results of the early studies
proved to be misleading because of the use of monochromatic
waves and major scaling problems associated with small wave
tanks and natural sediment, as well as beach slopes that were
unrealistically steep. It is only recently that studies using much
larger wave tanks, which avoid scale issues, and random wave
generators have provided an opportunity to carry out realistic
studies of bar formation in the laboratory, though still pri-
marily on 2D profiles (Kraus and Larson, 1988; Wang et al.,
2003; Van Thiel de Vries et al., 2008).
Although advances in surveying techniques, especially the
development of DGPS have made the task of surveying and
echo sounding easier, repeated measurements over time-scales
of weeks to months are time-consuming and expensive. At
time-scales longer than a few weeks, measurement of bar
movement and changes in bar numbers and location have
been enhanced by repeated surveys carried out at fixed piers
such as the Field Research Facility of the US Corps of Engin-
eers at Duck, North Carolina (Plant et al., 1999; Reeve et al.,
2007), and by measurement of changes in the plan form and
location of bars over periods of months and years using video
and still photography such as the Argus system (Shand et al.,
2001; van Enckevort and Ruessink, 2003a, 2003b; Ranasinghe
et al., 2004; Holman and Stanley, 2007; Harley et al., 2011;
Ojeda et al., 2011).
132 Nearshore Bars

High water level

0
Mean water level

Water depth (m)

2.0−4.5° 2
1.5−2.5°
4
0.4−2.5°
6

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

(a)

2.0

DNN
0.0
Elevation (m)

−2.0

−4.0

−6.0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
(b) Distance (m)

0
Mean water level

Water depth (m)

2

0 50 100 150 200

(c)

MHHW
0

−0.5

−1.0
Depth (m)

−1.5 MLLW
−2.0

−2.5

−3.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
(d) Offshore distance (m)

Figure 1 Nearshore bar profiles: (a) Two-bar system with an inner and outer bar showing the landward asymmetry of the bar form and typical
values for the seaward and landward bar slopes. Note the distinct break in slope at the seaward margin of the outer bar. The dashed red line is the
average profile slope from the base of the foreshore to this point and suggests that the bars are built up above the equilibrium slope while the
troughs are excavated below it. Profile from Kouchibouguac Bay, New Brunswick. Reproduced from Greenwood, B., Davidson-Arnott, R.G.D., 1979.
Sedimentation and equilibrium in wave-formed bars: a review and case study. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 16, 312–332. (b) Profile of a 3-
bar system, Skallingen, Denmark. Reproduced from Aagaard, T., Davidson-Arnott, R., Greenwood B., Nielsen, J., 2004. Sediment supply from
shoreface to dunes: linking sediment transport measurements and long term morphological evolution. Geomorphology 60, 205–224. DNN
corresponds to the Danish ordnance datum and is 0.14 m above mean water level. (c) Profile across a multiple bar system, Wasaga Beach, Lake
Huron, Canada. After Davidson-Arnott, R.G.D., McDonald, R.A., 1989. Nearshore water motion and mean flows in a multiple parallel bar system.
Marine Geology 86, 321–338. (d) Profile across a multiple-bar system in the intertidal and subtidal zones, Linden Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Reproduced from Dawson, J.C., Davidson-Arnott, R.G.D., Ollerhead, J., 2002. Low-energy morphodynamics of a ridge and runnel system. Journal of
Coastal Research Special Issue 36, 198–215.

Straight bars
Transverse bars
Beach
Figure 2 Sketch of common bar forms in the inner and outer bar systems.
Although much work remains to be carried out on the
morphodynamics of nearshore bars at both short and me-
dium timescales, we now have a much better understanding of
the linkages between hydrodynamics and sediment transport
in the inner nearshore and the mechanism controlling the
formation, migration, and 3D morphology of nearshore bars
and at least partial answers to fundamental questions about
the origin of bars and controls on their dynamics at time-
scales ranging from hours to years (e.g., Aagaard and Hughes,
Chapter 10.4). Reviews of the post-1960s literature on bar
morphology and of some of the early theoretical models for
bar dynamics are provided in Greenwood and Davidson-
Arnott (1979), Aagaard and Masselink (1999), Wijnberg and
Kroon (2002), Greenwood (2005) and Davidson-Arnott
(2010, Chapter 7). Rather than going over similar ground,
the focus of this section is on reviewing recent progress in
providing answers to four fundamental questions concerning
the controls on nearshore bar morphodynamics. These ques-
tions are:
1. What mechanism(s) related to waves, currents, and sedi-
ment transport in the nearshore lead to the formation of
nearshore bars?
2. How do controls such as sediment size, nearshore slope,
and wave climate determine whether nearshore bars form
on a sandy coast? What is the link between these and the
mechanism(s) responsible for nearshore bar generation?
3. What are the mechanisms related to waves and currents
and that control morphological change in nearshore bar
systems on a time scale of hours to weeks and months?
4. How do factors such as sediment size, nearshore slope,
and wave climate interact with the short-term morphody-
namics to control the number, size, and spacing of bars
in the nearshore and intertidal zones and their range
over time?
Section 10.6.2 comprises a brief summary of nearshore bar
occurrence and morphology and thus provides the back-
ground material necessary to address the four questions posed
above. Sections 10.6.3–10.6.6 focus on each of the questions
in turn, and Section 10.6.7 provides a summary, conclusions,
and future prospects.
Nearshore Bars 133
Outer bar
system
Crescentic bars
Inner bar
system
10.6.2 Nearshore Bar Morphology
Sandy beach systems where the nearshore profile is developed
entirely in sediments normally have an equilibrium form that
reflects a response to the characteristic wave climate and to the
sediment size distribution across the shoreface. The shoreface
profile is generally exponential, with the slope increasing
toward the beach and may be described by an equation of the
form (Dean, 1991; Dean et al., 1993):
h ¼ Asm ½1
where h is the depth at an offshore distance X, A is an em-
pirical coefficient which is a function of the settling velocity of
the characteristic sediment particle size, and the exponent m is
generally assigned a value of 2/3. The form of the equilibrium
profile on sandy beaches is relatively smooth and featureless
seaward of the inflection point that marks the transition to
the lower shoreface, and the fit to the exponential profile in
eqn [1] is generally very good. However, the upper shoreface,
and particularly the zone landward of the outermost breaker
line, can exhibit considerable variation in form, both tempo-
rally and spatially, and these variations are not predicted by
the equation. Four characteristic profile forms can be recog-
nized (Figure 4): (1) nonbarred systems with a smooth, pla-
nar to curvilinear profile seaward from the low tide line; (2)
barred systems characterized by the presence of one or more
bars and associated troughs all year round; (3) profiles that
alternate between barred and nonbarred, often on a seasonal
basis; and (4) profiles with two or more ‘semi-permanent’ bars
in the intertidal zone and generally one or more in the sub-
tidal zone. On nonbarred profiles the surf zone will vary in
width depending on wave height, and there is no preferential
location for wave breaking. On barred profiles the seaward
slope of each bar is relatively steep and breaking is preferen-
tially located on or seaward of the bar crest(s) with reduced
breaking or wave reformation in the troughs.
Profiles from beaches with restricted fetch where bars are
present all year round offer the best opportunity to examine
relationships between bar properties and controls. Some of
the earliest papers on bars (Evans, 1940; King and Williams,
134 Nearshore Bars

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 3 Photographs showing a range of bar forms in the nearshore and intertidal zone: (a) Vertical aerial photograph taken in 1997 at
Greenwich Dunes, Prince Edward Island, showing a complex shore-attached shoal area with transverse and linear bars and occasional rip
channels. The second bar in the inner system is highly crescentic with distinct shoals at the horns and crescentic bars on the seaward side with
relatively deep troughs and rip channels. The third bar, which is part of the outer bar system, is sinuous to crescentic and shows no evidence of
rip cell circulation. A fourth bar lies further offshore in deeper water. Note that the alongshore length scale of the third bar is much larger than
that of the inner bars. See Figure 8 for a profile across this system. (b) Straight multiple parallel bars on a very gentle nearshore slope at
Wasaga Beach, Canada – see profile in Figure 1(c). (c) Intertidal and subtidal bars at Linden Beach Canada – see profile in Figure 1(d).

(a)
(b)
Fairweather
profile
Storm profile
(c)
(d)
Figure 4 Beach and nearshore profiles illustrating the four main morphodynamic responses to varying wave climate: (a) planar nonbarred
profile all year round; (b) barred profile all year round; (c) profile alternating between barred and nonbarred states; (d) profile with permanent
bars in the intertidal and sub-tidal zones.
1949) established that the height and spacing of bars tend to
increase offshore as does the depth of water over the bar crest.
On occasion, the outermost bar is lower than the next one
landward, and this is likely because it is only occasionally
active or is in a state of decay (Ruessink and Kroon, 1994;
Aagaard et al., 2010). Profiles from 12 fetch-limited sites in the
Great Lakes and Gulf of St. Lawrence (Davidson-Arnott, 1988)
show the general trend related to bar height and spacing
(Figure 5(a)). This study also found that the number of bars
was highly correlated with the nearshore slope and that there
was a much weaker tendency for bar number to increase with
increasing fetch length (a surrogate for deep water wave height
(H0)) for the same nearshore slope (Figures 5(b) and 5(c)).
This is at least in part related to the distance offshore at which
initial wave breaking occurs and thus the width of the zone
available for wave reformation before breaking is initiated on
the succeeding bar. The height of the bars and depth of water
over the crest also increases seaward and is roughly pro-
portional to the height of the breaking waves associated with
them (Pruszak et al., 1997). Observations suggest that during
large storms, bars migrate offshore until they are in an
Nearshore Bars 135
H.W.S
L.W.S
equilibrium depth associated with the height of the breaking
waves (King and Williams, 1949; Greenwood and Davidson-
Arnott, 1975; Sallenger et al., 1985; Houser and Greenwood,
2005; Price and Ruessink, 2011).
It is possible to classify bars on the basis of their morph-
ology (cross-shore and alongshore form), location, and dy-
namics (Greenwood and Davidson-Arnott, 1979; Wijnberg
and Kroon, 2002). Bars are generally asymmetric in cross-
sectional form, with the landward slope being steeper than the
seaward slope (Figure 1(a)), and the slope in shallow water
may approach the angle of repose (Davis and Fox, 1972; Davis
et al., 1972; Davidson-Arnott and Greenwood, 1974; Dabrio
and Polo, 1981). On a multiple bar profile, the height of the
outer bar and depth of water over the crest is roughly equal to
the significant wave height of storm waves (Figure 1). The
height of subsequent bars and the spacing between them de-
creases landward as they respond either to smaller waves
during lesser storms or to waves that have already broken and
lost height over the seaward bars (King and Williams, 1949;
Davidson-Arnott, 1988). In general, as the nearshore profile
slope becomes flatter, the number of bars on the profile
136 Nearshore Bars

Distance offshore (m)

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
2
0
East Christian Island
−4
2
0
−2
W. Beckwith Island
2
0 Christian Island
−2
1
0
−2 E. Beckwith Island 6 4
1

Outer bar height (m)

0 5 r = 0.86 r = 0.67
Thunder Beach

Number of bars
−4 3
1 4
0 Little Sable Point
−5
3 2
1 Wasaga Beach
0
2
Depth (m)

−4 1
2 1
0 Wendake Beach
−1 0 0
2
−2.2 −2.0 −1.8 −1.6 −1.4 −1.2 −2.2 −2.0 −1.8 −1.6 −1.4 −1.2
0 Long Point
Log nearshore slope Maximum fetch length (km)
−5
6 800
Depth to outer bar crest (m)

Distance offshore to outer

0 Sauble Beach
−3 5 r = 0.67 r = −0.68
1 600
0 Kouchibouguac Bay 4

bar (m)
−6 3 400
0
Van Wagners Beach
2
−6 200
0 Pinery, South 1
−5 0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 100 200 300 400 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Depth (m)

0 (b) Maximum fetch length (km) Nearshore slope

Magdalen Island

−10
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100

(a) Distance offshore (m)

Figure 5 Morphological variations in nearshore profiles for 14 fetch-limited sites in the Great Lakes and Gulf of St. Lawrence characterized by
the presence of bars all year round: (a) profile form; (b) plots of regressions between morphological properties of the bars shown in (a) and
various parameters thought to control profile characteristics. Reproduced from Figures 2 and 3 in Davidson-Arnott, R.G.D., 1988. Controls on the
formation and form of barred nearshore profiles. Geographical Review 78, 185–193, with permission from American Geographical Society.

increases, and in some areas with a very gentle slope in fine 10.6.3 What Mechanism(s) Related to Waves,
sediments more than five bars may be present (Exon, 1975; Currents, and Sediment Transport in the
Davidson-Arnott and Pember, 1980; see Figures 1(c) and Nearshore Lead to the Formation of
3(b)). In plan view, bars may be continuous and linear in a Nearshore Bars?
shore-parallel direction, or they may be crescentic with
crescent horns closer to the shoreline (Figure 2). Close to Many conceptual, theoretical, and numerical models exist for
shore, bars are commonly broken alongshore by rip currents the formation of nearshore bars. Unfortunately, it is difficult
and may be attached to the lower foreshore at shoal areas to test these in the field because of a number of practical
(Figure 3(a)). On gently sloping beaches, bars may extend problems, most notably that there are only a few areas where
into the intertidal zone and are dynamically stable. Recent bar generation from a planar bed can be expected (e.g., the
work (Kroon and Masselink, 2002; Dawson et al., 2002; west coast of the USA and the New South Wales coast of
Masselink, 2004; Masselink et al., 2006) has shown that these Australia) and thus make it possible to design a field experi-
ridge and runnel bars are maintained by the same cross-shore ment to monitor conditions during such an event. In these
processes as subtidal bars when they are submerged at high areas where seasonal onshore migration under large swell
tide (Figure 3(c)). In contrast, inner bars that migrate into waves can produce a completely planar profile, bar generation
the intertidal zone are generally characterized by a distinct generally takes place during major storm events, with the new
slip face formed by sand avalanching down the landward bar becoming established several hundred meters offshore
face of the bar, and the process may result in the welding of (Shepard, 1950; Short, 1979; Wright and Short, 1983).
the bar onto the beach face (Davis et al., 1972; Masselink However, to date no field experiments have been carried out
et al., 2006). with the explicit aim of measuring wave and current processes

during the formation of a nearshore bar. Because of the cha-
otic conditions present during these large storm events, it is
not even clear whether bars form close to the shoreline and
migrate offshore, or form near the location of the outer
breaker zone. The only unequivocal field measurements
made during bar generation appear to be those reported by
Aagaard et al. (2008), who rather fortuitously had instruments
deployed close to shore during a storm event where an inner
nearshore bar was formed. Bar generation from a planar
profile has been observed on numerous occasions in
wave tank studies. Few of these have reproduced conditions
observed in the field and most, if not all, have scaling issues
that reduce confidence in their applicability to the
prototype scale.
Although it is difficult, therefore, to assess directly from
field experiments the validity of a model of bar generation,
some criteria from field measurements of the dynamics of
existing nearshore bars and from measurements and obser-
vations of conditions where bars are present and where bar
formation occurs should be met by the model if it is to be
given credibility. These criteria include:
1. Bar generation should occur with a nearshore bed slope in
the range of 0.005–0.03 (1:200–1:35);
2. Bar generation should occur under conditions with large
storm waves and a broad-banded spectrum;
3. Hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics during the final
stages of bar generation should be similar to those reported
from field measurements;
4. The model should demonstrate some form of feedback
effect that reinforces the initial perturbation of the near-
shore profile;
5. The cross-shore bar dimensions (height and length) and
slope of the seaward and landward faces should be similar
to those of bars found at locations with a similar sediment
size, slope, and wave climate.
It should be noted that the first two criteria are rarely met
in wave tank experiments.
Models of bar formation can be placed into: (1) template
models in which an existing pattern in the hydrodynamics
forces the generation of the bar in a particular location or
locations and there is no feedback between the hydro-
dynamics and the resulting morphology (e.g., Bowen and
Inman, 1971; Carter et al., 1973); and (2) self-organizational
models in which the bars develop from an initial perturb-
ation and there is continuous feedback between hydro-
dynamics, sediment transport, and morphology (e.g.,
Blondeaux, 2001; van Enckevort et al., 2004; Greenwood,
2005; Coco and Murray, 2007; Falqués et al., 2008). All in-
volve a mechanism or mechanisms that result in a con-
vergence of drift velocities and resulting sediment transport
so that eventually equilibrium is achieved where the time-
averaged sediment transport is zero everywhere on the profile
(Greenwood, 2005).
10.6.3.1 Template Models of Bar Formation
Template models include the presence of a variety of low-
frequency, standing waves in the surf zone, including those
Nearshore Bars 137
generated in the surf zone by surf beat, bound long waves, and
edge waves. Bars are thought to form in areas of net convergence
of the drift velocities associated with the standing wave – under
either the nodal or the antinodal points. Such waves may
produce either linear forms or three-dimensional crescentic
forms (Short, 1975; Bowen, 1980; Bowen and Inman, 1971;
Carter et al., 1973; Holman, 1983; Roelvink and Stive, 1989;
Bauer and Greenwood, 1990; O’Hare and Huntley, 1994). One
attribute of the standing wave and edge wave models is that
they account for the presence of multiple bar systems (e.g.,
Carter et al., 1973; Short, 1975; Aagaard, 1990). One of the
earliest and most persistent models was that relating crescentic
nearshore bar formation and form to the presence of edge
waves (Figure 6). The number of bars is determined by the
modal number (n) of the edge wave (the modal number defines
the number of times the standing wave crosses the still water
line in the offshore direction; Huntley, Chapter 10.3), and the
wave length of the crescent is equal to half the alongshore wave
length of the edge wave. The edge wave length for a beach of
uniform slope can be derived from (Ursell, 1952):
gTe2
Le ¼ sin½ð2n þ 1Þb ½2
2p
where Le is the wave length of the edge wave, Te is the edge
wave period, n is the modal number of the edge wave, and b is
the beach slope. On real beaches with varying slope angles,
this needs to be modified to produce reasonable results
y/L
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0
0
n=1
x/L
0.25
0
x/L
0.25
n=2
0.5
Figure 6 The theoretical form of crescentic bars generated by mode 1
(a) and mode 2 (b) edge waves. A mode 0 edge wave has no zero-
crossings of the still water surface and therefore rhythmic topography
is confined to the beach face in the form of cusps. Note that the wave
lengths of the two bars associated with a mode 2 edge wave are the
same. Reproduced from Bowen, A.J., Inman, D.L., 1971. Edge waves
and crescentic bars. Journal of Geophysical Research 76, 8862–8871.
138 Nearshore Bars
(Holman and Bowen, 1979). A weakness of the edge wave
model is that it predicts a single wave length for all bars,
whereas field studies generally show that the alongshore wave
length of outer crescentic bars is greater than that of the as-
sociated inner bar (see Figure 3(a)).
A major limitation of template models is that the drift
velocities associated with them are very small compared to
those associated with waves and wave-generated currents
such as undertow and rip cell circulation (Aagaard and
Greenwood, 2008). Another major limitation is that standing
wave models generally require that the energy be concen-
trated in a dominant wave frequency. Most measurements
of infragravity energy during storms show that it is broad-
banded (Holland and Holman, 1999; Reniers et al., 2004;
Aagaard and Greenwood, 2008). Standing waves produce
convergence and deposition under nodal points if bedload is
dominant, whereas it occurs under the antinodes if sus-
pended sediment is dominant (Carter et al., 1973; Short,
1975). Under energetic storm wave conditions, suspended
sediment transport is thought to be dominant in the breaker
and surf zones, whereas bedload transport might be expected
to be dominant some distance seaward (though this may be
influenced by sediment size and by bed roughness related to
bedform type). Selection of a dominant cut-off frequency
might result from topographic controls (Kirby et al., 1981) or
a cut-off mode related to wave groups or surf beat (Aagaard,
1990; Baldock et al., 2010). Given the low slopes associated
with all barred coasts, the topographic control hypothesis
seems unlikely. As a result, template models are no longer
favored as a primary control on bar generation (Bryan and
Bowen, 1997; van Enckevort et al., 2004), though it is still
possible that net sediment transport patterns for sediment
suspended by incident waves may be influenced by infra-
gravity energy (Aagaard and Greenwood, 2008). Finally, the
influence of group-bound long waves in the surf zone has
received increasing recognition (Osborne and Greenwood,
1992; O’Hare and Huntley, 1994; Baldock et al., 2010) and
merits further attention in relation to the morphodynamics
of developing and established bars.
10.6.3.2 Self-Organizational Models of Bar Formation
The most promising models of nearshore bar generation are
self-organizational models that are related to the convergence
of transport under breaking waves. The earliest hypotheses
were related to the excavation of sediment by vortices associ-
ated with plunging breakers to form a trough and the move-
ment of some of this material offshore to form the bar. This is
readily observed in small wave tanks (Keulegan, 1948; King
and Williams, 1949) with regular waves (constant height and
period), although there is some doubt as to whether the fea-
ture produced is the scale equivalent of a true nearshore bar.
However, in the field with irregular waves, the breaker location
for plunging waves is highly variable, and stable bars do not
appear to form due to this mechanism. In addition, growth of
the bar results in wave breaking taking place on the seaward
slope and bar crest, not in the trough, so that the mechanism
is not self-reinforcing. Steep storm waves break primarily as
spilling breakers, or in forms intermediate between spilling
and plunging, so that there is little or no penetration of vor-
tices down to the bed in the trough – or even on the bar crest.
A better proposed mechanism for bar generation is related
to the presence of offshore flows in the form of undertow
(Wright et al., 1982; Svendsen, 1984a, 1984b; Greenwood
and Sherman, 1984; Stive and Wind, 1986; Davidson-Arnott
and McDonald, 1989; Sallenger and Howd, 1989; Haines and
Sallenger, 1994; Thornton et al., 1996; Reniers et al., 2004;
Aagaard and Vinther, 2008). Seaward of the breaker zone,
sediment transport is generally landward under shoaling
waves due to velocity skewness or asymmetry, whereas wave
setup in the surf zone generates undertow that transports
sediment seaward close to the bed, with flow speed decreasing
in the breaker zone (Figure 7). The erosion and offshore
transport of sediments by the undertow aids in the excavation
of a trough. Convergence in the breaker zone results in sedi-
ment deposition that generates the bar (Dyhr-Nielsen and
Sørensen, 1970; Dally and Dean, 1984; Dally, 1987). As the
bar forms there is likely some positive feedback because the
increasing angle of the seaward slope and the shallower water
depth on the bar crest leads to increased wave breaking
(both the proportion of waves that break and the intensity
of breaking will increase). As a result, wave setup and the
strength of the undertow are enhanced and the zone of sedi-
ment transport convergence becomes more focussed (Holman
and Sallenger, 1993; Garcez-Faria et al., 2000). This mech-
anism was documented by Aagaard et al. (2008) as being re-
sponsible for the bar formation observed in the inner bar
system at Vejers, Denmark.
A number of models of sediment transport (Aagaard and
Hughes, Chapter 10.4) now exist that are based primarily on
some application of the energetics approach (Bagnold, 1963;
Bowen, 1980; Bailard, 1981) and are able to produce bar
formation and offshore migration under shoaling and break-
ing waves (Gallagher et al., 1998; Drønen and Deigaard, 2007;
Masselink et al., 2008). Ideally an equilibrium position is
reached where the depth of water over the crest produces just
sufficient breaking to generate an undertow that balances the
landward transport under shoaling waves. In practice this
equilibrium is seldom achieved precisely because the wave
conditions during a storm rarely remain constant for a long
enough period for bar migration to reach this position.
A model of bar formation due to eddy diffusivity (Black
et al., 2002) also relies primarily on incident waves and the
diffusion of sediment put in suspension due to wave breaking.
A proposed model of bar formation due to nonlinear inter-
action between shoaling incident waves and the bed (Boczar-
Karakiewicz and Davidson-Arnott, 1987) can also be placed in
the category of self-organizational models.
Unlike models of bar formation by standing waves, which
explicitly include the possibility of multiple zones of con-
vergence and thus multiple bar formation under a particular
set of conditions, the cross-shore flow mechanism is related to
a single break point. In some instances an extreme event can
‘reset’ the whole surf zone, but generally, if bars are present in
the nearshore, their position shifts in response to breaker lo-
cation and to the rate of energy dissipation on the outer bar;
that is, there is morphological feedback between the location
and depth of water over the bar crests and wave breaking
(Greenwood and Davidson-Arnott, 1975, 1979; Short and

Bar initiation
Wave and wind set up
Bar established
Wave and wind set up
Narrow breaker zone
Sand transport direction
Figure 7 Sketch of the sediment transport patterns associated with bar formation through the convergence near the breaker zone of onshore
transport under shoaling and breaking waves and offshore transport in the undertow. The growth of the bar form leads to a narrowing of the
breaker zone and increased breaker intensity.
Aagaard, 1993; Castelle et al., 2010a, 2010b; Price and Rues-
sink, 2011). Thus, during major storm events, multiple break
points are common, with zones of wave reformation in the
landward troughs (Figure 8). The presence of wave setup and
offshore flows in the form of undertow over multiple bar
systems has been measured in the field (Davidson-Arnott and
McDonald, 1989; Greenwood and Osborne, 1990).
10.6.4 How Do Controls Such as Sediment Size,
Nearshore Slope, and Wave Climate
Determine Whether Nearshore Bars Form on
a Sandy Coast?
Observations in the field and in large-scale laboratory
experiments all suggest that where the upper shoreface is
completely developed in sand, the equilibrium form can
be predicted using three variables: wave height (H), wave
period (T), and sediment size (diameter D or settling velocity
w). The way in which these three interact to control the
equilibrium form is complex because, for example, breaker
location is dependent on the absolute value of H, the type
of wave breaking is controlled by wave steepness H/L,
where wavelength L is dependent on T as well as water
depth, and sediment size is an important control on nearshore
slope. Sediment size also influences bed roughness and
the proportion of sediment transported as bed load versus
suspended sediment load – this is clearly a critical factor
for models based on offshore transport by undertow. Predic-
tion of the equilibrium profile form can therefore be based
Nearshore Bars 139
Winds, waves
Wide breaker zone
Net water motion
on some form of surf similarity parameter (Galvin, 1968;
Guza and Inman, 1975; Battjes, 1974), with sediment
size being used as a surrogate for slope. Wright and Short
(1984) used the dimensionless fall velocity parameter O
to distinguish between non-barred (reflective) and barred
(intermediate and dissipative) beaches on microtidal coasts in
Australia:
O ¼ Hb =Ws T ½3
where Hb is the breaking wave height, Ws is the fall velocity
associated with the mean particle size, and T is wave period.
Reflective beaches occur for values of Oo1, dissipative beaches
for O46, and intermediate beaches are associated with values
of O in between. This appears to work quite well for the wave
climate of much of the east and south coast of Australia.
However, no explicit link occurs between the parameter and
conditions that give rise to the generation of bars. A number
of other similar parameters have been derived, each with
different critical values (e.g., Sunamura, 1988; Kraus and
Larson, 1988). Based on this relationship (Short, 1999), re-
flective nonbarred beaches can be expected to occur wherever
nearshore and beach sediment is coarser than 2–4 mm in
diameter. Nonbarred sandy beaches occur on coasts domin-
ated by waves with low steepness (H/L) values, such as those
associated with swell waves propagated over very long
distances or where waves have been refracted into sheltered
embayments.
Dissipative beaches that have bars present in the profile
continuously are characterized (Short, 1999) as the high-
140 Nearshore Bars

B4 T4
B3
T3
B2
T2

(a)

0
B2
−1

−2 T2
B3
−3
T3
Depth (m)

B4
−4
T4
−5

−6

−7

−8

−9
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
(b) Distance offshore (m)
Figure 8 (a) Wave breaking on multiple bars with zones of wave reformation in the troughs between them, Greenwich Dunes, Prince Edward
Island; (b) nearshore profile showing the presence of two bars in the outer bar system. The numbered bars and troughs in the photograph
correspond to those on the profile.

energy end of the beach spectrum with gentle nearshore slopes
producing a wide surf zone and spilling breakers. They are
associated with open coasts exposed to long-period swell,
but where storm events producing high, short-period waves
occur at almost any time of year (e.g., the New South Wales
coast of Australia and west coast of New Zealand), and thus
there is insufficient time between storm events for removal of
the bar.
Bars also occur on exposed coasts with restricted fetch
lengths (e.g., the Great Lakes, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea,
and Alaska) or where swell wave activity is limited (e.g., the
east coast of Canada and the USA). In these areas the outer
bars are active during storms and become inactive during the
nonstorm periods (Greenwood and Davidson-Arnott, 1979;
Wijnberg and Kroon, 2002). The inner bars may also remain
largely inactive on leeward coasts but migrate onshore on
windward coasts. A primary control on bar formation in
these locations seems to be wave steepness rather than the
absolute wave height because multiple parallel bars typical of
dissipative beaches occur even in areas where the significant
wave height during storms is o1 m (Exon, 1975; Davidson-
Arnott and Pember, 1980). Intermediate beaches exhibit a
wide range of bar morphology and may become nonbarred
for periods of time if they are exposed to long period, rela-
tively low steepness, swell waves during periods between
storms (Shepard, 1950; Wright and Short, 1984). The classic
fair-weather (summer) planar profile and storm (winter)
barred profiles characteristic of the California coast are an
extreme example of this, with creation of a barred profile
occurring during winter storms and the bars migrating
shoreward or dissipating under the summer swell wave
conditions.
Dalrymple (1992), using large wave tank data from Kraus
and Larsen (Kraus and Larson, 1988; Larson and Kraus, 1989),

developed a single predictor using deep water waves:
P ¼ H02 =W 3 T ½4
Barred profiles occur for values of P410 400. A com-
parison with typical field values for H, T, and W for barred
coasts in the Great Lakes and Gulf of St. Lawrence (described
in Davidson-Arnott, 1988) suggests that this parameter works
well for small grain sizes and relatively low wave heights, but
more exposed sites with larger waves and/or larger grain size
are classified as nonbarred. This suggests that the cut-off values
derived from the wave tank testing may not work well in the
field and may reflect the two-dimensional nature of wave
tank experiments, the simple waves used, and the commonly
steeper gradients than are normally associated with bar for-
mation. It also emphasizes the point that in the prototype,
wave conditions likely vary over the course of a bar-forming
event and choosing values for H and T for field conditions is
not simple.
The use of the terms dissipative and reflective as applied to
beach states in the Wright and Short model (Wright and Short,
1983, 1984) probably deserve some reappraisal. Many non-
barred beaches are gently sloping and not reflective – waves
breaking on them dissipate their energy over a relatively wide
surf zone with no bars present (Figure 9).
Most sandy beaches in the Caribbean are nonbarred des-
pite conditions on the windward coast that should favor bar
(a)
(b)
Figure 9 Photographs showing dissipative beaches with no bars:
(a) swell waves breaking on a gently sloping beach, west coast of
Ireland; (b) wave breaking on North Frigate Beach, windward coast of
St. Kitts (West Indies).
Nearshore Bars 141
development. Thus, Sandbanks Beach on the north-east coast
of St. Kitts has a gradient of about 0.006 and mean grain
size about 0.15 mm. Typical waves reaching the bay during
the period when the trade winds are strongest have values
for Hb of 0.75–1.25 m, and T from 4 to 7 s, putting the
beach well within the barred category predicted using eqn [4]
(Dalrymple, 1992) and the dissipative beach category using
eqn [3] (Wright and Short, 1984). Rip currents do not appear
to form on this beach, nor on the more exposed beaches of
North Friar’s Beach and North Frigate Beach a few kilometers
to the west (Davidson-Arnott, 2010, Chapter 8), so that return
flow occurs as undertow, thus favoring bar development under
the model described in the previous section. Similarly, a wide,
dissipative beach is formed at Jericoacoara, on the north-east
coast of Brazil on an area with persistent trade winds during
the summer months but where no bars are present.
The absence of bars in these areas may indicate the exist-
ence of a threshold for bar generation that reflects both the
intensity of suspended sediment generation within the breaker
zone and a strong enough undertow close to the bed to pro-
duce a net offshore transport, and the convergence necessary
to initiate bar development. In mid-latitudes, bar initiation
appears to occur primarily during intense storms where the
undertow is enhanced by wind setup due to strong onshore
winds. It is possible that the relatively light trade winds do not
generate sufficient undertow to cross this threshold. Thus,
while we have a reasonable explanation for the generation of a
nonbarred profile under persistent conditions of low, long-
period swell waves, we do not have a similar explanation for
the absence of bars in these areas that are not subject to long-
period swell.
10.6.5 What Are the Mechanisms Related to Waves,
Currents, and Sediment Transport That
Control Morphological Change in Nearshore
Bar Systems on a Time-Scale of Hours to
Weeks and Months?
The descriptive beach stage model of Wright and Short (1984)
and subsequent minor modifications to include work by
Sunamura (1988) and Lippman and Holman (1990) is the
most complete schematic explanation of the morphodynamic
behavior of nearshore bar systems (Figure 10(a); Short and
Jackson, Chapter 10.5). The complete accretionary sequence
for a single bar system begins with the dissipative stage with a
straight outer bar generated by wave breaking, as spilling
breakers. This occurs a considerable distance offshore, and
sediment transport is dominated by return flow close to the
bed and relatively uniform alongshore during a major storm.
Under nonstorm conditions, the bar migrates landward under
shoaling waves and plunging breakers. Return flow is dom-
inated by rip cell circulation that produces a crescentic form to
the bars with the bar crescent located where the rip current
flows offshore (Figure 10(a)). In relatively deep water the
collective migration of the bar is likely driven by asymmetric
flows under shoaling or weakly breaking waves, and the
landward slope of the bar is less than that associated with
avalanching (Hsu et al., 2006; Ruessink et al., 2007; van
Maanen et al., 2008). However, where the bar crest is in
142 Nearshore Bars

LBT LBT*
300
Straight bar Crescentic bar
Weak Rip Rip
Breaker Zone
200 Bar

Trough
Metres

100

0 High tide cusps

RBB RBB′
Normal waves Oblique
waves Oblique waves
Crescentic bar Rip
200 Breakers

Rip
Metres

100
lllllll
Mega High tide
0 cusp cusps Mega cusp
horn embayment

TBR RBB′
Normal waves Oblique
waves
Rip
200

Strong
Metres

100
Rip

Welded bar High tide

0 cusps

TBR RBB′
Normal waves Oblique Oblique
waves Normal waves
waves
200 Minor rip
Mini-rip Breakers
Runnel
Metres

Ridge Terrace
100

High tide cusps Skewed

0 Runnel
mini-rip

Figure 10 Plan view of the sequence of beach and nearshore morphology for a wave-dominated sandy beach for accretionary (left) and erosional
(right) wave conditions. Reproduced from Figure 7.4 in Short, A.D., 1999. Wave-dominated beaches. In: Short, A.D. (Ed.), Handbook of Beach and
Shoreface Morphodynamics. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK, pp. 173–203, based on Short, 1979; Wright and Short, 1984; Sunamura, 1988;
Lippman and Holman, 1990. LBT¼ Longshore Bar Trough; RBB¼Rhythmic Bar and Beach; TBR¼Transverse Bar Rip.

relatively shallow water, wave breaking is more complete, es- 1972; Davidson-Arnott and Greenwood, 1974; Gómez-Pujol
pecially at low tide. This leads to the generation of surf bores et al., 2011). If the fair weather conditions persist for long
across the bar crest with enhanced rates of landward transport enough, the bars pass through the intermediate stages of
leading to the generation of a slip face ridge (Davis et al., rhythmic bar and beach (RBB) and transverse bar rip (TBR),

and finally to a reflective beach with no bars present. The
model also shows that on intermediate beaches, the bar sys-
tems may be reset by storm wave action before a completely
planar profile is produced. The model can be used for systems
where two or more bars are formed (Short and Aagaard,
1993). Further observations of nearshore bar behavior using
the Argus monitoring system in, for example, New South
Wales (Ranasinghe et al., 2004) and Queensland (Price and
Ruessink, 2011), Australia, have provided evidence for the
robustness of the stages originally detailed by Short (1979)
and Wright and Short (1984).
On coasts subject to long periods of fair weather accom-
panied by swell waves large enough to move sediments on the
bar, such as the coast of California, the full cycle may be
completed annually. In other areas where there is more lim-
ited exposure to large swell and/or the length of fair-weather
periods is much shorter, the full cycle is rarely or never com-
pleted. In fetch-limited environments, where swell is generally
absent, the outer bar(s) remain inactive during fair-weather
conditions. An analysis of the dynamics of a double bar beach
on the west coast of France (Castelle et al., 2007) shows the
range of observed beach states compared to the potential
based on the wave climate with one, two, and rarely three bars
present (Figure 11).
In other locations, monitoring of bar number and position
has shown a broader range of bar types and morphodynamic
behavior. A number of studies have reported offshore migra-
tion of bars and their eventual dissipation (Ruessink and
Kroon, 1994; Wijnberg, 1997; Shand, 2007; Aagaard and
Greenwood, 2008). The net offshore movement (NOM) ap-
pears to result from seaward transport across the crest by
near bed return flows during storms – that is, by the same
mechanism described in Section 10.6.3 that gives rise to the
formation of bars – and which has now been documented in
many studies (e.g., Greenwood and Davidson-Arnott, 1979;
Lippman et al., 1993; Plant et al., 2001; Houser and Green-
wood, 2005; Almar et al., 2010). In these areas, in contrast to
the model of Wright and Short, bar generation takes place
close to the beach and thus fills a gap left by the offshore
migration of the inner bar (Ruessink and Terwindt, 2000;
Ruessink et al., 2000; Shand, 2007). Offshore migration and
bar decay does not appear to result in a loss of sediment to the
outer shoreface, but rather decay of the outer bar appears to
result from onshore return through individual grain move-
ment rather than collective movement of the bar itself. In
some areas bar behavior is complicated by the process of bar
splitting or bifurcation, which leads to the connection of
portions of two bars and produces a complicated spatial pat-
tern of bar dynamics (Shand et al., 2001; Shand, 2007).
Recent long-term studies of bar dynamics (Wright and
Short, 1983, 1984; Wijnberg and Terwindt, 1995; Ranasinghe
et al., 2004; Shand, 2007; Castelle et al., 2007; Ruessink et al.,
2009) seem to point to the wave climate of each coast playing
an important role in determining bar creation, migration, and
stability, with the range and direction of nearshore bar
movement being controlled by the complex interaction of
available fetch, exposure to long-period swell waves, and the
frequency and magnitude of storms. On coasts such as those
of the Great Lakes and the Mediterranean Sea, where the range
of conditions under which sediment transport takes place is
Nearshore Bars 143
limited, changes in bar number and location may occur within
a relatively narrow range (Greenwood and Davidson-Arnott,
1975; Reichmüth and Anthony, 2007). On other coasts, such
as the New South Wales coast of Australia, a wide range of bar
topographies may be present, but here swell wave activity
seems to be dominant, so that bar migration is primarily
onshore and is reset during relatively infrequent storms.
Coasts where offshore bar migration appears to dominate,
such as the Dutch coast, may reflect a much greater frequency
of storm events relative to periods dominated by long-period
swell. As results from the medium-term monitoring of near-
shore bar behavior become available from a larger number of
coasts, it should be possible to refine our understanding of
these relationships (Kroon et al., 2008).
10.6.6 How Do Factors Such as Sediment Size,
Nearshore Slope, and Wave Climate Interact
with the Short-Term Morphodynamics to
Control the Number, Size, and Spacing of
Bars in the Nearshore and Intertidal Zones?
This section addresses two questions related to the controls on
the equilibrium bar morphology and shape:
1. What determines the characteristic number of bars and
features such as their spacing offshore, height, and depth of
water over the crest; and
2. What controls the shape, orientation, and alongshore re-
gularity of bars?
Observations and measurements show that the depth of
water over the outer bar crest is roughly the same as Hs, and
the height of the bar is also similar. A major determinant of
the offshore distance of the outer bar is thus the height of the
(most recent) large storm waves and the nearshore profile
slope (Davidson-Arnott, 1988; see Figure 5(b)). The greater
offshore distance for the location of the outer bar would also
seem to favor development of a greater number of bars. Al-
though this is generally true, there are a number of exceptions
to this (Davidson-Arnott, 1988; Short and Aagaard, 1993;
Wijnberg, 1997), possibly related to increasing storm wave
height (Davidson-Arnott, 1981). What is also clear from some
of the studies discussed in Section 10.6.5 is that there is con-
siderable feedback between the processes operating on a bar
system and the number and position of the bars. Thus the
inner bars are subject to a narrower range of wave conditions
because of the filtering effect of waves breaking on the outer
bar(s) (Wijnberg and Kroon, 2002; Houser and Greenwood,
2005). Landward migration of bars during periods of smaller
waves may lead to a reduction in the number of bars, whereas
offshore migration during intense storm events may result in
the formation of a new inner bar, thus adding to the number
(Houser and Greenwood, 2005; Castelle et al., 2007; Shand,
2007). Similarly, on some coasts where there is relatively
steady alongshore migration of bars, the outer bar may reach a
distance offshore where it gradually decays and a new inner
bar is then generated (van Enckevort and Ruessink, 2003a;
Shand, 2007). Similar variations in the number of bars in the
intertidal zone of meso- to macrotidal beaches have been
144 Nearshore Bars

Dissipative
700 m
600 m
500 m
Observed Expected Occurrence
400 m
300 m
200 m
Occasional
100 m
0m severe storm
(a) Dune
surge
Intermediate
700 m
600 m
500 m
400 m
300 m
200 m
100 m
0m
(b) Dune

Intermediate
700 m
600 m
500 m
400 m
300 m Winter storm
200 m
100 m
0m
(c) Dune

Intermediate
700 m
600 m
500 m
400 m
300 m
200 m
100 m
0m
(d) Dune
Modal beach
Intermediate states
700 m
600 m
500 m
400 m
300 m
200 m
100 m
Dune 0m
(e)
Intermediate
700 m
600 m
500 m
Requires
400 m prolonged fair
300 m
weather conditions
200 m
100 m for a few months
(f) 0m
Dune

Reflective
700 m
600 m
Unlikely to happen:
500 m
400 m would require fair
300 m weather condition
200 m
100 m
for a year
Dune 0m
(g)

Figure 11 Preliminary model showing the possible range of beach states at Truc Vert beach on the Aquitaine (west) coast of France and the
conditions necessary to generate each type. The area has a mesotidal to low macrotidal tidal range with one to three bars present in the
intertidal and subtidal zones. Intermediate forms labeled (b)–(f) have generally been observed at the site, while a fully dissipative form (a) might
be expected after a sequence of intense storms accompanied by storm surge. Reproduced from Figure 11 in Castelle, B., Bonneton, P., Dupuis,
H., Sénéchal, N., 2007. Double bar beach dynamics on the high-energy meso–macrotidal French Aquitanian coast: a review. Marine Geology 245,
141–159.

observed (Kroon and Masselink, 2002; Reichmüth and An-
thony, 2007).
Complex shoaling and refraction patterns close to the
beach result in quite a wide range of morphology and orien-
tation of bars in the inner bar system (Sonu, 1972; Green-
wood and Davidson-Arnott, 1975; Short, 1979). However,
bars that are not connected to the beach face have a plan
shape that ranges from straight through sinuous to crescentic
(Figures 2 and 3(a)). In general, the alongshore wavelength of
crescentic inner bars is similar to that of rip cell systems.
Where both inner and outer bars are crescentic, the wave
length of the outer bars is two or three times greater than that
of the inner system.
Similar to bar formation, models designed to explain dif-
ferences in bar shape can be divided into template models and
self-organizational ones. Standing-wave models should gen-
erate straight bars (Carter et al., 1973), and crescentic bars can
be attributed to standing-edge waves (Bowen and Inman,
1971; Holman and Bowen, 1982). Most of the reservations
concerning bar generation by template models also apply to
their potential control of bar shape. Recent work favors self-
organizational models with some degree of morphological
feedback, likely operating to control the evolution of forms
such as rip channels (e.g., Brander, 1999; Austin et al., 2010)
and also the interaction between bars where more than
one bar is present (Falqués et al., 2008; Castelle et al., 2010a,
2010b).
Observations from a number of areas suggest that where
offshore flows are dominated by undertow, the bar form tends
to be straight or slightly irregular. Where rip cell circulation is
absent or only weakly developed, the outer bar or bars may
always be linear (Davidson-Arnott and McDonald, 1989). In
other areas, as discussed in Section 10.6.5, where outer bars
are generated from a planar profile during a large storm event,
the initial bar form is straight, producing the dissipative beach
state of Wright and Short (1984). Subsequent onshore
migration under fair-weather swell waves is characterized by
the development of a rhythmic, crescentic form (Figures 2 and
3(a)) with increasing concentration of wave breaking on the
shallow cusp horns and seaward-flowing rip currents in the rip
channel across the center of the crescent (Wright and Short,
1984; Brander, 1999; MacMahan et al., 2006; Castelle et al.,
2007; Austin et al., 2010). However, under conditions where
infragravity energy is focussed in a narrow band, it is likely
that standing waves may influence nearshore flow patterns
and sediment transport, and thus the three-dimensional form
of the bar system (Aagaard and Greenwood, 2008; Castelle
et al., 2010a).
10.6.7 Summary and Conclusions
Template models for bar formation are now generally being
discarded, and those based on some form of self-organization
are now generally accepted. Bar formation results from a
convergence of sediment transport in the breaker zone. Net
onshore transport occurs under shoaling waves seaward of
the breaker zone. Offshore transport is generated by strong
undertow generated by wave setup and likely strengthened by
wind setup (storm surge) during storm wave events. On gently
Nearshore Bars 145
sloping coasts, multiple breaker zones with wave reformation
may develop, producing a series of bars and troughs. Although
seaward transport is generally attributed to undertow for
linear bar systems that are continuous alongshore, in three-
dimensional crescentic bar systems, and linear bars associated
with periodic rip channels in the inner nearshore, sediment
may be transported landward over the bar crest by wave bores,
alongshore in the troughs, and offshore only in the rip
channels, or across the center of the bar crescent. Whether
this mechanism can lead to bar formation is not completely
demonstrated, but it is evident that alongshore and offshore
sediment transport by rip current circulation is an important
element in the dynamics of three-dimensional bar dynamics.
Sediment size and the slope of the nearshore are important
controls on the number of bars formed and likely influence
both their morphology and dynamics. However, it is evident
that wave climate has a major influence on the range of bar
dynamics that has been observed globally, including the ab-
sence of bars in many locations. The beach stage model pro-
vides a description of bar morphology and dynamics that is
now supported by studies from a number of other locations
worldwide. Nevertheless it has limited explanatory value, and
it does not do as well in areas characterized by a short fetch or
limited exposure to swell waves.
Photographic monitoring stations such as that provided by
the Argus system are providing a wealth of data on bar form
and migration over periods of years in mid-latitudes all over
the world. Unfortunately, although many data exist on the bar
position, topographic data are generally confined to rare echo
sounding surveys and wave and sediment transport data only
when there is a short-term experiment at a particular location.
The result is that data on currents and sediment transport,
especially over outer bars, are still very sparse. The system
provides little evidence of sediment transport processes in
areas where no bars are present and serves to underscore the
fact that there are still gaps in our understanding of what
controls the shift from a nonbarred to a barred state, what are
the key processes determining this, and whether there is a
distinct threshold that separates conditions leading to positive
feedback and bar development from those that produce
negative feedback and the absence of bars. It may be that the
ease with which bars can be monitored using photography has
led to a preoccupation with their dynamics at the expense of
sediment transport measurements under a range of dynamic
conditions and nearshore profile morphology.
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Biographical Sketch

Robin Davidson-Arnott grew up in Trinidad, W.I., and went to Canada in 1966 to attend university. He obtained a
B.A. in Geography from the University of Toronto in 1970 and a Ph.D. in 1975 from the same institution,
specializing in Coastal Geomorphology. After teaching at Toronto for a year he obtained a position as Assistant
Professor at the University of Guelph in 1976, where he has remained ever since. He was promoted to Professor in
1988 and retired in September 2009. He continues to be active in research and professional service as a Professor
Emeritus. During his time at Guelph he taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses in Physical
Geography and supervised 33 M.Sc. and 6 Ph.D. students. Robin’s Ph.D. research focused on the morphody-
namics and sedimentology of nearshore bars in Kouchibouguac Bay, New Brunswick. He carried out further work
on nearshore and intertidal bars at several sites in the Great Lakes and on the east coast of Canada. His research
has also involved studies of nearshore erosion of cohesive bluff shorelines, sandwave dynamics on beaches,
sedimentary processes on salt marshes in the Bay of Fundy, and field experiments on aeolian sediment transport
on beaches and beach/dune interaction. He has published extensively in journal articles and book chapters, and is
also the author of a recent textbook on coastal processes and geomorphology.
 10.7 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
DM FitzGerald, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
MD Miner, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, New Orleans, LA, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.7.1 Introduction 150

10.7.2 What is a Tidal Inlet? 150
10.7.3 Inlet Morphology 150
10.7.3.1 Tidal Deltas 150
10.7.3.1.1 Flood-tidal delta 151
10.7.3.1.2 Ebb-tidal delta 152
10.7.3.2 Ebb-Tidal Delta Morphology 152
10.7.4 Tidal Inlet Formation 152
10.7.4.1 Breaching of a Barrier 153
10.7.4.2 Spit Building Across a Bay 153
10.7.4.3 Drowned River Valleys 153
10.7.4.4 Lateral Inlet Migration 153
10.7.4.5 Landward Inlet Migration 153
10.7.5 Tidal Inlet Relationships 154
10.7.5.1 Inlet Throat Area – Tidal Prism Relationship 154
10.7.5.1.1 Variability 154
10.7.5.2 Ebb-Tidal Delta Volume – Tidal Prism Relationship 155
10.7.5.2.1 Variability 155
10.7.6 Sand Transport Patterns 155
10.7.6.1 General Trends of Sand Dispersal 155
10.7.6.2 Inlet Sediment Bypassing 155
10.7.6.2.1 Stable inlet processes 155
10.7.6.2.2 Ebb-tidal delta breaching 156
10.7.6.2.3 Inlet migration and spit breaching 157
10.7.6.2.4 Bar complexes 157
10.7.7 Tidal Inlet Effects on Adjacent Shorelines 157
10.7.7.1 Number and Size of Tidal Inlets 157
10.7.7.2 Tidal Inlets as Sediment Sinks 157
10.7.7.3 Changes in Ebb-Tidal Delta Volume 158
10.7.7.4 Wave Sheltering 158
10.7.7.5 Effects of Inlet Sediment Bypassing 158
10.7.7.5.1 Drumstick barrier model 158
10.7.7.6 Human Influences 159
10.7.8 Coastal Lagoons 159
10.7.8.1 Lagoons as Equilibrium Landforms 160
10.7.8.2 Expanding and Shrinking Lagoons 161
10.7.8.2.1 Expanding lagoons 161
10.7.8.2.2 Shrinking lagoons 161
10.7.8.3 Lagoon hydrodynamics 161
10.7.9 Lagoon Inlet Response to Sea-Level Rise 163
10.7.10 Conclusions 163
References 163

FitzGerald, D.M., Miner, M.D., 2013. Tidal inlets and lagoons along
siliciclastic barrier coasts. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J.
(Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10,
Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 149–165.

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00278-5 149

150 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
Glossary
Ebb-tidal delta Arcuate- to elongate-shaped shoal on the
seaward side of a tidal inlet. It is formed by ebb-tidal
currents and modified by waves and flood-tidal currents.
Flood-tidal delta Horseshoe- to multilobate-shaped sand
shoal located landward of a tidal inlet. It is formed by flood-
tidal currents and modified by ebb-tidal currents. Some
flood deltas are a product of storm processes.
Lagoon Shallow coastal body of seawater that is separated
from the open ocean by a barrier or coral reef. A term
Abstract
This chapter discusses the dynamics and processes of tidal inlets and lagoons throughout the world. Physical relationships
and morphology of these systems are explained in terms of tidal versus wave energy, tidal exchange, backbarrier hypso-
metry, estuarine circulation, and geological controls. Tidal inlet controls on barrier island morphology are treated.
Expanding and shrinking lagoons, wetland loss, and accelerated sea-level rise are discussed.
10.7.1 Introduction
Tidal inlets occur along barrier coastlines throughout the
world. They provide a pathway for navigation between the
open ocean and sheltered waters. Along many coasts, in-
cluding much of the East and Gulf Coasts of USA, the only
safe harborages, including many major ports, occur behind
barrier islands. The importance of inlets in providing navi-
gation routes to these harbors is demonstrated by the large
number of improvements that are performed at the entrance
to inlets, such as the construction of jetties and breakwaters,
dredging of channels, and the operation of sand bypassing
facilities.
Diversity in the morphology, hydraulic signature, and
sediment transport patterns of tidal inlets attests to the com-
plexity of their processes. The variability in oceanographic,
meteorologic, and geologic parameters, such as tidal range,
wave energy, sediment supply, storm magnitude and fre-
quency, freshwater influx, and geologic substrate, and the
interactions of these factors are responsible for this wide range
in tidal inlet settings.
10.7.2 What is a Tidal Inlet?
A tidal inlet is defined as an opening in the shoreline through
which water penetrates the land, thereby proving a connection
between the ocean and bays, lagoons, and marsh and tidal
creek systems. Tidal currents maintain the main channel of a
tidal inlet.
The second half of this definition distinguishes tidal inlets
from large, open embayments or passageways along rocky
coasts. Tidal currents at inlets are responsible for the continual
removal of sediment dumped into the main channel by wave
action. Thus, according to this definition, tidal inlets occur
along sandy or sand and gravel barrier coastlines, although
one side may abut a bedrock headland. Some tidal inlets co-
incide with the mouths of rivers (estuaries: Chapter 10.12);
commonly used to define the shore-parallel body of water
behind a barrier island or barrier spit.
Recurved spit Hook-shaped spit that builds into a bay or
along the coast through the addition of curved beach ridges.
Tidal inlet Opening in the shoreline through which water
penetrates the land, thereby providing a connection
between the ocean and bays, lagoons, and marsh and tidal
creek systems. The main channel of a tidal inlet is
maintained by tidal currents.
but in these cases, inlet dimensions and sediment transport
trends are still governed, to a large extent, by the volume of
water exchanged at the inlet mouth and the reversing tidal
currents, respectively.
At most inlets, over the long term, the volume of water
entering the inlet during the flooding tide equals the volume
of water leaving the inlet during the ebbing cycle. This volume
is referred to as the tidal prism. The tidal prism is a function of
the open water area and tidal range in the backbarrier complex
as well as frictional factors that govern the ease of flow
through the inlet and lagoon.
10.7.3 Inlet Morphology
A tidal inlet is specifically the area between two barriers or
between the barrier and the adjacent bedrock or glacial
headland. Commonly, the recurved ridges of spits consisting
of sand that was transported toward the backbarrier by re-
fracted waves and flood-tidal currents form the sides of the
inlet. The deepest part of an inlet, the inlet throat, is located
normally where spit accretion on one or both of the bordering
barriers constricts the inlet channel to a minimum width and
minimum cross-sectional area. Here, tidal currents normally
reach their maximum velocity. Commonly, the strength of the
currents at the throat causes sand to be removed from the
channel floor, leaving behind a lag deposit consisting of gravel
or shells or, in some locations, exposed bedrock or indurated
sediments.
10.7.3.1 Tidal Deltas
Closely associated with tidal inlets are sand shoals and tidal
channels located on the landward and seaward sides of the
inlets. Flood-tidal currents deposit sand landward of the inlet,
forming flood-tidal deltas. Ebb-tidal currents deposit sand on
the seaward side forming an ebb-tidal delta.
 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts 151

10.7.3.1.1 Flood-tidal delta
Flood-tidal delta’s presence or absence, size, and development
are related to a region’s tidal range, wave energy, sediment
supply, and backbarrier accommodation space. Tidal inlets
that are backed by a system of tidal channels and salt marsh
(mixed-energy coast) generally contain a single, horseshoe-
shaped flood-tidal delta (e.g., Essex River Inlet, MA, USA;
Figure 1). In contrast, inlets that are backed by large shallow
bays may contain multiple flood-tidal deltas. Along some
microtidal coasts, such as that of Rhode Island, flood deltas
that form at the end of narrow inlet channels cut through the
barrier. Changes in the locus of deposition at these deltas
produce a multilobate morphology that resembles a lobate
river delta (Boothroyd et al., 1985). Flood delta size com-
monly increases as the amount of open water area in the
backbarrier increases. In some regions, flood deltas have
become colonized and altered by marsh growth, and are no
longer recognizable as former flood-tidal deltas. At other sites,
portions of flood-tidal deltas are dredged to provide navigable
waterways and thus are highly modified.
Flood-tidal deltas are best developed in areas with mod-
erate-to-large tidal ranges (1.5–3.0 m) because in these regions
they are well exposed at low tide. As tidal range decreases,
flood deltas become largely subtidal shoals. Most flood-tidal
deltas have similar morphologies consisting of the following
components (Hayes, 1975, 1979):
1. Flood ramp: This is a landward shoaling channel that
slopes upward toward the intertidal portion of the flood-
tidal delta. Strong flood-tidal currents and landward sand
transport in the form of flood-oriented sandwaves dom-
inate the ramp.

Essex inlet Flood-tidal delta

Flood-tidal 5
delta 3 1 Flood ramp
2 Flood channel
4 3 Ebb shield
2 4 Ebb spit
5 Spillover lobe

Ebb-tidal Ebb-tidal delta

delta
1 Main ebb channel
nd
isla
rier
Bar 2 Marginal flood
2 channel
0 500 1 3 Swash platform
nd 3
Meters isla
Ba rrier 6 4 Terminal lobe
5
N 2 4 5 Swash bars
6 Channel margin
linear bars

Mainland Flood-tidal
Barrier
delta
island
Mainland Bay Ocean
Bay
Terminal lobe
MHW
MLW
Barrier Ebb-tidal Inlet
Ebb-tidal
island delta Flood-tidal throat
A delta B
delta

Ocean
B
Figure 1 Ebb- and flood-tidal models (Hayes, 1979). Aerial photograph of Essex Inlet, MA. Inlet cross-sectional model (FitzGerald, 1996).
Reproduced from Hayes, M.O., 1979. Barrier island morphology as a function of tidal and wave regime. In: Leatherman, S.P. (Ed.), Barrier
Islands: From the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. Academic Press, New York, NY, pp. 1–28, and FitzGerald, D.M., 1996. Geomorphic
variability and morphologic and sedimentologic controls on tidal inlets: journal of coastal research. In: Mehta, A.J. (Ed.), Understanding Physical
Processes at Tidal Inlets: Based on Contributions by Panel on Scoping Field and Laboratory Investigations in Coastal Inlet Research. Special
Issue No. 23, Coastal Education & Research Foundation, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA, pp. 47–71, with permission from ASCE.
152 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
2. Flood channels: The flood ramp splits into two shallow
flood channels. Like the flood ramp, these channels are
dominated by flood-tidal currents and flood-oriented
sandwaves. Sand is delivered through these channels onto
the flood delta.
3. Ebb shield: It defines the highest and landward-most part
of the flood delta and may be partly covered by marsh
vegetation. It shields rest of the delta from the effects of the
ebb-tidal currents.
4. Ebb spits: These spits extend from the ebb shield toward the
inlet. They form from sand that is eroded from the ebb shield
and transported back toward the inlet by ebb-tidal currents.
5. Spillover lobes: These are lobes of sand that form where the
ebb currents have breached through the ebb spits or ebb
shield depositing sand in the interior of the delta.
Through time, some flood-tidal deltas accrete vertically
and/or expand in lateral extent. This is evidenced by an in-
crease in areal extent of marsh grasses, which require a certain
elevation above mean low water to exist. At laterally migrating
inlets, new flood-tidal deltas are formed as the inlet moves
along the coast and encounters new open water areas in the
backbarrier. However, at most stable inlets, sand comprising
the flood delta is simply recirculated. The transport of sand on
flood deltas is controlled by the elevation of the tide and the
strength and direction of the tidal currents. During the rising
tide, flood currents reach their fastest velocities near high tide
when the entire flood-tidal delta is covered by water. Hence,
there is a net transport of sand up the flood ramp, through the
flood channels and onto the ebb shield. Some of the sand is
moved across the ebb shield and into the surrounding tidal
channel. During the falling tide, the strongest ebb currents
occur near mid to low water. At this time, the ebb shield is out
of the water and diverts the currents around the flood-tidal
delta. The ebb currents erode sand from the landward face of
the ebb shield and transport it along the ebb spits and even-
tually into the inlet channel where once again it will be moved
onto the flood ramp, thus completing the sand gyre.
10.7.3.1.2 Ebb-tidal delta
Ebb-tidal delta is an accumulation of sand that has been de-
posited by the ebb-tidal currents through an inlet and which
has been subsequently modified by waves and tidal currents.
Ebb deltas exhibit a variety of forms, dependent on the relative
magnitude of wave and tidal energy of the region as well as
geological controls. Along mixed-energy coasts, most ebb-tidal
deltas contain the same general features including:
1. Main ebb channel: This is a seaward shoaling channel that
is scoured in the ebb-tidal delta sands and inlet throat. It is
dominated by ebb-tidal currents.
2. Marginal-flood channels: These are shallow channels
(0–2 m deep at mean low water) located between the
channel margin linear bars and the onshore beaches. The
channels are dominated by flood-tidal currents.
3. Swash platform: This is a broad, shallow, sand platform
located on both sides of the main ebb channel, defining
the general extent of the ebb delta.
4. Terminal lobe: Sediment transported out of the main ebb
channel is deposited in a lobe of sand to form the terminal
lobe. The deposit slopes relatively steeply on its seaward
side. The outline of the terminal lobe is well defined by
breaking waves during storms or periods of large waves at
low tide.
5. Swash bars: Waves breaking over the terminal lobe and
across the swash platform form arcuate-shaped swash bars
that migrate onshore. The bars are usually 50–150 m long,
50 m wide, and 1–2 m in height.
6. Channel margin linear bars: These are bars that border the
main ebb channel and sit atop the swash platform. These
bars tend to confine the ebb flow and are exposed at
low tide.
10.7.3.2 Ebb-Tidal Delta Morphology
The general shape of an ebb-tidal delta and the distribution of
its sand bodies are determined by the relative magnitude of
different sand transport processes operating at a tidal inlet. At
tide-dominated inlets, ebb-tidal deltas are elongate, with a
main ebb channel and channel margin linear bars that extend
far offshore. Wave-generated sand transport plays a secondary
role in modifying delta shape at these inlets. Because most
sand movement is in an onshore–offshore direction, the ebb-
tidal delta overlaps a relatively small length of inlet shoreline.
This has important implications concerning the extent to
which the inlet shoreline undergoes erosional and de-
positional changes.
Wave-dominated inlet systems tend to be small relative to
tide-dominated inlets. Their ebb-tidal deltas are driven on-
shore, close to the inlet mouth, by the dominant wave pro-
cesses. Commonly, the terminal lobe and/or swash bars form
a small arc outlying the periphery of the ebb-tidal delta. In
many cases the ebb-tidal delta of these inlets is entirely sub-
tidal. In other instances, sand bodies clog the entrance to the
inlet, leading to the formation of several major and minor
tidal channels.
At mixed-energy tidal inlets, the shape of the delta is the
result of tidal and wave processes. These deltas have a well-
formed main ebb channel, which is a product of ebb-tidal
currents. Their swash platform and sand bodies overlap the
inlet shoreline many times the width of the inlet throat as a
result of wave processes and flood-tidal currents.
Ebb-tidal deltas may also be highly asymmetric, such that
the main ebb channel and its associated sand bodies are
positioned primarily along one of the inlet shorelines. This
configuration normally occurs when the major backbarrier
channel approaches the inlet at an oblique angle or when a
preferential accumulation of sand on the updrift side of the
ebb delta causes a deflection of the main ebb channel along
the downdrift barrier shoreline.
10.7.4 Tidal Inlet Formation
The formation of a tidal inlet requires the presence of an
embayment and the development of barriers. In coastal plain
settings, the embayment or backbarrier was commonly created
through the construction of the barriers themselves, like much
of the East Coast of USA or the Friesian Island coast along the
 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
North Sea. In other instances, the embayment was formed due
to rising sea level inundating an irregular shoreline during the
late Holocene. The embayed or indented shoreline may have
been a rocky coast such as that of northern New England and
California or it may have been an irregular, unconsolidated
sediment coast such as that of Cape Cod in Massachusetts or
parts of the Oregon coast. The flooding of former river valleys
has also produced embayments associated with tidal inlet
development such as seen at Mobile Bay in the northern Gulf
of Mexico.
10.7.4.1 Breaching of a Barrier
Rising sea level, exhausted sediment supplies, and human
influences have led to thin barrier systems that are vulnerable
to breaching. The breaching process normally occurs during
storms, after waves have destroyed the foredune ridge and
storm-surge elevated waves have overwashed the barrier and
deposited sand aprons (washovers) along the backside of the
barrier. Although this process may produce a shallow over-
wash channel, seldom are barriers cut from their seaward side.
In most instances, the breaching of a barrier is the result of the
storm-surge elevated waters in the backbarrier bay. When the
level of the ocean water falls, the elevated bay waters flow
across the barrier toward the ocean, gradually incising the
barrier and cutting a channel. If subsequent tidal exchange
between the ocean and bay is able to maintain the channel, a
tidal inlet is established. The breaching process is enhanced
when offshore winds accompany the falling tide, provided an
overwash channel is present to facilitate drainage across the
barrier (Fisher, 1962). Many tidal inlets that are formed by this
process are ephemeral and may exist for less than a year, es-
pecially if stable inlets are located nearby. However, in some
instances, the new breach may capture part of the bay’s tidal
prism so that it remains open, decreasing the tidal prism at
other inlets. In the case where bay area is increasing over the
long term, such as the case seen in coastal Louisiana because
of rapid relative sea-level rise and wetland erosion, breaches
may remain open to accommodate the increasing bay tidal
prism. Barriers most susceptible to breaching are long and
thin and wave dominated.
10.7.4.2 Spit Building Across a Bay
The development of a tidal inlet by spit construction across an
embayment generally occurs early in the evolution of a coast
(see Chapter 10.16). The sediment to form these spits may
have come from erosion of the nearby headlands, discharge
from rivers, or from the landward movement of sand from
inner shelf deposits. Most barriers along the coast of USA and
elsewhere in the world are 3000–5000 years old coinciding
with a deceleration of Holocene sea-level rise. It was then that
spits began enclosing portions of the irregular rocky coast of
New England, the western coasts of North and South America,
parts of Australia, and many other regions of the world. As a
spit builds across a bay, the opening to the bay gradually de-
creases in width and in cross-sectional area. It may also
deepen. Coincident with the decrease in size of the opening is
a corresponding increase in tidal current velocities. Assuming
153
the tidal prism of the bay remains approximately constant,
as the opening gets smaller, the current velocities must
increase. A tidal inlet is formed as the spit reaches a stable
configuration.
10.7.4.3 Drowned River Valleys
Tidal inlets have formed at the entrance of drowned river
valleys because of the growth of spits and the development of
barrier islands that narrow the mouths of estuaries. It has been
shown through stratigraphic studies, particularly along the
Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of USA, that, in addition to drowned
river valleys, many tidal inlets are positioned in paleo-river
valleys where there is no river leading to this site currently
(Morton and Donaldson, 1973; Halsey, 1979; Siringan and
Anderson, 1993). These incised valleys represent old river
courses that were active during the Pleistocene when the sea
level was lower, and they incised into the exposed continental
shelf in response to base level lowering. Modern tidal inlets
become situated in these valleys because tidal currents, more
easily, remove the unconsolidated sediment within the valleys
than the more indurated sediments comprising the interfluves.
10.7.4.4 Lateral Inlet Migration
Some tidal inlets have been positionally stable since their for-
mation, whereas others have migrated long distances along the
shore. In New England, and along other glaciated coasts,
stable inlets are commonly anchored next to bedrock outcrops
or resistant glacial deposits. Along the California coast, most
tidal inlets have formed by spit construction across an embay-
ment with the inlet becoming stabilized adjacent to a bedrock
headland. In coastal plain settings, stable inlets are commonly
positioned in former river valleys. One factor that appears to
separate migrating inlets from stable inlets is the depth to which
the inlet throat has eroded. Deeper inlets are commonly situ-
ated in consolidated sediments that resist erosion. The channels
of shallow migrating inlets are eroded into sand.
Although the vast majority of tidal inlets migrate in the
direction of dominant longshore transport, there are some
inlets that migrate updrift (Aubrey and Speer, 1984). In these
cases, the drainage of backbarrier tidal creeks control flow
through the inlet. When a major backbarrier tidal channel
approaches the inlet at an oblique angle, the ebb-tidal currents
coming from this channel are directed toward the margin of
the inlet throat. If this is the updrift side of the main channel,
then the inlet will migrate in that direction. This is similar to a
river where strong currents are focused along the outside of a
meander bend causing erosion and channel migration. Inlets
that migrate updrift are generally small to moderately sized
and occur along coasts with small-to-moderate net sand
longshore transport rates.
10.7.4.5 Landward Inlet Migration
Tidal inlets that occur along retrograding (transgressive)
shorelines migrate landward with the adjacent barriers. As the
shoreline retreats, the zone where processes governing tidal
inlet morphology are focused on the inlet throat, where tidal
154 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts

flushing of sand that is transported to the inlet by waves, is 1011

translated in a landward direction. The landward migration of
the inlet throat is facilitated by scouring of the landward A = 4.69 × 10−4 P0.85
portions of the channel and deposition of sediment in the

Total prism (spring or diurnal) ft3 (p)

seaward portion of the channel, a process that is greatly ac- 2
celerated during storms (Miner et al., 2009a). During barrier 1010
retreat, a large component of landward sand transport occurs
at flood-tidal deltas and recurved spits associated with land-
ward migrating inlets (Armon, 1979; Kulp et al., 2006).
Similar to laterally migrating tidal inlets, a landward- 109 2
migrating inlet’s position along the shoreline and future re-
1
treat path may be controlled by the erodability of the substrate
or the backbarrier morphology that governs tidal hydraulics. 1
For example, results from regional stratigraphic studies have
demonstrated that tidal inlets in Louisiana are commonly 108
actively incising into former distributary channel deposits
because the relatively coarse grained, fluvial-channel deposits
From O’Brien (1931, 1965)
erode more readily than the semiindurated clays in which they
incise (Kulp et al., 2006, 2007). 107
102 103 104 105 106
Minimum cross-sectional area of inlet (ft2)
(a) below MSL (A)
10.7.5 Tidal Inlet Relationships

Tidal inlets around the world exhibit several consistent rela- 1000
tionships that have allowed coastal engineers and marine A = 13.8 × 10−5 P1.23
geologists to formulate predictive models: (1) inlet throat, Sand volume of ebb-tidal delta, V (yd3)
cross-sectional area is closely related to tidal prism (O’Brien,
1931, 1969; Jarrett, 1976) and (2) ebb-tidal delta volume is a 100
function of tidal prism (Walton and Adams, 1976).

10.7.5.1 Inlet Throat Area – Tidal Prism Relationship

The size of a tidal inlet is tied closely to the volume of water
going through it (Figure 2(a); O’Brien, 1931, 1969). Although
inlet size is primarily a function of tidal prism, to a lesser
degree inlet cross-sectional area is also affected by the delivery
of sand to the inlet channel. For example, at jettied inlets, tidal
currents can more effectively scour sand from the inlet chan-
nel and therefore they maintain a larger throat cross-section
than would be predicted by the O’Brien Relationship. Simi-
larly, for a given tidal prism, Gulf Coast inlets have larger
throat cross sections than Pacific Coast inlets. This is explained
by the fact that wave energy is greater along the West Coast
and therefore the delivery of sand to these inlets is higher than
at Gulf Coast inlets. Jarrett (1976) has improved the tidal
prism – inlet cross-sectional area regression equation for the
US inlets by separating into three classes: the low-energy Gulf
Coast inlets, moderate-energy East Coast inlets, and higher-
energy West Coast inlets. Even better correlations are achieved
when structured inlets with jetties are distinguished from
natural inlets.
10.7.5.1.1 Variability
It is important to understand that the dimensions of the inlet
channel are not static, but rather the inlet channel enlarges
and contracts slightly over relatively short time periods (o1
year) in response to changes in tidal prism, variations in wave
energy, effects of storms, seasonal changes in dominant wind
direction and meteorologically driven tides, and other factors.
10
1
After Walton and Adams (1976)
1 10 100 1000
(b) Tidal prism, P (108 ft3)
Figure 2 Relationships demonstrating a correspondence between
tidal prism and (a) inlet cross-sectional area and (b) sand volume of
the ebb-tidal delta.
For instance, the inlet tidal prism can vary by more than 30%
from neap to spring tides due to increasing tidal ranges
(NOAA Tide Tables, 2011). Consequently, the size of the inlet
varies as a function of tidal phases. Along the southern At-
lantic Coast of USA, water temperatures may fluctuate sea-
sonally from 351 to 40 1F. This causes the surface coastal
waters to expand, raising mean sea level by 0.30 m or more
(Nummedal and Humphries, 1977). In the summer and early
fall, when mean sea level reaches its highest seasonal ele-
vation, spring tides may flood backbarrier surfaces that nor-
mally are above tidal inundation. This produces larger tidal
prisms, stronger tidal currents, increased channel scour, and
larger inlet cross-sectional areas. At some Virginia inlets, this
condition increases the cross section of the inlet throat by
 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
5–15% (Byrne et al., 1975). Long-term (41 year) changes in
the cross section of inlets are related to inlet migration, sedi-
mentation or erosion in the backbarrier, morphological
changes of the ebb-tidal delta, and anthropogenic influences.
10.7.5.2 Ebb-Tidal Delta Volume – Tidal Prism
Relationship
In the mid-1970s, Walton and Adams (1976) showed that the
volume of sand contained in the ebb-tidal delta is closely re-
lated to the tidal prism (Figure 2(b)). They also showed that
the relationship improved slightly when wave energy was
taken into account in a manner similar to Jarrett’s divisions.
Waves are responsible for transporting ebb-tidal delta sand
back onshore, thereby reducing the volume of the ebb-tidal
delta. Therefore, for a given tidal prism, ebb-tidal deltas along
the West Coast contain less sand than equal-sized inlets along
the Gulf or East Coast.
10.7.5.2.1 Variability
The Walton and Adams Relationship works well for inlets all
over the world. However, field studies have shown that the
volume of sand comprising ebb-tidal deltas changes through
time as a response to the effects of storms (Miner et al.,
2009a), changes in tidal prism (List et al., 1997; FitzGerald
et al., 2007), or processes of inlet sediment bypassing
FitzGerald et al. (1984). When sand is moved past a tidal inlet,
it is commonly achieved by the migration of large bar com-
plexes across the ebb delta and their attachment to the land-
ward inlet shoreline. These large bars may contain more than
300 000 m3 of sand and represent more than 10% of sediment
volume of the ebb-tidal delta (FitzGerald,1988; Gaudiano and
Kana, 2001).
10.7.6 Sand Transport Patterns
The movement of sand at a tidal inlet is complex due to re-
versing tidal currents, effects of storms, and interaction with
the longshore transport system. The inlet contains short- and
long-term reservoirs of sand that vary in size from the rela-
tively small sandwaves, on the floor of the inlet channel, that
migrate meters during each tidal cycle, to the large, flood-tidal
delta shoals where some sand is recirculated, but the entire
deposit may remain stable for hundreds or even thousands of
years. Sand dispersal at tidal inlets is complicated because in
addition to the onshore–offshore movement of sand pro-
duced by tidal and wave-generated currents, there is constant
delivery of sand to the inlet and transport of sand away from
the inlet by the longshore transport system. In the discussion
below, the patterns of sand movement at inlets are described,
including how sand is moved past a tidal inlet.
10.7.6.1 General Trends of Sand Dispersal
The ebb-tidal delta has segregated areas of landward versus
seaward sediment transport that are controlled primarily by
the way water enters and discharges from the inlet, as well as
the effects of wave-generated currents. During the ebbing cycle,
155
the tidal flow leaving the backbarrier is constricted at the inlet
throat. This causes the currents to accelerate in a seaward
direction. Once out of the confines of the inlet, the ebb flow
expands laterally and the velocity decreases. Sediment in the
main ebb channel is transported in a net seaward direction
and eventually deposited on the terminal lobe because of the
decrease in current velocity. One response to this seaward
movement of sand is the formation of ebb-oriented sandwaves
with heights of 1–2 m.
In the beginning of the flood cycle, the ocean tide rises while
water in the main ebb channel continues to flow seaward as a
result of its momentum. Owing to this phenomenon, water
initially enters the inlet through the marginal-flood channels
because they are the pathways of least resistance. The flood
channels are dominated by shore-parallel and landward sedi-
ment transport, and are floored by flood-oriented bedforms.
On both sides of the main ebb channel, extending from the
channel to the inlet shorelines, the swash platform is most af-
fected by landward flow produced by the flood-tidal currents
and breaking waves. As waves shoal and break, they generate
landward flow, which augments the flood-tidal currents but
retards the ebb-tidal currents. The interaction of these forces acts
to transport sediment in net landward direction across the
swash platform. In summary, at many inlets, there is a general
trend of seaward sand transport in the main ebb channel,
which is countered by landward sand transport in the marginal-
flood channels and across the swash platform.
10.7.6.2 Inlet Sediment Bypassing
Along most open coasts, particularly in coastal plain settings, a
shore-oblique, dominant wave approach causes net move-
ment of sediment in an alongshore direction. Along the East
Coast of USA, for example, this varies in magnitude from 100
to 200 000 m3 year 1 (Komar, 1997). The manner whereby
sand moves past tidal inlets and is transferred to the downdrift
shoreline is called inlet sediment bypassing. The primary
mechanisms of sand bypassing natural inlets include: (1)
stable inlet processes, (2) ebb-tidal delta breaching, and (3)
inlet migration and spit breaching (Figure 3). One of the end
products in all the different mechanisms is the landward mi-
gration and attachment of large bar complexes to the inlet
shoreline. Discussion of bar attachment processes can be
found in FitzGerald (1982) and FitzGerald et al. (2001).
10.7.6.2.1 Stable inlet processes
This mechanism of sediment bypassing occurs at inlets that do
not migrate and whose main ebb channels remain approxi-
mately in the same position. Sand enters the inlet by: (1) wave
action along the beach, (2) flood-tidal and wave-generated
currents through the marginal-flood channel, and (3) waves
breaking across the channel margin linear bars. Most of the
sand that is dumped into the main channel is transported
seaward by the dominant ebb-tidal currents and deposited on
the terminal lobe.
At lower tidal elevations, waves that break on the terminal
lobe of the delta transport sand along its periphery toward the
landward beaches, in much the same way as sand is moved in
the surf and breaker zones along beaches. At higher tidal
156 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts

Stable inlet processes Ebb-tidal delta breaching Inlet migration and spit breaching
Time 1 Ebb flow
Main ebb channel
Dominant
Dominant longshore
longshore Erosion
transport Erosion
transport
Dominant
Channel Spill-over
margin linear Channel channels Inlet migration longshore
migration and spit transport
bars
Ebb tidal delta accretion
Ebb migration
flow
Time 2 Spit breaching

Incipient spit Inlet filling

Growth of
Occupation
bar complexes
of spill-over
Swash bar Landward bar Spit
channel
formation and migrations accretion
landward
migration

Time 3 Ebb
Eventually welding flow
to the beach Bar welding
Abandoned
inlet
Spit attachment
Accretion Spit
Channel margin linear accretion
bar formation Channel Landward bar
deflection migration

Figure 3 Mechanisms of sediment bypassing tidal inlets. Reproduced from FitzGerald, D.M., Kraus, N.C., Hands, E.B., 2001. Natural
mechanisms of sediment bypassing at tidal inlets, ERDC/CHL. US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS, 10 pp.

elevations, waves breaking over the terminal lobe create swash
bars on both sides of the main ebb channel. The swash bars
(50–150 m long and 50 m wide) migrate onshore because of
the dominance of landward flow across the swash platform.
Eventually, they attach to channel margin linear bars and form
large bar complexes. Bar complexes tend to parallel the beach
and may be more than a kilometer in length. They are fronted
on their landward side by a slipface (251–331), which may be
up to 3 m in height.
The stacking and coalescence of swash bars to form a bar
complex is the result of the bars slowing their onshore mi-
gration as they move up the nearshore ramp. As the bars gain a
greater intertidal exposure, the wave bores cause the onshore
bar migration act over an increasingly shorter period of the
tidal cycle. Thus, the rate of bar movement decreases. Even-
tually, the entire amalgamated bar complex migrates onshore
and welds to the upper beach. When a bar complex attaches to
the downdrift inlet shoreline, some of the newly accreted sand
is then gradually transported by wave action to the downdrift
beaches, thus completing the inlet sediment bypassing pro-
cess. It should be noted that some sand bypasses the inlet
independent of the bar complex. In addition, some of the
sand comprising the bar reenters the inlet via the marginal-
flood channel and along the inlet shoreline.
10.7.6.2.2 Ebb-tidal delta breaching
This means of sediment bypassing occurs at inlets with a
stable throat position, but whose main ebb channels migrate
across their ebb-tidal deltas like the wag of a dog’s tail. Sand
enters the inlet in the same manner as described above
for Section Stable Inlet Processes. However, at these inlets, the
delivery of sediment by longshore transport produces a pref-
erential accumulation of sand on the updrift side of the ebb-
tidal delta. The deposition of this sand causes a deflection of
the main ebb channel until it nearly parallels the downdrift
inlet shoreline. This circuitous configuration of the main
channel results in inefficient tidal flow through the inlet, ul-
timately leading to the breaching of a new channel through
the ebb-tidal delta. The breaching process normally occurs
during spring tides or periods of storm surge when the tidal
prism is very large. In this state of event-driven increase in tidal
range, the ebb discharge piles up water at the entrance to the
inlet where the channel bends toward the downdrift inlet
shoreline. This causes some of the tidal waters to exit through
the marginal-flood channel or flow across low regions on the
channel margin linear bar. Gradually over several weeks, or
convulsively during a single large storm, this process cuts a
new channel through the ebb delta. This produces a more
direct pathway for tidal exchange through the inlet. As more
and more of the tidal prism is diverted through the new main
ebb channel, tidal discharge through the former channel
decreases and it fills with sediment.
The sand that was once on the updrift side of the ebb-tidal
delta, and which is now on the downdrift side of the new
main channel, is moved onshore by wave-generated and
flood-tidal currents. Initially, some of this sand aids in filling
the former channel, whereas the rest forms a large bar complex
that eventually migrates onshore and attaches to the downdrift
inlet shoreline. The ebb-tidal breaching process results in a
large packet of sand bypassing the inlet. Similar to the
stable inlets discussed above, some sand bypasses these inlets
in a less-dramatic fashion, grain by grain on a continual basis.
 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
It is noteworthy that at some tidal inlets, the entire main
ebb channel is involved in the ebb-tidal delta breaching pro-
cess, whereas at others just the outer portion of main ebb
channel is deflected. In both cases, the end product of the
breaching process is the realignment of the channel to a
configuration that more efficiently conveys water through the
inlet, as well as sand being bypassed in the form of a bar.
10.7.6.2.3 Inlet migration and spit breaching
A final method of inlet sediment bypassing occurs at laterally
migrating inlets. In this situation, an abundant sand supply
and a dominant longshore transport direction cause spit
building at the end of the barrier. To accommodate constant
tidal prism and spit construction, the inlet migrates by eroding
the downdrift barrier shoreline as sediments from the updrift
spit platform fill the channel. Along many coasts, as the inlet is
displaced further along the downdrift shoreline, the inlet
channel that extends into the backbarrier lengthens, retarding
the exchange of water between the ocean and backbarrier. This
condition leads to large water level differences between the
ocean and bay, making the barrier highly susceptible to
breaching, particularly during storms. Ultimately, when the
barrier spit is breached and a new inlet is formed in a hy-
draulically more favorable position, the tidal prism is diverted
to the new inlet and the old inlet closes. When this happens,
the sand comprising the ebb-tidal delta of the former inlet is
transported onshore by wave action. This typically occurs in
the form of a landward-migrating bar complex. It should be
noted that when the inlet shifts to a new position along the
updrift shoreline, a large quantity of sand has effectively by-
passed the inlet. The frequency of this inlet sediment bypass-
ing process is dependent on inlet size, rate of migration, storm
history, and backbarrier dynamics.
10.7.6.2.4 Bar complexes
Depending on the size of the inlet, the rate of sand delivery to
the inlet, the effects of storms, and other factors, the entire
process of bar formation, landward migration, and bar at-
tachment to the downdrift shoreline may take from 6 to 10
years. The volume of sand bypassed can range from 100 000 to
more than 1 000 000 m3. The bulge in the shoreline that is
formed by the attachment of a bar complex is gradually ero-
ded and smoothed as sand is dispersed along the downdrift
shoreline and transported back toward the inlet. In some in-
stances, a landward migrating bar complex forms a salt water
pond as the tips of the arcuate bar weld to the beach stabil-
izing its onshore movement. Although the general shape of
the bar and pond may be modified by overwash and dune
building activity, the overall shoreline morphology is fre-
quently preserved. Lenticular-shaped coastal ponds or marshy
swales become diagnostic of bar migration processes and are
common features near many inlets.
10.7.7 Tidal Inlet Effects on Adjacent Shorelines
In addition to the direct consequences of spit accretion and
inlet migration, there are ancillary effects. These include vol-
ume changes in the size of ebb-tidal deltas, sand losses to the
backbarrier, processes of inlet sediment bypassing, increasing
157
inlet cross-sectional area, and wave sheltering of the ebb-tidal
delta shoals (FitzGerald, 1988).
10.7.7.1 Number and Size of Tidal Inlets
The degree to which barrier shorelines are influenced by tidal
inlet processes is dependent on their size and number. As the
O’Brien Relationship demonstrates, the cross-sectional area of
an inlet is governed by its tidal prism. This concept can be
expanded to include an entire barrier chain in which the size
and number of inlets along a chain are primarily dependent
on the amount of open water area behind the barrier and the
tidal range of the region. In turn, these parameters are a
function of other geological and physical oceanographic fac-
tors. Wave-dominated, microtidal coasts tend to have long
barrier islands and few tidal inlets and mixed-energy coasts
have short stubby barriers and numerous tidal inlets (Hayes,
1975, 1979). Presumably, the mesotidal conditions produce
larger tidal prisms than those along microtidal coasts, which
necessitate more holes in the barrier chain to let the water in
and out of the backbarrier. Many coastlines follow this general
trend, but there are many exceptions due to the influence of
sediment supply, large versus small bay areas, dominance of
meteorologically driven tides, and other geological controls
(Davis and Hayes, 1984).
10.7.7.2 Tidal Inlets as Sediment Sinks
Tidal inlets not only trap sand temporarily on their ebb-tidal
deltas, but are also responsible for the long-term loss of
sediment moved into the backbarrier. At inlets dominated by
flood-tidal currents, sand is continuously transported land-
ward. This enlarges flood-tidal deltas and builds bars in tidal
creeks. Sand can also be transported into the backbarrier of
ebb-dominated tidal inlets during severe storms. During these
periods, increased wave energy produces greater sand trans-
port to the inlet channel. At the same time, the accompanying
storm surge increases the water surface slope at the inlet. This
results in stronger than normal flood-tidal currents. The
strength of the flood currents coupled with the high rate of
sand delivery to the inlet results in landward sediment trans-
port into the backbarrier. Along the Malpeque barrier system
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, New Brunswick, Canada, it has
been determined that over a 33-year period, 90% of the sand
transferred to the backbarrier took place at tidal inlets and at
former inlet locations along the barrier (Armon, 1979).
Sediment may also be lost at laterally migrating inlets
where sand is deposited as channel fill. If the channel scours
below the base of the barrier sands, then the beach sand that
fills the channel will not be replaced entirely by the deposits
excavated on the eroding portion of the channel. Because up
to 40% of the length of barriers is underlain by tidal inlet fill
deposits that range in thickness from 2 to 10 m (Moslow and
Heron, 1978; Moslow and Tye, 1985), this volume represents
a large, long-term loss of sand from the coastal sediment
budget. Another major process producing sand loss at laterally
migrating inlets is associated with the construction of recurved
spits that build into the backbarrier. For example, along
the East Friesian Islands in the North Sea, recurved spit
158 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
development has caused the lengthening of barriers along this
chain by 3–11 km since 1650 (FitzGerald et al., 1984). During
this stage of barrier evolution, the large size of the tidal inlets
permitted ocean waves to transport large quantities of sand
around the end of the barrier to form recurves that extend far
into the backbarrier. Because of the size of the recurves and the
length of barrier extension, this process has been one of the
chief natural mechanisms of bay infilling (FitzGerald and
Penland, 1987).
10.7.7.3 Changes in Ebb-Tidal Delta Volume
Ebb-tidal deltas represent huge reservoirs of sand that may be
comparable in volume to that of the adjacent barrier islands
along mixed-energy coasts (i.e., northern East and West Frie-
sian Islands, Massachusetts, southern New Jersey, Virginia,
South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana). For instance, the
ebb-tidal delta volume of Stono and North Edisto Inlets in
South Carolina is 197 106 m3 and the intervening Seabrook–
Kiawah Island barrier complex contains 252 106 m3 of sand
(Hayes et al., 1976). In this case, the deltas comprise 44% of
the sand in the combined inlet-barrier system. The magnitude
of sand contained in ebb-tidal deltas suggests that small
changes in their volume would dramatically affect the sand
supply to the landward shorelines.
A transfer of sand from the barrier to the ebb-tidal delta
takes place when a new tidal inlet is opened, such as the
formation of Ocean City Inlet when Assateague Island,
Maryland, was breached during the 1933 Hurricane. Initially,
the inlet was only 3 m deep and 60 m across, but quickly
widened to 335 m when it was stabilized with jetties in 1935.
Since the inlet formed, more than 14 million cubic meters of
sand has been deposited on the ebb-tidal delta (Stauble and
Cialone, 1996). Trapping the southerly longshore movement
of sand by the north jetty and growth of the ebb-tidal delta
have led to serious erosion along the downdrift beaches. The
northern end of Assateague Island has been retreating at an
average rate of 11 m per year. The rate of erosion lessened
when the ebb-tidal delta reached an equilibrium volume and
the inlet began to bypass sand (Stauble and Cialone, 1996).
10.7.7.4 Wave Sheltering
The shallow character of ebb-tidal deltas provides a natural
breakwater for the landward shorelines. This is especially true
during lower tidal elevations when most of the wave energy is
dissipated along the terminal lobe. During higher tidal stages,
intertidal and subtidal bars cause waves to break offshore, thus
expending much of their energy before reaching the beaches
onshore. The sheltering effect is most pronounced along
mixed-energy coasts where tidal inlets have well-developed
ebb-tidal deltas.
The influence of ebb shoals is particularly well illustrated
by the history of Morris Island, SC, USA that forms the
southern border of Charleston Harbor. Before human modi-
fication, the entrance channel to the harbor paralleled Morris
Island and was fronted by an extensive shoal system. In the
late 1800s, jetties were constructed at the harbor entrance to
straighten, deepen, and stabilize the main channel. During the
period before jetty construction (1849–1880), Morris Island
had been eroding at an average rate of 3.5 m yr 1. After the
jetties were in place, the shoals eroded and gradually dimin-
ished in size, so did the protection they afforded Morris Island,
especially during storms. From 1900 to 1973, Morris Island
receded 500 m at its northeast end. The recession increased
along the length of the island, reaching a maximum of 1100 m
at its southeast end, a rate three times what it had been before
jetty construction (FitzGerald, 1988).
10.7.7.5 Effects of Inlet Sediment Bypassing
Tidal inlets interrupt the wave-induced longshore transport of
sediment along the coast, affecting both the supply of sand to
the downdrift beaches and the position and mechanisms
whereby sand is transferred to the downdrift shorelines. The
effects of these processes are well exhibited along the Copper
River Delta barriers in the Gulf of Alaska. From east to west
along the barrier chain, the width of the tidal inlets increases
as does the size of the ebb-tidal deltas (Figure 4; Hayes, 1979).
In this case, the width of the inlet can be used as a proxy for
the inlet’s cross-sectional area. These trends reflect an increase
in tidal prism along the chain, which is caused by an increase
in bay area from east to west, while tidal range remains con-
stant. Also quite noticeable along this coast is the greater
downdrift offset of the inlet shoreline in a westerly direction.
This morphology is coincident with an increase in the degree
of overlap of the ebb-tidal delta along the downdrift inlet
shoreline. The offset of the inlet shoreline and bulbous shape
of the barriers are produced by sand being trapped at the
eastern, updrift end of the barrier. The amount of shoreline
progradation (build out) is a function of inlet size and extent
of its ebb-tidal delta. What we learn from the sedimentation
processes along the Copper River Delta barriers is that tidal
inlets can impart a very important signature on the form of the
barriers (FitzGerald, 1996).
10.7.7.5.1 Drumstick barrier model
In an investigation of barrier islands shorelines in mixed-
energy settings throughout the world, Hayes (1979) noted that
many barriers exhibit a ‘chicken leg drumstick’ barrier island
shape. In this model, the meaty portion of the drumstick
barrier is attributed to waves bending around the ebb-tidal
delta producing a reversal in the longshore transport direction.
This process reduces the rate at which sediment bypasses the
inlet, resulting in a broad zone of sand accumulation along
the updrift end of the barrier. The downdrift, or thin part of
the drumstick, is formed through spit accretion. Later studies
demonstrated that landward-migrating bar complexes from
the ebb-tidal delta determine barrier island morphology and
overall shoreline erosional–depositional trends, particularly in
mixed-energy settings (FitzGerald et al., 1984).
Studies of the Friesian Islands demonstrate that inlet pro-
cesses exert a strong influence on the dispersal of sand and in
doing so dictate barrier form (FitzGerald et al., 1984). In
addition to drumsticks, the East Friesian Islands exhibit many
other shapes. Inlet sediment bypassing along this barrier chain
occurs, in part, through the landward migration of large swash
bars (41 km in length) that deliver up to 300 000 m3 of sand
 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
Cordova
Egg Island
Down drift
offset
Figure 4 Copper River delta barrier chain illustrating how increase in bay area from east to west increases tidal prism producing larger tidal
prisms and greater effects on barrier island morphology. Reproduced from Hayes, M.O., 1979. Barrier island morphology as a function of tidal
and wave regime. In: Leatherman, S.P. (Ed.), Barrier Islands: From the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. Academic Press, New York,
NY, pp. 1–28.
when they weld to the beach. In fact, it is the location where
the bar complexes attach to the shoreline that determines the
form of the barrier along this coast. If the ebb-tidal delta
greatly overlaps the downdrift barrier, then the bar complexes
may build up the barrier shoreline some distance from the
tidal inlet, forming humpbacked barriers. If the downdrift
barrier is short and the ebb-tidal delta fronts a large portion of
the downdrift barrier, then bar complexes weld to the down-
drift end of the barrier forming downdrift bulbous barriers.
10.7.7.6 Human Influences
Dramatic changes to inlet beaches can also result from human
influences, including the obvious consequences of jetty con-
struction that reconfigures an inlet shoreline. By preventing or
greatly reducing the ability of sediments to bypass an inlet,
jetty construction causes the updrift beach to prograde,
whereas the downdrift beach, whose sand supply has been
diminished or completely cut off, erodes. There can also be
more subtle human impacts that can equally affect inlet
shorelines, especially those associated with changes in inlet
tidal prism, sediment supply, and the longshore transport
system. Nowhere are these types of impacts better demon-
strated than along the central Gulf Coast of Florida, where
development has resulted in the construction of causeways,
extensive backbarrier filling and dredging projects, and the
building of numerous engineering structures along the coast.
A detailed study of this region by Barnard and Davis (1999)
has revealed that since the late 1980s, 17 inlets have closed
along this coast and at least 5 closures can be traced to human
influences caused primarily by changes in inlet tidal prism. For
example, road access to several barriers has been achieved
through the construction of causeways that extend from the
mainland across the shallow bays. Along most of their lengths,
the causeways are dike-like structures that partition the bays,
159
0 10
km
N
thereby changing bay areas and inlet tidal prisms. In some
instances, tidal prisms were reduced to a critical value, leading
to inlet closure. At these sites, the tidal currents were unable to
remove the sand dumped into the inlet channel by wave ac-
tion. Similarly, when the Intracoastal Waterway was con-
structed along the central Gulf Coast of Florida in the early
1960s, the dredged waterway served to connect adjacent
backbarrier bays, thereby changing the volume of water that
was exchanged through the connecting inlets. The Intracoastal
Waterway lessened the flow going through some inlets, while
at the same time increased the tidal discharge of others. This
resulted in the closure of some inlets and the enlargement of
others (Barnard and Davis, 1999).
10.7.8 Coastal Lagoons
Coastal lagoons are shallow water geomorphic features that are
generally elongate, shore-parallel, and physically separated from
the ocean by a strip of land such as a barrier island, spit, or reef
(Ward and Ashley, 1989). This definition spans a continuum of
coastal water bodies whose end members range from those that
are completely closed off from the influence of the ocean to
those that are only partially shielded and connected to the
ocean by tidal inlets (Ward and Ashley, 1989). Salinity of
coastal lagoons may range from fresh to hypersaline.
This section is concerned with lagoons along coastlines
that are fronted by siliciclastic barrier islands and barrier spits,
where the lagoon exists as a result of a barrier island or spit
development during slowed transgression and stillstand. Ex-
amples include Pamlico Sound, North Carolina and Laguna
Madre, Texas; the eastern Nile Delta, Lagoa dos Patos in Rio
Grande do Sul, Brazil; and Wallaby Island lagoon in New
South Wales, Australia. Flooded river valleys, such as Mobile
Bay, Alabama, are not considered lagoons by this definition
although they are bounded by barrier islands and spits.
160 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts

10.7.8.1 Lagoons as Equilibrium Landforms
Lagoons are effective sediment traps, with sediments origi-
nating primarily from barrier shoreface erosion, barrier over-
wash during storms, tidal inlet processes (flood-tidal delta and
recurved spit accretion), aeolian processes, fluvial discharge,
and mainland runoff. It has been shown that most modern
lagoons along the US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts are in
equilibrium with respect to geometry (width vs. depth) and
depth (sedimentation rate) with respect to relative sea-level
rise rates (Nichols, 1989). Because lagoons are such effective
sediment traps, the depth of most modern lagoons is con-
trolled by their width, which determines fetch and therefore
effective wave base (Barrell, 1912; Price, 1947; Swift and

Figure 5 Historical evolution of Lake Pelto and the Isle Dernieres from 1853 to 1988. Note the coincidental increase in extent of Lake Pelto and
segmentation of the island chain. Reproduced from Williams, J., Penland, S., Sallenger, Jr. A.H., 1994. Atlas of Shoreline Changes in Louisiana
from 1853 to 1989. US Geological Survey and Louisiana State University, Reston, VA, Miscellaneous Investigation Series I-2150-A, pp. 103, with
permission from US Survey.
 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts 161

Moslow, 1982). This phenomenon maintains a relatively Wangerooge

consistent lagoon depth relative to width in a regime of stable Spiekeroog
sea level or constant sea-level rise, with a few exceptions where N
a surplus or deficit of sediment results in lagoonal infilling or Langoog

Har
deepening, respectively (Nichols, 1989; Wells and Kim, 1989).

Otz

le
Accelerated sea-level rise rates, barrier island sediment man-

um
agement and dune stabilization efforts, and anthropogenic

er B
alterations to watershed hydrology that affect sediment yield

alje
of streams have the potential to offset the balance between
sediment supply and sea-level rise in the future.

1650
0 5
10.7.8.2 Expanding and Shrinking Lagoons 1750
km
1860
Sedimentation changes in lagoonal systems and morpho- 1960
logical changes to lagoonal shorelines can strongly influence (a)
lagoon–coastal ocean tidal exchange, tidal prism, tidal inlet
dimensions, and coastal sedimentation patterns. 80 000 500

10.7.8.2.1 Expanding lagoons Total barrier island length

Lake Pelto, Louisiana, is an example of an expanding lagoon
that separates the Isles Dernieres barrier island chain from 60 000 450

Drainage area (km2)

the wetlands of the mainland Mississippi River delta plain
(Figure 5). These deltaic barrier islands represent a former
sandy mainland shoreline that became detached as subsidence- Legnth (m) 40 000 400
driven, rapid, relative sea-level rise resulted in submergence
and erosion of backbarrier wetlands (Penland et al., 1988).
Total drainage area
This mode of barrier island formation is an example of the
mainland-ridge detachment hypothesis proposed by Hoyt
20 000 350
(1967) for genesis of some mid-Atlantic coast barriers during
the slowing of late Holocene sea-level rise. In this regime of Total inlet width
rapid relative sea-level rise (approximately 9.2 mm a 1; Miner
et al., 2009b), lagoon development and expansion landward 0 300
of the coastal ridge is facilitated by erosion of semicontinuous (b) 1650 1750 1860 1960
bay shorelines to form a series of small marsh islands that
Figure 6 Friesian Islands historical changes illustrating (a) effects of
fringe the lagoon. As the marsh-fragment islands disappear,
poldering and lagoon filling (FitzGerald and Penland, 1987). Note the
fetch across the lagoon increases, which increases wave energy, easterly migration of the drainage divides (vertical lines) extending
accelerating lagoon expansion (Reed, 1989) and increasing the from barrier to mainland and (b) trends of decreasing lagoon area
depth of effective wave base. Lake Pelto has undergone ap- (drainage area) and subsequent decrease in inlet width and increase
proximately 350% increase in average width from approxi- in barrier length (FitzGerald et al., 1984). Reproduced from
mately 2 km in 1853 (McBride et al., 1992) to 7 km in 2009. FitzGerald, D.M., Penland, S., Nummedal, D., 1984. Control of barrier
To accommodate the increased tidal prism resulting from bay island shape by inlet sediment bypassing: East Friesian Islands, West
area expansion, multiple tidal inlets have formed along the Germany. Marine Geology 60, 355–376.
Isles Derniere shoreline; and between 1887 and 2006, the
combined tidal inlet throat width increased from 0.5 to 9 km, FitzGerald et al., 1984). The sand supply that was responsible
whereas barrier island area decreased by 62%. for lengthening the barriers came from a decrease in tidal
prism and attendant reduction in the size of the ebb-tidal
deltas. In a regime of accelerated sea-level rise, if rising waters
10.7.8.2.2 Shrinking lagoons
converted polders (land reclaimed from the sea) back into
The Friesian Islands along the southern North Sea coast con-
intertidal flats, the barrier chain would revert to its former
tain a backbarrier that has a high tide, wide lagoon that drains
morphology as a consequence of the increased tidal prism
at low tide to expose an extensive system of channels and tidal
(FitzGerald et al., 2004). This example demonstrates that la-
flats. During a 310-year period between 1650 and 1960, the
goonal systems can exert strong controls on sedimentation
lagoonal area decreased by 30% (149 km2), mainly because of
patterns along barrier island chains.
land reclamation of tidal flat areas along the landward sides of
the barriers and along the mainland shore (Figure 6(a);
FitzGerald and Penland, 1987). Secondary losses were attrib-
10.7.8.3 Lagoon hydrodynamics
uted to recurved spit extension into the backbarrier. These
processes resulted in a reduction of the tidal prism and a co- It should be recognized that once a barrier and lagoon system
incident narrowing of the tidal inlets by 52% (11 km) and a are formed, there is a period of adjustment for a length that
lengthening of the barriers by 29% (14 km; Figure 6(b); depends on the hydrodynamics of the tidal inlets. For
162 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts

1200 2000
Land loss 1935−2000
1000 1990

Land loss (km2)

800
1978 16.3 Average
600 rates
28.4 land loss
400
(km2 yr–1)
1956
200
1935 19.4
0
8.0
40
35
30
Sea-level rise (cm)

25
20
15
10
5
0
−5 Relative sea-level rise 1947−2006
−10
(a) 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year

1880s
1930s
1980s
2006 North 3.5 m
Quatre bayou pass
5
Caminada pass Pass abel
0 7m

−5

−10 5 m Contour -1980s

−15
0 200 400 600 800 Barataria pass 10.5 m
0
Barataria pass

−5
5 m Contour-1930s
−10

−15
Caminad pass 0 1 2 3 4 5 km

−20
0 200 400 600 800
5 5
Pass abel Quatre bayou pass
0 0

−5 −5

−10 −10

−15 −15

−20 −20
0

00

00

00

0
00
0

00

00

00

00

00

00

20

40

60

80

0
20

40

60

80

(b)
10

12

14

16

18
10

12

14

16

18

20

22

Figure 7 Historical changes in Barataria Bay showing trends in: (a) land loss and relative sea-level rise and (b) increasing dimensions of the
tidal inlets and size of the ebb-tidal deltas. Reproduced from FitzGerald, D.M., Kulp, M.A., Huges, Z., Georgiou, I., Miner, M.D., Penland, S.,
Howes, N., 2007. Impacts of rising sea level to backbarrier wetlands, tidal inlets, and barrier islands: Barataria Coast, Louisiana. Coastal
Sediments ’07. Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes. May 13–17,
2007. New Orleans, LA, pp. 1179–1192.
 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts
example, along the Virginia and southern New Jersey coasts,
Lucke (1934) proposed that lagoonal infilling was caused by
the import of sediment through tidal inlets, resulting in tidal
shoal development and eventually the establishment of salt
marshes (Redfield, 1965). The preferential disposition of
marsh islands and other marsh areas proximate to tidal inlets
and the presence of open water areas behind the middle of
barriers and distant from the inlets are consistent with this
theory.
The shallow depth and expansive nature of some lagoons
(e.g., Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, North Carolina, NC;
Texas lagoons; barriers and lagoon system associated with the
Copper River Delta; Barataria Bay, Louisiana, LA) lead to fac-
tors, in addition to tides, that dictate circulation, including the
influence of winds, wave setup, and freshwater influx (Kjerfve
and Knoppers, 1991). For example, circulation in lagoons
along the central coast of Texas is forced by a tidal range of less
than 0.3 m. Consequently, currents in these lagoons are
commonly dominated by the passage of frontal systems that
generated northeasterly winds and net westerly flow. Fisher
et al. (1972) explained the position of tidal inlets at the
western end of lagoons as a consequence of this event
circulation.
The East Friesian Islands environments are dominated by
strong prevailing winds that blow from the westerly quadrant.
These winds generate a longshore transport system that has
resulted in a long-term, easterly migration of the tidal inlets.
Likewise, these westerly winds produce a net easterly flow of
water and net easterly movement of fine-grained sediment in
the lagoon. This has resulted in an easterly migration of the
drainage divides (see Figure 6(a); FitzGerald and Penland,
1987).
10.7.9 Lagoon Inlet Response to Sea-Level Rise
The historical development of Barataria Bay in Louisiana il-
lustrates how a tidal inlet and barrier system have responded
to rapid sea-level rise. Subsidence-driven sea-level rise of al-
most a meter per century (Penland and Ramsey, 1990; Miner
et al., 2009b) in this region, combined with a number of other
erosional processes, has produced long-term (4125 years)
conversion of wetlands to open water (8–28.4 km2 year 1;
Figure 7(a)). Wetland loss has steadily increased tidal ex-
change between Barataria Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, re-
sulting in a larger inlet tidal prism. Two direct consequences of
the increasing tidal discharge are the enlarging tidal inlet
geometry and growth of ebb-tidal delta shoals (Figure 7(b);
List et al., 1997; FitzGerald et al., 2004). During this period of
record, the cumulative inlet cross sections have more quad-
rupled in size, coincident with the formation of a new inlet
(Pass Abel) and drastic increases in size of Caminada and
Quatre Bayou Inlets (Table 1).
10.7.10 Conclusions
It is clear that understanding the dynamics and evolution of
coastal inlets and lagoons is important for the long-term
management of the associated coastal environments. For
163
Table 1 Inlet cross-sectional area (m2)
Year Abel Barataria Caminada Quatre Bayou Total X-sect area
1880 0 4304 809 133 5246
1930 395 6271 1353 2590 10 609
1980 4193 7182 1532 3777 16 684
2006 6669 7374 3372 6726 24 141
example, the control of inlet locations and depth through the
construction of jetties can reduce navigation hazards, but at
the same time introduce deleterious sediment budget changes
to adjacent beach and dune systems. Land-use changes can
impact the magnitude of tidal prisms and make previously
stable inlet system unstable so that they may close, migrate, or
enlarge. Because coastal barrier systems around the world are
often sites of intensive human development, such instabilities
are commonly threats to resources. For these reasons alone,
continued research to improve our ability to predict and
control inlets should remain a priority.
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Panel on Scoping Field and Laboratory Investigations in Coastal Inlet Research.
Special Issue No. 23, Coastal Education & Research Foundation, Inc., Fort
Lauderdale, FL, USA, pp. 47–71.
FitzGerald, D.M., Kraus, N.C., Hands, E.B., 2001. Natural Mechanisms of Sediment
Bypassing at Tidal Inlets. ERDC/CHL, US Army Engineer Research and
Development Center, Vicksburg, MS, 10 pp.
FitzGerald, D.M., Kulp, M.A., Huges, Z., Georgiou, I., Miner, M.D., Penland, S.,
Howes, N., 2007. Impacts of rising sea level to backbarrier wetlands, tidal inlets,
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and stratigraphic evolution of ebb-tidal deltas along a subsiding coast: Barataria
Bay, Mississippi River delta. Sedimentology 15, 1125–1148.
FitzGerald, D.M., Penland, S., 1987. Backbarrier dynamics of the East Friesian
Island. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 57, 746–754.
FitzGerald, D.M., Penland, S., Nummedal, D., 1984. Control of barrier island shape
by inlet sediment bypassing: East Friesian Islands, West Germany. Marine
Geology 60, 355–376.
Gaudiano, D.J., Kana, T.W., 2001. Shoal bypassing in mixed energy inlets:
geomorphic variables and empirical predictions for nine South Carolina inlets.
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Halsey, S., 1979. Nexius: a new model of barrier island development.
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Hayes, M.O., 1975. Morphology of sand accumulations in estuaries. In: Cronin,
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Hoyt, J.H., 1967. Barrier island formation. Geological Society of America Bulletin
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Kulp, M.A., FitzGerald, D., Penland, S., et al., 2006. Stratigraphic architecture of a
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Kulp, M.A., Miner, M.D., FitzGerald, D.M., 2007. Subsurface controls on
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Lucke, J.B., 1934. A theory of evolution of lagoon deposits on shorelines of
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Miner, M.D., Kulp, M.A., FitzGerald, D.M., Flocks, J.G., Weathers, H.D., 2009b.
Delta lobe degradation and hurricane impacts governing large scale coastal
behavior, South-central Louisiana, USA. Geo-Marine Letters 29, 441–453.
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associated ebb-tidal delta sediment dynamics. Geology 37, 851–854.
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Penland, S., Ramsey, K.E., 1990. Relative sea-level rise in Louisiana and the Gulf of
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Reed, D.J., 1989. The role of salt marsh erosion in barrier island evolution and
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Siringan, F.P., Anderson, J.B., 1993. Seismic facies, architecture, and evolution of
the Bolivar Roads tidal inlet/delta complex, East Texas Gulf Coast. Journal of
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Stauble, D.K., Cialone, M.A., 1996. Ebb shoal evolution and sediment management
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Louisiana from 1853 to 1989. US Geological Survey and Louisiana State
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 Tidal Inlets and Lagoons along Siliciclastic Barrier Coasts 165

Biographical Sketch

Duncan FitzGerald is a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences with an expertise in coastal processes,
stratigraphy, and morphodynamics. He received his Masters in Geological Oceanography at Texas A&M University
and his PhD in Geology at the University of South Carolina, USA. He is a marine geologist who studies sediment
exchange, hydrodynamics, and coastal evolution of marshes, estuaries, river deltas, barrier islands, and tidal inlets.
His three major research themes are presently focused on coastal response to accelerating sea-level rise, impact of
major storms along the Louisiana coast, and climatic and oceanographic controls on strand plain development in
Brazil. His textbook on coastal geology is used both nationally and internationally. He is a Fellow of the
Geological Society of America and has received numerous teaching awards at Boston University, MA, USA.

Mike Miner received a BS and MS in geology from the University of Mississippi and his doctorate at the University
of New Orleans (UNO). He held a post-doctoral position at the UNO Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental
Sciences from 2007 to 2010 and began to work for the US Department of Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM) in March 2010. Dr. Miner’s research over the past decade has focused on coastal and shelf
geomorphic evolution and sediment dynamics, coastal response to hurricanes and sea-level rise, and deltaic
evolution with applications to improving coastal management strategies. Mike works in the BOEM Gulf of Mexico
Region Marine Minerals Program which is located in New Orleans, Louisiana and manages Federal offshore sand
and gravel resources for beach nourishment and barrier island ecosystem restoration projects. He also holds an
adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UNO.
 10.8 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
RA McBride, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
JB Anderson, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
IV Buynevich, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
W Cleary, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
MS Fenster, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA, USA
DM FitzGerald, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
MS Harris, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA
CJ Hein, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
AHF Klein, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
B Liu, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
JT de Menezes, Laboratory of Geoprocessing and Remote Sensing, Itajaı́, SC, Brazil
M Pejrup, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
SR Riggs, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
AD Short, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
GW Stonew, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
DJ Wallace, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
P Wang, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.8.1 Introduction 174

10.8.2 Trailing-Edge Coasts 177
10.8.2.1 Barrier Systems along the New England Coast, United States (Paraglacial) 177
10.8.2.1.1 Geologic setting 177
10.8.2.1.2 New classification of paraglacial barriers: the New England prototype 178
10.8.2.1.3 Recent advances and future directions 179
10.12.2.2 Barrier Systems along Mid-Atlantic Bight, United States: Cape Charles, Virginia to Montauk Point,
New York 180
10.8.2.2.1 Geologic setting 180
10.8.2.2.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes 181
10.8.2.2.2.1 Primary geomorphic units of the Mid-Atlantic Bight coast 181
10.8.2.2.2.2 Classic studies of barrier systems of Mid-Atlantic Bight 183
10.8.2.2.5 Quantitative overview of wave energy, tides, currents, weather, storms, and predominant wind directions 183
10.8.2.2.6 Synthesis of regional morphodynamics, shoreline change, and barrier-system evolution 184
10.8.2.2.7 Current and future research, developments, and issues for Mid-Atlantic Bight 185
10.8.2.3 Geologic Framework of North Carolina’s Barrier Island Systems, United States 186
10.8.2.3.1 Geologic setting 186
10.8.2.3.2 Types of North Carolina barrier systems 188
10.8.2.3.3 Human modification and natural process on the barrier systems 189
10.8.2.3.4 Future research directions 189
10.8.2.4 Barrier Systems along the Georgia Bight, United States: Cape Fear, North Carolina to Cape Canaveral,
Florida 189
10.8.2.4.1 Geologic setting 190
10.8.2.4.2 Coastal geomorphology, processes, and dynamics 190
10.8.2.4.2.1 Primary geomorphic zones 190
10.8.2.4.2.2 Classic studies 191
10.8.2.4.2.3 Physical processes 191
10.8.2.4.2.4 Regional morphodynamics, shoreline change, and barrier-system evolution 192
10.8.2.4.3 Research, developments, and issues 192
10.8.2.5 Barrier Systems along the Florida Atlantic Coast, United States 192
10.8.2.5.1 Geologic setting 192

McBride, R.A., Anderson, J.B., Buynevich, I.V., et al., 2013.

Morphodynamics of barrier systems: a synthesis. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in
Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press,
San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal and Submarine Geomorphology,
pp. 166–244.

w
Deceased.

166 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00279-7

 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 167

10.8.2.5.2 Barrier-island morphodynamics 193

10.8.2.5.3 Future research 195
10.8.2.6 Barrier Systems of the Santa Catarina Coast, Southeastern Brazil 195
10.8.2.6.1 Geologic setting 195
10.8.2.6.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes 198
10.8.2.6.2.1 Coastal setting 198
10.8.2.6.2.2 Geomorphic units 199
10.12.2.6.3 Research along the Santa Catarina coast 199
10.8.2.6.4 Future research directions 199
10.8.2.7 Barrier Systems along the Wadden Sea: European North Sea Coast (German Bight) 201
10.8.2.7.1 Geologic setting 201
10.8.2.7.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes 202
10.8.2.7.3 Significant current research developments 203
10.8.2.7.4 Future research directions 203
10.8.2.8 Australian Barrier Systems 204
10.8.2.8.1 Geologic setting 204
10.8.2.8.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes 205
10.8.2.8.3 Barrier research 205
10.8.2.8.4 Future directions for research 207
10.8.3 Marginal Sea Coasts 207
10.8.3.1 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems along the Gulf of Mexico Coast of Florida, United States: Sanibel
Island to Perdido Pass, Florida 207
10.8.3.1.1 Geologic setting 207
10.8.3.1.2 Barrier-island morphodynamics 209
10.8.3.1.3 Future research 211
10.8.3.2 Barrier Systems along the North-Central Gulf of Mexico Coast, United States: Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana 211
10.8.3.2.1 Geologic setting 213
10.8.3.2.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes 214
10.8.3.2.2.1 Louisiana barrier systems 214
10.8.3.2.2.1.1 Isles Dernieres 214
10.8.3.2.2.1.2 Bayou Lafourche 215
10.8.3.2.2.1.3 Plaquemines 215
10.8.3.2.2.1.4 Chandeleur Islands 215
10.8.3.2.2.2 Inner-shelf shoals: submerged barrier systems 216
10.8.3.2.2.3 Mississippi barrier systems 216
10.8.3.2.2.3.1 Cat Island 216
10.8.3.2.2.3.2 Ship Island 217
10.8.3.2.2.3.3 Horn Island 217
10.8.3.2.2.3.4 Petit Bois Island 217
10.8.3.2.2.4 Alabama barrier systems 217
10.8.3.2.3 Significant current research, developments, and issues 217
10.8.3.2.4 Future research directions 217
10.8.3.3 Barrier Systems along Northwest Gulf of Mexico Coast, United States: Texas 217
10.8.3.3.1 Geologic setting 217
10.8.3.3.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes 218
10.8.3.3.2.1 Geographic zones 218
10.8.3.3.2.2 Classic studies 218
10.8.3.3.2.3 Coastal processes 218
10.8.3.3.2.4 Regional morphodynamics, shoreline change, and barrier-island evolution 218
10.8.3.3.3 Current research 218
10.8.3.3.4 Future work 220
10.8.4 Collision Coasts 220
10.8.4.1 Barrier Systems along the Gulf of Alaska, Pacific Ocean 221
10.8.4.1.1 Geologic setting 221
10.8.4.1.2 Coastal geomorphology and barriers 222
10.8.4.1.3 Significant current research and future developments 224
10.8.4.2 New Zealand Barrier Systems 224
10.8.4.2.1 Geologic setting 225
10.8.4.2.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes 225
168 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
10.8.4.2.3 Significant current research
10.8.4.2.4 Future research
10.8.5 Migration and Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: Primary Factors
10.8.6 Future Research Directions and Suggestions
Acknowledgements
References
Glossary
Afro-trailing-edge coast Coast defining a passive
continental margin that faces a divergent boundary but the
opposite side of the continent is also a passive margin
where that coast also faces a divergent boundary (e.g., east
and west coasts of Africa and Greenland). See Inman and
Nordstrom (1971).
Aggradation The process of vertical upward-building
sediment deposition.
Aggrading barrier island or system Where sediment
supply and relative sea-level rise are in equilibrium,
enabling the barrier system and each sedimentary
environment within the system to build vertically.
Amero-trailing-edge coast Coast defining a passive
continental margin that faces a divergent boundary (e.g.,
east coast of North and South America) but the opposite
side of the continent is a collision coast. (See Inman and
Nordstrom, 1971.)
Annual landfall probability The time-averaged
representation of hurricane impacts over a year, expressed as
a percentage (i.e., number of hurricane events divided by
years multiplied by 100).
Apogee When the Moon is furthest from the Earth during
the Moon’s monthly elliptical orbit around the Earth, which
causes a decrease in the gravitational pull between the two
planetary bodies. Consequently, tidal range is decreased.
Apogee occurs every 27.6 days.
Asthenosphere Ductile layer in the upper mantle of the
Earth that extends from the base of the lithosphere
(B80–100 km into the Earth’s interior) to a depth of about
700 km. The asthenosphere is ductile because of partial
melting.
Backshore Landward portion of the beach that extends
from the berm crest (or mean high tide) to the base of the
dunes, cliff face, or vegetation if dunes are not present. This
portion of the beach is covered by water only during storms
and exceptionally high spring tides.
Barrier A shore-parallel, long-term accumulation of
wave-, wind-, and/or tide-deposited sediments and/or
organic matter that rises above the high-tide level and is
separated from the mainland by a brackish water body
(e.g., bay or estuary), salt marsh, or change in landform or
lithology. Barriers derive their name from the protection
they afford the mainland from coastal storms and
sea-level rise.
Barrier chronology The reconstruction of barrier
evolution on the basis of age dating of samples from barrier
stratigraphic units.
Barrier island The subaerial expression of an
accumulation of wave-, wind-, and/or tide-deposited
225
225
225
227
228
228
sediments between two active tidal inlets and this sediment
accumulation (barrier island) lies between the shoreface
and the back-barrier estuary (Oertel, 1985). For a littoral
sand body to be designated a barrier island, six required
sedimentary environments must be present: (1) mainland,
(2) back-barrier estuary, (3) tidal inlets and tidal-inlet
deltas, (4) barrier island, (5) barrier platform, and
(6) shoreface (modified from Oertel, 1985).
Barrier morphodynamics The combination of and
interaction among all processes (dynamics) such as
substrate gradient, sediment supply, waves, tides, wind,
vegetation, relative sea level, and tectonics that combine to
control the response and shape (morphology) of a barrier
system.
Barrier morphostratigraphy The internal structure of a
barrier system, including the nature and arrangement of the
major sedimentary units.
Barrier spit Elongated, wave-built accumulation of sand
that is built laterally through longshore sediment transport
and is attached on one end to a mainland coast.
Barrier system A more inclusive term than a ‘barrier-
island system’ (see below). A chain of barrier islands and
spits along an open-ocean coast, composed of several
distinct islands.
Barrier-island evolution The response of barrier
islands (aggradation, regression, and transgression) to
coastal-change forcing mechanisms (e.g., relative sea-level
changes, sediment supply variations, hurricane
impacts, etc.).
Barrier-island platform The coastal plain landscape
across which a barrier-island complex migrates during
marine transgression. Often, the platform is not flat, but
rather incised by rivers, creeks, and tidal channels before the
arrival of the barrier island on its landward retreat.
Barrier-island system A major coastal system composed
of six required interactive sedimentary environments: (1)
mainland, (2) back-barrier estuary, (3) tidal inlets and tidal-
inlet deltas, (4) barrier island, (5) barrier platform, and (6)
shoreface (modified from Oertel, 1985). See the term
‘barrier island’.
Bay (Basin) hypsometry The vertical distribution of bay
surface area with height (Boon and Byrne, 1981). Often
defined by the ‘hypsometric (area to height) relationship’
among the basin area lying above a given elevation contour,
the maximum basin area and the height interval
between peak and minimum basin elevation (see Strahler,
1952).
Bayhead delta A depositional landform formed by river
discharge and sediment progradation into the head of a bay
or estuary (e.g., Atchafalaya delta).

Beach ridge The clastic sand and/or gravel ridges – often
regressive and containing shell fragments – that are built
primarily by wave processes, such as the emergence and
growth of longshore bars during constructional wave
activity, or the erosion of the lower beach and deposition by
wave swash along the upper beach during storms. Low areas
between ridges are called swales.
Berm A low impermanent, nearly horizontal or landward-
sloping bench on the backshore of a beach formed of
sediment and/or material deposited by storm waves or
spring high tides. Some beaches have one or more berms
whereas others have none.
Berm crest The seaward or outer limit or edge, and
generally the highest elevation of a berm on a beach. The
crest of the most seaward berm demarcates the boundary
between the foreshore and the backshore.
Bight A large embayment or indentation along the coast
(e.g., Georgia Bight, German Bight, Mid-Atlantic Bight).
A bight is commonly characterized by a funnel shape and
wider continental shelf that may result in the amplification of
tidal range toward the apex of the embayment. In response to
the increasing tidal range, barrier-island morphology tends to
evolve from wave-dominated to tide-dominated toward the
apex.
Central Texas coast Matagorda Peninsula, Matagorda
Island, St. Joseph Island, Mustang Island, and North Padre
Island.
Chenier An isolated transgressive sandy and/or shelly
ridge with progradational littoral mudflat deposits both
landward and seaward of the ridge. (See Hoyt, 1969; Otvos
and Price, 1979; McBride et al., 2007.)
Coastal plain The low terrestrial platform on a
continental margin adjacent to the ocean that extends
inland to 200 m or 300 m elevation and represents the
accumulation of materials from the erosion of interior
highlands.
Collision coast A coast that faces offshore trenches (see
Inman and Nordstrom, 1971), where oceanic crust is
subducted into the asthenosphere as the result of two
lithospheric plates colliding. Subduction below a continent
(oceanic–continental collision) is classified as a continental
collision coast (e.g., western coast of South America,
northwest coast of the United States), and subduction
below an island arc (oceanic–oceanic collision) is classified
as an island–arc collision coast (e.g., Aleutian Islands,
Japanese Islands, and New Zealand).
Complex barrier islands Sediment-rich barrier islands
characterized by abundant sand supply that build high and
wide barrier segments dominated by beach ridge-swale
features, back-barrier dune fields, and maritime forests, all
which represent multiple evolutionary stages of development.
Continental shelf The shallow, seaward-sloping platform
that is part of the continent (granitic crust) that extends
from the modern shoreline to the shelf break at
approximately 120 m water depth.
Copper River Delta A ‘marine-dominated fan-delta’
(Galloway, 1976) or ‘mixed-energy delta’ (Hayes and Ruby,
1994) located at the mouth of the Copper River, Gulf of
Alaska, USA. It first formed following the breach of an
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 169
upstream ice dam at ca. 9 ka and is now the site of the
longest barrier chain in the Gulf of Alaska. The delta
stretches along 75 km of the Gulf of Alaska coastline,
extends offshore to a depth of 50 m, covers an area of about
2000 km2 (Thilenius, 1990), is up to 180 m thick, and
contains approximately 446 km3 of sediment (Reimnitz,
1966).
Cuspate embayments Geomorphic coastal bays that are
defined by the cape structures and associated cape shoal
deposits, which are extensive, shore-perpendicular, shallow
sand shoals that extend seaward across the continental shelf
and include Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras, NC;
Lookout Shoals off Cape Lookout, NC; and Frying Pan
Shoals off Cape Fear, NC.
Delta plain Landward portion of a delta that contains
subaqueous and subaerial environments such as
distributary channels, natural levees, back swamps, crevasse
splays, and interdistributary bays, and that extends from the
low-tide line landward to the most-upstream distributary.
Diurnal tides One high and one low tide during a lunar
day (24 h and 50 m).
Divergent boundary Zone along which two lithospheric
plates diverge (e.g., mid-oceanic ridge or rise) because of
seafloor spreading. New oceanic crust (basaltic) is formed at
divergent boundaries.
Drumlin Elongated teardrop or whale-shaped hill ranging
from 10 to 50 m in height formed by the movement of
glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or
ground moraine or bedrock, with the steep side commonly
facing up-glacier.
Drumstick barrier island A mixed-energy, tide-
dominated barrier island that has a shape of a chicken
drumstick (wide, meaty end and thin, boney end) when
viewed from above (i.e., plan view). Good examples are
found along the outer barrier-island coasts of South
Carolina, Georgia, southern Delmarva Peninsula, and
southern New Jersey.
East Texas coast Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston Island, and
Follets Island. Also known as the Upper Texas coast.
Ebb-tidal current Tidal current associated with the falling
tide and usually flowing seaward out of an estuary or
tidal inlet.
Ebb-tidal delta Arcuate to elongate-shaped shoal on the
seaward side of an active tidal inlet. Formed by ebb-tidal
currents and modified by waves and flood-tidal currents
(see Hayes, 1980).
Estuary A semi-enclosed coastal body of water that
extends landward to the effective limit of tidal influence and
within which seawater enters from one or more free
connections with the open sea and is diluted by freshwater
derived from land drainage (e.g., Delaware Bay; Chesapeake
Bay; Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, North Carolina;
Mobile Bay, Alabama).
Eustatic sea-level change Worldwide change in sea level
resulting from a change in the volume of the oceans or the
size of the ocean basins.
Extratropical storm Mid- to high-latitude cold-core
cyclones (see also northeaster) that occur along frontal
boundaries during late fall, winter, and early spring.
170 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
Fetch Distance the wind blows over open water.
Flandrian European climatostratigraphic stage
(interglacial) that covers the period from around 12 000
years ago, at the end of the last glacial period, to the present
day. Flandrian is first and only stage of the Holocene
epoch.
Flood-tidal current Tidal current associated with the
rising tide and usually flowing landward into an estuary or
tidal inlet.
Flood-tidal delta Horseshoe to multilobate-shaped sand
shoal located landward of a tidal inlet, formed by flood-
tidal currents, and modified by ebb-tidal currents (see
Hayes, 1980). Some flood-tidal deltas are a product of
storm processes.
Forced regression Seaward translation of the coastline in
response to relative sea-level fall, irrespective of sediment
supply. Results in erosion of nonmarine and shallow
marine environments adjacent to the coastline; resulting
sedimentary deposits (including ‘strandplains’) display
progradational and downstepping stacking patterns
(Posamentier et al., 1992).
Foredune A sand dune located immediately landward
of the beach-backshore area and oriented parallel
or near parallel to the shoreline. The first or foremost
dune also known as the fore dune ridge or primary
dune.
Foreshore The intertidal portion of the beach that
extends from the low-tide line to the landward change in
slope, usually the berm crest. Also referred to as the
forebeach or beach face. Includes the swash zone, the
part of the foreshore over which the waves uprush and
backrush.
Georgia Bight Geographic area between Cape Hatteras,
NC, and Cape Canaveral, FL that forms a large coastal
embayment that is dominated by barrier islands.
German Bight Geographic area along the Dutch, German,
and Danish coasts that forms a large coastal embayment
that is dominated by barrier islands (Frisian and North
Frisian Islands).
Glacioisostacy Lithospheric depression or rebound due
to the weight or melting of glacier ice.
Good Friday Earthquake Also known as the ‘Great
Alaskan Earthquake’ and ‘Portage Earthquake’; a 9.2
magnitude megathrust earthquake epicentered near College
Fjord, 20 km north of Prince William Sound (Gulf of
Alaska) on 27 March 1964. It was caused by rupture of the
fault zone joining the Pacific and North American plates.
Vertical displacement ranged from  2.3 to þ11.5 m. It is
the second largest earthquake ever recorded and, combined
with the subsequent tsunami and mudslides, was
responsible for the death of nearly 150 people and for $311
million in property loss.
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) A shallow-subsurface-
imaging technique that employs pulses of electromagnetic
waves in the VHF to UHF (ca. 20–1000 MHz) radar
frequency range. Reflections of the radar wave are
produced when they strike buried objects or the boundary
of sedimentological units with different electrical
properties.
Headland beach Narrow beach dominated by older
sediment or rock units in the shoreface or outcropping on
the beach. Headland beaches occur along the mainland
interfluves between river valleys and generally have minimal
sand available, resulting in thin, narrow sand beaches
perched on older sediments or rocks.
Holocene epoch The most recent subunit of time within
the Quaternary Period that extends from 10 kya to present
and is an interglacial period.
Hurricane Tropical cyclonic storm with wind velocities
exceeding 117 kmh1 (74 mph). The term is used for storms
occurring in the North Atlantic, whereas the terms typhoon
and tropical cyclone are typically used in the western Pacific
and Australia/Indian Ocean, respectively. Winds rotate
around a low-pressure center (i.e., eye), counterclockwise in
the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere.
Inlet throat The narrowest, deepest part of the main
channel of a tidal inlet, where tidal currents typically reach
their maximum velocity.
Isostasy The vertical movement of land on a local to
regional basis. Crustal loading, as by ice (glacioisostasy),
water (hydroisostasy), sediments (lithoisostasy), or volcanic
flows leads to isostatic depression or downwarping or
subsidence, whereas removal of load leads to isostatic uplift
or rebound or upwarping.
Last glacial maximum (LGM) When glacial ice on the
Earth was at its peak, approximately 21–18 kya. Global sea
levels were low, continental shelves were subaerially
exposed, and the coastal regions were tens to hundreds of
kilometers seaward of their current position located near
the continental shelf break.
Lithosphere Outer rigid shell of the Earth, typically
80–100 km thick, consisting of oceanic crust (basalt),
continental crust (granitic), and the rigid upper portion of
the mantle.
Lithospheric plates The outer rigid shell of the Earth that
extends from the surface to depths of 80–100 km and is
broken up into 12–14 medium- to large-sized lithospheric
plates (e.g., North American, South American, Pacific, Juan
de Fuca, Nazca, Cocos, Eurasian, African, Indian-Australian,
and Antarctic). These plates are dynamic and move at rates
ranging from 1 to 18 cm yr1.
Littoral drift Sediment that has been transported in the
nearshore zone by the longshore current. Littoral drift is
the sediment that has been moved, not the process of
movement. The process is called longshore sediment
transport.
Longshore bar Shore-parallel sand bar in the nearshore
zone that is formed by wave processes.
Longshore current Shore-parallel current in the
nearshore zone that is produced by waves approaching and
breaking on a beach obliquely.
Longshore current convergence zone Offshore
Central Texas coast (south of Mustang Island) where the
nearshore and offshore coastal wind-driven oceanographic
currents converge (Lohse, 1955; Curray, 1960; Morton,
1979) and deliver sediment (Curray, 1960; Watson,
1971).

Longshore sediment transport The process of shore-
parallel sediment movement along the coast in the surf and
breaker zones by wave suspension and the longshore
current.
Macrotidal range Tidal range greater than 4 m.
Marginal sea coasts Continental or mainland coast (e.g.,
northern Gulf of Mexico coast, mainland coast of eastern
Eurasia, Bering sea coast) that faces the backside of a
volcanic island arc (Outer Antilles, Japanese Islands,
Aleutian Islands) and for which a marginal sea or gulf
separates the two (e.g., Gulf of Mexico, South China Sea,
Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea). See Inman and Nordstrom
(1971).
Mesotidal range Tidal range between 2 and 4 m.
Meteorological tides Water-level fluctuations caused by
winds or changes in barometric pressure instead of
astronomical factors. Also known as wind tides.
Microtidal range Tidal range less than 2 m.
Mid-Holocene highstand The maximum elevation of sea
level reached during the Holocene, noted throughout the
Southern Hemisphere and in some equatorial regions (Isla,
1989; Roy et al., 1994; Angulo and Lessa, 1997; Angulo
et al., 2006). Occurred as a consequence of global
hydroisostasy: collapsing forebulges in previously glaciated
continental margins (the ‘near field’) during the mid-
Holocene created accommodation space that siphoned
water from ‘far-field’ (generally southern ocean) regions
(Mitrovica and Milne, 2002). Additional accommodation in
the near field was created by hydroisostatic loading of the
coastal oceanic crust, thus accounting for an additional
40% of sea-level fall in far-field regions (Milne et al., 2005).
Along the southern Brazil coast, mean sea level reached
2–4 m above present at ca. 5.8 ka (Angulo et al., 2006).
Mixed-energy coast A coast in which the morphology has
developed through a relative balance in tidal energy and
wave energy. Mixed-energy coasts can be subdivided into
tide-dominated and wave-dominated types.
Mixed-energy, tide-dominated barrier system Where
tidal energy dominates over wave energy, resulting in
barrier-island morphology that is characterized by shorter
barrier islands and an increase in the number of active tidal
inlets (see Hayes, 1980, 1994a, 1994b; Davis and Hayes,
1984). The tidal inlets are typically characterized by large,
well-developed ebb-tidal deltas.
Mixed-energy, wave-dominated barrier system Where
wave energy dominates over tidal energy, resulting in
barrier-island morphology that is characterized by longer
barrier islands and a decrease in the number of active tidal
inlets (see Hayes, 1980; Davis and Hayes, 1984). The tidal
inlets are typically characterized by large, well-developed
flood-tidal deltas.
Moraine Any glacially formed accumulation of
unconsolidated glacial debris (soil and rock), which can
occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions,
such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum.
An end moraine forms along the ice front, with the terminal
end moraine delimiting the farthest extent of the ice sheet.
Neap tides Diminished tidal range along the coast that is
produced when the Earth, Moon, and Sun form a right
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 171
angle (quadrature), coinciding with first and third quarter
moons. During neap tides, tidal range is at a minimum
where the lowest high tide and highest low tide occur. Neap
tides occur every 14.7 days, a fortnight.
Neo-trailing-edge coast Coastlines along linear seas that
have been created by spreading zones (see Inman and
Nordstrom, 1971). These coasts face divergent boundaries
and are geologically young, such as those along the Red Sea
and Gulf of California. Neo-trailing-edge coasts tend to
look like collision coasts because they are so young and
immature.
Northeaster (Nor’easter) Type of extratropical cyclone
that tracks northward along the North American Atlantic
coast (USA and Canada) that produces strong winds and
waves from the northeast because of counterclockwise
rotation of winds around the low-pressure system.
Northern coastal zone (North Carolina) Northeastern
portion of North Carolina’s coastal system that is underlain
by thick sequences of Quaternary sediments that are
generally unconsolidated and thicken northward to fill the
subsiding Albemarle Embayment.
OSL dating (optical stimulated luminescence) After
deposition, quarts and feldspar mineral grains accumulate
energy in crystal defects. The amount of accumulated energy
is caused by radioactive decay in the sediment matrix and
the cosmic radiation, which is a function of burial time.
Trapped energy can be released by exposure to light and
from this energy release age may be estimated.
Outwash plain A broad, low-relief plain composed of
sediment (typically sand and fine gravel) deposited by
meltwater flowing as confluent alluvial fans that emerge
from multiple meltwater valleys at the terminus of a glacier.
Overwash The process where sediment is transported by
swash landward from the beach across a barrier system and is
deposited in an apron-like accumulation along the backside
of the barrier island or barrier spit. Overwash usually occurs
during storms when waves break through the frontal dune
ridge and flow landward toward the marsh or estuary.
Palimpsest Sedimentary features usually found on the
seafloor or estuarine bottom that were formed under a set of
conditions different than those that modified the features
subsequently and exhibit attributes of both an earlier
depositional environment and a later environment.
Pangaea Last supercontinent (single landmass) that
existed from about 260 to 200 mya, prior to the breakup
and drifting of the continents to their present geographic
positions.
Paraglacial Unstable condition caused by a significant
relaxation time in processes and geomorphic patterns
following glacial climates; landforms with morphology
and/or sediments inherited from glaciation.
Passive continental margin Type of continental margin
found in the middle of a lithospheric plate that was created
by the extension of crust and formation of an ocean basin
similar to the Atlantic Ocean (i.e., breakup of Pangaea). The
margin on either side of that basin is generally less active
tectonically than other continental margins (e.g., collision
coasts such as the US west coast), although earthquakes do
occur (e.g., Charleston, 1886; Mineral, VA 2011).
172 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
Perigee When the Moon is closest to the Earth during the
Moon’s monthly elliptical orbit around the Earth, which
causes an increase in the gravitational pull between the two
planetary bodies. Consequently, tidal range is amplified.
Perigee occurs every 27.6 days. Perigee is particularly
important when it coincides with syzygy (i.e., spring high
tides) and/or storm surge, which further raises water levels
(e.g., 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm along US Altantic coast).
Plate tectonics Theory regarding the dynamics of the
Earth’s surface, especially the lithosphere. The lithosphere is
broken into 12–14 medium- and large-sized plates that
move on the order of 1–18 cm yr1 because of convection
cells in the asthenosphere that drive seafloor spreading and
subduction. The theory explains earthquake activity, mid-
oceanic ridges, deep-sea trenches, mountain building,
volcanism, and the distribution of landmasses. The theory
of plate tectonics is the centerpiece of the disciplines of
geology and earth science.
Pleistocene epoch A subcomponent of the Quaternary
Period that extends from 1.64 mya to 10 kya and was
dominated by glaciations and interglacials.
Progradation The seaward movement of a shoreline
caused by the deposition of sediments (e.g., deltas).
Prograding barriers Type of barrier, barrier island, or
barrier system that builds seaward during its evolution
because of an abundant sediment supply. Barrier sands
typically are underlain by shoreface and shelf sediments,
thus forming a regressive succession.
Quadrature When the orientation of the Sun, Earth, and
Moon forms a 90-degree angle (1st or 3rd quarter Moons)
causing destructive gravitational effect or pull among the
celestial bodies that results in diminished tidal range (neap
tides) on Earth.
Quaternary Period The time of ice ages and major climate
shifts (glaciations and interglacials) on Earth defined as
lasting from 1.64 million years ago (mya) to the present time.
The Quaternary Period consists of two epochs: the Pleistocene
(1.64 to 10 kya) and the Holocene (10 kya to present).
Recurved spit A coastal geomorphic feature typically
characterized by curved beach ridges formed by longshore
sediment transport and deposition, and on which the end
of the spit is deflected landward by wave refraction or two
opposing currents.
Regression The seaward movement of a shoreline,
regardless of the forcing mechanisms (e.g., relative sea-level
changes, sediment budget variations, coastal processes,
storm impacts, etc.), as defined by Curray (1964).
Regressive barrier A barrier system that builds seaward,
usually marked by a series of beach and/or foredune ridges.
Relative sea level The net sea level along coasts as
determined by taking into consideration eustatic (global
ocean level) and isostatic (local to regional land changes)
processes and factors.
Relative sea-level rise A net rise in sea level as determined
by taking into consideration eustatic and isostatic factors.
Retrograding barrier Type of barrier, barrier island, or
barrier system that is topographically low in profile and that
moves landward primarily through overwash processes
during storms. Barrier sands typically are underlain by
marsh, estuarine, and mainland sediments, thus forming a
transgressive succession.
Saale The term applied in northern Europe to the third
classical glacial stage of the Pleistocene Epoch, after the
Elster glacial stage and before the Weichsel; equivalent to
the Riss and Illinoian glacial stages. Northern European
climatostratigraphic and floral stage.
Salt marshes in the Wadden Sea region Most of the
natural salt marshes in the Wadden Sea region have been
diked during the last 500 years, and only minor areas of
undiked salt marsh remain. Today, undiked salt marshes are
found on the lagoon side of the barrier islands and along
the mainland coast in front of the dikes.
Sand Sediment grains ranging in size between 0.0625 and
2.0 mm in size.
Sand dunes Mounds or ridges of sand and silt that are
transported and deposited by the wind and commonly
found landward of the beach usually forming a foredune or
transgressive dunes.
Sea Islands The stretch of shoreline characterized by short
barrier islands and numerous tidal inlets that extends from
Charleston Harbor Inlet, South Carolina to St. Johns River
mouth, Florida.
Sea-level highstand For the Quaternary Period, the
position of sea level during interglacials, when continental
ice sheets were smallest because of warmer global
temperatures and sea level reaching its highest elevations.
The Holocene epoch is an interglacial, so Earth is currently
experiencing a sea-level highstand.
Sea-level lowstand For the Quaternary Period, the
position of sea level during glaciations, when continental
ice sheets were largest because of colder global temperatures
and sea level reaching its lowest elevations (B–120 m
below present); these sea-level lowstands (i.e., shorelines)
were commonly located on the outer continental shelf near
the shelf break. The last sea-level lowstand occurred about
18 kya, during the height of the last glaciation (Wisconsin).
Sediment budget Quantitative analyses of sediment
inputs and outputs of a littoral cell and where sediment
sources and sinks are identified.
Semidiurnal tides Two high and two low tides during a
lunar day (24 h and 50 min).
Setdown A lowering of water level in the surf zone
because of offshore winds pushing ocean water away from a
shoreline (wind setdown) or lowering of the water level
during wave breaking (wave setdown).
Setup An increase in water level in the surf zone because
of onshore winds (wind setup), Ekman Transport, the
inverse barometric effect, and/or breaking waves (wave
setup) piling up water along a shoreline.
Shelf sediment Sediment derived from the inner
continental shelf. May be carbonate, siliceous, or a mixture
of the two.
Shoal bypassing Sediments that continue to move with
the littoral currents around the ebb-tidal delta and attach to
the shoreline downdrift of the tidal inlet (i.e., inlet
sediment bypassing).
Shoal retreat massifs Large sedimentary bodies that
developed during sea-level rise. Caused by the drowning

and reworking of large sand deposits located near the
mouths of large estuaries.
Shoreline change The time-averaged subaerial shoreline
movement or migration using shoreline positions from two
or more time periods such as the years 1887 versus 2012.
(Positive values typically indicate seaward movement or
migration, whereas negative values indicate landward
movement or migration.) Shoreline positions can be
measured from the high-water line or from a geomorphic
feature such as a berm crest.
Significant wave height The average height of the highest
one-third of waves in a given nearshore area.
Siliciclastic sediment Sedimentary particles derived from
the weathering and erosion of preexisting rock and
comprised primarily of silica-bearing minerals such as
quartz.
Simple barrier islands Sediment-poor barrier islands
characterized by minor sand supply that build low and
narrow simple barrier segments dominated by inlet- and
overwash-dynamics, all of which tend to be young relative
to complex barrier islands.
South Texas coast The geographic area of South Padre
Island.
Southern coastal zone (North Carolina) Southeastern
portion of North Carolina’s coastal system that is underlain
by rocks of Upper Cretaceous through Pliocene ages
with a thin and highly variable unit of Quaternary sand and
mud.
Spring tides Amplified tidal range along the coast that is
produced when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned
(syzygy), coinciding with new and full moons. During
spring tides, tidal range is at a maximum where the highest
high tide and lowest low tide occur. Spring tides occur every
14.7 days, a fortnight.
Storm surge Elevated water levels associated with
tropical and extratropical cyclones that are created by a
combination of strong onshore winds and low
barometric pressure. (i.e., domal effect). Storm surge
excludes the influence of wave heights and tidal
fluctuations.
Strandplain Broad accumulations of sediment formed in
parallel or semiparallel ridges oriented approximately
parallel to the coastline (Roy et al., 1994). Often lack tidal
lagoons, salt marshes, and incising tidal creeks; rather, they
are connected directly to the mainland, though they may
border estuaries whose creeks extend into the plain (Roy
et al., 1994).
Subduction A tectonic process where one lithospheric
plate is driven downward into the asthenosphere under
another plate because of density differences between the
two plates. Submarine trenches are created because of the
subduction process.
Syzygy When the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned in a
straight line (new or full Moon) causing a constructive
gravitational effect or pull among the celestial bodies that
results in the amplification of tidal range (spring tides) on
Earth.
Terrestrial sediment Sediment derived from the erosion
of land.
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 173
Tertiary The time period between the Age of Dinosaurs at
the end of the Cretaceous Period (65 million years ago) and
the start of the Pleistocene epoch and Quaternary Period
(1.64 million years ago).
The Wadden Sea A sea that extends 450 km
along the Dutch, German, and Danish North Sea coasts,
covering 10 000 km2, some 2000 km2 of which has 23
inhabited barrier islands and seven small vegetated islands,
as well as a number of major sand bodies without
vegetation.
Tidal inlet or entrance An opening or conduit along the
shoreline that allows water to flow directly between the
open ocean and estuary. The primary channel of the tidal
inlet is maintained by tidal currents.
Tidal prism The volume of water that is exchanged
through the inlet throat of a tidal inlet or entrance during
each half-tidal cycle (flood or ebb), excluding any
freshwater flow (e.g., rivers).
Tidal range The vertical distance between high tide and
low tide. Tidal range varies over a lunar month in response
to the different phases of the moon (i.e., new moon, first
quarter moon, full moon, third quarter moon). Spring tides
occur during new and full moons, and neap tides occur
during first and third quarter moons.
Tidal wave The bulge of water associated with tidal
propagation within an amphidromic system (e.g.,
counterclockwise rotation of the tidal wave in the Northern
Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern
Hemisphere). Term should not be confused with
tsunami.
Transgression The landward migration of a shoreline,
regardless of the forcing mechanisms (e.g., relative sea-level
changes, sediment budget variations, coastal processes,
storm impacts, etc.) as defined by Curray (1964).
Transgressive barriers A barrier system that moves
landward by overwash and/or aeolian processes.
Transgressive dunes Coastal dunes that move landward
usually in the form of blowouts, parabolics, or transverse
dunes.
Volcanic island arc Group of volcanic islands that are
characterized by a curvilinear pattern and are created in
response to the subduction of an oceanic plate beneath an
ocean plate (e.g., Aleutian Islands, Japanese Islands,
Philippines, Outer Antilles).
Wadden Sea wind climate Prevailing winds in the
Wadden Sea region are westerly, especially during autumn
and winter in connection with low-pressure systems moving
across the North Sea. Typical average annual wind speed for
the central part of the Wadden Sea is 8 m s1 along the
island coast and about 6.5 m s1 along the mainland
coast.
Wave base The depth to which the water column and
sediment are disturbed by the propagation of surface waves
across a water body. This depth is typically defined as equal
to half the wavelength.
Wave height The vertical distance between the wave crest
and the adjacent trough.
Wavelength The horizontal distance between two
adjacent wave crests or troughs.
174 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

Wave period The amount of elapsed time for two
successive wave crests to pass a stationary point.
Wave refraction The bending of an obliquely approaching
wave crest that results from differential changes in water
depth beneath the wave and, therefore, changes to the
celerity along the wave crest.
Wave-dominated barriers A coastal region where wave
energy dominates tidal energy, resulting in long, narrow
barrier-island systems characterized by few active tidal inlets
that have large, well-developed flood-tidal deltas (e.g.,
Outer Banks of North Carolina).
Weichsel The term applied in northern Europe to the
classical fourth and last glacial stage of the Pleistocene Epoch,
after the Saale glacial stage; equivalent to the Wurm and
Wisconsinan. European cold-climate paleofloral stage.
A number of sources were used to assist in the compilation
of the glossary including individual journal articles (as cited
in the individual definitions below), Encyclopedia of
Beaches and Coastal Environments (Schwartz, 1982),
Glossary of Geology (Neuendorf et al., 2005), Encyclopedia
of Coastal Science (Schwartz, 2005), and the textbook
entitled Beaches and Coasts (Davis and FitzGerald, 2004).

Abstract

The morphodynamics of open-ocean barrier systems (barrier islands, barrier spits, and mainland or headland beaches),
synthesizing classic studies, current scientific knowledge, and future research directions regarding a number of barrier
systems globally are reviewed. Within a coastal tectonic framework, the authors address: (1) Amero-trailing-edge coasts
(USA’s New England coast, mid-Atlantic Bight coast, North Carolina Outer Banks, Georgia Bight coast, and Florida Atlantic
coast; Brazil’s Santa Catarina coast; German Bight coast; and southern and western Australian coasts); (2) marginal-sea
coasts (USA’s Florida Gulf Coast; Gulf Coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana; Texas Gulf Coast; and eastern
Australian coast); and (3) collision coasts (USA’s Alaskan Pacific coast and New Zealand). Moreover, the chapter includes a
glossary and robust current set of references.

10.8.1 Introduction
Investigations of open-ocean barrier systems started about 165
years ago. Although nineteenth-century scientists de Beau-
mont (1845), Gilbert (1885), and McGee (1890) published
the first papers about the three possible modes of barrier-
island origins, it was not until the late 1960s that these coastal
depositional features jumped to the forefront of scientific
discourse, when the great debate about barrier-island genesis
unfolded as a series of discussion and reply articles in response
to Hoyt’s (1967) now-classic article, ‘barrier-island formation’
(Fisher, 1968; Hoyt, 1968, 1970; Otvos, 1970a, 1970b).
Debate regarding the three modes of barrier-island genesis
was resolved when Schwartz (1971) advocated a multiple
causality of barrier islands. Subsequent summaries of different
based on coastal type (e.g., coastal plain and delta), sediment
type, and chronology.
Many summaries of barrier-island distribution have been
published (Gierloff-Emden, 1961; Leontyev, 1965; Zenkovich,
1967; Glaeser, 1978; Henderson, 1989; Stutz and Pilkey, 2001,
2002; Pilkey, 2003; Stutz and Pilkey, 2011). On the basis of the
seminal work of Inman and Nordstrom (1971), Glaeser
(1978) developed the first comprehensive compilation
showing the distribution of barrier islands within a plate-
tectonic framework. It showed that the greatest abundance of
6
) ted

5
igh a

aspects of barrier-island processes, geology, migration, and

(h min

evolution are found in Schwartz (1973), Leatherman (1979a,

o

d
-d

w) ate
de

1981, 1987), Heward (1981), Fisher (1982), McCubbin

Mean tidal range (m)

(lo min

4
Ti

(1982), Nummedal (1983), Davis and Hayes (1984), Davis gy

o

er
-d

(1985), Boothroyd (1985), Kraft and Chrzastowski (1985), n

de

e
d- e)
Ti

Oertel and Leatherman (1985), Nummedal et al. (1987),

3 ixe (tid
M
Fletcher and Wehmiller (1992), Reinson (1992), Davis
(1994a), Short (1999), Woodroffe (2003), Davis and ergy
d-en
FitzGerald (2004), and Stutz and Pilkey (2011). 2 Mixe ave)
Regarding morphology, Hayes (1979) proposed a barrier- (w
island classification that was based on oceanographic pro-
cesses of mean wave height and mean tidal range and that 1 ted
mina
organized barrier coastlines into specific types: (1) wave- e-do
Wav
dominated; (2) mixed-energy, wave-dominated; (3) mixed-
energy, tide-dominated; and (4) tide-dominated (Figure 1). 0
Subsequently, Davis and Hayes (1984) and Hayes (1994a, 100 200
1994b) refined this classification. Other classification schemes Mean wave height (cm)
that emphasize different parameters also exist. McBride Figure 1 Coastal classification of barrier systems based on
et al. (1995) presented a geomorphic model that synthesized oceanographic processes (wave height, tidal range). Reproduced
barrier-island behavior using eight shoreline-response types from Davis, R.A., Kuhn, B.J., 1985. Origin and development of
(Figure 2), whereas Pilkey (2003) developed classifications Anclote Key, west-peninsular Florida. Marine Geology 63, 151–171.
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 175

Estuary

6 Headland
6
5 1
3 3

Inlet
Inlet
1 1
3 1 4 4
5 6 6
4 1
2 Ocean No scale implied
(a)

Rotational instability 8
Breakup 7
6
Bayside 5

7
Breach

7 7 5
3 6
7 Counterclockwise
(b) Seaside (c) 2 rotation

Key
Geomorphic response types Environments

1. Lateral movement Upland

Island breaching
2. Advance
Dune
3. Dynamic equilibrium
Shoreline movement vector
4. Retreat
Beach ridge
5. In-place narrowing Stable midpoint
6. Landward rollover
Beach Accretion
7. Breakup
Stable
8. Rotational instability Salt marsh Erosion

Figure 2 Vector representation of shoreline movement along barrier systems. (a) Generalized geomorphic response-type model. (b) Component
of model illustrating barrier evolution from in-place narrowing to breakup. (c) Another component of model depicting rotational instability. This
response type rotates either counterclockwise (as shown) or clockwise around a stable midpoint. Reproduced from McBride, R.A., Byrnes, M.R.,
1995. A megascale systems approach for shoreline change analysis and coastal management along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Gulf Coast
Association of Geological Societies Transactions 45, 405–414, with permission from BEG.

barrier islands occurs along trailing-edge coasts, where broad,
low-relief coastal plains lie adjacent to the inner shelf, both of
which are composed of abundant unconsolidated sediment.
Later, Stutz and Pilkey (2001, 2011) conducted more detailed
global surveys that identified approximately 2149 individual
barrier islands totaling about 20 783 km in length, or 10% of all
continental shorelines (Figure 3). Their research revealed that by
length, 63% of barrier islands are along trailing-edge coasts, 21%
along marginal sea coasts, and only 16% along collision coasts.
The literature regarding barrier-system morphodynamics is
copious – in this chapter, we have synthesized its classic studies,
current scientific knowledge, and future research directions for a
number of barrier systems around the world. Open-ocean
barrier systems are the chapter’s focus – barrier islands, barrier
spits, and headland or mainland beaches dominated by terri-
genous clastic sediment. It does not address fetch-limited bar-
rier islands (Pilkey et al., 2009) or barrier systems dominated by
carbonates (e.g., barrier reefs) or mangroves.
Oertel (1985) defined a barrier-island system as having six
required components, as Figure 4 illustrates: (1) mainland,
(2) estuary (e.g., lagoon, marsh, bay, and sound), (3) tidal
inlets and tidal deltas (flood and ebb), (4) barrier island,
(5) barrier platform, and (6) shoreface. Furthermore, a barrier
spit is a laterally prograded coastal depositional landform that
extends from a mainland or headland into open water along
the outer coast and consists primarily of unconsolidated
sediments transported and deposited mainly by longshore
sediment transport. In either case, an estuary or marsh backs
the barrier island and barrier spit. Mainland or headland
beaches constitute coastal segments that lie alongshore (i.e.,
laterally adjacent to) barrier islands or barrier spits.
The chapter sections are organized according to Inman and
Nordstrom’s (1971) plate-tectonic classification of coasts: trail-
ing-edge coasts (neo, Afro, and Amero), marginal-sea coasts,
and collision coasts (continental and island arcs). All of the
trailing-edge coasts addressed in this synthesis are Amero-
trailing-edge coasts and include the New England coast, USA;
Mid-Atlantic Bight coast, USA; North Carolina Outer Banks,
USA; Georgia Bight coast, USA; Florida Atlantic coast, USA;
Santa Catarina coast, southeastern Brazil; Wadden Sea along
European North Sea coast (German Bight); and southern
and western coasts of Australia. Marginal sea coasts addressed
here are the Florida Gulf of Mexico coast, USA; north-central
Gulf of Mexico coast (Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana),
176 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean

North
Europe Asia
America

Atlantic
Ocean Pacific
Africa Ocean

Pacific
Ocean Atlantic Indian
South Ocean
America Ocean

Australia

Figure 3 Global distribution of barrier islands. Arrows indicate barrier islands along deltas. Reproduced from Pilkey, O.H., 2003. Celebration of
the World’s Barrier Islands. Columbia University Press, New York, 400 pp.

Inlet and inlet shoals

d
an
Isl

e
fac
1
ore
d
an

Sh
inl
Ma

4
2 er
rri
n r
oo rrie

Ba
lag -ba

e
ck

fac
Ba

6
ore
Sh

5
Barrier
Platform

Figure 4 Barrier island system showing the six required interactive sedimentary environments. Reproduced from Oertel, G.F., Leatherman, S.P.
(Eds.), 1985. Barrier islands. Marine Geology 63, 1–396.

USA; Texas Gulf of Mexico coast, USA; and east coast of Aus-
tralia. Collision coasts include the Alaskan Pacific coast, USA
(continental) and New Zealand (island arc). The coastlines of
Australia are presented together as a group.
The content organization for all the coastal sections below
are similar: (1) an introduction, (2) the coastal geologic
setting (tectonics, relative sea-level (RSL) change, and sedi-
ment supply), (3) the coastal geomorphology and processes
(e.g., geomorphic units, classic studies, quantitative overview
of physical processes, synthesis of regional morphodynamics,
and barrier-system evolution), (4) current research activities,
and (5) future research directions.

10.8.2 Trailing-Edge Coasts
Trailing-edge coasts face mid-oceanic ridges (divergent
boundaries), where two plates are spreading apart (Inman
and Nordstrom, 1971). These coasts are subdivided into
neo-trailing-edge, Afro-trailing-edge, and Amero-trailing-edge
coasts. These coastal subtypes are related to the progressive
development of new ocean basins, primarily in response to
the breakup of the last supercontinent, Pangaea, about
200 Ma.
Neo-trailing-edge coasts typically are characterized by nar-
row to nonexistent continental shelves, rocky shorelines with
little unconsolidated sediment, and poorly developed adjacent
coastal plains with few rivers. As such, barrier systems are rare.
Afro-trailing-edge coasts typically have wider continental
shelves, better-developed coastal plains, and more rivers that
deliver greater volumes of sediment to the coast, resulting in
more depositional landforms (e.g., barrier systems and deltas).
Moreover, the coastline on the opposite side of the continent
from the Afro-trailing-edge coast is a trailing-edge coast, not a
collision coast. Thus, depositional landforms in the form of
barrier and deltaic systems are more common.
Amero-trailing-edge coasts generally are characterized by
wide continental shelves (e.g., east coasts of North and South
America), well-developed coastal plains, and extensive fluvial
systems that deliver high sediment volumes to the coast, re-
sulting in numerous depositional landforms (barrier systems,
deltas, dunes, and estuaries). In addition, the coastline on the
opposite side of the continent from the Amero-trailing-edge
coast is a collision coast with associated mountains. These
mountain chains (e.g., Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and Andes)
serve to organize the continental drainage so that large
fluvial systems (e.g., the Amazon River) flow away from the
collision coast and discharge high sediment loads to the
trailing-edge coast, resulting in numerous barrier systems and
deltas.
10.8.2.1 Barrier Systems along the New England Coast,
United States (Paraglacial)
The New England Atlantic coast of the United States (Figure 5)
is a classic example of a paraglacial coastline, with landforms
and sediment derived largely from the Wisconsin glaciation.
Johnson (1925) compiled one of the first comprehensive de-
scriptions of the New England Atlantic coastline, including
references to barrier types, mainland beaches, and tombolos.
His description of the drumlin coastline of Boston Harbor
became central to the understanding of how many glaciated
coastal landscapes developed (Johnson, 1925; Zenkovich,
1967). New England’s morphological and textural variability
of coastal barriers makes it one of the best examples of para-
glacial barrier regions in the world (FitzGerald and Rosen,
1987; FitzGerald et al., 1994).
10.8.2.1.1 Geologic setting
Though tectonically stable at present, the New England
margin has experienced dramatic differential glacioisostasy
related to the most recent Wisconsin glaciation (Bloom,
1963; Uchupi and Oldale, 1994; Barnhardt et al., 1995). The
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 177
resultant postglacial RSL history of New England and the ad-
jacent continental margin is one of the most complex in the
Atlantic Ocean basin (Belknap et al., 1989; Van de Plassche
et al., 1989; Gehrels et al., 1996; Donnelly et al., 2004) and
has been used as a framework for understanding the initiation
and evolution of coastal barriers (Barnhardt et al., 1997; van
Heteren et al., 1998, 2000; Buynevich and FitzGerald, 2005).
Whereas the RSL history of southern New England is a rela-
tively subdued fall replaced by a eustatically mediated rise, the
RSL envelope for Maine exhibits a rapid fall followed by
variable rates of rise, punctuated by stillstands (Figure 6(a);
Belknap et al., 1989; Barnhardt et al., 1997). This forcing is
important not only for the availability and distribution of
inland sediment sources, but also for onshore sand reworking,
timing and elevation of proto-barrier emplacement, and sub-
sequent morphodynamics. Similar to many parts of the world,
the deceleration in RSL approximately 6000–5000 years ago
was one of the primary triggers of barrier formation, which in
turn allowed the formation of back-barrier marshes – the key
RSL archives (Figure 6(a)). Combined with abundant sand
supply from local glacial landforms and large river systems,
the initial barrier retrogradation was replaced by progradation
and aggradation that are characteristic of the past 4500–4000
years (van Heteren and van de Plassche, 1997; Buynevich and
FitzGerald, 2001; FitzGerald et al., 2002). However, because of
relatively high tidal ranges established along most of the New
England margin, RSL of the past 1500–1000 years has played a
secondary role in controlling the extent of storm overwash,
availability of sand for aeolian transport, and tidal-inlet
morphodynamics.
Recent studies clearly demonstrate that in addition to being
glacial and offshore sediment sources, major New England river
systems remain active as conduits for coarse-grained sediment
(FitzGerald et al., 2002). The Kennebec–Androscoggin River
and Saco River systems (Maine; Figure 5), the Merrimack
River (Massachusetts), and to a lesser degree the Connecticut
River derive their bed load from upstream, granite-sourced
paraglacial landforms and are associated with submerged low-
stand deltas and extensive barriers, whereas other fluvial sys-
tems (Penobscot, Piscataqua, and several rivers in Connecticut)
drain fine-grained metasedimentary and metavolcanic regions
and typically deliver mud to the coast (FitzGerald et al., 2000,
2002; Fenster et al., 2005). Recent research supports the
suggestion that even today, coarse-grained sediment bypasses
the dams and provides an episodic flux to the river mouth,
ultimately contributing to barrier lithosomes (Kelley et al.,
1989; FitzGerald et al., 1994, 2002; van Heteren et al., 1996;
Barnhardt et al., 1997; Buynevich and FitzGerald, 2005).
Aside from its complex bedrock physiography, paraglacial
and fluvial depocenters, and sea-level history, the New Eng-
land margin exhibits a wide spectrum of hydrographic con-
ditions. Mean tidal ranges decrease from extreme macrotidal
(46 m) conditions at the apex of the Gulf of Maine (cul-
minating in the world’s greatest range in the Bay of Fundy at
approximately 17 m) to microtidal (o1 m) conditions at the
exposed shores of Cape Cod and the islands off it (Figure 5).
South of the New Hampshire coastline, tidal ranges increase to
2–3 m within large embayments (Merrimack Embayment,
Boston Harbor, Cape Cod Bay, and Long Island Sound). The
relationships between mean tidal range and mean offshore
178 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

CANADA
5.6

R.
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Spit

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Jasper Beach

Ken
U.S.A.
Σ 44°
2.7
Ξ N
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ATLANTIC NH R. CASCO BAY Π
OCEAN Pi
sc Saco Bay Θ
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R. Z Plum Island

2.5 Castle Neck/Coffins Beach X

Y
VT
Merrimack R. Good Harbor Beach W
NY Popplestone Beach GULF OF MAINE
North Shore
V 2.8 BOSTON HARBOR
MA Nantasket Beach MASSACHUSETTS
Boston PLYMOUTH BAY BAY
U Sandy Neck T
Mann Hill 2.3
Beach Provincelands Spit S
CAPE 42°
Con

2.7 COD Coast Guard Beach

I BAY
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CT D 0.6 Monomoy Island R
S
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B K
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A LONG ISLAND Popponesset Spit
2.3 Beach L
SOUND M
VINEYARD
H Q 0 25 50 75 100 km
SOUND
Long Island
72° W 68°

Figure 5 Location map of New England barriers and their morphological classes (English and Greek capital letters). Reproduced from
FitzGerald, D.M., van Heteren, S., 1999. Classification of paraglacial barrier systems: coastal New England, USA. Sedimentology 46, 1083–1108,
with permission from Wiley. Mean tidal ranges (in meters) are also shown.

wave height determine where within Hayes’ (1979) hydro-
graphic scheme the shoreline segments from western Con-
necticut to northern Maine fit. The northern New England
barriers and large embayments fall into the mixed-energy, tide-
dominated category, and the exposed, south-facing barriers of
southern New England (from Cape Cod to eastern Connecti-
cut) are characterized as wave-dominated (FitzGerald et al.,
1994; FitzGerald and van Heteren, 1999).
10.8.2.1.2 New classification of paraglacial barriers: the
New England prototype
Primarily on the basis of examples from the adjacent coastline
of Nova Scotia, Canada, Boyd et al. (1987) proposed a
barrier evolutionary model based on local sediment supplies
from glaciogenic landforms (drumlins and moraines).
Subsequently, other researchers extended that morphody-
namic approach southward to the Maine coast, with bedrock
geology and paraglacial sediment distribution playing a major
role in the first-order morphological classification of
coastal and inner-shelf regions (Kelley, 1987; Belknap et al.,
1989; Barnhardt and Kelley, 1995; Barnhardt et al., 1997).
Through barrier morphology and sea-level history, the evo-
lution of several New England barrier chains has been linked
with the development of the adjacent back-barrier settings
(Boothroyd et al., 1985; Duffy et al., 1989; Buynevich and
FitzGerald, 2003; Hein et al., 2012b).
The existing conceptual models of barrier evolution and
the resultant morphological diversity formed the foundation
for geologic and process studies of New England barriers. Key
aspects included sediment sources, alongshore continuity
(compartmentalization) of depositional coastline segments,
and the influence of tidal inlets on barrier morphodynamics
(Aubrey and Gaines, 1982; FitzGerald, 1988). On the basis of
these aspects, FitzGerald and van Heteren (1999) assembled
the most comprehensive classification of paraglacial barriers
as of that time, focusing on New England (Figure 5). Building
on Hayes’ (1979) hydrographic scheme, they then used key
inter- and intrabarrier landforms – mainland, headlands, and
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 179

80

Isolated

60
T=6
K,Ξ
Stabilization of C
Glacioisostatic half-mile barrier 1
40 emergence (eastern complex)
Transgression of
proto-Silver Lake
(central complex) Headland- Mainland-
20 separated segmented
Onshore migration
Elevation (m)

of proto-barriers
(central and eastern
complexes) H N M
Present V
0 sea level
U 2 3 P
G Y M
L,A S
W J F
Emplacement of Γ
Δ B
sand dune barrier H
−20 (western complex) Z
D
O Q
T
Θ
Π
1 1
A
Formation of E X 4 R
−40 baymouth barriers I,Σ
(western and east-central
complexes) T=6 I T=6

−60
Inlet-segmented

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
(a) Time (ka BP) (b)

Figure 6 (a) Mid-central Maine sea-level curve showing the major phases of barrier development in the Kennebec River complex (see Figure 5 for
location). Reproduced from Barnhardt, W.A., Belknap, D.F., Kelley, J.T., 1997. Stratigraphic evolution of the inner continental shelf in response to
late Quaternary relative sea-level change, northwestern Gulf of Maine. Geological Society of America Bulletin 109, 612–630, with permission from
GSA. (b) Ternary classification (unfolded tetrahedron) of New England barriers. Reproduced from FitzGerald, D.M., van Heteren, S., 1999.
Classification of paraglacial barrier systems: coastal New England, USA. Sedimentology 46, 1083–1108, with permission from Wiley. The corners of
the diagram (T) represent the ratio between inlet number (I), mainland bluffs (M), and headlands (H), with T¼ 1 for central ternary diagram and
T¼6 for the corners of three peripheral triangles. (Individual data points refer to coastal segments labeled with capital letters in Figure 5.)

inlets – to subdivide New England barriers into four main
types (FitzGerald and van Heteren, 1999, types 1–4).
Type 1 (isolated) and type 2 (clustered headland-separ-
ated) barrier morphologies are based largely on antecedent
(inherited) topography, whereas type 3 (mainland-seg-
mented) and type 4 (inlet-segmented) are subdivided to reflect
the hydrographic conditions into (1) wave-dominated, (2)
mixed-energy, and (3) tide-dominated (Figure 6(b)). For ex-
ample, according to these subclasses, the southern shorelines
of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island, where outwash
plains supply sediment to salt-pond-fronting baymouth bar-
riers, are classified as type 3a – wave-dominated, mainland-
segmented. (See coastal segments M and P, respectively, in
Figures 5 and 6(b).)
Because true barriers are nearly absent in tide-dominated
settings (types 3c and 4c), most of these systems fall within six
major types of barrier coasts (types 1, 2, 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b). In
addition to establishing this new scheme of barrier morpho-
types and on the basis of intense geologic investigations
conducted primarily in the 1990s, FitzGerald and van Heteren
(1999, their Figure 5) proposed detailed stratigraphic and
evolutionary models for the six barrier-coastline types. Such
coupled geomorphological and stratigraphic studies have
become a standard research approach to studying New Eng-
land barriers in recent decades.
10.8.2.1.3 Recent advances and future directions
Beginning with the work by FitzGerald et al. (1992) in
southern Massachusetts, high-resolution ground-penetrating
radar (GPR) imaging emerged as a new technique not only
for stratigraphic research of coastal barriers, but also for
reconstructing the key morphological elements such as ante-
cedent topography, styles and geometries of barrier pro-
gradation, and buried inlet channels. In many areas of New
England, as well as in other parts of the world, barrier
morphology has been masked, modified, or obliterated by
development or aeolian activity.
Because of the inherent heterogeneity of paraglacial sedi-
ments and thick freshwater lenses within barrier lithosomes,
GPR imaging has been especially successful in New England
(Buynevich et al., 2009). Here, styles of coastal progradation
and signatures of past storm-induced erosion (paleoscarps)
have been revealed through detailed imaging of coastal
barriers (FitzGerald et al., 1992; van Heteren et al., 1998;
Buynevich et al., 2001, 2004; Dougherty et al., 2004). Figure 7
shows a shore-parallel GPR image of a baymouth barrier
180 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

Miacomet Nantucket
Pond

(a) (b)
W Ground surface E 0
0
Approximate depth (m) Recent inlet Old inlet
Water
table

TWT
(ns)
Valley fill

Outwash
0 10 20 m
6.2 180
(c)

Figure 7 An example of a geophysical image showing the diverse subsurface morphological elements of a baymouth barrier, southern shoreline
of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts (see location P in Figure 5). (a) Oblique aerial photograph of Miacomet Pond and adjacent outwash plain,
with a small inlet along its western part. (b) Location of the study region on Nantucket Island. (c) Shore-parallel geophysical image revealing the
outline of a spring-sapping valley, the bidirectional valley fill (inward-facing arrows), as well as two shallow channel structures. Reproduced from
Uchupi, E., Oldale, R.N., 1994. Spring sapping origin of the enigmatic relict valleys of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Islands,
Massachusetts. Geomorphology 9, 83–95.

fronting a large salt pond on Nantucket Island (Figure 5,
coastal segment P). The image shows several recent inlets
nested within a paleovalley fill (Buynevich, 2006).
The integrated geophysical, sedimentological, and mor-
phostratigraphic approach to studying many New England
barriers has revolutionized our understanding of the past and
present evolutionary stages of their development (van Heteren
et al., 1996; Buynevich and FitzGerald, 2003; Buynevich et al.,
2004; Hein et al., 2012b). Combined with multidating techni-
ques (AMS radiocarbon and optical dating of key morpho-
logical and stratigraphic elements), this approach will continue
to improve our understanding of the links between climatic and
oceanographic forcing, ecosystem dynamics, and recent human-
induced changes on the large-scale coastal behavior of New
England barriers.
10.12.2.2 Barrier Systems along Mid-Atlantic Bight,
United States: Cape Charles, Virginia to
Montauk Point, New York
The Mid-Atlantic Bight coast extends approximately 600 km
from Cape Charles, Virginia to Montauk Point, New York
(Figure 8). The states within the Mid-Atlantic Bight from south
to north include Virginia (126 km), Maryland (51 km), and
Delaware (39 km) (collectively known as the Delmarva Pen-
insula); New Jersey (196 km); and the southern Long Island
shore of New York (185 km). The New York Bight separates the
glacially influenced and south-facing Long Island coast from
the nonglacially influenced and generally east-facing reaches to
the south of the New York Bight. Beaches and barrier-island
systems dominate the Mid-Atlantic Bight, and barriers com-
prise approximately 90% of the coast (Figure 8).
10.8.2.2.1 Geologic setting
The Mid-Atlantic Bight consists of broadly curvilinear
shorelines that are dissected by large estuaries and smaller
embayments; are backed by a wide, gently sloping and dipping
(1–21), seaward-thickening sedimentary wedge (maximum
thicknessE4 km) coastal plain; and are fronted by a contin-
ental shelf, a similarly wide, gently sloping subaqueous
extension of the coastal plain; The present-day coastal
morphology is the cumulative product of first-order tectonic
forces that began when the supercontinent Pangaea formed
and then began rifting to form the Atlantic Ocean about
200 Ma, and second-order processes and features such as
climate (sea-level changes and storm activity), sediment
supply, basin accommodation changes, regional drainage,
antecedent geology, glaciations (directly and indirectly), and
hydrographic regime.
Provenance studies show that the Appalachian Mountains
served as the ultimate source of the siliciclastic sediment along
the southern portion of the Mid-Atlantic Bight coast, and that
glacially derived New England Highland sediments are the
ultimate source for the material comprising the northern
portion (Swift et al., 1971b; Milliman et al., 1972; Kelling
et al., 1975; Niederoda et al., 1985; Darby and Tsang, 1987;
Ward and Strickland, 1985; Williams and Meisburger, 1987).
Regional drainage basins from these highlands delivered
abundant sediment to the Coastal Plain, continental shelf,
and intervening coastal zone. Numerous sea-level advances
and falls related to Quaternary glaciation reworked these
Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary formations to create a
wide swath (200–275 km) of relict and palimpsest coastal
environments landward and seaward of the present-day coast
(Colquhoun et al., 1991; Oertel and Kraft, 1994; Foyle and
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 181

NY CT

4
3
2
4 1
PA NJ 3 Raritan
embayment ic
South New Jersey arch nt
lt a an
2 A ce
O

1
DE Legend
4 Barrier beach
Salisbury embayment
3 Mainland beach
Atlantic Coastal Plain
MD
2 Structural arch
Net longshore
transport direction
VA
N NDBC wave buoy
1
NOAA tide stations

Norfolk 0 100 km
arch

Figure 8 Mid-Atlantic Bight coast showing extent of the Coastal Plain, structural arches and embayments, and generalized longshore transport
trends along the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Numbers refer to (1) mixed-energy, tide-dominated barrier islands; (2) wave-dominated barriers and spits;
(3) eroding headlands; and (4) cuspate spits along Delmarva Peninsula (dark green), New Jersey (burgundy), and Long Island (dark blue).
Reproduced with permission from Hapke, C.J., Lentz, E.E., Gayes, P.T., McCoy, C.A., Hehre, R., Schwab, W.C., Williams, S.J., 2010b. A review of
sediment budget imbalances along Fire Island, New York: can nearshore geologic framework and patterns of shoreline change explain the deficit?
Journal of Coastal Research 26(3), 510–522; Oertel, G.F., Kraft, J.C., 1994. New Jersey and Delmarva barrier islands. In: Davis, R. (Ed.), Geology
of Barrier Islands. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 207–226, and Ward, L.W., Powars, D.S., 2004. Trip 9 – Tertiary lithology and
paleontology, Chesapeake Bay region. In: Southworth, S. W., Burton, W. (Eds.), Geology of the National Capital Region – Field Trip Guidebook,
Joint NE-SE GSA Sections Meeting 24–27 March 2004: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1264, pp. 263–297. http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/1264/
preface.html (October 2011).

Oertel, 1997; Duncan et al., 2000; Lambeck et al., 2002).
Shoal retreat massifs located at or near the present-day estuary
mouths and capes, shoreface attached and detached ridges,
and subaerial marine terraces are a few features that attest to
these processes. (See, e.g., Swift, 1975a; Field and Duane,
1976; McBride and Moslow, 1991.)
The present-day barriers formed during the most recent
Flandrian–Holocene sea-level transgression (Swift, 1975b;
Halsey, 1979; Rampino and Sanders, 1980, 1981; Foyle and
Oertel, 1997). Radiocarbon dates of basal salt-marsh peat de-
posits indicate that most islands formed during a slowdown
in the rate of sea-level rise (SLR) during the late Holocene
(to 1.5–2.0 mm yr1) that began 7.5 ka to 3.75 ka (Sheridan
et al., 1974; Kraft, 1976; Belknap and Kraft, 1977; Chrzas-
towski, 1986; Kraft and Belknap, 1986; Psuty, 1986; Finkelstein
and Ferland, 1987; Byrnes, 1988; Van de Plassche, 1990; Niki-
tina et al., 2000; Douglass 2001, 2005; Engelhart et al., 2009)
(Figure 9). However, Stanley et al. (1994) found no evidence of
a slowdown in the SLR rate for New Jersey. In some regions
along the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the formation and discontinuous,
stepwise retreat of barriers might have begun as early as 9 ka
(Rampino and Sanders, 1980, 1981). However, one barrier is-
land in Virginia (Fishermans Island) formed during the past
two centuries (Kraft, 1971; Oertel and Overman, 2004). Vari-
ation in the development of barrier systems has resulted from
differential sediment fluxes (e.g., river sediment loading, sedi-
ment dispersion from headlands, and shoreface erosion), spa-
tially variable antecedent (pretransgression) topography, and
neotectonism (e.g., glacioisostatic adjustments and coastal
downwarping caused by groundwater withdrawal) (Holdahl
and Morrison, 1974; Brown, 1978; Newman et al., 1980; Oertel
and Overman, 2004).
10.8.2.2.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes
10.8.2.2.2.1 Primary geomorphic units of the Mid-Atlantic Bight
coast
A natural organization of the barrier systems exists at various
spatial scales and thus has enabled geomorphic classifications
of the Mid-Atlantic Bight on a macroscale (compartments
covering hundreds of kilometers), a mesoscale (tens of kilo-
meters covering individual barriers) and a microscale (1 km
182 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
Age (years BP)
14 000 12 000 10 000 8000
Figure 9 An updated RSL curve from Nikitina et al. (2000) for the Delaware coast compared with other regional curves. Note the similarity of
the original curve of Belknap and Kraft (1977) to the newer Nikitina et al. (2000) curve containing 22 additional radiocarbon dates of basal peat
deposits. The updated curve indicates a sea-level rise rate of 0.9 mm yr1 from 1250 yr BP to present. Reproduced from Nikitina, D.L., Pizzuto,
J.E., Schwinner, R.A., Ramsey, K.W., 2000. An updated Holocene sea-level curve for the Delaware coast. Marine Geology 171, 7–20.
within a barrier system). Using broad morphological elements
of barrier systems, Fisher (1967a, 1982) classified the Mid-
Atlantic Bight into distinct coastal compartments with four
major landscape elements from north to south: (1) an updrift
spit or cuspate foreland; (2) a convex seaward-eroding head-
land; (3) a concave–convex, long, and linear barrier-island
system; and (4) strongly concave short barriers. Swift (1969,
1975b) classified the Mid-Atlantic Bight into four coastal
‘compartments’ consisting of four sections: spit or cape,
baymouth barrier, long barrier spit and island, and short
barrier island and barrier beach. Oertel and Kraft (1994)
modified Fisher’s (1967a, 1982) classification of the Mid-At-
lantic Bight to include a ‘left- and right-handed’ spit complex,
a northern wave-dominated reach (for elements 1–3 above)
and a southern (distal) tide-dominated reach (for element 4
above).
The Hayes (1979) and Davis and Hayes (1984) models, as
discussed in Section 10.8.1 and several sections within this
chapter provide a mesoscale (tens of kilometers) classification
scheme for barrier systems that is based on the relationship
between hydrographic regime and coastal morphology.
Leatherman et al. (1982) and Kochel et al. (1985) developed
a mesoscale classification scheme for the Virginia barrier is-
lands that is based on shoreline-migration rates: (1) a north-
ern parallel beach retreat group, (2) a middle rotational
instability group that exhibits the classic morphology of a
mixed-energy barrier system, and (3) a southern nonparallel
beach retreat group.
6000 4000 2000 0
0
−5
Elevation relative to MHW (m)
−10
−15
Maine (Kelley et al., 1995)
Clinton, Connecticut −20
(Van de Plassche et al., 1989)
Long Island (Rampiro, 1979)
New Jersey (Stuiver and Daddario, 1963)
−25
Updated Delaware (smooth)
Maryland inner continental shelf
(Toscano et al., 1989)
Virginia (Van de Plassche, 1990)
−30
Additionally, coastal classification schemes occur at a
microscale (1 km within a barrier system) for portions of the
Mid-Atlantic Bight. For example, Harris (1992) delineated five
geomorphic regions on Hog Island, Virginia and Richardson
and McBride (2007, 2011) and Richardson (2012) identified
distinct geomorphic zones on Parramore and Cedar Islands,
Virginia, based on dominant processes and shoreline responses.
Using north Assateague Island as a prototype, Brock
et al. (2004) used a multitemporal light detection and ranging
(LIDAR) analysis and metrics to develop a four-class morpho-
dynamic classification for barrier islands: (1) aggradational,
(2) progradational, (3) transgressive, and (4) degradational.
Wolner et al. (2011, 2012) recently have developed a new eco-
morphodynamic framework to model barrier-island evolution
(Figure 10). This model envisions the physical processes, bio-
logical processes, and coupled interactions and feedbacks from
the interplay of physical and biological processes as controlling
the height and width of a barrier island. Within this framework,
islands are classified as one of two end-member geomorphic
scenarios along a continuum of intermediate islands: ‘high’ is-
lands, which are dominated by internal processes (those that
trap sediment and develop interior portions of the islands) and
have considerable relief above sea level, and ‘low’ islands, which
are dominated by external processes (originating beyond the
barrier) and have relatively little relief above sea level (Fig-
ure 10). Ultimately, this framework will provide a model capable
of qualitatively predicting the impact of climate change on bar-
rier systems.
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 183

High Island
Internal processes dominate

‘Catastrophic’ Sources Dispersal

disturbance
Sediment Feedbacks Vegetation ‘Stability/instability
budget threshold’

Wind Extent of back-

barrier marsh

Low Island
External processes dominate

Figure 10 Schematic of the ‘Ecomorphodynamic Framework for Barrier Island Evolution’ conceptual framework model. Reproduced from
Wolner, C.V., Moore, L.J., Young, D.R., Brantley, S.T., Bissett, S.N., McBride, R.A., 2012. Ecomorphodynamic feedbacks and barrier-island
response to disturbance: insights from the Virginia barrier system, Mid-Atlantic Bight, USA. Geomorphology.

10.8.2.2.2.2 Classic studies of barrier systems of Mid-Atlantic
Bight
Classic scientific studies of the Mid-Atlantic Bight barriers
began in the early 1970s and have tended to be on a state-by-
state basis or by coastal compartment. Kraft and his colleagues
and students were among the first to study stratal architecture
of coasts and barriers and the impact of headlands and ante-
cedent geologic framework on coastal morphology within the
Mid-Atlantic Bight (Kraft 1971, 1976; Kraft and Margules,
1971; Belknap and Kraft 1977, 1981, 1985; Halsey, 1979; Kraft
and John, 1979; Kraft et al., 1979, 1987; Demarest et al.,
1981). That team produced some of the first site-specific and
regional interpretive cross sections and block diagrams of
the Atlantic continental margin geosyncline and coastal en-
vironments of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia (Figure 11).
Later, Honeycutt and Krantz (2003) refined the geologic frame-
work and examined the relationship between it and shoreline
changes along the Delaware coast.
Classic studies along the glacially-influenced Long Island
coast provided an understanding of the importance of the
pretransgression surface on barrier-island migration, the role
of moraine headland erosion of eastern Long Island, long-
shore transport, and remobilization of shelf deposits on
the development of the Long Island barrier island system
(Rampino and Sanders, 1980, 1981; Leatherman, 1985;
Panuzio, 1969; Kana, 1995; Rosati et al., 1999; Schwab et al.,
2000, and Hapke et al., 2010a). Oertel and Kraft (1994) pro-
vided an overview of the coastal processes and morphologic
features along the New Jersey and Delmarva coasts. Nordstrom
et al. (1977) and Ashley et al. (1986) estimated longshore
transport fluxes along the New Jersey coast. Studies along the
Maryland coast have focused on the highly developed Fenwick
Island and the more natural Assateague Island, much of
which is managed by the US National Park Service or US Fish
and Wildlife Service. Studies related to Fenwick Island have
tended to address the need for sand resources (Dalrymple and
Mann, 1985; Anders et al., 1987; Stauble, 1994), whereas those
related to Assateague Island have focused on more general
geomorphologic elements, including overwash and aeolian
morphodynamics (Fisher and Stauble, 1977; Leatherman,
1979b; Kochel and Wampfler, 1989) and the impact of the
formation of Ocean City Inlet during a 1933 hurricane on
Assateague Island (Underwood and Hiland, 1995). McBride
(1999) identified the location of historic tidal inlets along the
Delmarva and New Jersey barrier systems and emphasized two
primary mechanisms that control barrier-island tidal-inlet
dynamics.
Along the Virginia barrier-island coast north of the
Chesapeake Baymouth, Halsey (1979) demonstrated that
the relict pre-Holocene topography had a substantial
effect on coastal landforms and barrier systems – the barrier is-
lands migrate landward on the interfluves of Pleistocene
drainage networks and tidal inlets occupy the paleochannels
carved into Pleistocene sediments. Goettle (1981) docu-
mented the stratigraphic signature of the large recurved
spit complex at the southern end of Assateague Island. Dolan
et al. (1979), Leatherman et al. (1982), and Rice and
Leatherman (1983) used shoreline changes to analyze and
predict morphologic changes and to categorize the
Virginia barrier islands into geomorphic groups. Classic work
on tidal inlets has occurred primarily at Wachapreague Inlet by
DeAlteris (1973), DeAlteris and Bryne (1975), Byrne et al.
(1974, 1977), and Boon and Bryne (1981). Oertel and his
colleagues and students (Oertel et al., 1992; Foyle and Oertel,
1997; Swift et al., 2003) conducted seismic stratigraphic ana-
lyses and provided a chronostratigraphic framework for the
coastal zone and inner shelf along the southern Virginia bar-
rier islands.
10.8.2.2.5 Quantitative overview of wave energy, tides,
currents, weather, storms, and predominant
wind directions
Seasonally distinct weather patterns influence the Mid-Atlantic
Bight coast. Anticyclonic (driven by high-pressure systems)
prevailing summer winds from the south reach 12–20 km h1
(Oertel and Kraft, 1994) and produce waves r1.5 m in
184 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

E Angola F
Herring Neck Baymouth
Creek Estuarine barrier
6 20′
washover barrier Rehoboth Bay
Tidal ATLANTIC OCEAN
Drowned
3 10′ tidal Big Piney Isle Coastal
creek (Buried hill) lagoon
Mean
0 Low
S.L. Buried marsh
(Back-barrier
3 10′ 300 yr BP)

Pre
-Wis
m

6 20′ consin
(pre-wü
rm
)c
F−M sand o

as
9 t al
30′ Lagoonal silt sedim s
e nt
Marsh mud and plant debris
12 Sandy mud
40′

15
1 2 3 miles

1 2 3 4 km
Figure 11 Original regional, shore-normal, interpretive cross section of upper Pleistocene and Holocene coastal environments (stratigraphy and
lithosomes) within the Rehoboth Bay, Delaware region, based on an intensive coring program conducted within this reach during the early 1970s
by John Kraft and colleagues (Kraft, 1971). Later versions of this cross section extended the profile across the shoreface and added dates to the
stratigraphic boundaries and horizons (Kraft et al., 1973; Oertel and Kraft, 1994). Reproduced from Oost, A.P., 1995. Dynamics and sedimentary
development of the Dutch Wadden Sea with emphasis on the Frisian inlet. Geologica Ultraiectina, No. 126. Utrecht University, 455 pp.

height. The longshore currents are generally northerly in the Table 1 Mean and spring tidal ranges for selected tide stations
summer but southerly in the winter along the Mid-Atlantic within each state of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Location of tide stations
Bight. All Mid-Atlantic Bight coasts are affected by cyclonic shown in Figure 8 as red-filled squares
disturbances (high- and mid-latitude low-pressure systems)
Location State Mean range (m) Spring range (m)
associated with strong horizontal thermal gradients that pro-
duce extratropical (northeasters) and tropical (hurricanes) Quinby Inlet entrance VA 1.2 1.5
storms (Davis et al., 2000; Hayden and Hayden, 2003). Ocean City Inlet MD 0.7 0.8
The impact of individual storms depends on the shoreline Rehoboth Beach DE 1.2 1.4
orientation relative to the storm track, storm frequency, and Sandy Hook NJ 1.4 1.6
storm intensity (magnitude) (Byrnes and Gingerich, 1987). Shinnecock Inlet NY 0.9 1.1
However, though Hayden and Hayden (2003) did not
detect any trends or variability in storminess for the Virginia
barrier-island coast, evidence is growing that warmer global Similar tidal ranges exist along the Delmarva Peninsula, with
temperatures have increased the destructive potential of hur- a mean tidal range of 0.7–1.2 m, depending on location
ricanes and the number of hurricanes that reach category 4 or (Table 1).
5 (Emanuel, 2005; Webster et al., 2005; Mann and Emanuel, Wave heights along the Mid-Atlantic Bight vary spatially
2006). Komar and Allan (2007) related the increasing hurri- and temporally, but 7–10 years of historical data from three
cane activity to a corresponding increasing of wave energy buoys managed by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC)
observed in the Atlantic Ocean during the past 30 years. (http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov) within the Mid-Atlantic Bight
Semidiurnal tidal patterns caused by a north-to-south show relatively similar significant wave heights (Table 2). As
progressive tidal wave affect the Mid-Atlantic Bight. The mean expected, because of the climatology of the region, monthly
tidal range of 1.3 m and the east–southeast predominant significant wave heights generally are lowest during the sum-
wind direction along the Long Island barrier system produces mer months and highest during the winter months (Table 2).
a microtidal, wave-dominated regime characterized by net-
westward longshore transport (Leatherman, 1985; Duncan 10.8.2.2.6 Synthesis of regional morphodynamics,
et al., 2000), with local reversals arising from wave-direction shoreline change, and barrier-system
variation (Kana, 1995; Rosati et al., 1999). The mean tidal evolution
range along the New Jersey coast is 1.4 m (Sandy Hook), Multiple processes at work on multiple temporal and spatial
with a minimum of 0.9 m in the nodal zone between Barnegat scales have impacted the regional morphodynamics, shoreline
Inlet and Beach Haven (Table 1) (Oertel and Kraft, 1994). changes, and barrier-system evolution along the Mid-Atlantic
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 185

Table 2 Summary wave statistics for three National Data Buoy Center in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (locations shown in Figure 8): Mean and standard
deviation (S.D.) of significant wave height and maximum wave height by month. Historical data for the buoys spanned from 7 to 10 years

Month ALSN 6, New York/New Jersey 44012, Delaware CHLV2, Virginia

12/1989–7/2007 10/1986–11/1993 8/1984–12/2004

Mean (m) S.D. (m) Max (m) Mean (m) S.D. (m) Max (m) Mean (m) S.D. (m) Max (m)

Jan 1.1 0.6 5.0 1.2 0.8 8.4 1.1 0.6 5.3
Feb 1.0 0.6 4.8 1.1 0.5 4.4 1.2 0.7 5.1
Mar 1.1 0.7 6.0 1.2 0.6 5.2 1.2 0.6 4.9
Apr 0.9 0.4 3.8 1.2 0.5 4.2 1.0 0.5 4.3
May 0.9 0.4 3.1 1.0 0.4 3.0 0.9 0.5 4.2
Jun 0.8 0.3 2.8 0.8 0.3 2.6 0.8 0.3 5.2
Jul 0.7 0.3 3.2 0.7 0.2 2.4 0.7 0.3 3.7
Aug 0.8 0.4 2.8 0.8 0.3 4.0 0.9 0.4 5.4
Sep 0.9 0.4 4.3 0.9 0.4 4.0 1.1 0.6 6.3
Oct 0.9 0.5 4.9 1.1 0.5 4.6 1.1 0.6 4.4
Nov 0.9 0.6 4.7 1.1 0.6 4.5 1.1 0.5 4.6
Dec 1.0 0.7 7.3 1.2 0.6 5.2 1.1 0.6 4.5

Source: Data obtained from NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov

Bight. Over the long term (103–104 yr), the coastal environ-
ments of the Mid-Atlantic Bight migrated landward from the
shelf edge to their present-day locations during the Flandrian
transgression (Swift, 1975b; Halsey, 1979; Rampino and
Sanders, 1980, 1981; Foyle and Oertel, 1997). On an inter-
mediate timescale (100–102 yr), tide-producing forces (set up
by present-day amphidromic system dynamics in the Atlantic
Ocean and the effects of the continental shelf and shoreline
configuration on the propagation of the progressive
tidal wave) and wave energy have shaped the Mid-Atlantic Bight
into its present-day configuration and produced its current
coastal landforms (ranging from wave-dominated to mixed-
energy, tide-dominated reaches). The present-day regional
morphodynamics, coastal environments, and shoreline changes
reflect the relative concentration or dissipation of these forces
along the coast in concert with sediment availability, antecedent
geologic framework, and other feedback mechanisms (e.g.,
ecomorphodynamic). A recent analysis of shoreline changes
along the Mid-Atlantic Bight by Hapke et al. (2010b) showed
that 67% of the shoreline has experienced long-term erosion
(i.e., landward shoreline migration) at 0.6 m yr1, and that
54% has eroded in the short term at 0.3 m yr1. Significant
spatial variation in shoreline trends exists within the Mid-
Atlantic Bight as a function of more localized processes such as
tidal-inlet dynamics, fluctuations in sediment supply, and
storm impact (Byrnes, et al., 1989; Fenster and Dolan, 1996;
Richardson and McBride, 2007, 2011).
The discharge of rivers into large estuaries within the
Mid-Atlantic Bight inhibits sediment from supplying the
present-day coast with coarse clastic material (Meade, 1972,
1982). Consequently, the Mid-Atlantic Bight is characterized
as a sand-starved system (Wright, 1995). The sediment
within the active barrier sand prism comes from the erosion of
older, preexisting deposits such as Pleistocene headlands,
or from relict shoreface deposits (Williams, 1975;
Williams and Meisburger, 1987; Schwab et al., 2000). In their
studies of the Mid-Atlantic Bight shoreface, Swift et al. (1971a)
introduced the term ‘palimpsest’ (sediments on the
continental shelf reworked several times) to describe
sediments that exhibit ‘‘petrographic attributes of an earlier
depositional environment and in addition of a later (modern)
environment.’’ Modern-day deposition is limited to back-
barrier environments, bayhead deltas, large recurved
spits, and tidal deltas (Duane et al., 1972; Darby, 1990;
Duncan et al., 2000).
Because storms produce the strongest currents and result in
the most geologic work (erosion, deposition, and shoreline
migration) along the Mid-Atlantic Bight, several studies have
used the term ‘storm-dominated’ to describe the Mid-Atlantic
Bight coast in general (Davis and Hayes, 1984; Niederoda
et al., 1985; Swift et al., 1985; Morton and Sallenger, 2003)
and the reaches within it (e.g., for New Jersey, see Field
and Ashley, 1987; Ashley et al., 1991). Although the influence
of storms on long-term shoreline changes (decadal to cen-
tennial) varies along the Mid-Atlantic Bight (Byrnes et al.,
1989; Fenster et al., 2001, 2003; Honeycutt et al., 2001),
Fenster and Dolan (1994) found a nearly ubiquitous shore-
line-migration trend reversal along the Mid-Atlantic Bight
from accretionary to erosional (or to less accretionary) during
the late 1960s and early 1970s. They implicated a peak in
extratropical storm frequency and magnitude as the cause of
this reversal. Storm surges can erode barrier systems dramat-
ically, move them landward through overwash, and/or create
surge channels that lead to inlet formation (Leatherman,
1985; Byrnes and Gingerich, 1987; Byrnes et al., 1989;
Sallenger, 2000).
10.8.2.2.7 Current and future research, developments,
and issues for Mid-Atlantic Bight
Current research, developments, and issues along the Mid-
Atlantic Bight primarily focus on
• assessing the impact of anthropogenic alterations to the
coastal zone, including the effects of structures and sand
mining (Byrnes et al., 2004; Kelley et al., 2004; Maa et al.,
2004) and hard structures (Fenster et al., 2010) on beaches
and barriers;
186 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

• developing accurate sediment budgets for various coastal
compartments (Fenster et al., 2008; Fenster and Dolan, 2009);
• using new technologies such as LIDAR to facilitate coastal
research (Brock et al., 2004);
• determining the economic potential of offshore resources
(exploration and production of renewable and non-
renewable energy, strategic minerals, and sand and gravel);
• developing coastal vulnerability indices, such as those the
United States Geological Survey developed for national
parks, that rank Mid-Atlantic Bight coasts by five categories
of coastal change related to sea-level rise: geomorphology,
regional coastal slope, rate of RSL rise, shoreline change
rates, and mean tidal range and mean wave height (Pen-
dleton et al., 2004a, 2004b);
• assessing the effects of hard and soft engineering solutions
on coastal processes and responses, including the impact of
sand mining on beaches;
• modeling coastal processes and responses (e.g., morpho-
logical behavior modeling; Cowell et al., 1995; Stolper
et al., 2005; Brenner and Moore, 2010);
• assessing the impact of climate change (i.e., sea-level rise,
increases in storm intensity and wave energy, changesto back-
barrier hypsometries and attendant tidal prisms) on barriers
and back-barrier systems (Psuty, 1996; Psuty and Ofiara,
2002; Cooper et al., 2008; Fenster et al., 2011); and
• identifying and understanding coupled interactions between
physical and biological processes (ecomorphodynamic
feedbacks) that play a critical role in developing barrier
landscapes and morphology (Figure 10) (Wolner et al.,
2009, 2011, 2012).
10.8.2.3 Geologic Framework of North Carolina’s Barrier
Island Systems, United States
The North Carolina coastal system is large and complex,
consisting of about 325 miles of ocean shoreline, 23 inlets,
over 3000 square miles of brackish-water estuaries, and up to
10 000 miles of estuarine shorelines. The coastal system
forms the interface between the Atlantic Ocean and a wide
Coastal Plain composed of Cretaceous through Holocene
sediments (Figure 12). The Coastal Plain formed in a gener-
ally stable tectonic setting on the trailing edge of the North
American plate. Minor tectonic uplift has occurred along the
mid-Carolina Platform High in the southernmost portion of
North Carolina, along with minor subsidence in the Albe-
marle Embayment in the northern coastal zone (Riggs and
Belknap, 1988; Snyder et al., 1993; Riggs et al., 1995).
10.8.2.3.1 Geologic setting
The geologic map of the North Carolina Coastal Plain
(Figure 12) suggests major differences between the northern
and southern coastal zones that result from the underlying

NORTHERN HATTERAS BAY

COASTAL
ZONE
SOUTHERN
Raleigh
ine

COASTAL
ll l

ZONE
Fa

PIEDMONT Cape
UND
Hatteras
SO
ft)

ICO
4

ML
16

PA Diamond
(−

Shoals
m

ATLANTIC OCEAN
0
−5

RALEIGH BAY

Cape Lookout
SO
UT Cape Lookout Quaternary
H Shoals Surficial deposits, undivided
CA
RO Tertiary Cretaceous
LI ONSLOW BAY Pliocene
NA Peedee fm.
Pinehurst fm.
N Waccamaw fm.
k

Yorktown fm.
ea

Black Creek fm.

Cape Fear
Br

Oligocene
−10 m
e

Belgrade fm.
lop

LONG BAY (−33 ft) Riverbend fm. Middendorf fm.

−s

0 km 50 Eocene
elf

miles Cape Fear fm.

Sh

0 30 Frying Pan Shoals Castle Hayne fm.

Figure 12 Geologic map of the North Carolina Coastal Plain displays the two coastal zones and the four coastal bays separated by three
prominent cape-shoal features. The geologic map is from the North Carolina Geological Survey, 1985. Geologic map of North Carolina: North
Carolina Geological Survey, Raleigh, 1 sheet, scale ¼ 1:500,000.

Table 3 Differential characteristics occur between the southern and northern continental shelves of North Carolina and result from variations in
the geologic framework, spatial geometry, and physical–chemical dynamics. Figure 12 shows the location of the two zones
Continental shelf
Characteristics of the southern coastal zone in North Carolina
Cretaceous–Miocene geologic framework
Dominantly rock with sediment interbeds
Extensive flat hardbottoms with scarps
Thin and ephemeral surface sand deposits
Wide and shallow continental shelf
Range¼35–80 km
Depth¼MSL to  50 m
Gentle submarine slope
Avg. ¼0.8 m km  1
Dominated by warm Gulf Stream dynamics
Dominated by tropical storms
Moderate to large storm surges
Low to high wave energy
Highly variable currents
geologic framework. The line drawn from Raleigh through
Cape Lookout separates the two coastal zones; each has
a unique geologic framework, resulting in distinct types of
continental shelves, barrier islands, inlets, and estuaries (Riggs
et al., 1995; Pilkey et al., 1998).
Rocks of late Cretaceous through Pliocene ages (Hine and
Snyder, 1985; Snyder et al., 1993; Riggs et al., 1996) underlie
in the southern coastal zone. This region has only a thin,
highly variable skim (o1 to 10 m) of Quaternary sand
and mud. The older units are indurated sediments associated
with the Carolina Platform. This structural platform rises
close to the Earth’s surface, causing the older, generally con-
solidated units to be exposed on the continental shelf and
eroded and truncated by the shoreline. This erosional topo-
graphy results in relatively steeper upland slopes and common
exposures of the older rock units that control the shoreline
geometry.
In contrast, the northern coastal zone is underlain by
younger Quaternary sediments (Swift et al., 1972; Heron et al.,
1984; Riggs et al., 1992; Wehmiller et al., 1995; Sager and
Riggs, 1998; Mallinson et al., 2005, 2010; Thieler et al., 2006;
Parham et al., 2007) that are generally unconsolidated and
thicken northward to fill the subsiding Albemarle Embayment
with up to 70 m of sediment. The coastal sediments
were deposited during many sea-level fluctuations from mul-
tiple glaciations and deglaciations of the Quaternary ice
ages. Consequently, the surface topography is dominated
by young sediments with low upland slopes, with the older
rock units deeply buried beneath the thick Quaternary
sediments.
The different geologic frameworks of the southern and
northern zones produce dissimilar continental shelf geom-
etries, physical and chemical conditions, and sediment sup-
plies (Table 3). The North Carolina coastal system has four
geomorphic bays (Figure 12), each with its own physical and
chemical dynamics and resultant biological and geological
components (Swift et al., 1972; Riggs and Belknap, 1988;
Riggs and Ames, 2003). These cuspate embayments are de-
fined by the cape structures and the associated cape-shoal
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 187
Continental shelf
Characteristics of the northern coastal zone in North Carolina
Pliocene–Quaternary geologic framework
Dominantly sand to mud sediment deposits
Local rock hardbottoms
Narrow to moderately wide continental shelf
Range¼15–55 km
Depth¼MSL to  50 m
Steep submarine slope
Ave. range¼ 1.2–2.9 m km  1
Dominated by cold Labrador current dynamics
Dominated by extratropical storms
Low to moderate storm surges
Moderate to very high wave energy
Highly variable currents
deposits, which are extensive, shore-perpendicular, shallow
sand shoals that extend seaward across the continental shelf:
Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras, Lookout Shoals off Cape
Lookout, and Frying Pan Shoals off Cape Fear. The geographic
orientation of each compartment and variable continental-
shelf geometry determine wave and current dynamics, astro-
nomical and storm-tide characteristics, and types of storm
system and response to them, including extratropical storms
and tropical storms (Dolan et al., 1988). Consequently,
the coastal system morphodynamics of barrier islands and
associated estuaries within the northern and southern
coastal zones of North Carolina are incredibly different
(Table 3).
The North Carolina barrier islands are storm dominated
with tropical storms (tropical depressions to hurricanes) in the
summer and fall seasons and extratropical storms (north-
easters and northwesters) in the fall, winter, and spring.
Because of the different spatial orientation of the barrier
islands, geometry of the continental shelf, and associated
current systems, the dominant energy input to the southern
coastal zone is from the tropical storms, whereas the energy
input for the northern coastal zone is dominated by the
extratropical storms. Because many different variables exist
associated with each storm event, the short-term barrier-island
responses to the diverse wind, wave, tide, and current con-
ditions are extremely varied. Thus, the net short-term barrier-
island response including longshore sediment transport,
shoreline erosion and accretion, inlet opening and closing,
inlet migration, dune building and deflation, and overwash
are dictated by each storm event. However, the net long-term,
longshore sediment transport is generally from north to south
and the net long-term pattern of barrier-island migration is
recession as the barriers respond to the ongoing rise in sea
level (Everts et al., 1983; Zervas, 2004; Horton et al., 2009;
Kemp et al., 2009; Riggs et al., 2011).
Most of the North Carolina barrier islands are sediment
poor (about 75%) and have been migrating upward and
landward at rates between hundreds of meters and a thousand
or more meters over about the last 150 years (Fisher, 1967b;
188 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
Everts et al., 1983; Riggs et al., 1995, 2011). About 20% of the
barriers are sediment rich and have been either semistable or
accreting new sediment for the same time period. Ultimately,
sediment availability, along with the rate of sea-level rise,
determines the evolutionary history of each portion of the
coastal system. In addition to the sand that is already on any
given barrier island, there are generally four potential sources
of new sand that play important roles in the sediment budgets
of each of the North Carolina barrier islands.
1. Inlets between barrier segments contain sand deposits that
occur within the various channel systems, the flood-tide
delta, and the ebb-tide delta (Hayes and Michel, 2008,
2011; Cleary and Marden, 1999).
2. Sand and gravelly sand deposits of paleo-riverine channels
and paleodeltas deposited on the continental shelf by large
Piedmont-draining rivers when sea level was lower during
the last ice age and subsequent period of rising sea level
(Boss et al., 2002; Mallinson et al., 2005).
3. Sand from adjacent cape-shoal structures that extend across
the present continental shelf is available to adjacent down-
drift, coastal segments: Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras
(Boss and Hoffman, 2000), Lookout Shoals off Cape
Lookout (McNinch and Wells, 1999; Park and Wells, 2005),
and Frying Pan Shoals off Cape Fear (Riggs et al., 1990).
4. Locally, older, sand-rich sediment units, exposed on the
shoreface and the continental shelf sea bed, immediately
offshore of the beach, are slowly being eroded by waves,
currents, and biological processes and deposited on
Table 4 Differential characteristics occur between the southern and northern coastal zones of North Carolina and result from variations in the
underlying geologic framework, geographic and paleotopographic controls, and the physical–chemical dynamics. Figure 12 shows the location of
the two zones
Barrier island characteristics of the southern coastal zone in
North Carolina
Cretaceous–Miocene geologic framework
Dominantly rock control
East- to south-facing barrier islands
Depth of shoreface¼MSL to  8 to  10 m
Astronomical tides¼low mesotidal
Dominant wave energy ¼moderate
Steep subaerial slope (avg.¼2 m km  1)
Coastal plain-draining rivers (many)
Black-water rivers
Low sediment input
Low freshwater input
Results: short barrier islands
Numerous tidal inlets (18)
Mesotidal astronomical tides/currents
Maximum saltwater exchange
Estuarine results
Narrow back-barrier estuaries
Regularly flooded
Astronomical-tide-dominated
High brackish salinities
Source: Table is modified from Riggs, S.R., Ames, D.V., 2003. Drowning the North Carolina Coast: Sea-Level Rise and Estuarine Dynamics. North Carolina Sea Grant College, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh. Publication No. UNC-SG-03-04, 152 pp.
adjacent beaches by storms (Riggs et al., 1990; Riggs et al.,
1995; Boss and Hoffman, 2000; Thieler et al., 2006).
10.8.2.3.2 Types of North Carolina barrier systems
The Holocene rise in sea level disparately flooded the geologic
frameworks of the southern and northern zones, producing
different kinds of barrier-island-inlet systems and associated
estuaries (Table 4) with different evolutionary histories (Heron
et al., 1984; Dolan and Lins, 1986; Moslow and Heron, 1994;
Riggs et al., 1995, 2011; Pilkey et al., 1998; Cleary and Marden,
1999; Riggs and Ames, 2003; Culver et al., 2007). The North
Carolina coast is characterized by three basic types of barrier-
island systems). The barrier type is not only determined largely
by the availability of sand, but also by the drainage system
topography and underlying geologic framework.
Complex barrier islands form if an abundant sand supply
is available to build a high, wide barrier segment. Complex
barriers are sediment-rich and consist of a series of beach
ridges and swales, extensive dune fields, and maritime forests,
and often represent multiple evolutionary stages of develop-
ment. If only minor sand supplies are available, a low, narrow,
simple barrier island will form. Sediment-poor, simple barriers
are dominated by inlet dynamics and overwash dynamics and
tend to be younger than complex barrier islands. Headland
beaches are coastal segments that are dominated by older
sediment or rock units in the shoreface or on the beach and
that occur along the mainland interstream divides (i.e.,
interfluves) between river valleys. Generally, headland beaches
Barrier island characteristics of the northern coastal zone in
North Carolina
Pliocene–Quaternary geologic framework
Dominantly sediment control
Northeast- to southeast-facing barrier islands
Depth of shoreface¼MSL to  10 to  20 m
Astronomical tides¼high microtidal
Dominant wave energy ¼high
Gentle subaerial slope (avg. ¼0.1 m km  1)
Piedmont-draining rivers (4)
Brown-water rivers
High sediment input
High freshwater input
Results: long barrier islands
Few tidal inlets (5)
High microtidal astronomical tides
Minimal saltwater exchange
Estuarine results
Deeply embayed drowned rivers
Irregularly flooded
Wind-tide- and wave-dominated
Highly variable salinities
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 189

have minimal sand available, resulting in thin, narrow sand
beaches perched on older sediments or rocks. Simple barrier
islands are the dominant type of barrier system in North
Carolina, constituting 70% of the ocean shoreline, whereas
complex barriers make up 25% of the shoreline. Headland
beaches characterize 5% of the ocean shoreline and occur only
in the southern coastal zone.
10.8.2.3.3 Human modification and natural process on
the barrier systems
Human development and coastal engineering have become a
dominant force in modifying barrier-island evolution (Dolan,
1973; Pilkey et al., 1998; Riggs et al., 2011). Human modifi-
cations such as construction (e.g., bridges, roads, and barrier
dune-ridges), beach-management procedures (e.g., hardening,
sandbags, and nourishment), and inlet-management practices
(e.g., closing, hardening, channel dredging, channel realign-
ment, and sand mining) are anthropogenic interventions that
consists of long, thin barrier islands with few tidal inlets to the
north and south (see Cleary and Marden, 1999; Riggs and
Ames, 2003), with the central half comprising short drumstick
barriers separated by closely spaced ebb-dominated tidal inlets
(Hayes, 2010) (Figure 13). Also referred to as the South
Atlantic Bight, the Georgia Bight is 800-km long and forms a
broad coastal arc from the terminal spit-cape system of Cape
Fear, North Carolina, to the accretionary beach-ridge complex
of Cape Canaveral, Florida. Myrtle Beach and Charleston,
South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and Jacksonville and
Daytona Beach, Florida are major population centers within it.
See Atkinson et al. (1983), Hayes (1994a, 1994b, 2010), Dame
et al. (2000), and Barnhardt (2009) for detailed summaries of
this geomorphologically diverse coastal region.
−80° −78°

34°
interrupt the natural barrier-island dynamics. The conflict NC
between humans and natural processes only increases during
Cape Fear
storm activity, particularly during times of the rising sea level.

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are being destroyed or are evolving or migrating. These Isle of Palms
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rise and saltwater encroachment that are affecting the estuar- n na Folly Bch.
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shifting land-use patterns, and changing the magnitude of Edisto I.

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flood and drought conditions in upland areas. If the ongoing

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climate changes continue, the booming coastal urban centers

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from the tourism and other significant local industries in- Alta Ossabaw I. A I
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10.8.2.3.4 Future research directions St. Simons I.
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the rates, magnitude, and consequences of increasing climate Amelia I.

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FL Daytona Beach
10.8.2.4 Barrier Systems along the Georgia Bight, United
States: Cape Fear, North Carolina to Cape
Canaveral, Florida N 50 Cape Canaveral
km
28°

The coastal-barrier system within the Georgia Bight comprises

groupings of short and long barrier-island segments that are
responding to the regional processes (Nummedal et al., 1977;
Hayes, 1994a, 1994b, 2010) superimposed on a variable and
complex surficial geologic framework (Harris et al., 2005;
Barnhardt, 2009). Approximately half of this coastal region
−82° −80°
Figure 13 The Georgia Bight between Cape Fear, NC, and Cape
Canaveral, FL, may be subdivided into an Arcuate Strand to the
north, Sea Islands in the central segment, and Atlantic Beach Ridges
to the south.
190 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

10.8.2.4.1 Geologic setting
Situated on the passive margin of the western Atlantic, the
sedimentary wedge beneath the Georgia Bight coastal system
has been developing since the middle to late Mesozoic (Hayes,
1994a). The passive continental margin of this section of the
southeastern United States is bounded on the west by a wide,
low coastal plain, and on the east by a continental shelf that is
wider than 100 km in the north but narrows to less than
50 km off Cape Canaveral. Long-term subsidence in the center
of the bight with uplift at the Cape Fear Arch and Ocala Uplift
create the overall morphology and regional tide and wave
trends shown in Figure 14 (Hayes, 1976, 2010).
Elevation changes in Pleistocene beach ridges on the coastal
plains adjoining the bight have been attributed to tectonic
downwarping (Winker and Howard, 1977). Cretaceous to
Pleistocene-age materials (from north to south, respectively)
underlie much of the barrier-island platform and shelf of this
region. Paleochannels extend offshore from some river systems
(Barnhardt, 2009), weakening the substrate and allowing for the
occupation by more stable, deeper inlets (Harris et al., 2005).
Long-term sea-level records since the last glacial maximum
(LGM) are rare, but shelf morphologies and archaeological
sites indicate a typical LGM to modern record typical to global
sea-level changes (Figure 15). Specific to the Georgia Bight,
sea level rose from approximately 125 m at the LGM to
about  22 m at the Younger Dryas period where
shelf-incision and expansive estuarine strata are preserved
(Harris et al., 2011).
Barrier formation in the Georgia Bight began approxi-
mately 5000 to 6000 years ago as rapid Holocene sea-level rise
slowed (Harris, 2000; see Figure 15). Once the barriers were
established, barriers migrated to their present location ap-
proximately 1–2 ka, many sections of which experienced
beach-ridge development and progradation. As older barrier
island cores are overtopped, transgression becomes more
rapid. Sea level is currently rising in all sections of the study
area (Table 5), and response varies considerably. Florida and
Georgia maintain overall small average rates of accretion,
while South Carolina and North Carolina record much higher
rates of erosion (see Morton and Miller, 2005).
The largest freshwater inflow to the system comes from the
Cape Fear River, the Winyah Bay drainages (Pee Dee River
system), the Santee River, the Savannah River, and the Alta-
maha River, with less flow from the smaller coastal-plain rivers
of the St. Johns River and from isolated back-barrier estuaries
(Dame et al., 2000). Currently, river basins draining into the
Georgia Bight do not deliver significant amounts of coarse
sediment to the active coast (Kana and Gaudiano, 2008; Hayes,
1994b), but suspended load to and within the estuaries can be
significant (Dame et al., 2000; McCarney-Castle et al., 2010).
10.8.2.4.2 Coastal geomorphology, processes, and
dynamics
10.8.2.4.2.1 Primary geomorphic zones
The dominant regional morphology is broadly defined by a set
of sea islands (Ziegler, 1959; Hayes, 1994a, 1994b) in the
central bight that are bound on either end by a set of
long coastal strands with thin barrier islands and mainland
attached systems (Hayes, 1979; Fisher, 1968; Duc and
Tye, 1987; Pilkey et al., 1981; Price and Zenkovitch, 1964;
Brown, 1977; White, 1970; Tanner, 1960). The Sea Island
segment was classically named for the coastal segment

Spring tidal range (m)

VIRGINIA
0.9 1.5 2.1 2.9

NORTH
CAROLINA CAPE FEAR
ARCH CAPE
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SOUTH CAROLINA
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W
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CANAVERAL
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FLORIDA
W E
Tida
500

Gulf FLORIDA
of S
Mexico 100 0 100
Miles
0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5
Mean wave height (m)
(a) (b)

Figure 14 (a) The Georgia Bight is between the Cape Fear Arch to the North and the Ocala Uplift to the South. (b) The increased tidal range in
the center of the bight, with reduced wave heights, creates segmented Sea Islands dominated by inlet processes. Reproduced from Hayes, M.O.,
1976. Lecture notes. In: Hayes, M.O., Kana, T.W. (Eds.), Terrigenous Clastic Depositional Environments. Tech Rep 11-CRD, University of SC,
Columbia, SC, pp. 1–131, and Hayes, M.O., 2010. Shore of South Carolina; geomorphology and coastal processes. Shore and Beach 78, 3–19.
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 191

Thousands of years BP Radiocarbon years

20 15 10 5 0 10 8 6 4 2 0
0 0

Elevation (below mean sea level)

See panel (b)
2

Elevation (below mean sea level)

−25
4

−50 6

8
−75
10

Calendar years 12
−100
6000 4000 2000 0 2000 AD

−125
(a) (b)

Figure 15 Sea-level curves for the Georgia Bight. (a) Sea-level positions since the last glacial maximum approximately 20 000 years ago.
Modified from Harris, M.S., Luciano, K.T., Johnson, K., Leslie, S., Sedberry, G.R., Wright, E.E., Siuda, A., 2011. Quaternary records of the
continental shelf and lower coastal plain, South Carolina (USA): examples of well-preserved stratigraphic records and distinct landscapes from
MIS-5 to the present. XVIII International Quaternary Association Congress, Bern Switzerland, Programme, 3120 pp, with permission from INQUA,
www.inqua2011.ch (last accessed 29 October 2011). (b) Detailed Holocene sea-level curve based on archaeological information near the
Savannah River. Modified from Colquhoun, D.J., Brooks, M.J., Stone, P.A., 1995. Sea-level fluctuation: emphasis on temporal correlations with
records from areas with strong hydrologic influences in the southeastern United States. Journal of Coastal Research Special Issue 17, 191–196.

Table 5 Mean sea-level trends based on linear plots through long-term tide records (extracted from NOAA, http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/
sltrends/msltrendstable.htm)

Location First year Total years to 2006 Rate (mm yr  1) 795% confidence interval

Wilmington, NC 1935 72 2.07 0.40

Grand Strand, SC (Springmaid Pier) 1957 50 4.09 0.76
Charleston, SC 1921 86 3.15 0.25
Fort Pulaski, GA 1935 72 2.98 0.33
Jacksonville, FL (Mayport) 1928 79 2.40 0.31
Daytona Beach, FL 1925 59 2.32 0.63

from Hunting Island, South Carolina to Little Talbot Island,
Florida, and was so-named because of the large, well-
established, stable island core there (Ziegler, 1959). However,
because of island geomorphologies and inlet processes, the
segment later was extended northward to Bull Island, South
Carolina.
Analysis of barrier-island lagoon morphology led Hayden
and Dolan (1979) to statistically quantify subdivisions of the
Georgia Bight and place them into three major sections –
shorter barrier islands and complex back-barrier systems in the
central portion of the bight and longer barrier islands to the
north and the south with less-intricate lagoon and marsh
complexes. Under Finkl’s (2004) comprehensive coastal clas-
sification system, the Georgia Bight comprises an allomorphic
(soft-rock), neolittoral, mature passive margin with a mid-
latitude barrier-fronted morphotype.
10.8.2.4.2.2 Classic studies
Classic, general subdivisions of the coastal barrier system
provide a general understanding of the distributions of various
coastal barrier features (Ziegler, 1959; Tanner, 1960; Schwartz,
1973; Nummedal et al., 1977; Nummedal and Fisher, 1978;
Hayes, 1979, 1994a; Dame et al., 2000). Early structural
classifications of coastal systems (e.g., Johnson, 1919), though
thorough in description, have been superseded by process-
based inferences to coastal morphologies. Davies (1964) de-
veloped his morphogenetic approach to coastal systems on the
basis of wave and tide distributions worldwide, which led to
Hayes’ (1979) classic wave-and-tide-regime approach to
understanding coastal-system dynamics in central South Car-
olina (Kiawah Island is a classic site) and worldwide. In the
Georgia Bight, sea islands become more prominent as tide
increases and wave energy decreases (Figures 13 and 14)
(Nummedal et al., 1977; Hayes, 1979, 1994a, 2010).
10.8.2.4.2.3 Physical processes
The Georgia Bight coastline is characterized by wave-dominated
barrier islands on the margins to mixed-energy, tide-domin-
ated barrier islands along the apex (Hayes, 1976, 1979, 2010),
with a tidal range that increases from o1 m at each of the
192 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
capes to 43 m near Savannah (Figure 14). Waves are pre-
dominantly wind-driven from the south in the summer
and from the northeast in the winter, with currents influenced
by the dominant wave field, as well as by river runoff near-
shore and the Gulf Stream offshore (Atkinson et al. 1983;
Blanton et al. 2003). Hurricanes can hit any portion of the
Georgia Bight, though hurricane impact decreases toward the
bight center, with most storms hitting the Cape Fear region.
Although immediate hurricane effects are recognized in the
impact on infrastructure and the population, their geologic
signatures are more difficult to recognize and often are not
recorded in the geologic record (Hippensteel, 2011).
10.8.2.4.2.4 Regional morphodynamics, shoreline change, and
barrier-system evolution
Each coastal segment within the Georgia Bight undergoes dif-
ferent morphodynamics, depending on the coastline configur-
ation and the influence of short- and long-term processes. The
long stretches of uninterrupted shorelines undergo predomin-
antly wave-dominated littoral drift, whereas the Sea Islands
display much variability in shoreline dynamics. Much research
has been done toward understanding the importance of inlet
dynamics in the evolution of these coastal systems (Hayes,
1979, 2010; FitzGerald, 1979, 1984; May and Stapor, 1996;
Kana et al., 1999; Kana and Gaudiano, 2008). Shoal bypassing
(Kana et al., 1999; Gaudiano and Kana, 2001; Kana and Gau-
diano, 2008) influences the downdrift barrier through channel
compression against the shoreline and temporary erosion of the
barrier before accretion of the bypassed sediment mass onto the
barrier. Hayes (1994a) showed that up to 70% of the modern
sediment volume may be stored temporarily in the ebb shoals.
Shoreline change has been documented in the region since
the mid-nineteenth century by using plane-table surveys,
transits, aerial photographs, and LIDAR methods (Morton and
Miller, 2005; Harris et al., 2009). Regional and national
shoreline surveys provide shoreline erosion rates for this re-
gion (Anders et al., 1990; Miller and Morton, 2005; Morton
et al., 2006; Harris et al., 2009). By combining shoreline
change rates with beach profiles and dredge data, sediment
budgets have been calculated for the arcuate strand (Patch-
ineelam et al., 1999; Gayes et al., 2003), and the Charleston
area Sea Islands (Kana and Gaudiano, 2008).
The short-term changes in the sedimentary record are re-
corded in a longer history of barrier-island dynamics through
the stratigraphy of the region. Focusing on inlets in the central
portion of the bight, Hayes (1979), his students, and other
researchers have sought to understand the longer-term dy-
namics through the characteristics of ebb-tidal deltas (Imper-
ato et al., 1988), tidal-inlet successions (Hubbard et al., 1979;
Moslow and Tye, 1985; Tye, 1984; Fitzgerald, 1979, 1984),
beach-sediment sources (Wehmiller et al., 1995; Hippensteel
et al., 2005; Hippensteel, 2008), the general barrier-system
stratigraphy (Moslow and Tye, 1985; Tye, 1984), and the
underlying geologic framework of the coastal system (Harris
et al., 2005; Barnhardt, 2009).
10.8.2.4.3 Research, developments, and issues
Current research regarding the Georgia Bight focuses on the
geologic framework and near-surface stratigraphic architecture
as it relates to coastal geomorphology and erosional trends in
the region. The use of sidescan sonar, multibeam bathymetric
surveys, LIDAR, GPR, and high-resolution shallow strati-
graphic studies have been paramount in understanding the
local details of coastal geometries (Harris et al., 2005; Barn-
hardt, 2009) in light of the wave-and-tide model (Davies,
1964; Hayes, 1979) that dictates other scales of reference
(Kana and Gaudiano, 2008). These studies are being used to
better equip coastal zone managers in their decision-making
processes in the populated zones. Better assessment of marsh
and lagoonal systems (Dame et al., 2000) enables better
assessment of organic resources in the bight.
Major foci of future research will be on document-
ing existing resources throughout the barrier-island system,
from the offshore platform to the mainland and with par-
ticular interest in estuarine shorelines and evolution, and
on understanding the effects of engineering on the beach
system. New methodologies, including airborne and land-
based LIDAR combined with multibeam bathymetric surveys
and multispectral surveys, will provide baseline data for
management decisions on resource allocation and preser-
vation. The geologic framework has been shown to be of
major importance to all studies, whether environmental or
engineering related. As offshore sediment sources become
harder to locate and obtain, tax-funded regional projects
combined with marine spatial planning will increasingly drive
how resources are allocated and preserved. Using mathemat-
ical models (cf. Thieler et al., 2000) to improve shoreline
change estimates and sediment budgets on annual to decadal
timescales (Harris et al., 2005; Kana and Gaudiano, 2008) will
increase our understanding of the net sources and sinks of
fine- and coarse-grained sediments in the barrier-island
system.
10.8.2.5 Barrier Systems along the Florida Atlantic Coast,
United States
Along the Atlantic coast of Florida (Figure 16), barrier islands
span nearly 600 km and barrier-island morphology evolves
from mixed-energy along the northern portion to wave-
dominated along the central to southern portions (see Num-
medal et al., 1977). In terms of the sediment type, the Florida
Atlantic coast barrier islands are located within the transition
zone characterized by siliciclastic depositional environments
that dominate the northern stretches and carbonate systems
that dominate much of southern Florida. They are among the
most heavily developed barrier islands in the world, with
anthropogenic modification playing a significant, even dom-
inant, role in their morphodynamics. With few exceptions at
the northern end of the system, the Florida Atlantic barrier-
island chain is characteristic of a narrow back-barrier lagoon.
McBride (1987) found that the average ratio of lagoon width
to barrier-island width for the eastern coast of Florida, except
the Canaveral area, is 1.25:1, as compared to the world average
of approximately 6:1 (Tanner, 1960).
10.8.2.5.1 Geologic setting
The generally north–south-oriented Atlantic coast of
Florida changes from mesotidal along the northern portion
(Figure 17) to microtidal along the southern portion
(Figures 18 and 19), with tidal conditions largely controlled by

50 km
(b) 10 km
10 km
(d)
20 km
(e)
(d)
(c)
(e) 0.5 km (a)
Figure 16 Barrier systems along the US Florida Atlantic coast.
Aerial photos obtained from Google Earth. (b) From top to bottom,
St. Marys Entrance, Fernandina Beach, Nassau Sound, and St. Johns
River Entrance. (c) Top to bottom, Ponce De Leon Inlet and Cape
Canaveral National Seashore. (d) From top to bottom, Sebastian Inlet,
North Hutchinson Island, and Ft. Pierce Inlet. (e) Ft. Pierce Inlet.
shoreline orientation changes along the Georgia Bight. Tides
along the northern Florida barrier-island coast are semidiurnal
with a range of nearly 3.0 m (Figure 17). The range of the
semidiurnal tides decreases to about 2.0 m along the east-
central Florida coast (Figure 18), and decreases further to 1.0 m
along the southeast coast (Figure 19). The decreasing tidal
energy serves as the main reason for the transition from mix-
energy barrier islands along the northern portion of the coast
southward to wave-dominated barrier islands.
Average monthly significant wave heights (from 1988 to
2001) measured at the NDBC station 41 009 (mid-coastline,
Figure 16(c)), 37 km east of Cape Canaveral at 42 m
water depth, range mostly from 1 to 2 m. Waves are higher
during the winter months (October through March),
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 193
averaging around 1.4 m (Figure 20). During the summer
months (April through September), waves are calmer, aver-
aging about 0.9 m. The maximum wave height measured
during summer months is 10 m and is related to hurricanes.
During winter storms, the maximum wave height is 6 m.
Generally, wave heights along the southern portion are lower
than along the northern portion.
Barrier islands along the northern portion of the Florida
Atlantic coast (Figure 16(b)) receive considerable terrestrial
sediment from rivers and tidal creeks through the vast coastal
marsh. Conversely, barrier islands along the east-central and
southeast coastal portions receive little to no modern terres-
trial sediment. Numerous outcroppings of the oxygen isotope
stage (OIS) 5e Anastasia Formation (beach-rock and coqui-
noid sandstone) along the shoreline provide iron-stained shell
carbonate debris to the littoral system. Where present, these
outcroppings of lithified sandstone also significantly influence
local shoreline configuration.
Net annual longshore sediment transport is southerly, with
annual transport rates of 460 000 m3 along the northern
coastal portion (Figure 16(b)), decreasing to 90 000 m3 near
the southern end of the barrier-island chain near Miami Beach
(Dean and O’Brien, 1987). This trend is the result of the
combined southward decrease in wave energy and sediment
supply. Overall, the present morphodynamics of the barrier
islands along the Florida Atlantic coast are controlled by the
southward decreasing tidal and wave energies and sediment
supply. In addition, a significant portion of this barrier-island
coast is heavily developed, especially along southeast Florida;
these anthropogenic activities have a dominant influence on
local and regional morphodynamics.
The morphology of the barrier islands along the Atlantic
coast of Florida is strongly influenced by tidal inlets (see
Nummedal et al., 1977, Davis and Fox, 1981). McBride (1987)
examined the 40 historical, active, and artificially cut tidal
inlets along the Atlantic coast of Florida on the basis of his-
torical maps and published data. The morphodynamics and
stability of the tidal inlets also reflect the influences of the
southward-decreasing tidal range and wave energy, evolving
from relatively stable mixed-energy tidal inlets with large tidal
prism to unstable, migratory (presently artificially stabilized)
wave-dominated inlets with small tidal prism.
10.8.2.5.2 Barrier-island morphodynamics
Barrier-island morphodynamics along the northern Florida
Atlantic coast (Figure 16(b)) are similar to those along the
Georgia and South Carolina coasts (see Nummedal et al.,
1977; Hayes, 1994a, 2010). Florida’s northern Atlantic
barrier islands are shorter and wider than the wave-domi-
nated barriers along its east-central and southeastern
sections, demonstrating typical mixed-energy, tide-dominated
drumstick morphology with large ebb-tidal deltas. Its back-
barrier environment is largely coastal marsh with numerous
tidal creeks, in contrast to the open-water estuaries that char-
acterize much of the Florida Gulf coast barrier islands.
Except for the protruding Cape Canaveral barrier-island
complex, most of the central and southeast Florida Atlantic
barrier islands are wave-dominated, yielding long narrow is-
lands with small or no ebb-tidal deltas and a narrow back-
barrier bay that is less than 3.5 km wide (Figure 16(d)).
194 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

1.4
1.2 Fernandina Beach
1.0
0.8
Water level relative to MSL (m) 0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
−0.2
−0.4
−0.6
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−1.0
−1.2
−1.4 Predicted Measured
−1.6
20100401
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20100403
20100404
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Date
Figure 17 Measured and predicted tides at Fernandina Beach, northeast Florida, an example from 1 April 2010 to 1 May 2010. Data obtained
from NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station¼frdf1

1.0
Trident Pier
0.8

0.6
Water level relative to MSL (m)

0.4

0.2

0.0

−0.2

−0.4

−0.6

−0.8
Predicted Measured
−1.0
20100401
20100402
20100403
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Date
Figure 18 Measured and predicted tides at Trident Pier, east-central Florida, an example from 1 April 2010 to 1 May 2010. Data obtained from
NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station¼trdf1

The formation of the relatively wide Canaveral barrier complex
is controlled by a variety of factors, including antecedent geol-
ogy (White, 1958), paleomorphology of the Anastasia For-
mation, convergence of (or gradient in) longshore transport
(Brooks, 1972), and upward shoaling of nearshore bars
(Kofoed, 1963). Almost all of the tidal inlets were formed by
hurricane-induced breaching and subsequently were stabilized
artificially with jetties. Because they interrupt and impound the
net-southward longshore sand transport, the jetties create
significant offsets at many inlets (Figure 16(e)), the result of
sediment accumulation along the updrift (north) side and
erosion along the downdrift (south) side. The absence of ebb-
tidal deltas eliminates the possibility of natural sand bypassing
along the terminal lobes, a process that is common along
mixed-energy barrier islands (FitzGerald, 1984). Dean (1988)
suggested that more than 80% of the erosion along the Florida
coast can be linked directly to tidal inlets. Artificial sand by-
passing through beach nourishment and mechanical bypassing
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 195

0.5
Virginia Key
0.4

0.3
Water level relative to MSL (m)
0.2

0.1

0.0

−0.1

−0.2

−0.3

−0.4
Predicted Measured
−0.5
20100401
20100402
20100403
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Figure 19 Measured and predicted tides at Virginia Key, southeast Florida, an example from 1 April 2010 to 1 May 2010. Data obtained from
NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=vakf1
Significant wave height (m)

12 10.8.2.5.3 Future research

The Florida Atlantic barrier-island chain is one of the most
10
heavily developed coastal regions in the world and has very
8 dense population. Anthropogenic activities have influenced the
6 morphodynamics of these barrier islands at a regional scale.
4 Managing this heavily developed coast under the conditions of
2 potential accelerated rising sea level and increasing storminess
provides a tremendous challenge for future research. The close
0
proximity of this coast to very sensitive carbonate environments
January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

adds to the complexity of researching regional sustainability.

10.8.2.6 Barrier Systems of the Santa Catarina Coast,

Figure 20 Average monthly wave conditions along the east-central Southeastern Brazil
Florida Atlantic coast (from 1988 to 2001). The error bars indicate
one standard deviation and the diamond represents the maximum
This section reviews the barrier studies for the mid-Holocene
wave height. Data obtained from NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, highstand transgressive systems to the mid- to late-Holocene
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station ¼41009 regressive strandplains along the subtropical Santa Catarina
coast of southeastern Brazil (Figure 22). In addition to out-
lining the geology, geomorphology, and coastal processes
often are applied to maintain the continuity of longshore along this coastline, it discusses detailed examples of evo-
sediment transport along this coast. lution of three barrier-strandplain systems.
Extreme storms play a significant role in the Florida
Atlantic coast barrier-island morphology. Storm-induced 10.8.2.6.1 Geologic setting
breaching is responsible for the origin of most of the tidal The Santa Catarina coast (Figure 22) is characterized by high
inlets. The wetlands and densely vegetated mangrove swamp relief of the proximal Serra Geral and Serra do Mar Mountains.
that characterize much of the back-barrier shoreline region Collapse of a large Cretaceous plateau during the Tertiary per-
tend to obstruct the landward propagation of storm-induced iod (58 Ma) created a series of grabens and horsts (Zalán and
washover deposition within the back-barrier bay (Wang Oliveira, 2005) that have been reduced to rocky scarps along an
and Horwitz, 2007). Washover deposition commonly yields elongated east–west high that separates the Pelotas and Santos
both normal- and reverse-graded beds, with coarser fractions marginal basins (Giannini, 1993). These processes produced a
composed of shell debris (Figure 21). The normal-graded bedrock-dominated coastline characterized by a series of bays
bedding occurs in the nonvegetated region seaward of the and re-entrants that are defined by bedrock headlands. The
wetlands, whereas the reverse-graded bedding tends to dis- modern coastline is tectonically inactive and fronted by the
tribute in the densely vegetated area. low-gradient (0.01%) Florianopolis Shelf (Angulo et al., 2009).
196 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

85°0′0″ W 80°0′0″ W

30°0′0″ N 30°0′0″ N

25°0′0″ N 25°0′0″ N

85°0′0″ W 80°0′0″ W
0.0 m F G C H I D E C B J K A

0.2 m

0.4 m

0.6 m

0.8 m

1.0 m

1.2 m

1.4 m

1.6 m

N Longshore transect S W Cross-shore transect E

Figure 21 Sediment cores from Hutchinson Island, through washover deposits caused by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004, showing the
normal graded (NG) and reversed graded (RG) bedding and their spatial distribution. Reproduced from Wang, P., Horwitz, M.H., 2007. Erosional
and depositional characteristics of regional overwash deposits caused by multiple hurricanes. Sedimentology 54, 545–564.

Large-scale sea-level fluctuations throughout the Quater-
nary Period have reworked coastal sediments and formed a
series of transgressive barriers and regressive barrier-strand-
plain systems that have partly straightened the bedrock-dom-
inated shoreline. In southern Santa Catarina, where the
coastal mountain range is located up to 25 km inland
(Figure 22), three sets of Quaternary barrier systems are sep-
arated from one another by freshwater wetlands and
lagoons (Horn Filho et al., 1997; Caruso et al., 2000; Dom-
inguez, 2009). These barriers tentatively have been attributed to
three of the four major sea-level highstands of the last 350 000
years (marine oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 9c, 5e, and 1)
(Horn Filho et al., 1997; Caruso et al., 2000). Contrastingly,
only two Quaternary barriers, dating to the OIS 5e and mid-
Holocene (OIS 1) highstands (Villwock et al., 1986; Martins,
1988), have been identified in central and northern Santa
Catarina, where the coastal range abuts the modern coast.
Records of the OIS 5e (B120 ka) highstand occur as sandy
terraces and are preserved almost continuously from latitude
51S to 351S along the Brazilian coast (Dominguez, 2009).
During the highstand, RSL was 872 m above the present
level (Dominguez, 2009), producing barriers and strandplains
more than 5 km inland of the present coast. More recently,
eustatic sea-level rise that followed the LGM resulted in a

Atlantic
Ocean
Brazil
Pacific
Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean
Figure 22 Map of the coast of Santa Catarina in southeastern Brazil, indicating the boundaries of the four sectors described in the text. The
yellow line marks the approximate landward boundary of Quaternary deposits. Also shown are the locations discussed in text, including strand-
plain systems at Navegantes, Tijucas, and Pinheira, shown in Figure 24. Reproduced from Horn Filho, N.O., Diehl, F.L., 1994. Geologia da
planı́cie costeira de Santa Catarina. Alcance 1(1), 95–102.
sea-level highstand (B5.8 ka) that in some locations en-
croaches on the Pleistocene highstand barriers. Along the
southern Brazil coast, evidence of this highstand ranges from
paleo-lagoonal deposits located above modern mean sea level
to complex barrier island–lagoon–inlet–washover systems.
Many of these features are well preserved several km land-
ward of the modern shoreline, stranded as sea level has
fallen 2–4 m since the mid-Holocene (Angulo and Lessa, 1997;
Angulo et al., 2006). This complex sea-level history
(Figure 23) results from global hydroisostasy: collapsing fore-
bulges in previously glaciated continental margins (the ‘near
field’) during the mid-Holocene created accommodation space
that siphoned water from ‘far-field’ (generally southern ocean)
regions (Mitrovica and Milne, 2002). Additional accom-
modation in the near field was created by hydroisostatic
loading of the coastal oceanic crust, thus accounting for
an additional 40% of sea-level fall in far-field regions
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 197
4
(Milne et al., 2005). Along much of the southern coast of
Brazil, this most recent forced-regression coupled with an
abundant sediment supply has produced extensive (45-km
wide) regressive barrier-strandplain systems.
The ultimate sediment source for southern Santa Catarina
state is largely unknown. Because of the proximity to the
coastal mountain ranges, fluvial drainage in eastern South
America is dominantly inland into the Rio de la Plata and São
Francisco basins. Only small, local rivers feed sediment to
the Santa Catarina coast. Although sediment from these
smaller rivers has created several moderately sized strand-
plains in central and northern Santa Catarina (e.g., at Tijucas
and Navegantes, Figures 22 and 24) (Asp et al., 2005; Buy-
nevich et al., 2005; FitzGerald et al., 2007a, b; Buynevich et al.,
2011), the presence of extensive Pleistocene and Holocene
dune systems (410–50 m high and extending more than
2 km inland) and a number of strandplains not associated
198 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

−1
Elevation (m)

−2

−3 Explanation
Sea-level data points for Sea-level data points for
−4 Santa Catarina south Santa Catarina north
of −28° latitude of −28° latitude
−5
Sea-level envelope for Sea-level envelope for
−6 Santa Catarina south Santa Catarina north
of −28° latitude of −28° latitude
−7 Santa Catarina sea-level
Modern mean sea-level prediction (Milne et al.,
−8 2005)

−9

−10
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Age (ka)
Figure 23 Sea-level indicator data and proposed paleo-sea-level curves for southern Brazil in meters above modern mean sea level, based on
the curve presented by Angulo et al. (2006). Data points are derived from radiocarbon analyses of encrusting gastropods (vermitids:
Petaloconchus varians). Sea-level envelopes and vermitid records of Angulo et al. (2006) for the southern Brazil coast north of 281 S (open
squares) and south of 281 S (open circles) are shown as indicated in explanation (legend). The solid line is reference-model predicted sea-level
behavior (see Milne et al. (2005) for details). No reliable sea-level data have been reported for this coast prior to c. 7 ka, when sea level reached
its modern elevation during the post-glacial transgression. Reproduced from Angulo, R.J., Lessa, G.C., de Souza, M.C., 2006. A critical review of
mid- to late-Holocene sea-level fluctuations on the eastern Brazilian coastline. Quaternary Science Review 25(5–6), 486–506, and Milne, G.A.,
Long, A.J., Bassett, S.E., 2005. Modelling Holocene relative sea-level observations from the Caribbean and South America. Quaternary Science
Review 24, 1183–1202.

with river systems (e.g., Pinheira, Figures 22 and 24) (Fitz-
Gerald et al., 2007a, b; Hesp et al., 2009; Hein et al., 2012a)
suggests that the Rio de la Plata (Uruguay and Paraná Basins)
1000 km to the south and other sand sources on the adjacent
continental shelf may have also contributed significant sedi-
ment volumes to the southern Santa Catarina coast (Bigarella,
1975; Milliman, 1975; Rocha et al., 1975; Dominguez et al.,
1987; Cleary et al., 2004; Hein et al., 2012a).
10.8.2.6.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes
10.8.2.6.2.1 Coastal setting
Santa Catarina is in the southern subtropics, in a transitional
zone between temperate and tropical environments, as reflected
in the widespread presence of salt marshes along the lagoon-
dominated shoreline to the south (e.g., Santo Antonio and
Imaruı́ Lagoons) and the mangroves in the bays to the north
(e.g., from Santa Catarina Island to Babitonga Bay). The annual
precipitation of coastal Santa Catarina is 1250–1400 mm (Hesp
et al., 2007). Its climate is largely controlled by the presence of
two high-pressure air masses, the South Atlantic tropical anti-
cyclone and the polar migratory anticyclone (Orselli, 1986),
though local orographic effects are responsible for some climatic
variability along the coast. Although prevailing winds are from
the northeast, the wind regime is dominated by the passage of
moderately strong cold fronts that induce southerly winds
(Nimer, 1989; Klein, 1997). Larger storms are rare; although
care must be taken with respect to record bias, only two re-
corded tropical cyclones have impacted this coastline in 4100
years: Cyclone Catarina in 2004 (McTaggart-Cowan et al., 2006)
and Tropical Storm Anita in 2010.
Sea swells tend to be bimodal: A sea swell from the south
with a period of 12 s has significant heights ranging from 1.25
to 2.00 m, and an 8-s sea swell from the east has an average
significant height of 1.25 m (Araújo et al., 2003). The larger
southerly swell results in net-northerly longshore transport
(Giannini, 1993; Muehe 1998; Dillenburg et al., 2000;
Martinho, 2004); however, transport rates and directions are
highly variable, in part because of local wave refraction/
diffraction patterns (FitzGerald et al., 2007a, b; Siegle and
Asp, 2007). This wave climate is largely reflected in the
morphology of inlets and headland bay beaches (Klein, 2004;
Klein and Menezes, 2001; Klein et al. 2010). Tides along the
Santa Catarina coast are mixed, microtidal with a mean spring
tidal range of 0.46 to 1.06 m (at Imbituba and Enseada, re-
spectively), and strongly influenced by meteorological factors
(Truccolo, 1998).

10.8.2.6.2.2 Geomorphic units
In categorizing the Brazilian coastline, Dominguez (2009) de-
fined the southern Santa Catarina coast as part of the ‘strike-fed
sandy coast,’ a microtidal, wave-dominated sandy coast with
well-developed barrier–lagoon systems. In this classification,
central and northern Santa Catarina fall within the ‘high-relief
rocky coast,’ typified by headlands and barriers systems.
Others have sought to further subdivide the Santa Catarina
coast into a series of three to eight geologic–geomorphic sectors
(Martin et al., 1988; Diehl and Horn Filho, 1996; Hesp et al.,
2009). Here we propose four coastal segments based on gross
morphology (see Figure 22). From south to north, these are:
1. Barrier coast (Passos de Torres to Santa Marta Cape): pro-
grading foredune ridges backed by lagoons, coastal ponds,
and lowlands; several small tidal inlets connected to
freshwater drainage or saltwater lagoons; lagoons often
contain intralagoon deltas (e.g., Tubarão River delta;
Figure 22); extensive transgressive dune fields that migrate
south–southwestward (Giannini and Santos, 1994).
2. Headland–cuspate-barrier coast (Santa Marta Cape to Papa-
gaios Island): small bedrock headlands separated by cuspate
barriers, forming log-spiral embayments; barriers backed by
lagoons of variable size that are connected to the ocean by
small tidal inlets; active dune systems are common.
3. Rugged bedrock headland–strand plain coast (Papagaios
Island to Ponta do Vigia, including Santa Catarina
Island): large bedrock headlands, re-entrants, and bays
dominate; prograded foredune ridges; irregular bedrock
coast smoothed by beach ridges and chenier plains; coastal
dune systems that migrate north–northwestward, opposite
the direction most southern dune systems migrate.
4. Strand plain–estuarine coast (Ponto do Vigia to São Francisco
Island): foredune ridges and plains formed between large
estuarine systems, reflecting a regime of abundant sediment
supply; widely spaced bedrock promontories create slightly
irregular shoreline shape; characterized on a smaller scale
by narrow barrier spits, tidal inlets, and small rivers.
10.12.2.6.3 Research along the Santa Catarina coast
Much of what is known about the development of the
Santa Catarina coast is based on the extensive mapping of
Francisco Caruso, Jr. and Norberto Horn Filho (Caruso and
Awdziej, 1993; Horn Filho and Diehl, 1994, 2004; Caruso,
1995, 1997; Diehl and Horn Filho, 1996; Caruso et al., 2000;
Horn Filho and Simó, 2008; Horn Filho et al., 2011). Other
recent studies have complemented those mapping efforts with
detailed evolutionary models of individual sites (Asp et al.,
2005; Buynevich et al., 2005; Barboza et al., 2009; FitzGerald
et al., 2007a, b; Martinho et al., 2008; Sawakuchi et al., 2009;
Amaral et al., 2012; Hein et al., in press). Hesp et al. (2009)
provided a detailed overview of the present state of know-
ledge, largely derived from this expansive body of work.
In the past several years, sedimentological, geophysical,
chronological, and morphological surveys of the Santa Catarina
coast have begun to ground truth, enhance, and replace previ-
ous evolutionary models. For example, a recent paleoenviron-
mental reconstruction of a lagoon system proximal to the Santa
Marta Cape (see Figure 22) revealed the complex interactions
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 199
between local sedimentary processes, climatic variations, and
sea-level change responsible for Holocene coastal evolution
along the ’Barrier coast’ segment of Santa Catarina (Amaral et
al., 2012). Additionally studies along a series of strandplains
(Navegantes, Tijucas and Pinheira) along the rugged bedrock
headland-strandplain coast (Figure 24) (Cleary et al., 2004; Asp
et al., 2005; Buynevich et al., 2005; FitzGerald et al., 2007a, b;
Scolaro, 2009; Buynevich et al., 2011; FitzGerald et al., 2011;
Hein et al., 2012a) have revealed considerable variability in the
sedimentology, stratigraphy, and facies architecture among
these plains that is the result of differences in wave exposure,
origin, volume and type of sediment supply, and antecedent
topography for each basin. For example, the ground-pene-
trating radar records reveal that all plains exhibit truncated re-
flectors, suggesting that erosional events have contributed to
ridge morphology and have influenced sedimentation patterns
and the resulting stratification. The angle of the clinoforms
varies among plains and appears to be related to grain size and
wave energy. The greater apparent dip of the Pinheira Plain
versus the Navegantes Plain may be due to the more-protected
nature of Pinheira Plain and its lower wave environment
compared to the exposed Navegantes Plain. Additionally, the
Tijucas Plain contains extensive mud deposits in the form of
cheniers, overbank deposits, and mud tidal flats, whereas mud
is much less abundant at Navegantes and Pinheira and pri-
marily forms a surficial cover (41.2-m thick) between some of
the ridges (FitzGerald et al., 2007a, b).
All three strandplains have prograded over the past 5000
years at rates ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 m yr1; however, a series of
15 radiocarbon dates from Tijucas indicates that progradation
rates there have increased with time, reflecting a decrease in ac-
commodation space because of sediment infilling and attendant
basin shoaling. This process also reduced wave energy, which
caused a gradual transition from a sand-rich strandplain to a
series of mud–sand chenier ridges to – within the last 1000 years
– a fully mud-dominated environment (FitzGerald et al., 2011).
At Tijucas and Navegantes, this work also has documented
geophysical and sedimentological evidence of transgressive
barrier islands backed by marsh and lagoon systems, each
cresting approximately 4 m above modern mean sea level and
dating to the mid-Holocene highstand (Figure 25) (FitzGerald
et al., 2007a, b; Hein et al., in press). In Tijucas, the Holocene
barrier is backed by a lagoon that abuts a laterally dis-
continuous, 4-m-high sand ridge, tentatively interpreted as the
OIS 5e shoreline (FitzGerald et al., 2007a, b, 2011).
10.8.2.6.4 Future research directions
These studies of the mid-Holocene transgressive barriers and
late-Holocene regressive barrier-strandplain systems along the
Santa Catarina coast have revealed the complex interrelation-
ships between various mechanisms driving their formation
(sea-level change, climate change, and sediment supply). For
example, at Tijucas, imprinted on the gradual shift from a
sandy environment to a muddy environment are rapid (dec-
adal to centennial) alternations between sandy and muddy
regimes. These likely are related to changes in the fluvial bed
load and suspended load ratio that were caused by climate
change; they in turn produced modifications in vegetation
patterns, in bedrock weathering and soil formation processes,
and ultimately in sediment contribution in the drainage basin
200 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

Elevation above MSL (m)

West East
4 Mud
2 Sandy
cheniers
0

50 m
Elevation above MSL (m)

West East
2
0
−2
−4
−6 20 m
Elevation above MSL (m)

4 West East
2 Beach and dune
Foreshore
0
−2 Shoreface
−4
−6
80 m

Figure 24 Post-processed GPR profiles across beach ridges from three Brazilian strandplain systems discussed in detail in the text. Graphic
logs are from vibracores collected along the profiles; sediment grain sizes are given by both width and color of boxes (gray – mud; beige – very
fine to fine sand; yellow – medium sand; and dark brown – coarse sand). Beach ridges vary in both grain size and apparent dip between each
location (Tijucas: medium to coarse sand, 9–101; Navegantes: fine to medium sand, 1.5–2.51; Pinheira: fine to very fine sand, 4–51).
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 201

Tijucas mid-Holocene highstand barrier

Elevation above MSL (m)

6 West East

4
Mud
2

0
Mud Overwash Mud
−2 layers
−4
80 m
Lagoon Barrier/Overwash Regressive strandplain sequence

Navegantes mid-Holocene highstand barrier

Elevation above MSL (m)

North South
4

2 Overwash
layers
0

−2 40 m
Lagoon Barrier / Regressive strandplain
Overwash sequence
Figure 25 Sample post-processed and topographically corrected (using RTK-GPS data) ground-penetrating radar lines across transgressive mid-
Holocene highstand barriers in Tijucas and Navegantes (locations shown in Figures 22 and 24). Barriers are denoted by topographically high ridges
and the presence of overwash layers. They are backed by lagoons (muddy in Tijucas, where the Tijucas River delivers large quantities of mud; and
sandy in Navegantes, where the Itajaı́ River generally delivers only sand) and fronted by seaward-dipping regressive strand plain systems deposited
as sea level fell during the middle to late Holocene. Tijucas data (upper profile) modified from FitzGerald, D.M., Cleary, W.J., Buynevich, I.V., Hein,
C.J., Klein, A.H.D.F., Asp, N.E., Angulo, R.J., 2007a. Strandplain evolution along the southern coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Journal of Coastal
Research SI 50, 152–156, with permission from JCR. Navegantes data (lower profile) from Hein, C.J., FitzGerald, D.M., Cleary, W.J., Menezes, J.T.d.,
Klein, A.H.d.F., Albernaz, M.B., in review. Diverse Sedimentological Signatures of the Mid-Holocene Highstand in Brazil, Quaternary Research, 14 pp.

(FitzGerald et al., 2011). Contrarily, because of its shelf sedi-
ment source, no such alternations occur at Pinheira; however,
there a barrier-lagoon–inlet system dating to about
3.2  2.8 ka has been identified within the regressive strand-
plain succession and was related to minor oscillations in sea-
level fall during that time (Hein et al., 2012b). Further study of
each of these barrier–strandplain systems in Santa Catarina
will help develop our understanding of variations in the di-
verse forcing mechanisms that contributed to their formation.
10.8.2.7 Barrier Systems along the Wadden Sea:
European North Sea Coast (German Bight)
Located in the southeast part of the North Sea, the Wadden
Sea is the most important coastal wetland area in Europe
(Figure 26). The Wadden Sea extends 450 km along the
Dutch, German, and Danish North Sea coasts, covering
10 000-km2, some 2000 km2 of which has 23 inhabited bar-
rier islands and seven small vegetated islands, as well as a
number of major sand bodies without vegetation (Figure 27).
The Wadden Sea is the tidal estuary between the barrier islands
and the mainland.
The Wadden Sea occurs within three countries – the Neth-
erlands, Germany, and Denmark – which have established the
Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation for the protection and
management of this important natural habitat. It has national-
park status in all three countries, and the Dutch and German
part was designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site
in 2009.
The area where the Wadden Sea is today was covered by ice
during the Saale glaciation but was uncovered during the
Weichselian glaciation. The morphology from these two glaci-
ations and the associated meltwater combined with fluvial
erosion and deposition during the Pleistocene epoch created
the paleolandscape on which the Wadden Sea islands de-
veloped. Many of the barrier islands are located on local
Pleistocene highs, and two of the islands, Texel and Sylt, have
outcrops of Pleistocene sediments. For a description of the
Holocene evolution of the Wadden Sea, see, for example, Van
der Spek and Beets (1992), Oost (1995), and Vos and van
Kesteren (2000) for the Dutch part; Streif (2004), Chang et al.
(2006), and Lindhorst et al. (2008) for the German part; and
Bartholdy and Pejrup (1994), Aagaard et al. (1995), Johan-
nessen et al. (2009), and Nielsen et al. (2009) for the Danish
part. Ehlers (1988) provided a detailed description of the recent
development and morphodynamics of the entire Wadden Sea.
10.8.2.7.1 Geologic setting
A RSL rise of 3–4 mm yr1 is observed in the Wadden Sea
region today, a combination of the present regional isostatic
crustal movement there of 0 to –1 mm yr1 (Gehrels et al.,
2006) and the recent global eustatic sea-level rise of about
3 mm yr1. At the LGM, sea level was about 120 m lower than
202 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
Norway
Sweden
North Sea
Denmark
Germany
Netherlands 100 km
Figure 26 The Wadden Sea (dotted pattern) extends 450 km along
the Dutch, German, and Danish North Sea coast (German Bight).
now. Melting of the Fennoscandian ice shield caused the sea
level to rise rapidly. Vink et al. (2007) modeled the sea-level
changes in the Wadden Sea region for the last 10 000 years
(Figure 28). It appears that sea level rose rapidly from 10 ka
until approximately 7 ka by a mean rate of some 8 mm yr1.
From 7 ka until today, the rates of sea-level rise have been
decreasing, with a mean of 2 mm yr1. Some researchers claim
that sea-level rise in this period has been discontinuous (e.g.,
Behre, 2007) because of crustal adjustments caused by the
former glaciation, such as fore-bulge collapse.
Although evidence exists that the first barrier islands started
to form in the Wadden Sea about 8 ka, the landscape as we
know it today began to form when the rate of the sea-level rise
slowed down. During the early Holocene, the major sediment
source to the barrier islands and the tidal lagoons was the
North Sea seafloor, where the landscape formed earlier but was
drowned and eroded (Hofstede, 2005). Today, sediment
transported to the barrier-island system originates from coastal
erosion and sediment discharge from major rivers such as the
Rhine, Ems, Weser, and Elbe rivers. The largest sand supply is in
the northern Wadden Sea, where southerly net littoral drift
exceeds 0.5 106 m3 yr1 (Pedersen and Bartholdy, 2006).
10.8.2.7.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes
Tidal range in the Wadden Sea varies from 1.3 m in the
southernmost part at Texel and increases along the West
Frisian and East Frisian Islands to a maximum of 3.5 m in the
German Bight at the outlet of the Elbe River (Nummedal and
Fischer, 1978). North of the Elbe River, tidal range decreases
gradually to about 1.5 m at the northernmost barrier island,
Skallingen. The barrier islands vary in length, and this vari-
ation appears to be controlled by the tidal range or more
specifically by the size of the tidal prism (Nummedal and
Fischer, 1978; Hayes, 1979). In fact, the Wadden Sea coast and
its continuation along the North Sea coast of Denmark is a
classic example of tidal range and tidal prism controlling
barrier-island length. The most prominent morphologic fea-
tures of the Wadden Sea barrier system are foreshore and
beach, coastal dune ridge, salt marsh, tidal inlets, tidal deltas,
tidal channels, tidal creeks, and tidal flats.
The Dutch and German Wadden Sea island shorelines are
undergoing severe erosion, especially Texel and Sylt, which
have Pleistocene-age cores and outcrops. Moreover, beach
nourishment projects are not holding up. In Denmark,
the Skallingen peninsula is experiencing severe erosion, too,
whereas Fanø and Rømø Islands are regressive barriers. Net
longshore sediment transport along the Danish Wadden Sea
coast is southerly, whereas the West and East Frisian Islands
experience net easterly transport.
Ebb- and flood-tidal deltas are common along the Wadden
Sea barrier coast, and several of the old flood-tidal deltas have
become vegetated and appear at the lagoon side of the
Wadden Sea tidal inlets as small, low-relief islands. Beach
width varies considerably from island to island and along the
same island. Many Frisian Islands experience erosion along
their western end and deposition along their eastern end. Sea
walls have been constructed several places to prevent erosion.
The depositional end member is the Danish island, Rømø,
whose beach is 41 km wide, possibly one of the widest in the
world (Figure 29). About 65% of the Wadden Sea area
emerges at low-water, exposing large areas of intertidal flats
composed of medium-grained sand and mud. Muddy tidal
flats typically occur in the inner, sheltered parts of the tidal
basins. In the northern part of the Wadden Sea, accretion rates
commonly are large, 10–20 mm yr1, exceeding sea-level rise
considerably (Andersen et al., 2006).
Most of the natural salt marshes have been diked during
the last 500 years and only minor areas of undiked salt marsh
remain. Today, undiked salt marshes occur on the lagoon side
of the barrier islands and along the mainland coast in front of
the dikes. The transition from the intertidal flats to the
supratidal salt marsh frequently is marked by an erosional
cliff. The largest of the almost natural salt marshes is at the
Skallingen peninsula in Denmark, and covers some 10 km2
(Aagaard et al., 1995). During the past several decades, net
deposition at Skallingen has been on the same order of
magnitude as recent sea-level rise (Andersen et al., 2011).
Little consensus exists among researchers as to the recent
sediment budget for the Wadden Sea. Sediment accumulation
rates for the Danish part indicates that sedimentation prob-
ably can keep pace with sea-level rise (Madsen et al., 2007,
2010), whereas research in the German areas points to a mud
depletion (Flemming and Ziegler, 1995) because of a change
in the normal energy gradient caused by dike construction.
Most of the mainland coast is protected by dikes and sea walls.
Nummedal and Fischer (1978), Ehlers (1988), Oost
(1995), Streif (2004), and Chang et al. (2006) presented
classic studies on the Holocene evolution of the area.
Aagaard et al. (1995) presented studies on the area’s recent
development.

North Sea
Spiekeroog
Langeoog
Norderney
Borkum Juist
Schiermonnikoog
Terschelling Ameland
Vlieland
Texel
Figure 27 Specific barrier islands along the German Bight that front the Wadden Sea, all of which are located in the southeast portion of the
North Sea. Twenty-three barrier islands, seven minor vegetated islands, and a large number of major sand bodies covering an area of some
2000 km2 shelter the Wadden Sea against waves from the North Sea.
Prevailing winds in the Wadden Sea region are westerly,
especially during autumn and winter periods in connection
with low-pressure systems moving across the North Sea.
Typical average annual wind speed for the central part of the
Wadden Sea is 8 m s1 along the island coast and about
6.5 m s1 along the mainland coast (Hofstede, 2005). West-
erly winds exceed 30 m s1 almost every year and cause wind
setup inside the Wadden Sea of up to 5 m above MSL. Mean
annual wave heights along the North Sea coast are about
0.5 m, and maximum wave heights are greater than 5 m
(Aagaard et al., 1995). Maximum tidal current velocity in the
inlets is B1.5 m s1, decreasing to about 1 m s1 in major
tidal channels inside the Wadden Sea. In small tidal creeks
within the Wadden Sea, maximum current velocities rarely
exceed 0.5 m s1. Typical maximum current velocity across
tidal flats is 0.3 m s1.
10.8.2.7.3 Significant current research developments
The most significant advances in Wadden Sea research over the
past decade have been in quantification of sediment fluxes and
their morphological response in the intertidal areas and the
supratidal salt-marsh areas (e.g., Lumborg and Pejrup, 2005;
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 203
Skallingen
Fanø
Rømø
Sylt
Föhr
Amrum
Hooge
Pellworm
Süderoogsand
Trischen
Scharhörn
Neuwerk
Andersen et al., 2011). New technologies that use high fre-
quencies of electromagnetic current meters to measure current
velocities have enabled accurate computation of bottom shear
stresses (Andersen et al., 2006). Also, new methods have been
developed to measure settling velocities of suspended sedi-
ment. In addition, long-term, high-frequency monitoring of
bed-level changes recently has been conducted (Andersen
et al., 2006). Algorithms for these new processes have been
incorporated into numerical models (Lumborg et al., 2006).
Another significant advance in Wadden Sea research in
recent years is the use of optically stimulated luminescence
(OSL) dating, which has made it possible to establish high-
resolution sediment-accumulation rates for both muddy and
sandy sediments (Madsen et al., 2005, 2007; Fruergaard et al.,
2011). Finally, research on the interaction between the
biota and the physical environments has improved our
understanding of the integrated Wadden Sea system (Andersen
et al., 2006, 2011; Borsje et al., 2008; Madsen et al., 2010).
10.8.2.7.4 Future research directions
As noted earlier, little to no consensus exists on what
the sediment budget is for the Wadden Sea. Budgets for
204 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

–10

–20 20
RSL (m)

24
19

15
22
14
1−2 23 21

–30 13
3−5 18 16
17

12
11
6−7
9
8 10
9−10 7
8
11−13
14−16 6
–40 18−20 5
21−22 3
4
23 2
24 1

–50
10 8 6 4 2 0
cal ka BP
Figure 28 Relative sea-level curves for the Netherlands, Germany, and the southern North Sea. The curves are presented by Vink et al. (2007) based
on a regional best-fit Earth model for 24 stations in NW Europe. It appears that from 10 ka to 2 ka, relative sea-level decreased from SW to NW.
Furthermore, it appears that the region experienced a rapid sea-level increase from 10 ka until 7 ka, and has experienced a slower but continuous
increase from 7 ka until today.

fine-grained sediment in Denmark that are based on sediment 10.8.2.8 Australian Barrier Systems
core dating indicate a large import of fine sediment from the
Australia has a 30 000-km-long open coast that ranges from
North Sea (Bartholdy and Pheiffer-Madsen, 1985; Pejrup et al.,
the balmy tropics at 91 S in Torres Strait to the wave- and
1997). Numerical modeling of the net flux of fine-grained
wind-blasted midlatitudes at 431 S in southern Tasmania (see
sediment covering an entire year supports these findings
Figure 30). The coast is exposed to a range of wave, tide, wind,
(Lumborg and Pejrup, 2005). Furthermore, new investigations
and climatic environments, resulting in a large number of
using OSL dating of sandy sediment cores show that sand ac-
Pleistocene and Holocene barrier systems and a wide range of
cretes at approximately the same rate as mud (Madsen et al.,
barrier types and sizes. The exposed high-wave and wind-
2010).
energy southern and western coasts are the site of numerous
In the German and Dutch part of the Wadden Sea, it
barrier systems, most backed by extensive dune systems and
appears that the barrier system is being sediment starved and
many reaching massive proportions in height and longshore
that the Wadden Sea might drown because of an accelerating
and inland extent. The moderate-energy eastern coast tends to
rise in RSL. Both hypotheses may be true because of the
have more-restricted embayed beach and dune barrier systems,
different sand supply for the northern and southern parts
whereas northern Australia has a range of barriers from che-
of the Wadden Sea. New research addressing this question
niers through to transgressive dunes, including the only bar-
is needed because it is vital for the management of the
rier islands.
Wadden Sea that the sediment dynamics of the system are
well understood. At the same time, the influence of the biota
on sediment stability and thereby on net sediment deposition 10.8.2.8.1 Geologic setting
should be further addressed. Such studies already have Australia is located centrally on the Australian plate and is re-
been initiated by Borsje et al. (2008) and Lumborg et al. markably stable tectonically, with most of the coast classified as
(2006). a passive margin or trailing edge. Most Pleistocene shorelines
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 205

North Sea Rømø barrier island Lagoon

Shore-attached
oblique bars

Intertidal
sand flat
Shore-parallel
sand transport
Tidal
inlet
Net sand
transport

Figure 29 Arial photo showing the Danish barrier island Rømø. This island shows a regressive coast with beach with in excess of 1 km. The
major morphological units and sand-transport directions are shown. Redrawn from Johannessen, P.N., Nielsen, L.H., Nielsen, L., Møller, I.,
Pejrup, M., Andersen, T.J., 2009. Upper Jurassic barrier-island sandstone reservoir geometry in the Danish Central Graben constrained by
application of a Holocene – Recent Wadden Sea analogue. Petroleum Geology Conference Proceedings 7, 127–143.

are at or near present sea level, with tectonic activity restricted
to the southeast of South Australia, where a 400-km-wide se-
quence of barrier regression has been preserved through the
regional uplift (Short and Woodroffe, 2009). In general, Aus-
tralia is a low, flat, stable platform with mature terrestrial
sediments in the north and east, whereas shelf carbonate
sediments dominate across the more arid south and west.
10.8.2.8.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes
Northern Australia is a generally low passive margin coast
exposed to a tropical monsoonal climate with a summer wet
season accompanying the northwest monsoons together with
occasional tropical cyclones, and a drier winter dominated by
the southeast trade winds. The accompanying waves are low to
moderate seas, whereas tides range from meso to mega,
maintaining a generally tide-dominated coast. The subtropical
high dominates most of the continent, resulting in an arid
interior and south and west coasts and a more humid north-
ern and eastern fringe. The subpolar lows impinge across the
southern coast, bringing strong westerly winds and precipi-
tation. The lows also generate the world’s largest waves in the
Southern Ocean, which deliver year round swell 2–3 m high
swell to all of southern Australia and a more moderate swell
along the east coast.
Holocene sea level reached its present level or slightly
higher right around the coast by 6.5 ka (Figure 31). On the
higher-energy eastern and southern coasts, the rise was
accompanied by massive shelf sand supply with the beach
barrier, and in places massive dune formation accompanied
the sea-level rise and stillstand. After the stillstand, across the
lower-energy northern coast, barrier sediment supply was
generally derived from the numerous river systems and locally
derived from fringing coral reef.
Hesp and Short (1999) found that Australian barrier for-
mation is influenced by substrate gradient, sediment supply,
wave energy, tides, wind, sea level, geologic inheritance, and
tectonism. Barriers are spread right around the coast, with sig-
nificant regional variability in the size and type.
10.8.2.8.3 Barrier research
Australia has 2746 barrier systems that occupy 12 175 km
(40%) of the coast (Short, 2010). However, only a handful of
these have been investigated in any detail. Thom and Roy and
colleagues presented the first thorough investigations of bar-
rier morphostratigraphy, chronology, and evolution initially
along the New South Wales (NSW) coast, followed by work in
Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. The results of these
studies formed the basis of models of sea-level history and
barrier evolution in southeast Australia (Figure 31; Roy et al.,
1980; Roy and Thom, 1981; Thom, 1984; Thom and Roy,
1985). These models were then extended by Roy et al. (1994)
to incorporate the relationship between barriers and the inner
shelf and in particular a critical role played by the substrate
gradient, with beaches and barriers only forming on slopes
between 0.11 and 0.81. More recently, Cowell et al. (1995,
2006) used the southeast Australia barriers to develop a model
of shoreface and barrier response to climate change in which
substrate gradient and type also play a major role.
In Queensland, Hopley (1987) investigated regressive
barrier systems to determine the Holocene sea-level history; in
investigating the large Burdekin River delta, Belperio (1983)
described the barrier islands and spits associated with the delta
shoreline. During the 1980s, Queensland’s Beach Protection
Authority conducted a number of regional coastal investi-
gations that in part reviewed knowledge of the associated
barrier systems.
206 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

120° E 130° E 140° E 150° E

Torres Strait

Arafura Sea
Timor Sea Melville
Bathurst Island
Island
17
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Darwin 10° S
Cape Arnhem

f
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Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Arnhem

G
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ge
Land Archer
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16 Da Eylandt

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R.
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13 Adelaide Mu Sydney

a
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Leeuwin VICTORIA
rong

12 11 Melbourne
SOUTHERN OCEAN
Cape Howe Sea
Province boundary Ninety Mile Beach
Wilsons Promontory
10 Bass Strait
Subprovince boundary 0 800 km 7
6 Province number 40° S
TASMANIA 8
9 Hobart

110° E 120° E 130° E 140° E 160° E

Figure 30 Three major sedimentary provinces and 17 subprovinces used to classify Australian barrier systems. Reproduced from Short, A.D.,
2010. Sediment transport around Australia – sources, mechanisms, rates and barrier forms. Journal of Coastal Research 26, 395–402.

In Western Australia, Semeniuk conducted detailed in- Large dune systems are associated with many Australian
vestigations of barrier formation in the south (Semeniuk and barriers, and a limited number of attempts have been made to
Meagher, 1981) and regional coastal studies in the northern date these. In Queensland, Pye (1983) dated massive trans-
Pilbara region (Semeniuk, 1993). In northern Australia, some gressive tropical dune systems; in NSW, Pye and Bowman
research has focused on the development of chenier-beach (1984) dated cliff-top dunes near Sydney; in the Northern
ridge plains, with Rhodes (1982) working in the Gulf of Territory, Lees et al. (1995) also dated tropical transgressive
Carpentaria; Chappell and Grindrod (1984) investigating the dunes; and in Tasmania, Duller and Augustinus (1997) dated
extensive Princess Charlotte Bay chenier plain; Lees (1987) at coastal dunes in northern Tasmania. Short (1988), Thom et al.
Point Stuart in the Northern Territory; and Short (1989) (1994), and Lees (2006) reviewed regional Australian dune
reviewing Australian chenier research. systems and their chronology.
In the southeast of South Australia, Murray-Wallace et al. Hesp and Short (1999) presented a time–space sequence
(2001, 2002) used a range of dating techniques to date a of Australian Holocene barrier evolution and morphody-
100-km-wide, regressive barrier sequence back to 800 ka. namics in which barrier type, evolution, and morphody-
These same systems extend even further inland, with sugges- namics is closely related to wave energy and the rate and
tions that the innermost barriers located 400 km inland date supply of sediment to the shore (Figure 32). They defined
as early as the Pliocene (Roy et al., 2000). seven barrier types ranging from the low-energy regressive

10 8 6 4 2 0 available, testing whether barrier evolution and periods of
Karumb Spen
a cer G
Great Barrier Reef ulf
Northern Territory
Southeast Australia
Central Queensland
Huon Peninsula
Abrolhos
8 6 4 2 0
Time (ka)
Figure 31 Holocene sea-level record for the Australian region
showing the rapid rise to about 6.5 ka when sea level reached its
present or slightly higher level around Australia and New Zealand.
Reproduced from Short, A.D., Woodroffe, C.D., 2009. The Coast of
Australia. Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 288 pp.
chenier, beach ridge, and foredune ridge plain (Figure 33) to
(with increasing wave energy) regressive then transgressive
systems, to – in places–massive transgressive barrier–dune
systems (Figure 34).
In an overview of Australian beach and barrier systems,
Short (2010) divided the 30 000-km-long coast into three
major provinces and 17 subprovinces (Figure 30) on the basis
of sediment sources and general Holocene barrier form and
size. The subprovince barriers range in mean volume from
small 800 m3 m1 chenier plains to massive 70 000 m3 m1
transgressive dune systems, with an overall mean volume of
23 000 m3 m1. Short found that the main controls on Aus-
tralian barrier morphodynamics and evolution are wave en-
ergy, predominately shelf sediment supply accompanying
sea-level transgression, and, for the dunes, wind.
10.8.2.8.4 Future directions for research
The biggest issue facing Australian barrier research and coastal
research in general is the perennial problem of the vastness,
variety, and in places the remoteness of their coasts, as well as
the relatively few coastal scientists investigating barriers. This
is further compounded today by a shift in post-graduate re-
search focus from field-based studies to desktop studies. Al-
though the latter provides excellent spatial coverage, it cannot
provide the morphostratigraphy and chronology required to
understand barrier evolution. So in general, a need exists for
more studies of barrier stratigraphy and chronology. These
should be aimed at detailing the nature and evolution of in-
dividual barrier systems, and when sufficient data are
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 207
dune transgression and stability are localized or regional in
extent. The individual barrier chronology is highly relevant to
assessing the state of contemporary shorelines, whereas the
MSL regional barrier behavior has important implications for the
role of regional scale climate indicators in triggering episodes
of coastal evolution, including the formation of cheniers and
4 beach ridges in northern Australia, and the timing of episodes
of dune transgressions across southern Australia, which in
turn has implications for potential impacts of the climate
change.
8
Depth (m)
10.8.3 Marginal Sea Coasts
12
According to Inman and Nordstrom (1971), marginal sea
coasts occur along continental mainland shorelines (e.g., the
16 United States Gulf Coast and the Australian east coast (both
discussed above), and the Asian mainland east coast), are
fronted by shallow bodies of water (e.g., the Gulf of Mexico,
the Tasman Sea, the East and South China Seas, and the Sea of
20
Japan), and face the backside of volcanic island arcs such as
the Caribbean Islands, New Zealand, the Aleutian Islands, the
Japanese Islands, and the Philippine Islands. Marginal sea
coasts typically are characterized by wide continental shelves,
well-developed coastal plains, and large fluvial systems that
may discharge large sediment loads to the coast. Con-
sequently, these coastlines may be characterized by extensive
barrier systems, such as the United States Gulf of Mexico coast
as discussed next.
10.8.3.1 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems along the
Gulf of Mexico Coast of Florida, United States:
Sanibel Island to Perdido Pass, Florida
Barrier islands span over 600 km of the Gulf of Mexico coast
of Florida. In general, two barrier-island chains have de-
veloped along the Florida Gulf Coast: the east–west trending
barrier-island chain along northwest Florida (Figure 35), and
the north–south trending west-central Florida barrier-island
chain (Figure 36). The barrier-islands along the northwest
Florida coast typically are wave-dominated, whereas those
along the west-central Florida coast range from wave-domin-
ated to mixed-energy (Davis and Hayes, 1984). The back-
barrier environment is dominated by shallow estuaries of
various sizes with limited fluvial water and sediment input.
10.8.3.1.1 Geologic setting
The Florida Gulf Coast is microtidal. Tides along the northern
Gulf Coast are diurnal with a range typically of less than 0.6 m
(Figure 37). Because of the small tidal range, meteorological
tides play a relatively significant role in the overall water-level
fluctuation, especially in the bays (Figure 37, April 23–26).
The tide regime along the west-central Florida coast is different
from the diurnal tides along the northwest Florida coast
(Florida Panhandle). The west-central coast tidal range is
about twice as large, with spring ranges reaching 1.2 m
(Figure 38). In addition, tidal cycles are mixed diurnal and
208 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

6 6–3 3–0
A Hb 0m
Samphire facies
Calcarenite
Mangrove facies 6 6–3 3–0
B Hb 0m
Dune sand
Shelly sand
6 6–3 3m
C Marine sand Hb 0m
3–0
10 6 6–3 3–0
10 m
Hb < 1
D Sea grass

10 7 4–3 2
3 4
5 3–0

20 m
Hb 1 – 1.5
E Overwash
Ω3–6 1

10 6–7 5–0
1 Hb > 2 4
F – 5
Ω > 3 2
1
Primary dunes

10 1 6–7 4 6–0
3
Hb > 2
G – 5
Ω >
Primary dunes
(Cliff top)

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Rising sea level Stillstand

Figure 32 Proposed time–space sequence of seven southern Australian barrier types in relation to wave energy and rate, quantity and timing of
sediment supply, all of which increase from A to G. Reproduced with permission from Hesp, P.A., Short, A.D., 1999. Barrier morphodynamics.
In: Short, A.D. (Ed.), Handbook of Beach and Shoreface Morphodynamics. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, pp. 307–333.

Figure 33 Barrier islands on the southern Gulf of Carpentaria coast Figure 34 Gunyah beach and barrier in South Australia is exposed to
backed by a supratidal salt flats and a degraded Pleistocene barrier. high waves and strong onshore winds and backed by a transgressive
Photo: A.D. Short. dune system extending 10 km inland. Photo: A.D. Short.

semidiurnal, with largely diurnal spring tides and semidiurnal
neap tides.
Wave energy along the Florida Gulf Coast is relatively low.
The average significant breaking wave height along the
northwest Florida coast is 0.67 m (Browder and Dean, 2000).
This stretch of coast is significantly influenced by hurricane
passages (e.g., Ivan in 2004 and Dennis in 2005), which
generate wave heights of 410 m and a storm surge of 42 m
(Wang et al., 2006; Wang and Horwitz, 2007; Claudino-
Sales et al., 2008, 2010; Morton, 2008, 2010). Winter
storms associated with the passages of cold fronts also have
significant impact on the barrier-island morphodynamics

(a)
(c) 30 km
(b) 10 km
Figure 35 Barrier system along the northwest Florida Gulf of Mexico coast (Florida Panhandle) from Perdido Pass, FL eastward to Dog Island,
FL. Aerial photos obtained from Google Earth. (b) From left to right, Perdido Pass, Perdido Key, and Pensacola Pass. (c) From left to right,
Pensacola Pass, Santa Rosa Island, and East Pass. (d) From left to right, Saint Joseph Spit, Saint Vincent Island, Saint George Island, and Dog
Island.
(Stone et al., 2004). Wave energy along the west-central Flor-
ida coast is lower than along its northwest coast, with an
average significant wave height in the nearshore area of about
0.3 m (Figure 39). The influence of cold-front passages is
apparent, as illustrated by the frequent high-wave events
during the winter season (Wang and Beck, 2012).
The summer of 2004 was exceptional, with substantial
influences from the passage of three tropical storms – Frances,
Ivan, and Jeanne (Elko and Wang, 2007). Figure 39 shows
these three high-wave storm events (records 3069–3423).
Although representing a short period of time, Figure 39
illustrates the typical pattern of nearshore wave conditions
along the west-central Florida coast, that is, without the
influence of the tropical storms.
The development of the barrier islands along the Florida
Gulf of Mexico coast started at about 3000–5000 BP, when the
rate of sea-level rise slowed down (Davis et al., 1979; Davis
and Kuhn, 1985). Generally, upward shoaling and spit mi-
gration are believed to be the primary mechanisms of barrier-
island formation in this area (Otvos, 1970a, 1970b; Davis and
Kuhn, 1985). The barrier islands along the Florida Gulf of
Mexico coast receive little to no direct terrestrial sediment
supply (Davis, 1994b, 1997). Sediment sources for barrier-
island construction and maintenance are the reworking of
older siliciclastic sediments and the production of carbonate
skeletal sediments by marine organisms. The northwest Flor-
ida barrier islands are dominated by medium quartz sand. The
biogenic carbonate sediment content varies considerably
along the west-central Florida barrier islands, with a generally
increasing trend toward the south.
Overall, the present morphodynamics of the barrier islands
along the Florida Gulf of Mexico coast are controlled by
sediment redistribution through longshore and cross-shore
sediment transport that reflects a delicate balance between
wave and tidal forcing (Davis and Hayes, 1984). Sediment
supply plays a minor role in the present barrier-island
morphodynamics. Moreover, a significant portion of this
barrier-island coast is heavily developed. Anthropogenic activ-
ities such as inlet stabilization and other hard and soft shore-
protection measures have significant influence on local and
regional morphodynamics (Davis and Barnard, 2000, 2003).
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 209
20 km
(d)
50 km
10.8.3.1.2 Barrier-island morphodynamics
Barrier-island morphodynamics along the northwest Florida
Gulf of Mexico coast typically are wave-dominated, as
illustrated by Santa Rosa Island (Figure 35(c)). This barrier is-
land is roughly 85 km long and is narrow (0.2–1.0 km wide),
with dune heights generally of less than 7 m (Claudino-Sales
et al., 2008, 2010). The two inlets, Pensacola Pass at the west
end and East Pass at the east end, are relatively small with small
ebb-tidal deltas. Both inlets are artificially stabilized and
maintained.
Overall, barrier-island morphology and stratigraphy are
strongly influenced by extreme storms (e.g., Hurricane Ivan in
2004), resulting in regional overwash and landward-dipping
stratigraphy (Horwitz and Wang, 2007). Along the wider
portion of the barrier island, dune erosion and washover
deposition in the low-lying barrier interior dominate the
morphologic response to hurricane impact, whereas along the
narrower portions, the impact of major hurricanes causes
landward barrier-island migration (Figure 40). Houser et al.
(2008) found that the shoreface ridges on the inner conti-
nental shelf play a significant role in controlling the response
of dunes and shoreline to storm impacts. Because of the ab-
sence of terrestrial sediment supply and the potential accel-
erated rate of sea-level rise and increased storminess, most of
the northwest Florida barrier islands are in a destructive phase
(Donoghue, 2011). The exceptions are the barrier islands and
spits associated with Cape San Blas (St. Joe Spit, St. Vincent
Island, and St. George Island) (Figure 35(d)). The protruding
headland at Cape San Blas likely supplies sediment to the
spit-type barrier islands, leading to the well-developed
series of beach ridges and recurved spits that characterize
much of St. Vincent Island and St. Joe Spit, respectively
(Figure 35(d)).
A variety of barrier islands, including wave-dominated
and mixed-energy systems, developed along the west-central
Florida coast (Davis, 1994b). Compared to Santa Rosa Island,
the west-central Florida barrier islands are shorter and
wider, and they often display mixed-energy drumstick or
humpback morphologies (Figures 36(b)–36(e)). In addition,
the interaction between a barrier–inlet pair with adjacent
barriers and inlets is much more active.
210 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

JP

BP
(b)
3 km

10 km (c)

2 km

(f)

(d)
20 km

4 km
50 km

(e) (a)

Figure 36 Barrier-island chain along the west-central Florida Gulf of Mexico coast. Aerial photos obtained from Google Earth. (b) From top to
bottom, Anclote Key, Three Rooker Island, and Honeymoon Island. (c) From top to bottom, Hurricane Pass, Clearwater Beach Island, Clearwater
Pass, Sand Key Island, Johns Pass (JP), Treasure Island, Blind Pass (BP), Long Key Island, and Pass-a-Grille Inlet. (d) From top to bottom, Cayo
Costa Island, Boca Grande Pass, North Captiva Island, Redfish pass, Captiva Island, Blind Pass, and Sanibel Island. (e) Estero Island. (f) From
top to bottom, Hickory Inlet, Little Hickory Island, and Delnor-Wiggins Pass.

The Johns Pass (JP)–Blind Pass (BP) system (Figure 36(c))
is an excellent example of multi-inlet morphodynamics (Wang
et al., 2011; Wang and Beck, 2012). The opening of Johns Pass
in 1848 by an unnamed hurricane gradually captured the tidal
prism of the JP–BP system, transforming the mixed-energy
Blind Pass into a wave-dominated migratory inlet. Presently,
Johns Pass delivers about 80% of the tidal prism, and Blind
Pass only 20%. Typical of a mixed-energy tidal inlet, a large
ebb-tidal delta develops at Johns Pass (Figure 41). A certain
amount of sand bypasses the Johns Pass ebb-tidal delta, driven
by the net-southward longshore sediment transport and re-
sulting in a wide beach at the downdrift attachment point
(Figure 41(a) and 41(b)).
As Johns Pass has expanded and developed, the Blind
Pass ebb-tidal delta has diminished in size (Figure 41(c)–
41(e)). This process of diminishing size often leads to the fol-
lowing sequence of morphological evolution: (1) ebb-tidal
delta collapse onto the downdrift beach (Figure 41(c)),
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 211

0.6
Pensacola Bay
0.5

Water level relative to MSL (m)

Predicted Measured
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
–0.1
–0.2
–0.3
–0.4
20100401
20100402
20100403
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20100405
20100406
20100407
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20100410
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20100421
20100422
20100423
20100424
20100425
20100426
20100427
20100428
20100429
20100430
20100501
Date
Figure 37 Measured and predicted tides in Pensacola Bay, north Florida, an example from 1 April 2010 to 1 May 2010. Data obtained from
NOAA’s National Date Buoy Center, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station¼pclf1

0.8
Clearwater Beach
0.6
Water level relative to MSL (m)

0.4

0.2

0.0

–0.2

–0.4

–0.6
Predicted Measured
–0.8
20100401
20100402
20100403
20100404
20100405
20100406
20100407
20100408
20100409
20100410
20100411
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20100421
20100422
20100423
20100424
20100425
20100426
20100427
20100428
20100429
20100430
20100501

Date
Figure 38 Measured and predicted tides at Clearwater Beach, west-central Florida, an example from 1 April 2010 to 1 May 2010. Data obtained
from NOAA’s National Date Buoy Center, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=cwbf1

(2) development of a wide downdrift beach for a short time
period (Figure 41(d)), and (3) subsequent severe erosion of
the downdrift beach (Figure 41(e)). In the case of Blind Pass
and many other west-central Florida inlets, historically, an-
thropogenic development characteristically has occurred along
those temporarily wide downdrift beaches created from the
ebb-delta collapse. Such short-sighted anthropogenic devel-
opment, rather than the erosional stage that naturally follows,
is the real cause of the many severe ‘erosional hot spots’ along
the west-central Florida barrier islands.
10.8.3.1.3 Future research
Future research will focus on the very existence of the north-
west Florida Gulf of Mexico barrier islands under the probable
conditions of accelerated sea-level rise and increased
frequency of major storms. For the west-central Florida barrier
islands, the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic interactions
of the multiple inlets, combined with aggressive anthropo-
genic modifications, are challenging topics for future research.
Predictive studies using mathematical models will be crucial
in future research approaches.
10.8.3.2 Barrier Systems along the North-Central Gulf of
Mexico Coast, United States: Alabama,
Mississippi, and Louisiana
The north-central Gulf of Mexico coast includes three states:
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (Figure 42). Four barrier
systems exist along the Louisiana coast: Isles Dernieres, Bayou
Lafourche, Plaquemines, and the Chandeleur Islands (Penland
212 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

180
Average Hsig = 25.6 cm

Significant wave height (cm)

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1
119
237
355
473
591
709
827
945
1063
1181
1299
1417
1535
1653
1771
1889
2007
2125
2243
2361
2479
2597
2715
2833
2951
3069
3187
3305
3423
3541
3659
3777
3895
4013
4131
Record #
Figure 39 Wave conditions measured at approximately 400 m offshore Upham Beach (near the southern end of inset C in Figure 36) at 4 m
water depth. The measurements were conducted from 25 November 2003 to 26 February 2005, with some gaps in time because of equipment
maintenance. Records 1–2208 (roughly the left half of the graphs) represent winter season. Records 2208–4181 (roughly the right half of the
graphs) represent summer season. Reproduced from Wang, P., Beck, T.M., Roberts, T.M., 2011. Modeling regional-scale sediment transport and
medium-term morphology change at a dual inlet system examined with the Coastal Modeling System (CMS): a case study at Johns Pass and
Blind Pass, west-central Florida. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 59, 49–60.

South- Gulf side Distance (m) North- Bay side

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Two-way travel time (ns)

0 0
10 wt
1

Depth (m)
20
30
40
50 2
60
(a)
Two-way travel time (ns)

0 Road disturbance
0
10 Water table wt

Depth (m)
20 1
30
40 lv
50 lv
Pre-lvan bay shoreline Pre-lvan bay bottom 2
60
(b) GPR transect
Post-lvan road GPR transect

Pre-lvan road
FP FP

250 250
Meters Meters
(c) (d)

Figure 40 An example of GPR transect across Santa Rosa Island (a and b), and pre- (c) and post-Ivan (d) aerial photos. Reproduced from
Wang, P., Horwitz, M.H., 2007. Erosional and depositional characteristics of regional overwash deposits caused by multiple hurricanes.
Sedimentology 54, 545–564.

and Boyd, 1981; McBride and Byrnes, 1995, 1997; Rosati and O’no Island (Byrnes et al., 1991; Stone, 1991; Morton, 2008;
Stone, 2009). Four barrier islands exist along the Mississippi Rosati and Stone, 2009) (Figure 42). East of the Mobile Bay
coast: Cat, Ship, Horn, and Petit Bois (Byrnes et al., 1991; system, the coast is characterized by extensive beach-ridge
Rosati and Stone, 2009). One barrier island, Dauphin Island, plains along the large barrier spit known as Morgan Peninsula
exists in Alabama, in addition to Perdido Key (west half) and (Rodriguez and Meyer, 2006), which is supplied sediment by
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 213

Bathymetry (m)
11.0
9.0
N 7.0
5.0
3.0
1.0
Z 0 km 1 –1.0
Y X

(a) (b)

1926 1957 2006

(c) (d) (e)

Figure 41 Sand bypass through ebb-tidal delta attachment at John Pass (a and b), erosion, and the eventual diminishing of Blind Pass ebb-
tidal delta. Reproduced from Wang, P., Beck, T.M., 2012. Morphodynamics of an anthropogenically altered dual-inlet system: John’s Pass and Blind
Pass, west-central Florida, USA. Marine Geology. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2011.06.001.

the erosion of updrift beaches to the east (e.g., truncated ends
of concave seaward beach-ridge deposits) and possibly off-
shore sediment sources. In addition, abandoned and sub-
merged barrier systems in the form of inner-shelf shoals lie on
the Louisiana inner continental shelf: Ship Shoal, Trinity
Shoal, and St. Bernard Shoals (Penland et al., 1988, 1989;
Pope et al., 1991; McBride et al., 2004) (Figure 42).
10.8.3.2.1 Geologic setting
Coastal Louisiana is characterized by two primary geomorphic
zones: the Mississippi River delta plain in southeastern Louisiana
(Roberts, 1997) and the Mississippi River Chenier Plain in
southwestern Louisiana (McBride et al., 2007). The Chenier
Plain outer shoreline alternates between shoreline advance and
retreat (Byrnes et al., 1995), whereas most of the delta plain
outer shoreline of the Mississippi River undergoes severe erosion,
except for isolated areas around the mouths of the Mississippi
and Atchafalaya rivers (McBride and Byrnes, 1995, 1997;
Penland et al., 2005). The Mississippi–Alabama coast consists of
a series of barrier islands, each of which is migrating generally to
the west (Byrnes et al., 1991; McBride and Byrnes, 1995; McBride
et al., 1995; Morton, 2008; Byrnes et al., 2011).
The northern Gulf Coast is a microtidal, storm-dominated
environment (Davis, 1997). Under fair-weather conditions,
the Gulf Coast basically is a low-wave-energy environment
with a mean annual wave height of 0.75 m and a mean wave
period of less than 5 s (Davis, 1997). However, a significant
wave height of 15.96 m was recorded at NDBC Buoy 42040
during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 (Pangchang and Li, 2005), and
was the historic record at that time; approximately one year
later, though, during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a significant
wave height of 16.76 m was measured by the same buoy
(Wang and Oey, 2008). Moreover, a storm surge of 10 m was
observed along the Mississippi coast during Hurricane Katrina
in 2005 (Fritz et al., 2007). Additionally, frequent cold fronts
during the winter season have significant impact on barrier
coasts in this region (Davis, 1997; Pepper and Stone, 2002).
Regarding astronomical tides, tidal range along the north-
central Gulf of Mexico region is o0.60 m during tropic phases
and o15 cm during equatorial phases (Stone and Xu, 1996).
214 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

94°0′0″ W 93°0′0″ W 92°0′0″ W 91°0′0″ W 90°0′0″ W 89°0′0″ W 88°0′0″ W 87°0′0″ W

32°0′0″ N

32°0′0″ N
Louisiana Mississippi Alabama
31°0′0″ N

31°0′0″ N
Cat Ship Petit Bois
Island Island Island
30°0′0″ N

30°0′0″ N
Horn
Morgan Peninsula
Island
Dauphin
r Island
eu
d el s St. Bernard Shoals
an and
Sabine Bank Ch Isl

29°0′0″ N
29°0′0″ N

Tiger Shoal
Trinity Shoal Plaquemines
Isles 100°0′0″ W 90°0′0″ W 80°0′0″ W
shoreline
Dernieres

40°0′0″ N
40°0′0″ N
Bayou
Lafourche
Ship Shoal

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shoreline United States of America

30°0′0″ N
0 25 50 100 150 200

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km
Gulf of Mexico
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0 950 km

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94°0′0″ W 93°0′0″ W 92°0′0″ W 91°0′0″ W 90°0′0″ W 89°0′0″ W 88°0′0″ W 87°0′0″ W

Figure 42 Map of the north-central Gulf of Mexico showing distribution of barrier systems and shelf sand shoals (submerged former barrier-
island systems) in this region.

Figure 43 shows five US Army Corps of Engineers Wave In-
formation Studies (WIS) stations from the vicinity of the barrier
systems (stations 101, 128, 142, 144, and 153), displaying them
on the map as hollow red diamonds. Data are from 1980 to
1999 and show the distribution of significant wave height in
meters, wave direction in degrees, and frequency of occurrence
(http://frf.usace.army.mil/wis2010/hindcasts.shtml). Wave rises
illustrate that the highest wave heights and the dominant dir-
ections are from the south-southeast, southeast, and south,
respectively, a function of dominant wind direction and fetch
off the northern Gulf of Mexico coast.
RSL rise is approximately 6 mm yr1 along the Chenier
Plain coast, 10 mm yr1 in the Mississippi River delta
plain, and 2–3 mm yr1 along the Mississippi–Alabama coast
(National Research Council (NRC), 1987). Surface subsidence
has long been recognized in this area, especially in the Mis-
sissippi delta plain, caused by compaction of geologically
young sediments (Roberts, 1985; Kulp, 2000; Meckel et al.,
2006; Törnqvist et al., 2008; McBride et al., 2011), tectonism
(Durham and Murray, 1967; Dokka, 2006), and hydrocarbon
production (Chan and Zoback, 2007). Subsidence contributes
to 70–80% of RSL rise along the Louisiana coast (Penland and
Ramsey, 1990; McBride et al., 2011).
10.8.3.2.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes
10.8.3.2.2.1 Louisiana barrier systems
Barrier systems on the Louisiana coast were formed by re-
working of the abandoned delta lobes or headlands, and are
rapidly migrating landward and many are breaking up
in-place in response to high rates of relative sea-level rise
(~1 cm/yr), lack of sediment supply, and storm impacts, thus
causing severe barrier-island degradation over time (Penland
et al., 1988; McBride and Byrnes, 1995, 1997).
10.8.3.2.2.1.1 Isles Dernieres The Isles Dernieres formed
approximately 420 yr BP from the abandoned Bayou Petit
Caillou delta (Penland et al., 1988; Kulp et al., 2005), which
was separated from the adjacent mainland by Caillou Boca,
Pelto Bay, and Big Pelto Bay in 1853. From 1887 to 1988, the
average gulfside and bayside erosion rates for the Isles Der-
nieres were 11.1 and 2.4 m yr1, respectively, causing island
narrowing (McBride and Byrnes, 1997). The island area
decreased during this period from 3532 to 781 ha, approxi-
mately 78% (McBride and Byrnes, 1997). The once-
continuous Isles Dernieres was fragmented into five
islands through gulfside and bayside erosion, overwash,
and island breaching. These are known as Raccoon, Whiskey,

Figure 43 Wave statistics based on wave hindcast data from Wave Information Studies (WIS), US Army Corps of Engineers.
Trinity, East, and Wine islands (McBride et al., 1995;
McBride and Byrnes, 1997). Morphodynamically, the Isles
Dernieres have experienced in-place breakup over the past
150 years as documented by McBride et al. (1995).
10.8.3.2.2.1.2 Bayou Lafourche The Bayou Lafourche delta
was abandoned approximately 300 yr BP, which caused
the Caminada-Moreau Headland to erode and transport
sediment laterally to form downdrift flanking barrier islands
(Timbalier Island, East Timbalier Island, and Grand Isle) and
spits (Elmer’s Island) (Penland et al., 1988). From 1887 to
1988, Timbalier Island migrated laterally at a high rate
(B80 m yr1) and decreased from 1485 to 542 ha, losing
64% of its area (McBride and Byrnes, 1997). In contrast,
during this time East Timbalier Island experienced rapid
landward rollover, with gulfside erosion and bayside accre-
tion rates of 23.1 and 24.0 m yr1, respectively, and main-
tained its area (McBride and Byrnes, 1997). The
Caminada–Moreau Headland eroded at an average rate of
13.3 m yr1, whereas Grand Island underwent clockwise ro-
tational instability with 0.9 m yr1 of net accretion along the
gulfside shoreline but average erosion rate of 1.0 m yr1
along the bayside shoreline (McBride and Byrnes, 1997).
Between 1887 and 1988, Grand Isle’s area decreased about
9%, from 1059 to 960 ha (McBride and Byrnes, 1997).
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 215
10.8.3.2.2.1.3 Plaquemines The Plaquemines barrier sys-
tem formed on the abandoned Plaquemines delta lobe
(Penland et al., 1988; Kulp et al., 2005) and consists of West
Grand Terre Island, East Grand Terre Island, Cheniere Ron-
quille, Shell Island, and Scofield Bayou. Between 1887 and
1988, average erosion rates along the Plaquemines shoreline
averaged 5.5 m yr1 and shoreline morphodynamics was
dominated by a mixture of in-place breakup, retreat, and
landward rollover (McBride and Byrnes, 1997).
10.8.3.2.2.1.4 Chandeleur Islands The Chandeleur Island
system is the oldest transgressive barrier system in Louisiana,
having formed by the abandonment of the St. Bernard delta
complex approximately 2 ka (Frazier, 1967; Penland et al.,
1988; Kulp et al., 2005; Twichell et al., 2009). From north to
south, it comprises Chandeleur Island, Curlew Island, Grand
Gossier Island, and Breton Island. Longshore currents and
sediment transport are bidirectional with a drift divide in the
central portion of Chandeleur Island (Ellis and Stone, 2006;
Georgiou and Schindler, 2009), as shown in Figure 44.
From 1855 to 1989, Chandeleur Island underwent rapid
landward rollover with an average gulfside retreat rate of
6.5 m yr1, whereas the bayside shoreline accreted at 2.9 m yr1
(McBride and Byrnes, 1997). For the same time period, island
area decreased from 2763 to 1749 ha, approximately 37%.
216 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

During Hurricane Katrina in 2005; however, LIDAR surveys
showed that peak island elevation had decreased from 6 to
2.1 m. The once-continuous sandy barrier-island changed into a
discontinues series of marsh fragments, losing approximately
85% of its surface area (Sallenger et al., 2007; Fearnley et al.,
2009). Thus, the Chandeleur Islands have evolved morphody-
namically from experiencing landward retreat between 1855 and
1989 (McBride and Byrnes, 1997) to in-place breakup since the
1990’s, especially after the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
10.8.3.2.2.2 Inner-shelf shoals: submerged barrier systems
Ship Shoal is a transgressive marine sand body that originated
from a former barrier shoreline that developed on the aban-
doned Maringouin delta B6.1 ka (Penland et al., 1988, 1989)
and continues to migrate slowly landward at B5 m yr1
(Penland et al., 1988). Trinity Shoal, another submerged
barrier system, originated from the Teche delta, which was
abandoned B3.5 ka (Pope et al., 1991); Trinity Shoal is in-
tegrated with the abandoned Maringouin–Teche delta com-
plexes (Penland et al., 1989). St. Bernard Shoals, which lie
offshore the Chandeleur Islands, originated from the aban-
donment of the St. Bernard delta complex (Penland et al.,
1988, 1989; McBride et al., 2004; Rogers et al., 2009).
10.8.3.2.2.3 Mississippi barrier systems
Unlike the Louisiana barrier systems that are genetically
tied to the abandonment of Mississippi River delta complexes,
the barrier systems along the Mississippi–Alabama coast
most likely were formed by a multiple causality and are
migrating westward (Byrnes et al., 1991; McBride and
Byrnes, 1995; McBride et al., 1995; Morton, 2008; Byrnes
et al., 2011).
10.8.3.2.2.3.1 Cat Island Cat Island is the only component
of the Mississippi barrier system that historically has experi-
enced minimal morphological change (Byrnes et al., 1991;
Morton, 2008). The central core of the island, oriented gener-
ally east–west, is well sheltered from long-period swell waves
because of the progradation of the Mississippi River Delta to the
south, and thus, the island has become subsequently reoriented

91°0′0″ W 90°0′0″ W 89°0′0″ W 88°0′0″ W

Louisiana Mississippi Alabama

8770 East
0

30°0′0″ N
30°0′0″ N

5000 East
20 000
0
60 000 West
rth

10 000
West
No

uth
20 000
So
00
00
00

0
00
20

00
10

00

0
00

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29°0′0″ N

0
−1

00
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0 10 20 40 60 80 Gulf of Mexico
km
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91°0′0″ W 90°0′0″ W 89°0′0″ W 88°0′0″ W

3 1
Figure 44 Longshore sediment transport rates in m yr along the barrier systems in the study area are shown and are reproduced from
Stone, G.W., 1991. Differential sediment supply and the cellular nature of longshore sediment transportalong coastal northwest Florida and
southeast Alabama since the Late Holocene. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 376 pp.; Cipriani, L.E.,
Stone, G.W., 2001. Net longshore sediment transport and textural changes in beach sediments along the southwest Alabama and
Mississippi barrier islands, USA. Journal of Coastal Research 17(2), 443–458, and Ellis, J., Stone, G.W., 2006. Numerical simulation of net
longshore sediment transport and granulometry of surficia sediments along Chandeleur Island, Louisiana, USA. Marine Geology 232(3–4),
115–129.

along its eastern end into a low-lying spit orientated generally
north–south. The island lost approximately 40% of its surface
area from 1848 to 2007 (Morton, 2008).
10.8.3.2.2.3.2 Ship Island Ship Island lost 60% of its land
between 1848 and 2007 (Morton, 2008; Otvos and Carter,
2008), and because of island breaching during Hurricane
Camille in 1969, separated into two islands: West Ship Island
and East Ship Island (Byrnes et al., 1991; Schmid, 2003). High-
frequency waves associated with postfrontal winds are causing
chronic beach erosion along both barriers (Chaney and Stone,
1996; Stone, 2000, 2001).
10.8.3.2.2.3.3 Horn Island The downdrift (westerly) growth
rate of Horn Island averaged 50 m yr1 from 1849 to 1917, and
22 m yr1 from 1917 to 1986 (Byrnes et al., 1991; Otvos and
Carter, 2008). In 1984, Hurricane Ivan cut a breach 400 m wide
at the low and narrow eastern island, which then was elimin-
ated by Katrina in 2005 (Otvos and Carter, 2008). Compared to
the rest of the Mississippi barrier system, Horn Island lost the
least land (19%) from 1849 to 2007 (Morton, 2008). It appears
as though longshore and possibly also cross-shelf transport are
occurring, in which sediment is derived from updrift (east) and
introduced from the shelf (Byrnes et al., 1991; Cipriani and
Stone, 2001).
10.8.3.2.2.3.4 Petit Bois Island Petit Bois Island was separ-
ated from Dauphin Island and shifted 12.4 km westward from
1882 to 1974 (Byrnes et al., 1991; Otvos and Carter, 2008). The
downdrift growth rate of this island averaged 56 m yr1 from
1849 to 1917 and 10 m yr1 from 1917 to 1986 (Otvos and
Carter, 2008). Petit Bois Island lost 52% of its land area from
1848 to 2007 (Morton, 2008).
10.8.3.2.2.4 Alabama barrier systems
West of the entrance to Mobile Bay lies Dauphin Island, which
was the largest island in the Mississippi–Alabama island chain
before Petit Bois Island separated from it in the eighteenth
century (Morton, 2008). The area of Dauphin Island increased at
a rate of 73 000 m2 yr1 from 1847 to 1940, and 71 700 m2 yr1
from 1940 to 1958. However, the island experienced net erosion
after 1958, at a rate of 61 000 m2 yr1 from 1958 to 1996 and
22 000 m2 yr1 from 1996 to 2007 (Morton, 2008).
Mobile Bay serves as a sink for littorally reworked sediment
along the Mississippi and Alabama coastal systems (Stone and
Stapor, 1996; Byrnes et al., 2010, 2011). The Alabama barrier
formation is fed by sediment eroded from truncated beach
ridges and the shelf (Stone et al., 1992; Stone and Stapor,
1996). Approximately 50% of Perdido Key occupies the east-
ern flank of the Alabama coast and is a low-profile, over-
washed system. Erosion along the coast is occurring at
0.7 m yr1 along the eastern half of Perdido Key (Stone,
1991). Net longshore drift is westward (Figure 44).
10.8.3.2.3 Significant current research, developments,
and issues
Recent research has discussed the importance of Louisiana
barrier systems to the wetlands, ecology, and economy
(McBride and Byrnes, 1997; Williams et al., 1997; Stone and
McBride, 1998; Stone et al., 2004, 2005a, 2005b; Day et al.,
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 217
2007; Day and Giosan, 2008; Törnqvist and Meffert, 2008;
Blum and Roberts, 2009). Another focus of recent research is
the accelerated loss of coastal land (Penland et al., 2005;
Morton, 2008), as is the impact of hurricanes on the evolution
of these barrier systems (Stone et al., 2004; Morton, 2008;
Otvos and Carter, 2008). Moreover, interior wetland loss results
in increased tidal prisms and inlet cross-sectional areas, and
expanding ebb-tidal delta volumes offshore of active tidal
inlets, which removes critical sediment from the littoral pro-
cesses through diversion and sequestration (FitzGerald et al.,
2004, 2007a, b). In addition, Rosati et al. (2010) discussed
substrate compressibility and how it could modify the mor-
phologic evolution of a barrier island. Regarding the Missis-
sippi-Alabama barrier island system, a comprehensive and
quantitative sediment budget has been lacking until the work of
Byrnes et al. (2011). Thus, previous claims of sediment deficits
and dredging impacts at inlet entrances are unsupported (e.g.,
Morton, 2008) and must be further investigated.
10.8.3.2.4 Future research directions
A key research topic for ongoing research will be protection and
restoration of the Louisiana and Mississippi barrier systems.
From 1932 to 1990, the Mississippi delta lost approximately
2800 km2 of land (Penland et al., 2002), which has caused an
increase of hydrodynamic energy in the bay or wetland areas
landward (Stone and McBride, 1998; Stone et al., 2005b).
Without sediment input, another 10 000–13 500 km2 of land
is likely to disappear from the Mississippi delta by 2100
(Blum and Roberts, 2009). Determining how to protect these
barrier systems from erosion or even restore them is critically
important to government and scientists (Day et al., 2007; Blum
and Roberts, 2009; Rosati and Stone, 2009).
10.8.3.3 Barrier Systems along Northwest Gulf of Mexico
Coast, United States: Texas
Stretching some 460 km, Texas has one of the most unique
barrier-island coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico margin. The
nine major barrier islands along the coast (Figure 45) span the
three barrier-island types: 45% are retrogradational, 20% are
aggradational, and 35% are progradational (Morton, 1994).
10.8.3.3.1 Geologic setting
The Texas coast is located along a passive margin, and long-
term (105 years) subsidence due to tectonic processes is
minimal (B0.05 mm yr1) (Morton, 1979; Paine, 1993).
Subsidence caused by shallower processes (e.g., consolidation
and fluid withdrawal) varies locally, and ranges between B1
and 22 mm yr1 (Paine, 1993).
Sediment supply for the Texas barriers has been regulated
by the availability of reworkable inner-shelf deposits,
fluvial delivery, and updrift shoreline reworking (Bird, 1969;
Anderson et al., 2004). Though reworking inner-shelf deposits
(i.e., paleodeltas and channels) likely was an important con-
tributor to the initial formation of the barrier-island systems, it
was exhausted during the last transgression from B10 ka to
4 ka (Morton, 1979; Anderson et al., 2004). The major fluvial
systems along the Texas coast include the Sabine, Trinity,
Brazos, Colorado, and Rio Grande Rivers (Figure 45). How-
ever, only the Brazos (Taha and Anderson, 2008) and
218 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
Colorado Rivers (Blum and Valastro, 1994) have overfilled
valleys and probably were important sand delivery systems
needed to initially form the barrier islands in the Holocene
(Morton, 1994). Over historic time, the only potentially sig-
nificant fluvial sediment suppliers to the coast were the Brazos
and Rio Grande Rivers (Morton, 1979), although both now
appear to be minimal contributors because of damming and
irrigation practices (Morton and Pieper, 1975; Mathewson and
Minter, 1976). Updrift reworking of barrier islands is a com-
mon process that today is quantified (Morton, 1979), but in
the geologic record remains difficult to document.
RSL rise along the Texas coast has been well constrained for
the Holocene, and has decelerated from B9 to B0.60 mm
yr1 over the past B10 000 years (Figure 46) (Milliken et al.,
2008). The historic average rate of RSL rise along the Texas
coast ranged from B6.4 mm yr1 (Galveston Island, east
Texas) to B5.2 mm yr1 (Rockport, central Texas) to B3.5
mm yr1 (South Padre Island, south Texas) (NOAA, 2012).
10.8.3.3.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes
10.8.3.3.2.1 Geographic zones
The Texas coast can be separated into three distinct geo-
morphic zones: east (Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston Island,
Follets Island), central (Matagorda Peninsula, Matagorda
Island, St. Joseph Island, Mustang Island, Padre Island), and
south Texas (South Padre Island) (Figure 45). The region
spans four major climate regimes (Thornthwaite, 1948):
humid (far east Texas), wet subhumid (east central Texas), dry
subhumid (central Texas), and semiarid (south Texas).
10.8.3.3.2.2 Classic studies
The late Quaternary sea-level history and coastal evolution has
been well established for the Texas coast (Barton, 1930;
Shepard, 1956; LeBlanc and Hodgson, 1959; Curray, 1960;
Bernard and LeBlanc, 1965; McGowen et al., 1977). Pion-
eering research on central Padre Island characterized the sea-
level history, barrier history, and stratigraphy (Fisk, 1959).
This was later followed by a characterization of coastal barrier
and bay environments in central Texas (Shepard, 1960). Along
the upper Texas coast, studies focused on barrier-island evo-
lution, chronology, and subsurface architecture (Bernard et al.,
1959, 1970; LeBlanc and Hodgson, 1959). This work set the
framework for which to conduct coastal research along the
Texas coast today.
10.8.3.3.2.3 Coastal processes
Along the Texas coast, fair-weather waves in the nearshore
typically range from 30 to 60 cm high, with periods of 2 to 6 s
(Bretschneider, 1954; Bretschneider and Gaul, 1956; Watson
and Behrens, 1976) and a diurnal, microtidal range (o1 m)
(Morton, 1994). Predominant wind conditions throughout
the year are out of the southeast, though with some variability
(Figure 45) (Lohse, 1955). Because of this wind regime
and the curved shape of the coastline, longshore currents in
east Texas generally move toward the southwest, and those
in south Texas generally move northward (Curray, 1960). This
results in a longshore current convergence zone offshore
central Texas (Lohse, 1955; Curray, 1960; Morton, 1979).
Over the late Holocene, intense hurricanes have impacted
the Texas coast at a rate of B0.46% (annual landfall
probability) (Wallace and Anderson, 2010), and the history of
hurricanes impacting the Texas coast during modern times is
also well-documented. The Great Galveston hurricane of 1900
is perhaps the most well known because of the devastation
and fatalities suffered on Galveston Island (Weems, 1957;
Larson, 1999); however, the geologic impact along the Texas
coast by Hurricanes Carla (1961) (Hayes, 1967), Cindy (1963)
(Hayes, 1967), Allen (1980) (Snedden et al., 1988), and
Ike (2008) (Byrnes and McBride, 2009; Goff et al., 2010) have
all been studied in detail as well.
10.8.3.3.2.4 Regional morphodynamics, shoreline change, and
barrier-island evolution
Texas barrier islands and their evolution have been well studied
over the past several decades (LeBlanc and Bernard, 1954; Fisk,
1959; Shepard, 1960; Bernard et al., 1959, 1970; Wilkinson,
1975; Wilkinson and McGowen, 1977; Wilkinson and Basse,
1978; Morton and McGowen, 1980; Morton, 1994; Rodriguez
et al., 2004; Simms et al., 2006; Garrison et al., 2010; Wallace
and Anderson, 2010) (Figures 45 and 46). In general, the
coastal longshore current convergence zone (Lohse, 1955;
Curray, 1960; Morton, 1979) controls sediment delivery to the
different zones of the Texas coast.
The central Texas barriers are older and more stable than
those in east and south Texas because of higher sediment supply
from these converging currents (Curray, 1960; Watson, 1971).
This has allowed central Texas barriers to keep pace with rela-
tively rapid rates of sea-level rise (e.g., B3–9 mm yr1), whereas
east and south Texas barriers did not stabilize until the rate of
sea-level rise slowed to B2 mm yr1 (Figures 45 and 46).
Hurricane impacts can also drastically control barrier island
evolution, and evidence exists that impacts of tropical storms
combined with accelerated sea-level rise during historic time are
leading to accelerated coastal change in east Texas (Wallace,
2010; Anderson and Wallace, 2011). Historically, shoreline
change rates have been approximately –1.5 m yr1 in east Texas,
–0.30 m yr1 for central Texas, and –1.9 m yr1 for south Texas
(Gibeaut et al., 2006).
10.8.3.3.3 Current research
As with most sand-starved barrier-island systems, a major issue
along the Texas coast is barrier erosion and the related inter-
action between public policy and development (Dolan and
Wallace, 2012). Current research along the Texas coast focuses on
putting historic coastal changes into a geologic context (Wallace
et al., 2009; Wallace, 2010; Anderson and Wallace, 2011).
Because the Texas coast is very low gradient, it is dramatically
influenced by accelerations in the rate of sea-level rise and by
hurricane impacts. Anderson and Rodriguez (2008) recently
documented that during periods of rapid sea-level rise
(5–9 mm yr1) during the Holocene, rapid bay flooding events
occurred contemporaneously throughout many Texas bays
(Figure 46). Their study motivated current research toward de-
termining whether modern barrier erosion rates are un-
precedented in the context of accelerated sea-level rise during
historic time (Anderson et al., 2010; Wallace, 2010; Anderson and
Wallace, 2011).
Wallace and Anderson (2010) recently determined the fre-
quency of intense hurricane strikes for Texas over the late
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 219

Trinity River
San Jacinto River
Sabine River

0 50
km
Bolivar Peninsula

Galveston Island
Brazos River
Follets Island
Lavaca River Colorado River
Brazos Delta

San Antonio 18 m
River East Texas
Matagorda Peninsula

Mission River 36 m
Matagorda Island
95°
Nueces River
St. Joseph Island
+ 28°
54 m
Central
.
Texas 72 m ct
Mustang Island N O

Prevailing Sept.
90 m winds
May
. No
Fe v. D
b. ec.
M
Jan

ar
Padre Island .A
.

pr
96°30 .J
+ 27° un
.J
ul
72 m .A
ug
.
0
Shoreface gradient variability
2
18 m South 4
Texas
Depth (m)

6
South Padre Island 8
54 m
36 m 10 Galveston Bolivar
Rio Grande River 12 Matagorda Island Peninsula
96°30′
+26° 14 South Padre Island
Island
16
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Distance from shoreline (km)
Figure 45 The Texas coast (Copyright (2001) Wiley). Annual prevailing wind directions are shown (modified after McGowen et al., 1977a). The
shoreface gradient increases from east to south, and ranges from a broad shelf to a ramp setting, respectively (Siringan & Anderson, 1994). East
and south Texas barriers range from 1 to 11 m and from 0.4 to 7.2 km in thickness and width, respectively, while central Texas barriers range
from 1 to 20 m and from 0.5 to 7.1 km in thickness and width, respectively (Morton, 1994). Vegetated dunes are prominent along central Texas
barriers, but are rare in the east and south.
220 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

0 Peat [Milliken et al., 2008]

0.60 mm yr−1
−2 Peat [Törnqvist et al., 2004a, 2004b] 2 mm yr−1
Peat (Törnqvist et al., 2004a, 2004b, 2006)
−4 Donax sp. [Milliken et al., 2008]
−6 Best-fit regression
R2 = 0.97

1
yr −
Depth (mbsl)
−8

m
Bay flooding events

m
−10

5
Bolivar Peninsula
−12 Galveston Island
Follets Island
−14 Matagorda Peninsula

r −1
−16 Matagorda Island

my
Mustang Island

9m
−18 North Padre Island
−20 Current
South Padre Island
natural
average migration
rates (m/yr)
−1.30
−1.37 East Texas
−2.01
−1.24 Central Texas
+0.99
−0.59
−0.41
−1.90 South Texas

12 000 10 000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0

Age (cal yr B.P.)
Figure 46 Holocene Gulf of Mexico sea-level curve with barrier island histories. During the early part of the Holocene (B10 000 yr BP), relative
sea-level rose at an average rate of B9.0 mm yr1. This rate of rise then decelerated to long-term average rates of 5.0 mm yr1
(B9000–5000 yr BP), 2.0 mm yr1 (B5000–2000 yr BP), and 0.60 mm yr1 (B2000–200 yr BP). Bolivar Peninsula formed B2500 yr BP
slightly seaward of its modern location (~1500 yr BP in near present day location), and laterally accreted shortly after its formation (Rodriguez
et al., 2004). Galveston Island formed B5500 yr BP and prograded until B1800 year BP, when it began retreating (Bernard et al., 1959;
Rodriguez et al., 2004). Follets Island formed in its near present day location B2500 yr BP, and has had a history of transgression throughout
its evolution (Bernard et al., 1970; Morton, 1994; Wallace et al., 2010). Matagorda Peninsula is thought to be B3000 years old, and has been
retreating for B1500 yr BP (Wilkinson and McGowen, 1977). Matagorda Island formed B4000 yr BP, and has been prograding throughout its
history (Wilkinson, 1975). Mustang Island formed B9500 yr BP, and has aggraded through tidal inlet migration from B7500 yr BP to present
(Simms et al., 2006). North Padre Island formed at least B3700 yr BP, and has both prograded and transgressed during its history (Fisk, 1959).
South Padre Island has remained relatively stable for at least the past several millennia (Wallace and Anderson, 2010), and likely formed well
before B2000 yr BP (indicated by arrow) in its near present position (unpublished radiocarbon data). Barrier histories are represented by solid
lines for stability and/or aggradation, and dashed lines for transgression. Contemporaneous Texas bay flooding events are denoted by dashed
orange lines (Anderson and Rodriguez, 2008).

Holocene. Data like these can be used to place the historic rate of
intense hurricane strikes along the Texas coast into a geologic
context.
10.8.3.3.4 Future work
The recent devastation caused by Hurricane Ike (2008)
has piqued research interest in the role of hurricanes in
barrier evolution. At the forefront of this research is a
debate concerning the fate of offshore sand beds transported
along the Texas shelf during hurricanes (Goff et al., 2010;
Snedden et al., 1988; Hayes, 1967). Furthermore, the total
frequency of hurricane impacts over geologic timescales
remains poorly documented, and future research will aim to
develop and apply new methods for determining the impact
of past hurricanes to the Texas coast (e.g., by examining
marine foraminifera species in bays and lagoons, and a
detailed inner-shelf storm-bed analysis).
Although subsidence along the Texas coast has been exam-
ined (Morton et al., 2006; Paine, 1993), it remains relatively
poorly understood regionally, and needs to be studied in
greater detail. Also, questions still remain about formation,
evolution, and chronology for some of the central Texas barriers
(e.g., St. Joseph, Matagorda Peninsula, and Matagorda Island).
10.8.4 Collision Coasts
Collision coasts face offshore trenches (Inman and Nordstrom,
1971), where oceanic crust is subducted into the asthenosphere.
Subduction below a continent (oceanic–continental contact) is
classified as a continental collision coast (e.g., west coast of the
United States (Dingler and Clifton, 1994); Alaskan Pacific coast
(see below)), and subduction below an island arc (oceanic–
oceanic contact) is classified as an island-arc collision coast
(e.g., New Zealand (see below)). Collision coasts typically are
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 221

Canada
Chug Alaska
ach
Moun
tains
Prince Gulf of
Bering Glacier Malaspina Alaska
William Fig. 47b Cape Glacier
Sound Katalla

Cape
Yakataga
Hinchinbrook Cape
Island Copper Icy Malaspina
River Kayak Suckling
Bay Foreland Yakutat
barriers Island
N Bay
Dry
(a)
Gulf of Alaska Bay
50 km

Copper River

Cordova
2m

2.5
3m m

Egg Co
Island pp
er
(Fig. 50) Rive
r Delta barriers
Hinchinbrook
Island
Long
shor
e tra
nspo
r t (LS 3m
T)
N
m
25 km 2.5
(b)

Figure 47 (a) Map of coastal systems of the Gulf of Alaska. Locations noted include those discussed in text as boundaries between six
geomorphological units described by Hayes, M.O., Ruby, C.H., 1994. Barriers of Pacific Alaska. In: Davis Jr. R.A. (Ed.), Geology of Holocene
Barrier Island Systems. Springer, Berlin, pp. 395–433. (b) Contour map showing uplift along the Copper River Delta (region indicated by red box
in (a)) resulting from the Good Friday Earthquake of 27 March 1964. Reproduced from Galloway, W.E., 1976. Sediments and stratigraphic
framework of the Copper River fan delta. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 46, 726–737.

characterized by narrow continental shelves; rocky, cliffed
shorelines with a sediment deficit; and poorly developed coastal
plains with mountainous terrain close to the coast, resulting in
small river systems that have small drainage basins. Extensive
barrier systems normally are absent on collision coasts.
10.8.4.1 Barrier Systems along the Gulf of Alaska, Pacific
Ocean
This section deals with the barrier systems and accretionary
coastal landforms along the Gulf of Alaska stretching from Dry
Bay westward to Hinchinbrook Island, east of Prince William
Sound, and encompasses beach-ridge and outwash plains,
spit systems, eroding coasts, and a barrier-island chain. The
presence of these widespread and varied barriers along the
tectonically active, collision coast of Alaska is attributed to
the glaciated landscape and the large contribution of sediment
from numerous meltwater streams (Figure 47). Because of the
nature of this compendium, we will concentrate on the
Copper River Delta barrier system.
10.8.4.1.1 Geologic setting
The Gulf of Alaska is a steep, bedrock-dominated coast, lying
adjacent to the Alaska Range and the Wrangell-Saint Elias,
Talkeetna, and Chugach Mountains. These mountain ranges
were formed by tens of kilometers of thrusting, uplift
and erosion (Page et al., 1986) along the suture zones of the
igneous Peninsular/Wrangellia (Pennsylvanian), Chugach
(Jurassic and Cretaceous), and Prince William (Paleogene)
accretionary terranes (Winkler and Plafker, 1981; Jones et al.,
1984; Plafker et al., 1989).
Glaciation has been the dominant force shaping these
mountains during the Quaternary, releasing large quantities of
222 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
100
(m above modern sea level)
Elevation
50
12 11 10
Figure 48 Holocene relative sea-level curves for the Gulf of Alaska. No sea-level curves have been determined for the inner Gulf of Alaska
(proximal to the Copper River Delta). Note high degree of spatial variability. Curves modified from Clague et al. (1982) and Mobley (1988). Inset:
Satellite image from NASA ‘World Wind.’
sediment for delivery to the coast. Sediment is derived from
four primary sources: the Malaspina and Bering Glaciers, the
Alsek River, and the Copper River (Hampton et al., 1986).
Approximately 18% of the Copper River drainage basin was
covered by glaciers as of 2007 (Brabets and Conaway, 2009).
The Copper River is the largest sediment source to this section
of coast and the sixth largest basin in Alaska, with a length
of nearly 470 km and a drainage area of 62 700 km2. It de-
livers approximately 40 106 m3 of sediment per year to the
coast, at least 15% of which is bed load (Reimnitz, 1966).
Moreover, suspended sediment plumes from the river extend
up to 40 km off the delta (Reimnitz and Carlson, 1975).
About 9 ka, sediments carried by a flood, caused by the
breaching of an upstream ice dam, initiated the formation of
the Copper River Delta. It reached intertidal levels between 6.5
and 5.25 ka, is now up to 180 m thick, and contains ap-
proximately 446 km3 of sediment; modern sand extends off-
shore to a depth of 50 m (Reimnitz, 1966). The modern
Copper River Delta which has been classified as both a mar-
ine-dominated fan-delta (Galloway, 1976) and a mixed-energy
delta (Hayes and Ruby, 1994), stretches along 75 km of the
Gulf of Alaska coastline, covering an area of about 2000 km2
(Thilenius, 1990). Offshore of the delta, the shelf has an
average gradient of 01150 and contains several prominent
valleys (Hayes and Ruby, 1994).
Although no sea-level curve exists for the Gulf of Alaska,
nearby reconstructions (Figure 48) indicate rapid isostatically-
driven fall during the early Holocene, followed by a gradual
eustatic rise starting around 7 to 8 ka (Clague et al., 1982;
Mobley, 1988). This has resulted in the formation of pro-
gradational barriers fronting, and proximal to, the mouths of
rivers, such as the Copper River, that sporadically deliver large
supplies of coarse-grained sediment to the coast (Galloway,
1976). Modern slow sea-level rise along the Gulf of Alaska,
driven by deltaic subsidence (2.5–3.8 cm yr1 along the Copper
River Delta; Reimnitz and Marshall, 1965) is commonly largely
overprinted by rapid tectonic uplift. This results in a high degree
of variability across short (o100 km) sections of coast (Mann
et al., 1998); for example, the Richter magnitude 9.2 Good
Friday Earthquake (27 March 1964) was epicentered 130 km
Explanation
Prince Rupert, BC
Kitimat, BC
Prince
Queen Charlotte I., BC Copper River Rupert
Neceta I., AK Delta
Prince of Wales I., AK Neceta I.
Prince of
Queen
Wales I.
Charlotte I. Kitimat
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Age (× 103 14C yr BP)
west of the Copper River Delta (NRC, 1972), resulting in lo-
calized uplift of the Copper River deltaic plain from 1.8 to 3 m
(Ferrians, 1966; Plafker, 1969; NRC, 1972; Figure 47(b)).
10.8.4.1.2 Coastal geomorphology and barriers
The Gulf of Alaska is a mixed-energy, mesotidal embayment
(Davies, 1964; Hayes, 1979) with tidal range varying at nearby
Cordova from 3.5 m to 6.5 m (determined from U.S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey tide tables; Galloway, 1976), with a strong di-
urnal inequality. High freshwater discharges result in net ebb
dominance and a freshening of coastal waters during the sum-
mer in areas adjacent to freshwater sources (Galloway, 1976).
The Gulf of Alaska is located at the northern extremity of
the Pacific temperate rainforest and experiences weather pat-
terns driven by the interaction of warm, moist marine air from
the Pacific current with the coastal mountain range (Thilenius,
1990). Average annual precipitation is around 237 cm (Bishop
et al., 2000) and temperatures are mild, ranging on average
between freezing and o18 1C. A detailed wave study con-
ducted by Nummedal and Stephen (1976) showed that the
Gulf of Alaska experiences some of the highest wave energy in
the world. Storms are frequent, dominated by easterlies and
southeasterlies driven by the Pacific Polar front from mid-
autumn to early spring (Reimnitz, 1966; Shulski and Wendler,
2007); these result in net northwesterly longshore currents,
with transport rates varying from 6.5 million cubic meters to
the west to 170 000 m3 to the east (Nummedal and Stephen,
1976). This net-westward transport (Figure 47) is evidenced
by spit-growth patterns and beach-protuberance morpholo-
gies (Hayes and Ruby, 1994), as well as by the northwesterly
deflection of the Copper River Delta into Prince William
Sound (Reimnitz, 1966). This exceptionally high longshore-
transport rate, coupled with the abundance of glacially-
derived coarse sediment, results in an unusually large sand
availability (Galloway, 1976) for beach-ridge and barrier-is-
land formation.
Some of the earliest studies on the Gulf of Alaska focused
on the region inland of the coast, most notably on the Copper
River and its delta (Mendenhall, 1905). In the late 1960s,
efforts were focused largely on the effects of the Good Friday
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 223

Mountains Glacier

Outwash
plain
Beach-ridge plain

Dune field

Spits
Decreasing grain size
LST
(a)

Mountains

Wind

Mountains

Mountains

Braided stream

Salt marsh Salt

marsh

Tidal flats

Drumstick
Ebb-tidal deltas
barriers LST
(b)

Figure 49 Depositional models for two coastal types in the Gulf of Alaska. Modified from Hayes, M.O., Ruby, C.H., 1994. Barriers of Pacific
Alaska. In: Davis Jr. R.A. (Ed.), Geology of Holocene barrier island systems. Springer, Berlin, pp. 395–433. (a) Outwash plain depositional model.
(b) Deltaic plain depositional model.

(or ‘Great Alaskan’) Earthquake of 1964 (Ferrians, 1966;
Reimnitz, 1966; Plafker, 1969; NRC, 1972). However, the in-
creased attention paid to this region following that earthquake
led to a series of geomorphological and process-based coastal
geology studies throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including
those of Miles Hayes, Dag Nummedal, Christopher Ruby, and
Jon Boothroyd (Boothroyd and Ashley, 1975; Hayes et al.,
1976; Nummedal and Stephen, 1976; Ruby, 1977; Ruby and
Hayes, 1978; Hayes and Ruby, 1994). Other studies, primarily
focused on the Copper River Delta and its barriers, include the
dissertation work of Erk Reimnitz (1966), and the later mor-
phological studies of Gustavson (1974), Galloway (1976),
Reimnitz and Plafker (1976), Thilenius (1990), Brabets
(1997), and Brabets and Conaway (2009).
The most complete review of the coastal geology of the
Gulf of Alaska was given by Hayes and Ruby (1994), who
divided this section of coast into six geomorphic regions (note
that locations discussed below are all shown in Figure 47):
1. Beach-ridge plain (Dry Bay to Yakutat Bay, including
Yakutat Foreland): prograding beach-ridge plain produced
from sediment derived from several outwash streams.
2. Outwash plain–beach-ridge system (Malaspina Foreland):
beach-ridge and outwash plain dominated by sediment
discharge from the retreating Malaspina Glacier, the largest
piedmont glacier in the world.
3. Retreating coast (Icy Bay to Cape Yakataga): eroding coast
due to retreating Guyot Glacier.
224 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
4. Outwash plain–beach-ridge system (Bering Foreland; Cape
Yakataga to Cape Suckling): beach-ridge-plain and
outwash-plain development.
5. Kayak Island Promontory (Cape Suckling to Cape Katalla):
barrier systems formed in the lee of Kayak Island.
6. Barrier-island chain (Cape Katalla to east end of Hinchin-
brook Island): barrier-island system developed from sedi-
ment discharge by the Copper River.
The prograding plains of the Yakutat, Malaspina, and
Bering Forelands consist of three major components:
the stream-dominated, commonly relict, outwash plain; the
beach-ridge-plain system, consisting of steep beaches and
washover terraces; and vegetated longitudinal, southeast–
northwest oriented dune field built upon the beach ridges
(Figure 49(a); Hayes and Ruby, 1994). These systems are
composed of medium- to coarse-grained sand, with common
gravel-sized (up to boulders) material in the Malaspina Fore-
land (Gustavson, 1974). Sediment is derived primarily from
outwash streams and erosion of proximal moraine systems
and reworked by the strong waves of the adjacent open Gulf.
Grain size typically decreases rapidly downdrift, away from the
mouths of the streams and exposed moraines. Beaches tend to
be steep, and ephemeral tidal inlets with small to lacking
ebb- and flood-tidal deltas are found in some places along this
section of coast. Prograding, recurved spits are common, es-
pecially along the shoreline of the Kwik Stream fan delta.
Back-barrier environments (marsh, lagoon) are nearly non-
existent and dunes are rare and, if present, typically composed
of low, vegetated foredune ridges. The only exception is along
parts of the Bering Foreland, which contains large longitudinal
dune fields that have formed in response to the abundance of
glacial silt and dominant east–southeast winds that obliquely
cross this shoreline (Hayes and Ruby, 1994).
In Controller Bay, a major estuarine complex behind the
bedrock Kayak Island, two tombolo-like features have formed,
one mainland-attached and one a barrier island. These fea-
tures, Okalee Spit and Kanak Island are 14 and 7 km long,
respectively, and likely formed from sediment derived from
longshore transport and local outwash streams from the
Bering Glacier (Hayes and Ruby, 1994).
1964
N
1970
1975 5 km
Figure 50 Documented changes in the morphology of Egg Island,
Copper River Delta, following the Good Friday Earthquake of 27
March 1964. This event raised Egg Island by approximately 3 m
(Figure 47(b)). Note that changes tended to accentuate the drumstick
shape of the barrier. Reproduced from Hayes, M.O., Ruby, C.H.,
1994. Barriers of Pacific Alaska. In: Davis Jr. R.A. (Ed.), Geology of
Holocene barrier island systems. Springer, Berlin, pp. 395–433.
Further to the northwest, the mixed-energy barriers of the
Copper River Delta form an elongated line of spits and barrier
islands across the entire width of the delta and river mouth;
the largest of these islands is 420 km long, 3 km wide, and 5
to 10 m above mean high water (Thilenius, 1990; Figures
47(b) and 49(b)). These barriers have a drumstick shape
(Hayes and Ruby, 1994) and demonstrate evidence of seaward
and northwesterly migration, driven by delta progradation
and longshore currents. In a westerly direction, inlet widths,
the size of the ebb-tidal deltas, and the downdrift offsets of the
inlets all increase (Hayes and Ruby, 1994). The drumstick
shape of the barriers becomes more pronounced to the west as
well, which likely reflects increased wave refraction and on-
shore bar migration to the downdrift-inlet shoreline (Fitz-
Gerald, 1988). Following the uplift associated with the Great
Alaskan Earthquake, these barriers all grew considerably
(Thilenius, 1990) and underwent dramatic reorientation and
progradation (Hayes and Ruby, 1994). The modern barriers
are generally composed of moderately- to well-sorted me-
dium-grained sand with occasional coarser material (pebbles,
cobbles, and boulders) proximal to outcrops of Quaternary or
older rocks (Hayes and Ruby, 1994; Reimnitz and Plafker,
1976) and are separated by inlets and backed by intertidal flats
that extend up to 100 m landward of the barriers (Thilenius,
1990). Landward of these barriers, an extensive estuary con-
sists of intertidal and supratidal wetlands and associated
creeks, rivers, ponds, and lakes; and subtidal estuaries, flood-
plains, river terraces, and recent glacial outwash piedmont
(Thilenius, 1990).
10.8.4.1.3 Significant current research and future
developments
The Great Alaskan Earthquake uplifted the Copper River
Delta and surrounding region up to 3 m, significantly
impacting the barrier chain. Not only were the barriers and
immediate surrounding areas lifted out of the water, but in the
back-barrier, many subtidal and intertidal areas were con-
verted to intertidal and supratidal environments, respectively.
This change in back-barrier hypsometry reduced the tidal
prisms exchanged through the tidal inlets, leading to smaller
equilibrium tidal-inlet cross-sectional areas and ebb-
tidal deltas. As demonstrated by Hayes and Ruby (1994)
(Figure 50), the growth of Egg Island, the westernmost island
in the chain, can certainly be directly attributed to the 1964
earthquake and uplift event. However, the continued growth
of the island between 1970 and 1974 can only be explained by
a large influx of new sediment. One explanation is that the
decrease in tidal prism due to a change in bay hypsometry
resulted in a reduced equilibrium volume of ebb-tidal delta.
This sand was driven onshore by the strong wave energy of this
region, causing an enlargement of the island’s footprint. These
types of relationships are now being explored in terms of how
an acceleration in SLR rates may influence back-barrier en-
vironment and, in turn, how changing bay tidal prisms may
affect coastal sand reservoirs (FitzGerald et al., 2006).
10.8.4.2 New Zealand Barrier Systems
New Zealand consists of two elongate islands that span from
34 to 471 S and combined have about 10 000 km of open

coast (Kirk, 1982). Healey (2005) identified nine coastal
provinces based on wave energy, geologic inheritance, sedi-
ment supply, and plate setting. The high wave and wind en-
ergy west coasts are the site of major barrier systems, including
massive transgressive-dune systems. The moderate-energy east
coasts include both numerous embayed beaches and barriers
and the extensive outwash Canterbury plains, whereas else-
where geologic inheritance dominates the steep Fiord and
Malborough coasts and the North Island’s southeast coast.
10.8.4.2.1 Geologic setting
New Zealand sits astride the transcurrent Alpine fault, which
separates the colliding Australia and Pacific plates and bisects
both islands. As a consequence, it is tectonically active, with
active volcanoes, major active faults, earthquakes, areas of uplift
and subsidence, mass movement and regular tsunami. The
country is typified by high relief and young immature sediments
and much of the coast is classified as convergent or collision.
10.8.4.2.2 Coastal geomorphology and processes
New Zealand faces into the prevailing subpolar lows that de-
liver regular high southwest swell and seas (1–3 m) and
onshore westerly winds to the west coasts, with moderate swell
on the east coasts. Tides are predominately micro, with meso-
tides along North Island’s central west coast and the South
Island’s embayed north coast. New Zealand, like Australia,
underwent a rapid rise in sea level to a stillstand about 6.5 ka
(Figure 31), with regional tectonics affecting subsequent sea
level. There was massive shelf sediment supply to beaches,
barriers, and coastal dunes accompanying the sea level rise and
stillstand, followed by subsequent river and cliff supply related
to the steep mountainous terrain, high precipitation, and mass
movement that delivers high volumes of sediment ranging from
clay to boulders. However, only a small proportion of the ter-
restrial sediment is sufficiently coarse to be incorporated in
beach-barrier systems. Longshore transport is predominately
northward (Figure 51), with sand, sand-gravel, and gravel
beaches and barriers common.
10.8.4.2.3 Significant current research
Hesp et al. (1999), in a review of coastal research in New
Zealand, found barrier systems in New Zealand range from
regressive chenier, beach ridge, and foredune ridge plains; to
regressive then transgressive systems; to massive transgressive
Holocene and Pleistocene barrier-dune systems. A more de-
tailed New Zealand barrier review presented by Shepherd and
Hesp (2003) found barriers are widespread but are more
prevalent on the North Island’s west coast and Bay of
Plenty, and the South Island’s Westland and Stewart Island
(Figure 52). They also related barrier formation to substrate
gradient, sediment supply, wave energy, tides, wind, sea level,
geological inheritance, and tectonism; and provided schematic
sketches and examples of the common New Zealand barrier
types. Two of the few barriers investigated in any detail are the
large Matakana Island barrier (Shepherd et al., 1997) and the
gravelly barrier spit at Kaitorete (Soons et al., 1997).
In general, however, there has been little concerted research
focused on ‘barrier systems’; rather, the barrier work com-
monly has been an adjunct to other studies. A review of New
Zealand post-graduate research by Kench et al. (2008) found
Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 225
that 31% focused on beach studies, including gravel beaches
(many backed by barriers); 25% on coastal management and
hazard topics; 10% on estuaries and inlets (commonly bor-
dered by barriers); and only 4% on coastal evolution, pre-
sumably including barrier evolution. They concluded ‘‘ythere
are clearly vast tracts of the New Zealand coastline on which
limited research has occurred and consequently there is a poor
understanding of the formation of the coasty .’’
10.8.4.2.4 Future research
Shepherd and Hesp (2003) concluded ‘‘... in spite of the pre-
cedence in New Zealand of a wide variety of coastal environ-
ments and barrier types, few barriers have been investigated
rigorously and their stratigraphy and chronology remain poorly
known.’’ Healey (2005), in summarizing post-1970s coastal
research in New Zealand, highlighted ‘beach erosion and
morphodynamics’ and ‘beach-shoreface-inner shelf sedimen-
tation dynamics’ as areas where progress had been made, as
well as emphasized the need to include the shoreface shelf in
any studies of shoreline evolution, as well as contemporary
stability.
10.8.5 Migration and Morphodynamics of Barrier
Systems: Primary Factors
In the classic paper by Curray (1964), he simplified the
complex set of processes operating along a coast and identified
the two primary factors affecting shoreline movement: RSL
change and rate of net sediment deposition along a coast (i.e.,
sediment budget). These two factors play a central role in
controlling coastal morphodynamics of barrier systems and
determine whether the barrier system migrates landward
(transgressive or retrogradational) or seaward (regressive or
progradational), or remains stationary (e.g., aggradational).
Morton (1977, 1979) refined the factors that cause shoreline
movement and identified five primary factors: RSL, coastal
processes, climate, sediment budget, and human activities
(Figure 53). Kraft and Chrzastowski (1985) further refined the
primary factors of coastal change by recognizing 10 factors:
local tectonism, regional tectonism, eustatic sea-level change,
tectonism in the hinterland, climatic change in the hinterland,
climatic change in the depositional area, overall tectonic-
depositional setting, ocean currents and wave regime, source
and type of sediment, and human activity in the coastal zone.
Curray (1964) defined a transgression as the landward
migration of a shoreline, regardless of the forcing mechanisms
(e.g., RSL change, sediment budget, storm impacts, and
climate change), whereas a regression is the seaward movement
of the shoreline regardless of the forcing mechanisms. Barrier
islands have long been thought to follow an equilibrium profile
model maintained by sea-level rise and storms (Bruun, 1962;
Swift, 1976), although examples exist where the application of
such a profile can be debated (Pilkey et al., 1993; Thieler et al.,
2000). Thus, barrier island systems are classified into general-
ized stratigraphic models on the basis of shoreline response,
and these are known as transgressive (retrogradational), re-
gressive (progradational), and aggradation (vertical accretion)
(Figure 54), which also tend to summarize the general mor-
phodynamics of the barrier shoreline. Often, over the geologic
226 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

Aupouri
Peninsula

Ninety Mile Karikari Peninsula

Beach
Ahipara 1 Waitemata Harbour
2 Manukau Harbour
Offshore gradient to 20 m Northland
Dargaville
<0·5° 0.5−1.0° >1.0°
N North Kaipara Firth of Thames
barrier
Most frequent wave South Kaipara
approach direction barrier Coromandel Peninsula
Auckland
Awhitu Peninsula
Barriers (Manukau barrier) Miranda
Bay of
Matakana Plenty
Island East
Te
Araroa Cape

Pakarae R

Glsborne
Poverty
Bay
Cape Egmont Taranaki Mahia
Hawke Peninsula
Patea Bay
South Taranaki Waverley Waimarama Cape Kidnappers
Bight Wanganui
Farewell Spit
Manawatu
Golden Bay dunefield
3 Marlborough Sounds Tasman Porangahau
Horowhenua
4 Cloudy Bay Bay
Otaki R
5 Cape Campbell
3 Castlepoint
Parapara-
Karamea umu Wairarapa
Rabbit 4
Nelson 5
Island Boulder Cape Palliser
Westport Bank Turakirae
Wairau Head
Barrytown Palliser
barrier
Greymouth Bay
Westland
Hokitika

Okarito Pegasus
Lagoon Bay
Bruce Bay Kaitorete Banks
barrier Peninsula
Haast
South Westland Lake Ellesmere
barriers South
Canterbury
Bight

Fiordland

0 100 200

Kilometres
Bluff

Stewart
Island

Figure 51 Location of New Zealand barriers systems, indicated by thicker black line around the coast. Also, the deep-water wave direction
(arrows; length proportional to frequency of waves >3 m) and average offshore gradient to 20-m depth contour. Reproduced from Hayes, M.O.,
Ruby, C.H., 1994. Barriers of Pacific Alaska. In: Davis Jr. R.A. (Ed.), Geology of Holocene barrier island systems. Springer, Berlin, pp. 395–433.
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 227

history of a barrier island, a system can exhibit periods of more
than one of these classifications depending on the interplay of
forcing mechanisms.
10.8.6 Future Research Directions and Suggestions
Suggested directions for coastal geomorphic research are
identified and synthesized below. In the years to come, coastal
geomorphic researchers should consider the following:

1. Emphasize an integrated geophysical, sedimentological,

Figure 52 Mouth of the Okuru River on New Zealand’s South Island
showing the 3000-m-high Southern Alps in the background, the
extensive river floodplain-delta, and the elongate barrier spit, backed
to the north by regressive barrier ridges. Photo: A.D. Short.
morphostratigraphic approach to studying past and
present barrier systems that is combined with multidating
techniques (AMS radiocarbon and optical dating of key
morphological and stratigraphic elements) to improve
our understanding of the links among climatic and
oceanographic forcing, ecosystem dynamics, and recent
human-induced changes on large-scale coastal behavior.
2. Develop a better understanding of the rates, magnitude, and
consequences of increasing climate change and evaluate the
impact of climate change (i.e., sea-level rise, increases in storm
intensity and wave energy, and changes to back-barrier hyp-
sometries and attendant tidal prisms) on barrier and back-
barrier systems. Understanding the response of barrier islands
to past known climate changes can thus provide a geologic
context to aid in planning and management scenarios.
3. Improve shoreline-change estimates and sediment budgets,
ultimately driven by mathematical models (cf. Thieler
et al., 2000), working at annual to decadal timescales to

Temperature
Climate Evapotranspiration
Precipitation
Sources
Riverine discharge
Shoreline erosion
Onshore transport Wave climate
Aeolian processes Longshore currents
Sinks Tides
Sediment Coastal Wind
Shoreline accretion budget processes Storms
Storm washover
Riverine discharge
Tidal inlets ? Valley aggradation
Coastal structures
or incision
Aeolian processes
Offshore transport
Resource extraction

Highway construction
Dune alterations Tectonic subsidence
Subsurface fluid withdrawal Human Relative
Compactional subsidence
River-basin development activities sea level
Eustatic sea-level changes
Coastal structures Secular sea-level changes
Maintenance dredging
Beach maintenance
Artificial passes
Figure 53 Interaction of the primary factors controlling shoreline movement and coastal morphodynamics. Arrows point toward the dependent
variables; the number of arrows originating from or terminating at a particular factor indicates the relative degree of independence or interaction
(e.g., human activities are independent of the other factors, but they affect sediment budget, coastal processes, relative sea-level conditions, and
climate). Reproduced from Morton, R.A., 1977. Historical shoreline changes and their causes, Texas Gulf Coast. Gulf Coast Association of
Geological Societies, Transactions 27, 352–364, with permission from AAPG.
228 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis
Transgressive
Beach
Marsh
Wa
sho
ver
Lag
oon
Ma
rsh
Progradational
Beach
Lagoon
Shoreface
Offshore
Beach-
Aggradational
Dune
Washover/Aeolian
Lagoon/Estuary
Shoreface
Figure 54 Generalized stratigraphic models of coastal response for
transgressive, progradational, and aggradational barrier systems
because of changes in relative sea level, sediment budget, coastal
processes, and/or other factors (from Galloway and Hobday, 1975 as
seen in Davis, R.A., 1994. Barrier island systems: a geologic
overview. In: Davis, R.A. (Ed.), Geology of Holocene Barrier Island
Systems. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, pp. 1–46.
understand more fully the net sources and sinks of both
fine and coarse-grained sediments to better manage sedi-
ment resources around barrier systems.
4. Devise more creative strategies for managing heavily de-
veloped coasts under conditions of potential accelerated
sea-level rise and increased storminess.
5. Build a higher resolution Holocene eustatic sea-level curve,
especially for the past 6000 years, using high-quality dating
techniques to determine eustatic sea-level history and barrier-
system response (e.g., whether higher-than-present stands of
the Holocene sea level occurred in the Northern Hemisphere).
6. Build a higher resolution network of local and regional
subsidence rates and assess the impact of the subsidence
rates on barrier-system response.
7. Develop more robust strategies to enhance, preserve, pro-
tect, and restore barrier systems in general, but especially
Louisiana barrier systems, to help inhibit storm surge and
protect critical wetland habitats.
8. Expand field-based investigations (e.g., sedimentologic,
stratigraphic, and chronologic research using sediment
vibracores, geophysical techniques (GPR, high-resolution
seismic), and dating) to refine barrier-system evolution
rather than following the current trend of purely desktop
studies (nonfield-oriented investigations).
9. Focus on investigating underrepresented or unexplored
barrier systems of the world and getting the results pub-
lished in the peer-reviewed literature.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Amanda and Victor Van Beuren of
Van Beuren Publication Services for their editorial services, as
well as Chris Seminack, Nik Deems, and Kristen Ewer for their
technical assistance during manuscript preparation. Also, we
appreciate the critical peer reviews provided by Dr. Richard A.
Davis and two anonymous reviewers, whose comments greatly
improved earlier versions of this paper. In addition, it is with
great sadness and shock to share that one of our coauthors, Dr.
Greg Stone, passed away on 17 February 2011 during the
writing of this barrier systems chapter. Greg was a wonderful
colleague, who had a friendly disposition, a dry sense of
humor, and a constant twinkle in his eye. In conversations
with Greg, the topic of kids would always come up as he
would make it a point to ask about your children and then
share stories about Carter, his son. He will be sorely missed as
both a coastal scientist and a friend. In honor of his many
research accomplishments regarding coastal processes, we
dedicate this chapter to him, Gregory W. Stone.
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Biographical Sketch

Dr. Randolph A. McBride is an Associate Professor of Geology and Oceanography in the Department of At-
mospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, VA, USA. Prior to joining
the GMU faculty in 1997, Dr. McBride spent 14 years in Louisiana working at the Louisiana Geological Survey in
Baton Rouge and at the Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University. He also worked as a geologic
consultant on the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 and 1990. He earned his PhD from Louisiana State
University in Oceanography and Marine Geology under the direction of Dr. Harry Roberts. Dr. McBride’s research
interests and publications focus on coastal depositional systems along the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts, with an
emphasis on late Quaternary coastal, shelf, and estuarine geology; coastal geomorphology and processes; and
coastal oceanography. Dr. McBride has conducted field research in the Mississippi River Delta and Chenier Plains,
the Mississippi–Alabama–Florida barrier-island coast, on the northern Gulf of Mexico shelf, the Outer Banks of
Virginia-North Carolina, the barrier islands along the Delmarva Peninsula, and the Chesapeake Bay. Dr. McBride
has published over 80 scientific articles and professional maps and atlases. For the past six years, he has served on
the Editorial Board of GeoMarine Letters, an international science journal focused on marine geology.
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 241

Dr. John Anderson is a Professor in the Department of Earth Science at Rice University in Houston, TX, USA. He
holds the W. Maurice Ewing Professorship in Oceanography. He served as chairman of the department from 1992
through 1998. Dr. Anderson earned his BS from the University of South Alabama, his MS from the University of
New Mexico, and his PhD in 1972 from Florida State University. Dr. Anderson has participated in 24 scientific
expeditions to Antarctica; his research there has focused on the history of the ice sheet, glacial response to climate
change and potential contributions to sea-level rise. His other research focuses on the evolution of the Gulf Coast
and on predicting coastal response to climate change this century. He has authored two books Antarctic Marine
Geology and The Formation and Future of the Upper Texas Coast, and has coedited five books, including a Geological
Society of America Special Paper entitled Response of Upper Gulf Coast Estuaries to Holocene Climate Change and Sea-
Level Rise. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and mentored over 60 graduate students. Dr. Anderson
received the 1992 GCAGS Outstanding Educator Award, the 1996 Rice University Graduate Teaching Award, 2004
Rice University Presidential Mentoring Award, and was the 2007 recipient of the Society of Sedimentary Research
Shepard Medal. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, past president of the Society for Sedimentary
Research, and Academic Director of the Shell Center for Sustainability.

Dr. Ilya Buynevich is an Assistant Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at
Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Dr. Buynevich employs a combination of sedimentological and
geophysical techniques to reconstruct coastal evolution. He began his geological career at Odessa National
University, Ukraine in 1989 and earned a PhD in Geology from Boston University. After working at the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution, he joined the faculty at Temple University, where his research focuses on barrier
morphodynamics, aeolian landscape evolution, event sedimentology, ichnology, and applied high-resolution
geophysics (ground-penetrating radar imaging). He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Coastal Research and
Vice President of the Eastern Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM). Over the past two decades,
he conducted field projects along the coastlines of the eastern United States, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Kuwait,
and Brazil.

Dr. William J. Cleary recently retired as a Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the
University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW). His office and research lab were located at the Center for
Marine Science. He earned his BS in Geology at Southern Illinois University in 1965 and subsequently earned his
MS in Geology at Duke University in 1968. Prior to earning his PhD in Geology at the University of South
Carolina in 1972, Dr. Cleary worked as a Petroleum Exploration Geologist with Pan American Petroleum Cor-
poration. Upon completion of his PhD, he held a postdoctoral research position at the University of South
Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Cleary’s research while at the University of South Carolina involved
genesis and transport of sand on the continental margin and in the deep ocean. Such a diverse background has
afforded him the opportunity to work in a variety of marine and coastal settings since accepting a position as
Assistant Professor of Geology at UNCW in 1972. Since the early 1980s, Dr. Cleary’s research has focused on
coastal geology, shoreline erosion related to tidal inlets, and offshore sand resources. He has supervised or advised
approximately 30 graduate students at UNCW and other universities. He has authored or coauthored over 75
publications in national and international scientific journals.

Dr. Michael S. Fenster earned his BS and MS in Geology from the University of Mississippi, his PhD from Boston
University in coastal and marine geology, and pursued his postdoctoral research at the University of Virginia. In
1999, Dr. Fenster joined the Randolph-Macon College faculty in Ashland, VA, USA where he now holds the
position of Professor and is Director of the Environmental Studies Program. Dr. Fenster’s research has focused on
determining how long-term drivers of change (e.g., climate change, sea level) and short-term disturbances (e.g.,
storms) interact to alter morphologic, sedimentologic, and ecologic state changes along barrier islands. He has
also conducted numerous studies of sediment transport and ecosystems in New England and mid-Atlantic es-
tuaries. Dr. Fenster has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and given more than 50 presen-
tations at scientific meetings on these topics. Since 2005, the National Science Foundation has funded Dr.
Fenster’s research along Virginia’s barrier islands. Most recently, he served as Chair of a scientific and engineering
panel that reviewed the Environmental Impact Statement for NASA/Wallops Flight Facility’s Shoreline Restoration
and Infrastructure Protection Program.
242 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

Dr. Duncan FitzGerald is a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Boston University with expertise in
coastal processes, stratigraphy, and morphodynamics. He received his MS in Geological Oceanography at Texas
A&M and his PhD in Geology at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. He is a marine geologist who
studies sediment exchange, hydrodynamics, and coastal evolution of marshes, estuaries, river deltas, barrier
islands, and tidal inlets. His three major research themes are presently focused on coastal response to accelerating
sea-level rise, impact of major storms along the Louisiana coast, and climatic and oceanographic controls on
strand plain development in Brazil. His textbook on coastal geology is used both nationally and internationally.
He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and has received numerous teaching awards at Boston
University.

Dr. M. Scott Harris is a geologist with over 25 years of experience exploring the geology, evolution, and dynamics
of the coastal plain, barrier islands, and continental shelf of the middle-Atlantic and Southeastern United States.
Trained in geology at the College of William of Mary with Dr. Gerald Johnson, environmental sciences at the
University of Virginia with Dr. Robert Dolan, and coastal geosciences the University of Delaware with Dr. John
Wehmiller, Dr. Harris’ research includes regional-scale and very high-resolution stratigraphy and sedimentology as
they relate to coastal dynamics, Quaternary sea levels, and geoarchaeology. Currently, his research focuses on the
influence of framework geology on modern coastal evolution, high stands of sea level over the last five-hundred
thousand years, continental-shelf dynamics from the shoreline to the shelf edge, and the utilization of geographic
information systems in geological and archaeological investigations. In 2009, Dr. Harris won the International
Coastal Symposium’s Best Paper and Presentation Award for his work on shoreline erosion rate analyses in South
Carolina. Dr. Harris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at the
College of Charleston in South Carolina, USA.

Christopher Hein earned a BS from Cornell University in 2003 and a PhD in coastal marine geology from Boston
University in 2012. His research interests include the integrated impacts of climate and sea-level change in the
evolution of barrier islands and strand plains and the climatic forcing of fluvial sediment supply to the coastal
zone. He is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, investigating fluvial
sediment and organic carbon-export dynamics in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Bengal Fan system and the appli-
cation of organic biomarker records to the reconstruction of Holocene coastal evolution in southern Brazil.

Dr. Antonio Henrique da Fontoura Klein earned his PhD in Marine Sciences (Marine Geology) from the Uni-
versity of Algarve, Portugal in 2004. He is currently an Adjunct Professor (Geological Oceanography), Department
of Geosciences, Center for Philosophy and Human Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. For 17
years, he was Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Earth Science and Sea Technology, University of Vale do Itajaı́.
Topics of interest are shallow-water oceanography with an emphasis on coastal evolution and morphodynamics.
 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis 243

Dr. Baozhu Liu is a Research Assistant Professor at the Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University in
Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Baozhu Liu studied Marine Geology at Tongji University in Shanghai, China, and earned
his PhD under the supervision of Professor/Academician Zhizheng Ye, Professor/Academician Pinxian Wang, and
Professor Congxian Li in 1993. He then worked as a Research Scientist at the Institute of Marine Geology in
Qingdao from 1993 to 1995, and an Associate Professor at Ocean University of Qingao from 1995 to 1999, where
he taught marine sedimentology and conducted research on the coast and continental shelf of the Bohai Sea and
Yellow Sea. He conducted paleocurrent analysis by using anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility at the Geological
Survey of Japan as a STA fellow from 1999 to 2001, and then came to the Coastal Studies Institute as an research
assistant professor in 2001, since then he has been working in the WAVCIS lab on coastal processes. He has
published 30 refereed journal articles, four book chapters, and 20 conference presentations.

Joao Thadeu de Menezes studied oceanography at the University of Vale do Itajaı́, Brazil, and earned his PhD in
Marine Geology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in 2008. He has been a professor at the University
of Vale do Itajaı́ since 1999. His research focuses on the study of beach morphodynamics, coastal erosion, beach
nourishment and coastal sensitivity of sea-level rise, and employs the tools of numerical modeling, GIS, and
remote sensing. He has published over 20 papers and five book chapters.

Dr. Morten Pejrup is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Geology at the University of Copenhagen,
Denmark and also leads the Earth System Science Centre: EAST, of the Science Faculty. Professor Pejrup specializes
in sediment transport and morphodynamics in the estuarine environment. His field research entails recent
sedimentology with emphasis on tidal hydraulics, the impact of a rising relative sea level on the morphological
development of estuaries, and the stability of coastal lagoons and salt marshes, as well as modeling of the
interaction between physical and biological processes and their control of morphological and sedimentological
stability of estuarine systems. His research areas include the Wadden Sea and several estuarine environments in
Western Europe and Greenland. Dr. Pejrup is the author or coauthor of some 125 scientific articles, reports, and
outreach publications.

Dr. Stanley R. Riggs earned his BS in Geology at Beloit College in 1960, MS at Dartmouth College in 1962, and his
PhD at the University of Montana in 1967. He has been on the faculty in the Department of Geological Sciences at
East Carolina University since 1967, where he is Distinguished Professor of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts
and Sciences and Distinguished Research Professor of East Carolina University. Dr. Riggs is a coastal and marine
geologist who has conducted research on modern coastal systems since 1962. His research extends from inland
river, lake, and pocosin environments, to estuarine and barrier island systems, and seaward across the continental
shelf. His areas of interest lie in sedimentation, stratigraphy, coastal and marine geology, energy and mineral
resources, and their inter-relationship with the development of human civilization. Dr. Riggs has carried out long-
term research programs on these topics in North Carolina, throughout the US Atlantic coast, and other coastal
regions of the world.
244 Morphodynamics of Barrier Systems: A Synthesis

Professor Andrew Short is a marine scientist specializing in coastal processes and beach dynamics. He has earned
degrees from the University of Sydney, University of Hawaii, and Louisiana State University and has worked on
the coasts of North and South America, including north Alaska and Hawaii, Europe, New Zealand and the entire
Australian coast. He is presently Honorary Professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney;
Adjunct Professor in the Griffith (University) Centre for Coastal Management; Senior Coastal Scientist (part-time)
with CoastalCOMS.com; Scientific Adviser to Surf Life Saving Australia; Deputy Chair of National Surfing Reserves
(Australia); and on the Executive Committee of World Surfing Reserves. He also runs his own consultancy called
Coastal Studies and serves on the NSW Coastal Panel and the Eurobodalla Coastal Management Advisory
Committee. He has written 12 books including the The Coast of Australia, and over 200 scientific publications. His
extensive contribution to both coastal science and beach safety was recognized on Australia Day 2010 with an
Order of Australia Medal.

Dr. Gregory William Stone received a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Ulster in Ireland, then
studied coastal geomorphology at University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, USA and earned his PhD in
1990. After serving as a research associate and visiting professor at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, FL,
USA, he accepted a position in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University
(LSU) in Baton Rouge. In 1997, he accepted a faculty position in the LSU Department of Oceanography and
Coastal Sciences and became a member of the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), and served as the CSI director from
2008 to 2011. He taught and advised graduate students in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences,
as the major professor of 13 PhD and 11 MS students. He was awarded the ExxonMobil Professorship of Marine
Geology in 2001 and the James P. Morgan Distinguished Professorship of Marine Geology in 2003. He secured
funding and established the WAVCIS (The Wave-Current Information System) program, which has been oper-
ational since 1998, and supporting coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana, as well as teaching and research in
coastal sciences. He has over 80 journal papers, four books, and about 60 conference presentations. He un-
expectedly passed away on February 17, 2011.

Dr. Davin J. Wallace is currently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Earth Science at Rice
University in Houston, TX, USA, and has accepted a National Science Foundation EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship
after that appointment. He earned a BS degree Cum Laude in 2006 from Tulane University, where he double
majored in Geology and German Literature and Language. In 2010, he earned a PhD degree in Earth Science from
Rice University under the advisement of Dr. John B. Anderson. His research interests include coastal geology,
sedimentology, paleotempestology, and response to global change. He has authored seven peer-reviewed papers
and book chapters.

Dr. Ping Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geology at the University of South Florida in
Tampa, FL, USA. He studied coastal sedimentary geology at the University of South Florida, USA, and earned his
PhD in 1995 under the supervision of Professor Richard A. Davis. Subsequently, he worked as a research associate
with the late Professor Gregory Stone at the Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Since 2001, Dr. Wang has been teaching and conducting research at the Department of Geology at the University
of South Florida. His research focuses on nearshore sediment processes and morphodynamics, coastal geology
and geomorphology, shore protection, and coastal management. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers,
book chapters, and conference papers.
 10.9 Coastal Gravel Systems
J Orford, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
E Anthony, Université de Provence, Aix en Provence Cedex, France
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
10.9.1 Introduction
10.9.2 Difficulties in Undertaking Gravel-Beach Morphodynamic Analysis
10.9.3 Scale Differentiation of Coastal Gravel Systems
10.9.4 Short-Term Controls: Beachface Processes and Responses
10.9.4.1 General Gravel-Beachface Hydrodynamics
10.9.4.2 Morphology of Gravel Beachfaces
10.9.4.3 The Step
10.9.4.4 The Berm and Cusps
10.9.5 Morpho-Sedimentary Approaches to Gravel-Beach Morphodynamic Domains
10.9.6 Tidal Modulation
10.9.7 Gravel-Beach Profile Variation
10.9.8 Extreme Events, Barrier Overtopping, and Overwashing: Bridging Short- to Long-Term Morphodynamic
Processes
10.9.9 Barrier Resilience and the Morphodynamic Perspective
10.9.10 Morphodynamics and Long-Term Gravel Barrier Development
10.9.11 Morphodynamic Implications of Human Intervention on Gravel Systems
10.9.12 Conclusions
References
Glossary
Berm A constructive wave-built beach face feature
generally occurring at the swash reach associated with any
particular high tide position. Cumulatively over the neap to
spring tidal half-cycle, one berm is realized, associated with
highest tidal position. On the falling spring-neap cycle, a
series of berms may be realized at each successive lower
position achieved by the swash-reach of each successive
falling tidal level.
Cannibalization The tendency for a beach system where
the longshore sediment supply has reduced or failed, to use
the existing beach sediment as a further source for
subsequent longshore sediment transport down-drift.
Cannibalization generally starts at the up-drift position and
progressively works down-drift through the beach sequence.
Cannibalization is generally the cause for beach ridge
swash-alignment to develop as the up-drift consequence of
such sediment loss.
Dissipative One end of the beach morphodynamic
continuum where the lowest beach slopes (generally with
sand) are associated with a minimum of reflected wave
energies.
Drift-alignment Descriptive term indicative of a beach or
beach-ridge system dominated by active longshore drift,
and typical of prograded beach ridges. Drift-alignment is
generally indicative of greater up-drift sediment input, than
down-drift output. In plan-view, drift-alignment is
Orford, J., Anthony, E., 2013. Coastal gravel systems. In: Shroder, J. (Editor
in Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic
Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 245–266.
Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00280-3
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250
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associated with increasing beach width in a down-drift
direction.
Facies The observed characteristics of (generally)
sediment size, morphology, or minerogenic composition,
which show differentiation in time or space.
Used as variable to describe the actual realized nature of
sediment.
Gravel A term used to describe the texture of particles on
the Wentworth Scale, which are between 4- and 256-mm
B-axis size (i.e., pebbles and cobbles). In recent years, the
use of gravel-dominated in beach analysis tends to relate
to sediment that is predominantly greater than sand (i.e.,
42-mm B-axis) and can be of a size from granules through
to boulders.
Morphodynamics A mode of analysis by which beach
morphology is related to the spectrum of quasi-periodic
water-sediment interactions induced from incident
and trapped waves. Morphodynamics also involves
morphological modulation of the water-sediment
interactions. Beach morphology has been constrained to a
continuum of energy excitations ranging from dissipative to
reflective as measured, for instance, by the surf-similarity
index.
Mosaic A term coined to describe the possibilities of
gravel particle size and shape combinations to be associated
with differing swash flow conditions. There is a suggestion
that mosaics may be the equivalent response to varying
245
246 Coastal Gravel Systems

morpho-dynamic gravel beach regimes as those experienced
on sand beaches.
Overtopping Process in which a small percentage of
swash flows reach the top of the beach ( ¼ crest). They have
the potential to move particles to the ridge top and help to
build up the crest. The crest is usually only included in such
swash flows during storms.
Overwashing Process in which swash flows reach the
beach crest and pass over it to flow down the back of the
sediment accumulation. Generally only observed when the
beach is part of a free-standing barrier. Such flows have the
potential to move sediment from the beach face, and beach
crest, down the back barrier slope, and are central to the
barrier rollover process.
Reflective One end of the beach morphodynamic
continuum where the steepest beach slopes (usually with
gravel) are associated with a maximum of reflected wave
energies.
Resilience A variable time-based (diurnal tidal cycle to
years) capacity by which gravel barriers may rebuild
coherency and geomorphic function, despite experiencing
extreme events that may have initially destabilized barrier
form.
Rollover A gravel beach which experiences overwash will
in time transport beach face material to the back barrier. In
so doing, this process exhumes old back-barrier deposition
through the beachface as the beach crest and associated
beach profile migrate landward. Over time, the whole beach
ridge is rolled over itself.
Step A mixed erosional and depositional ridge-like form
usually located at the edge of gravel beaches at low tide and
formed at the break point of LT incident waves.
Traditionally seen as occupying the seaward edge of the
swash zone. It may migrate onshore during the tidal cycle,
but where gravel beaches are fringed by low-tide sand
terraces, the step gets stranded at the break of slope between
gravel and sand.
Surf-similarity index A measure of morphodynamic
potential by which the reflectivity of wave energy is
calibrated. There are several surf-similarity indices, which
generally use a ratio of incoming wave structure (e.g., wave
steepness H/L) against overall beach slope (usually
expressed as a tangent of slope). Indices tend to calibrate a
continuum between dissipative and reflective systems.
Swash alignment Descriptive term for a beach or beach-
ridge system associated with weak longhore drift. The term
applies to a sediment-starved single beach ridge, generally
indicative of greater down-drift sediment output, than up-
drift input. In plan-view, swash alignment is associated with
diminishing beach width in a down-drift direction. Swash
alignment is generally associated with cannibalization of
up-drift beaches, and a breakdown of longshore barrier
coherency into segmented sections characterized by
sedimentary capes and bays.

Abstract

Gravel beaches occupy a dominantly reflective morphodynamic domain, which has so far been relatively unexplored
compared to their sandier counterparts. The dynamics of gravel beachfaces are considered in terms of step and berm
evolution and their contribution to profile variation. Extensions of gravel profile types are considered in terms of relative
gravel to sand volumes under the profile. The use of sediment assemblages and their association with both process
dynamics and microscale morphology are presented via the concept of mosaics, which is considered to be the best
approach toward better definition of microscale gravel beach morphodynamic regimes. There are limited morphodynamic
links with gravel barrier evolution, though the mosaics as a statement of long-term barrier stability might be considered as a
likelihood statement of potential future change.

10.9.1 Introduction
Sediments larger than sand are important components of the
world’s coastline. Gravel as a collective term has come to
mean, colloquially, all clastic sediments larger than sand.
Though gravel mode-size definition (i.e., Wentworth scale) is
only a partial element of the effective size range, ‘gravel’ per se
has become synonymous within the coastal literature for
heterogeneous sized and shaped sediments that are ‘other’
than sand and finer sediments (Carter and Orford, 1993; Pye,
2001). Morphologically, gravel beaches form either the sea-
ward face of ‘free-standing’ barriers, more or less detached
from the backshore mainland, or ‘fringing’ beaches (Carter
and Orford, 1993) that have no defining backbeach landward
slope. The processes of gravel-beach development are con-
tinuous in space with the development of gravel barriers, as
swash flows reach over the beach crest (overtop and over-
wash), such that it is difficult to differentiate between beach
and barrier development other than on a timescale basis,
where the latter is determined by extreme events on annual to
century scale and the former on a semidiurnal basis.
Over the past 30 years, considerable understanding of
sand-beach behavior has been gained through analysis of
beach morphodynamics: the same cannot be stated about
gravel beaches (Buscombe and Masselink, 2006; Hayes et al.,
2010). Anthony (2009) provided the most recent com-
prehensive review of coastal gravel systems, and inevitably this
chapter reflects that approach in terms of controls on mor-
phodynamics. By inference, given that gravel beaches are as-
sociated with the steepest beach slopes, they tend to be
morphodynamically characterized as ‘reflective’ (Short, 1999).
This status is also related to a spatially minimal wave-shoaling

zone, due to steeper offshore slopes commonly associated
with gravel systems. This leads to beachface domination by
incident wave energy with some limited secondary sub-
harmonic excitation control on swash motion that may
influence beach-cusp generation (Huntley and Bowen,
1975). Gravel beaches might be viewed as the least exciting,
and possibly, least excitation end of the beach morpho-
dynamics continuum (Short, 1999), and one that shows
least variation in understanding through any associated
energy–sediment–morphology interactions (Buscombe and
Masselink, 2006). Though this assessment has some validity,
this chapter will examine these contentions and identify that
this crude characterization may be masking a range of time
and scale interactions that need further elucidation. Indeed,
one can argue that though gravel beaches can be considered
through a morphodynamics approach, to understand their
long-term development into gravel barriers, the role of mor-
phodynamic regime and domain has a diminished, if not
absent, role. Past analysis has proposed the understanding
of gravel barrier activities through the concept of morpho-
sedimentary responses to changing sea level, sediment supply,
wave climate, and basement structure (Orford et al., 1996).
There is an alternative definition proposed by Buscombe and
Masselink, 2006 (see Section 10.9.5), that uses a different
approach to a morpho-sedimentary analysis consistent with
smaller spatial scales (and possibly reduced timescale) as an
appropriate perspective for gravel beach variation. This chap-
ter will attempt to use this alternative morphodynamic basis
to propose limited potential continuity of morphodynamic
analysis from gravel beaches to gravel barriers.
Gravel beaches are essentially defined by their heterogeneity
of sediment size, morphology, and density (Hollander and
Elmore, 2008), forming a continuum that spans the complete
range of coarse clastic environments, from fine gravel (2 mm)
to boulders (meters). On that basis, though gravels can be a
dominant response to Quaternary glacial activity – as a high-to-
medium latitudinal paraglacial response (Orford et al., 2002),
coastal gravels can be associated wherever sediment pathways
produce concentrations of gravel-sized sediment, and, as such,
coastal gravels can be also associated with a range of en-
vironments: tectonically active coasts with fluvial inputs
(Wells, 1996); with major stable blocks with long-term fluvial
erosion and associated coastal deposition (Bluck, 1999); as
well as with bioclastic production and destruction of corals in
equatorial regions (Hayes, 1967). Hayes et al. (2010) provided
a further detailed statement of coastal gravel distribution.
10.9.2 Difficulties in Undertaking Gravel-Beach
Morphodynamic Analysis
There are a number of reasons as to why studies of gravel
morphodynamics are limited with respect to a gravel-beach
context. The paucity of detailed process measurements has been
attributed to the difficulty in deploying sensitive equipment in
energetic environments with highly mobile gravel-size clasts
(e.g., Mason and Coates, 2001). A sediment mobility paradox
exists by which the largest gravel, and hence frame forming,
resists movement unless under extreme events, after which
stability may ensue for prolonged periods. Orford et al. (2002)
Coastal Gravel Systems 247
noted that the larger the dominant sediment size, the more the
timescale of reaction and relaxation may lengthen, causing a
mismatch between morphodynamics measurement and for-
mative beach development. Research on gravel is commonly at
short-term scales of time (days) and space (profile); and yet, the
long-term development of the barrier form to which the beach
is associated is generally the major control on the sediment
proportions and, to some degree, the plan-form control on
wave energy both across-shore and alongshore, and thereby on
the beachface morphological expression. Although recent
studies of gravel-beach morphodynamics over a half-tidal cycle
using high-resolution monitoring techniques have highlighted
significant profile changes (Horn and Li, 2006; Austin and
Buscombe, 2008), these are short-term changes and their con-
tribution to magnitude–frequency controls on gravel-beach
evolution is debatable. The difficulties of working under high-
energy event conditions on gravel beaches is obvious, but it is
proving a continuing handicap in establishing beachface con-
ditions during these low-frequency formative conditions that
may well condition beach and barrier development for multi-
decades, if not longer.
Most research on gravel beaches has focused on profile
surveys and on associated sediment organizational patterns.
The ability to discriminate between gravel beaches’ profiles
and what elements of the profile constitute the central elem-
ents of a process-driven approach to profile variation have
been virtually left alone, despite an initializing debate between
Caldwell and Williams (1986) and Orford (1986). Jennings
and Shulmeister (2002) have identified the difficulty in setting
out a gravel-beach profile typology, and attempt to address
this difficulty by proposing three differing basic profile types
based on morphodynamic properties of 42 New Zealand
beaches using Iribarren number (i.e., morphodynamic con-
text), beach width, average grain size, and storm-berm height
(Figure 1). Type 1 profiles are pure gravel beaches with steep
slopes (tan b ¼ 0.08–0.24) and gravel extending from the
storm berm to below mean low-water spring tide level. It was
initially this beach type that stimulated the earliest research on
what is known as ‘shingle’ beaches around the southern UK
flint-dominated coasts (e.g., Steers, 1948; Carr and Blackley,
1974, for a resume of this type of work), though ironically
some of these systems had a substantial interstitial element of
fine sand that went unrecognized at the time. Type 2 profiles
feature-mixed sand and gravel beaches with moderate slopes
(tan b ¼ 0.04–0.13) due to sand and gravel components
intermixed across-shore and at depth. This type of gravel sys-
tem has formed the basis for much of the recent decade’s
attempts at assessing gravel morphodynamics (Mason and
Coates, 2001; Wilcock et al., 2001; Pontee et al., 2004;
Chadwick et al., 2005; Buscombe and Masselink, 2006; Horn
and Walton, 2007; de San Román Blanco et al., 2006; Ped-
rozo-Acuña et al., 2007; Austin and Buscombe, 2008). Type 3
profiles are associated with a composite sand and gravel beach
with an upper steep gravel beach fronted by a low-angle,
intertidal sand-dominated terrace, with overall beach slopes
of tan b ¼ 0.05–0.14. Bluck’s (1967) seminal work on sedi-
ment size–shape assemblages was undertaken on this profile
type (Sker type), as was Orford’s (1975) and Williams and
Caldwell’s (1988) work on variability of gravel-beach sedi-
ment assemblages.
248 Coastal Gravel Systems

Land
Reflective 0 5 10 m
Storm berm Storm cusps
Backslope

High-tide berm and cusps

M.H.W.S M.H.W.S
Sand run 4m
‘Swash’ berm
M.L.W.S ‘Swash’ cusps
Gravel 2
Gravel lag M.L.W.S
Sand
0
(a) 10 m 0 Low-tide step
5 Sea

Land
Storm berm 0 7 14 m
Collapsing/plunging
breakers

Reflective Storm cusps

ed
ominat
up d
M.H.W.S Run ‘Swash’ berm
6m
M.H.W.S ‘Swash’ cusps
4 Planar runup zone
Gravel
M.L.W.S M.L.W.S
Sand 2

0 Breakpoint step
20 m 15 10 5
(b) Sea

Land
Dissipative Reflective 0 5 10 m
Storm berm
Spilling breakers Collapsing/plunging M.H.W.S Storm cusps
breakers

M.H.W.S
‘Swash’ cusps
‘Swash’ berm
6m M.L.W.S.
M.L.W.S
4
Gravel
Sand 2
Outer breakers
(c) 0
20 m 15 10 5 Sea

Figure 1 Three characteristic gravel-beach profiles and their associated plan-view morphology identified by Jennings and Shulmeister (2002):
(a) type 1 dominant gravel; (b) type 2 mixed sand and gravel; and (c) type 3 partitioned upper HT gravel and LT sand terrace. Profiles vary with
respect to gravel/sand ratio apparent on the profile surface, though textural composition may reflect overall sediment volume and subsurface
morphology. Profile variability may impose differing breaker types (spilling, plunging, and collapsing) as a function of subtidal and intertidal
beach slope variability. Dominant beach morphologies are berms, step, and cusps (see text for development); the latter are a significant response
in a reflective morphodynamic regime that is characteristic of gravel-dominated beaches. Reproduced from Jennings, R., Shulmeister, J., 2002. A
field based classification scheme for gravel beaches. Marine Geology 186, 211–228.

Both profile and sediment characterizations require fast
survey and analysis. Issues of measurement of mass sediment
have inevitably reduced the spatial comprehension of many
studies. Gravel-beach profile variation reflects sediment vari-
ation both at depth and across the surface. The problem of
in situ variation of sediment with depth is being addressed
through the use of ground-penetrating radar (Neal et al., 2002,
2003). The long-standing problem of analysis of hetero-
geneous sizes, which in gravels is also complicated by the
functional aspects of particle morphology (Bluck, 1967), is
starting to be addressed by the use of rapid image analysis
(Graham et al., 2005; Buscombe and Masselink, 2009). Such
rapid shape analysis is still dominated by photogrammetric
two-dimensional (2D) analysis, as true three-dimensional
(3D) analysis requires more time-consuming methods
(Orford and Whalley, 1991) that are not time-commensurate
with available rapid size analysis. Although newer methods of
in situ measurement (acoustic-based) are advocated, they are
expensive to deploy, such that rapid joint mass particle
size–shape analysis is still to be attained. The use of differ-
ential Global Positioning System (dGPS) and, latterly, Light
Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) is now making analysis of
beach-scale relief change more effective as a way of integrating
the old 2D profile changes into longshore beach lengths that
are sufficient to meet implicit scale length requirements of 3D
sediment volume and size gradients.
Implicit in morphodynamics analysis is the movement of
sediment. Traditionally, this has been followed by aggregate
changes through profile analysis. Progress is also being
achieved in the monitoring of the transport of beach-gravel

clasts. Allan et al. (2006) have used radio frequency identifi-
cation technology (RFID) to detect passive integrated trans-
ponder (PIT) tags inserted in gravels. Each PIT tag has its own
unique identification number. These tags are inexpensive,
glass-encapsulated transponders that are sealed within the
clasts, thus minimizing any effect on the hydrodynamic
character of the particles. The tags are powered by an antenna,
and have a potential life span of up to 50 years. Allan et al.
(2006) successfully tested this method of tracking, and con-
sidered it as having tremendous potential for examining
complex gravel movement and the parameters that control
gravel distribution on a beach. Lee et al. (2007) have used
statistical analyses to determine the number of tracer particles
required to define the mean longshore transport distance of
indigenous littoral gravel with precision. In recent years, the
expansion of knowledge on swash transport of gravel has been
greatly facilitated by the increasing sophistication of field
measurement of variation of bed and sediment transport
(Masselink et al., 2010).
In their review of processes and responses of gravel bea-
ches, Buscombe and Masselink (2006) pointed out the prob-
lems of empirical measurement, especially under extreme
conditions. This means that much of the recent empirical
work may be weighted toward the low-magnitude, higher-
frequency events. In recent years, the difficulty of appre-
hending the morphodynamics of the gravel beach in the field
has prompted recourse to more physical scale modeling (e.g.,
Pedrozo-Acuña et al., 2008, 2010) and the possibility of
translating numerical methods that consider the upper end of
the magnitude analysis (e.g., Roelvink et al., 2009).
10.9.3 Scale Differentiation of Coastal Gravel
Systems
The analysis of beach-to-barrier control is developed as a scale-
dependent approach. Clearly, over time and space, all gravel
barriers involve the short-term changes of seconds (waves) to
days (tides) that assist in the development of beaches. Space
scales are dominated by gravel particle sizes (e.g., cross-beach
profiles) and by sand modes (e.g., depth of beach sediment)
and longshore morphology (e.g., cusps), but all are driven by
the primary hydrodynamics and the degree of interaction
between them and the beach slope and roughness surface
formed by the gravel. The long-term changes (annual to cen-
tennial and greater) to beaches are associated with variation in
sediment supply, extreme forcing, and sea-level changes,
which together modulate beaches into barriers. However, one
other element that influences long-term changes is the way
that beaches are allowed to spatially adjust to the underlying
basement surface in the process of development as a barrier,
which influences profile type.
10.9.4 Short-Term Controls: Beachface Processes
and Responses
10.9.4.1 General Gravel-Beachface Hydrodynamics
Most early characterizations of gravel-beachface dynamics
were associated with primary incident wave heights and swash
Coastal Gravel Systems 249
run-up, and related simple divisions between sea (storm) and
swell wave (fair-weather) conditions that generated profile
variability. The use of berm and step morphology as de-
terminants of constructive and destructive phases (respect-
ively) in gravel profiles follows this approach (Sunamaura,
1975; Orford, 1977). However, Ivamy and Kench (2006) have
expressed concern that observations of inferred incident waves
underestimate the energy transformations in the swash zone
and, hence, drive hydrodynamics that can develop sediment
transport. Recent studies of hydrodynamics (e.g., Blewett et al.,
2000; Van Wellen et al., 2000; Mason and Coates, 2001;
Masselink and Li, 2001; Holmes et al., 2002; Lorang, 2000,
2002; Clarke et al., 2003; Kulkarni et al., 2004; Pontee et al.,
2004; Isla and Bujalesky, 2005; Austin and Masselink, 2006;
Horn and Li, 2006; Ivamy and Kench, 2006; Pedrozo-Acuña
et al., 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010; Austin and Buscombe, 2008;
Masselink et al., 2010) have provided a substantial under-
standing of both the hydrodynamics and short-term mor-
phological response of gravel beaches under varying wave and
tide conditions.
Anthony (2009) pointed out the underlying assumptions
about the nature of hydrodynamic conditions commonly as-
sociated with gravel beaches, which are principally controlled
by steep beach slopes relative to their nearshore slopes:
1. waves can advance much farther inshore before breaking
and generating almost directly incident-frequency swash
motion over a relatively narrow region;
2. breaking is generally associated with a relatively uniform,
shore-parallel breaker line;
3. the surf zone is commonly very narrow and premature
breaking may sometimes simply be due to short steep
waves;
4. the swash zone is also very narrow, and transport within
this zone dominates the sediment dynamics of these
beaches;
5. longshore currents within the narrow swash zone can also
be important; and
6. the beach dynamics can be significantly modulated by
tides.
The author also pointed out that any low-tide sand terrace
can alter wave characteristics, especially the breaker type dur-
ing the tidal cycle. Beach slope changes due to sand pro-
portion (i.e., types 2 and 3 above) have been shown to alter
the reflective status such that the best reflectivity occurs with
the purest gravel (type 1) beaches. As tidal range expands and
sand presents a more visible lower foreshore element, then
reflectivity becomes more variable as a function of tidal stage
(Mason et al., 1997; Ivamy and Kench, 2006). Mason et al.
(1997) identified from field experiments that reflection of
swell can vary between 20% and 85%, as a function of tidal
state on type 2 beaches, though short-period waves showed
less reflective variation (20–30%).
The lack of a distinct surf zone means that it is really the
swash zone and its associated flow asymmetries due to wave
period and groundwater fluctuations, which dictate the
on–offshore transport paths. The lack of offshore surf trans-
formations and the steepness of gravel beaches ensure that
most energy is released at the wave break point and that the
beachface potential is only for fluid motions at incident and
250 Coastal Gravel Systems

sub-harmonic frequencies (Huntley and Bowen, 1975; Austin
and Masselink, 2006; Austin and Buscombe, 2008). Austin
and Masselink (2006), working on a type 2 beach, found
typical values of the surf similarity parameter (xb) of 1.2 and
reflection coefficient (R) of 0.5. They also observed that
breakers (either surging or plunging) transferred energy dir-
ectly into incident-frequency swash motions that engendered
most of the monitored sediment transport (Figure 2).
Because gravel beaches are regarded as steep and highly
permeable (e.g., Carter, 1988; Van Wellen et al., 2000; Horn
and Li, 2006; Austin and Masselink, 2006; Horn and Walton,
2007), it has long been assumed (and visually observed) that
swash and backwash flows are modified by the infiltration and
exfiltration caused by surface beach permeability. Such flows
can also be open to both substantial enhancement and re-
tardation from existing content of groundwater (both static
and dynamic), given the open-worked nature of many gravel
beaches. This process of in(ex)filtration and, hence, swash
flow modification will be dependent on beachface hydraulic
conductivity varying with sediment size and stratification of
sediment texture within the beach (e.g., Masselink and Li,
2001). Fully open-work gravels, with fastest infiltration re-
sponses, are generally a surface phenomenon of beaches and
even type 1 beaches generally show an infilling matrix of finer
gravels (not necessarily sand sized) at low depths that can
effectively channel subsurface water flows. Given the presence
of sand in type 2 profiles, the potential for fast-reacting fluc-
tuations of groundwater is evident, though Mason et al. (1997)
and Kulkarni et al. (2004) have also reported that mixed
beaches comprising an important sand fraction are less prone
to dissipation through infiltration than pure gravel beaches
because of the lower permeability of the sand. The assumption
of high permeability is, thus, dependent on the specific char-
acteristics of the gravel beach being studied (Jennings and
Shulmeister, 2002).
In(ex)filtration effects on swash flows are most prominent
at the swash reach and at the breaker point, respectively. The
asymmetry of swash flows and related shear stress (Kemp,
1975) tends to move larger gravels (competency aside) on-
shore, whereas backwash (assisted by gravity) moves smaller
particles seaward. This onshore size asymmetry of deposition
has been a constant observation of most gravel-beach studies,
but it is only really on type 2 profiles and where sediments
have been o10 mm in size that measurements of flow and
sediments have been viable to support this perspective (Mas-
selink and Li, 2001; Horn and Li, 2006; Ivamy and Kench,
2006, Masselink et al., 2010). Flow asymmetry allows con-
structional sediment deposition at the swash reach. Over tidal
cycles, incremental deposition can move onshore and may
ultimately result in the defined morphology of a berm (Austin
and Masselink, 2006; Horn and Li, 2006).
10.9.4.2 Morphology of Gravel Beachfaces
Gravel-beach profiles are characterized by distinct morpho-
logical breaks in slope, associated mainly with two 2D con-
structional ridge-like features that can appear on the overall
cross-beach slope: the low-tide step and upper-tide berm

1
Z (m)

−1
0 33 6 9 12 15 18 21 24
(a)

3
Intermediate
2 Reflective


1
0
(b)
10 11 12 13 14 15 16

2


Surging
1
Plunging
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
(c) Time (h)
Figure 2 Recognition of the dominance of a reflective morphodynamic regime on gravel beaches is exemplified by this field measurement of:
(a) the tidal elevation (z); (b) the surf scaling parameter (e: Guza and Inman, 1975); and (c) a modified shallow water form of the Irribarren
number (x: Battjes, 1974) on a macrotidal gravel system at Slapton barrier, south Devon, UK. The trace is over 6 h and the signal has been
smoothed. The dominance of surging waves and reflectivity is identified. The associated beach profile is shown in Figure 4. Adapted from Austin,
M.J., Buscombe, D., 2008. Morphological change and sediment dynamics of the beach step on a macro-tidal gravel beach. Marine Geology 249,
167–183.
 Coastal Gravel Systems 251

(Austin and Masselink, 2006), as well as 3D cusp morphology.
Somewhat confusingly for gravel studies, step terminology has
also been used to refer to an upper beachface constructional
element, whereas the lower feature on type 3 profiles has been
called a bar (Orford, 1977, 1986: Figure 3). This nomen-
clature follows Sunamura (1975), who considered the differ-
entiation between upper beach step (onshore constructional)
and lower beach bar (offshore constructional) as a function of
offshore wave steepness, beach slope, relative grain size, and
swash phase. The last term is an adjustment factor that is re-
quired to recognize the adjustment of incident waves to the
hydrodynamic conditions of the swash phase (cf. Kemp,
1975) post-wave breaking. Recent research indicates that ab-
rupt breaks in profile slope generate steep hydrodynamic
gradients accompanied by the convergence and divergence of
sediment considered responsible for the morphodynamic
variability of gravel beaches (Orford and Carter, 1984; Austin
and Masselink, 2006; Ivamy and Kench, 2006; Austin and
Buscombe, 2008). In view of the recent upsurge in gravel-
beach field experimentation, the revisionist use of swash-reach
berm and break-point step terminology will be maintained
(Figure 4).
10.9.4.3 The Step
The step is, technically, not a feature of the swash zone because it
is permanently submerged (Buscombe and Masselink, 2006),
but, as these workers noted, its initiation and maintenance are
strongly linked to swash processes because turbulent wave
breaking at the step leads to a transfer of post-breaking processes
to the swash zone, in the absence of a surf zone. The step feature
may be mobile, as tidal range allows waves to move onshore, but
the slow reaction time of this feature can cause it to be stranded
by tidal lift at which time it can become a partial filter, de-
pending on the incident wave spectrum. As Ivamy and Kench
(2006) identified, with a mixed wave regime comprising both
wind waves and swell on the type 2 beach of Torere, New Zea-
land, there was more likely to be interference at low tide (LT) due
to step presence, than at high tide (HT), with more mixed flows
at LT than at HT. These results highlight the important role of the
step, a major morphological unit of reflective beaches, in filtering
incident wave energy and providing a temporal control on the
type of wave energy that propagates onto the beachface during a
tidal cycle. Hughes and Cowell (1987) hypothesized that the
morphodynamic adjustment of step dimensions to wave height

8
13.10.73
6
Beach elevation (m O.D.)

8
09.02.74
6

8 Constructional H.W.S.
swash limit
10.02.74 berm STE
6 P
H.W.S.

COM
POS
ITE
Inter-tidal
sand
H.W.S.

BAR Constructional
gravel edge Inter-tidal
sand

0 5 10

Distance downbeach (m)

Inter-tidal sand

Figure 3 Within type 3 profile variation (three characteristic beach profiles), which shows how process variation can induce profile change.
Profile names reflect Sunamura’s (1976) profile typology. Step profile: dominant fair-weather, low wave energy conditions with major high-tide
constructional berm (Bstep). Bar profile: intermediate wave energy associated with localized storm event with constructional berm (Bbar) at
gravel edge associated with spilling waves across the sand terrace toward midtide. Composite profile with elements of step and bar profile
morpology: associated with an extreme event, which allows overtopping of storm crest at high tide (extension of step profile), dominant
downcombing of beachface at falling tide, and constructional berm (Bbar) at the gravel edge. Reproduced from Orford, J.D., 1986. Gravel beach
profile characterization and discrimination: some points for discussion. Journal of Coastal Research 2, 205–210, with permission from JCR.
252 Coastal Gravel Systems

Swash
limit Berm
crest
Berm

Wave/
bore
Swash lens

Step Still water level

Step face
crest

Secondary step/ripples

Beachface
Surf/nearshore zone
Swash

Figure 4 Nomenclature of gravel beach showing constructional berm and step positions relative to breaking wave and swash limit on a type 2
profile. Extensions of swash limit under extreme events will bring the beach crest into the landward edge of the beachface. In this nomenclature,
the nearshore starts seaward of the step. A type 3 profile may have a step at the gravel edge with a further extension of the intertidal zone
across a sand terrace before the nearshore zone occurs at the low-tide position. The likelihood of a surf zone developing seaward of the step is
usually only with type 3 profiles; type 1 profiles have a negligible if absent surf zone. Reproduced from Austin, M.J., Buscombe, D., 2008.
Morphological change and sediment dynamics of the beach step on a macro-tidal gravel beach. Marine Geology 249, 167–183.

acts in the same way as a dissipative surf zone. The step acts as a
bar that leads to wave shoaling close to the shoreline. Step height
tends to increase with wave height. Buscombe and Masselink
(2006) speculated that as wave heights increase, so does back-
wash strength, thus activating vorticity generation, hydraulic
jump interaction with incoming bores, step generation, and
beachface reflectivity, all making this area the most spatially
concentrated and energetic in the breaker-swash zone.
The step formation partially depends on the breaking wave
type (Miller, 1976), where short-period waves more likely to
break as plunging rollers develop the vortex roller structure
that is generally associated with offshore sediment movement.
Surging breakers would be expected to flatten the step,
whereas plunging breakers would steepen the step face. High
energy and flow pressure at the step are indicative of turbulent
lift of larger particles (Austin and Masselink, 2006; Ivamy and
Kench, 2006; Austin and Buscombe, 2008), suggesting that
onshore asymmetrical bores’ shoaling over the relatively flat
step crest can advect sediment lifted at the step. Austin and
Masselink (2006) also made the contention that step growth
was able to maintain a reflective beach profile. Where gravels
show a strong shape–size spectrum, the steps tend to be as-
sociated with larger spherical and roller-shaped particles
(Bluck, 1967; Orford, 1975, Williams and Caldwell, 1988).
10.9.4.4 The Berm and Cusps
Berm formation is directly linked to sediment transport on-
shore involving swash asymmetry due to infiltration at the
swash limit. Such berm building provides an additional
mechanism for the maintenance of beachface reflectivity by
inducing beachface steepening, and as such is the most ob-
vious feature on most gravel beaches. Berm position is related
to position in the tidal cycle, with extant berms generally re-
lated to spring HT position. Berms are formed where a sig-
nificant proportion of the uprush infiltrates into the
beachface, such that swash/backwash symmetry is most
marked at this point. Water-table elevation may allow a berm
to be higher due to enhanced swash uprush. Berms created
within the spring-to-neap tide half-cycle are generally
ephemeral as stranded features, which tend to be reworked on
rising spring limbs. Swash overtopping during the rising phase
of the tidal cycle induces vertical berm growth by causing the
berm to roll over landward and the crest to reestablish at the
high-water mark. Austin and Masselink (2006) reported that
the cross-shore location of the berm was principally controlled
by the general shoreline elevation and was dependent on the
phase of the spring–neap cycle, following similar observations
by Hine (1979) in his model of berm development as a
function of phase of tidal cycle. The development of a berm
can be in the form of rollover of an accretional mass moving
upbeach (generally macro-tidal) or as a series of swash bars
that are welded against an upper berm (micro- to mesotidal)
(e.g., Pontee et al., 2004). All of this action is dependent on
the capacity of mobile sediment on the profile. Berm thickness
will be dependent on sediment availability. Both Bluck (1967;
2011) and Orford (1975) and Orford et al. (2001) have
identified the strong potential of berm development to be
related to size–shape availability (Figure 5). Where there is
 Coastal Gravel Systems 253

(a) Cross-Beach particle grading by shape and size (b) Beach gravel facies

Large
disk Imbricate medium
zone disk/blade zone
Particle Prolate 0.8 ? ? ?
1i reservoir Outer
1ii fill cobble frame
2i 5

Particle sphericity*
2iii 4
3i 2ii 2iv
2iv 4
3i Intertidal 0.6 ?
fringing 3iii 3ii 2ii
2 3ii/3iii 5 2iii
Glacigenic sand
m zone 2i ?
0 Basement 0.4 3i 1ii
0 10 m 1i
Avalanche
Storm Constructional step Downbeach Winnowed berms at 20 45 70 95 120
fan of land-
beach profiles, upbeach grading by size low tidal range, Median ‘B’ axis (mm)
ward dipping winnowed berms, and sphericity. (3ii/3iii/5).
overwash (3i).
sediment. * After Sneed and Folk (1958)
Overridden by fringing gravel ridge Rear of wavecut platform in glacigenic material

Figure 5 (a) The association of sediment assemblages (facies) and gravel-beach morphology from Llanrhystyd (west Wales). (b) Sediment
facies based on cluster analysis of nearly 400 beachface sediment samples based on particle size (B-axis) and morphology (Sneed and Folk’s
(1958) sphericity index). Facies nomenclature follows Bluck (1967). These are the probable facies’ beach positions, but not all facies are evident
at all times, though facies 1i and 1ii were a constant realization during the 2-year survey period. Reproduced from Orford, J.D., Forbes, D.L.,
Jennings, S.C., 2002. Organisational controls, typologies and time scales of paraglacial gravel-dominated coastal systems. Geomorphology 48,
51–85.

wide size–shape potential, then availability of disks and
blades allow more substantial and steeper-faced berms under
reflective upper-swash flows.
Clearly, any longshore gradient of swash reach elevation
will show stochastic variability (Hughes et al., 2010) as well as
any variability related to longshore variation in breaker height.
This means that perturbations in the berm–crest elevation are
common. However, it is evident that strong rhythmic variation
in run-up can be forced, such that berm deposition is also
disturbed in a rhythmic 3D morphology (longshore cusp
wavelengths of nearly tens of meters) that forms the landward
edge of swash cusps. Within the morphodynamics regime, this
morphology is associated with sub-harmonic edge waves
(usually of 0/1-mode) excited on reflective beach slopes,
which can interfere with cross-shore swash flows to generate a
longshore rhythmic extension–retardation of run-up (Huntley
and Bowen, 1975). This variation interacts with the berm to
form the ephemeral quasi-rhythmic cusps composed of
coarser sediment at the horns and finer sediment in the bays.
Size differentiation of coarse particles being a marked feature
of gravel beaches, the differentiation between horns and bays
is much more marked than on sandy beaches, although
gravel-beach cusps are less coherent morphologically, and are
more commonly a collection of loose sediment structures,
sorted by size, and commonly forming lines of material down
the foreshore (Sherman et al., 1993).
Clearly, a range of spatially variable flow–sediment inter-
actions occurs in cusp formation. Sherman et al. (1993) have
shown how such morphologies develop over several tidal
cycles, with the coarser horns extending at lower tidal ele-
vations and, in turn, showing size–shape gradients as the
limited sediment suites are spatially reworked. Extant cusps
are best seen at the highest tidal levels and can be associated
with post-storm conditions in which longer-period incident
waves are present. The lack of swash cusps often reflects lack of
incident swell waves susceptible to edge-wave excitation. Bluck
(2011) has presented a model of preferential cusp generation
that is dependent upon tidal range and beach-sediment
thickness. Though the edge-wave model is widely held, there is
an alternative model presented based on a swash-circulation/
self-organization model (Werner and Fink, 1993; Masselink
et al., 1997; Masselink and Pattiaratchi, 1998).
10.9.5 Morpho-Sedimentary Approaches to Gravel-
Beach Morphodynamic Domains
Bluck (1967), in a seminal paper associated with modern
gravel-beach studies, identified how the joint properties of
sediment size and morphology could be influential in de-
veloping spatially differentiated, sediment facies across gravel
beaches. He presented the concept of discrete cross-shore
zonal assemblages of large disks (beach crest) – medium
blades – small rollers/spheroids – large rollers and cobble-
sized spheroids (beach seaward edge), which could be related
to the morphology of both berm and step, and the inter-berm-
step sorting surface. Orford (1975) and Orford et al. (2001)
indicated that this zonation could be reduced to a continuum
form of particle selection/rejection (under storm conditions),
with the discrete zones emerging as a consequence of sub-
sequent selective reworking of the available sediment range
under constructive or fair-weather conditions associated with
berm building. The range of realized facies on any beach is
strongly controlled by shape availability, such that beaches
with isotropic lithologies, which show little morphological
variation from basic spheroids, tend not to show this
254 Coastal Gravel Systems

selectivity, so that size is the main spatial discriminator (Carr,
1969; Carr et al., 1970). This explains why a dominance of
early studies on south UK beaches (flint dominated) did not
identify particle shape as a useful particle differentiator. It was
only with consideration of anisotropic gravel populations by
Bluck (1967) that particle shape was observed as an influential
element in beach-gravel analysis.
Buscombe and Masselink (2006) proposed that the
standard morphodynamics associated with sand-based coastal
systems was neither replicable, nor sufficient, to explain the
time sequences and sediment variations that were established
on gravel-based systems. They reviewed the complexity of
water–sediment interactions established in the gravel swash
zone, as well as the complexity of sediment selection and par-
tition. The latter, through both concepts of size–morphology
variation working together to produce hydraulic-equivalence-
defined selection, as well as particle acceptance and rejection as
defined by both the transported sediment and the static-bed
sediment to ensure overpassing and/or hiding, are identified as
key elements of developing the mosaic of sediment distri-
butions that are a function of specific site character and back-
ground populations (Figure 6). Recent process-measurement
work has begun to decompose the relationships between
swash–beach morphology and aggregate particle behavior that
underlies mosaics (facies) of particle populations.
Buscombe and Masselink (2006) further proposed the in-
sightful concept that it is in this mosaic inception and per-
sistence that we should look for the detail of reflective
morphodynamics on gravel beaches. Mosaic variation is con-
sidered analogous to the bedforms resulting from the range of
surf conditions and sediment/morphological variation asso-
ciated with intermediate and dissipative responses of sand
beaches. A further development that remains to be tested
under detailed analysis is the suggestion presented by Carter
and Orford (1993) and restated by Buscombe and Masselink
(2006: 44) that
the emergence of sorting patterns through selection, rejection, and
acceptance tend to create patterns which resist further movement.
In other words, the formation of textural mosaics and morpholo-
gies would progressively have fewer configurational possibilities,
which would limit further gravel reorganisation. Therefore, gravel
foreshores tend to become more organised, creating mosaics of
sediment which have a distinct form (the sediment structures of
Bluck, 1967, 1999), which are able to withstand and control
transport (or limit work done – this notion is discussed in terms of
‘entropy’ by Carter and Orford, 1993).

The geometry of mixed beds - particle selection and rejection

leading to overpassing, armoring and sediment zonation.
(a) (b)

Transport
Fine Course v. course lag corridor
(c) (d)
Alongshore:

(e) (f)

Selection
(g) (h)

Rejection Course

Fine

Cross-shore: Course

Acceptance

After Carter (1988)

Figure 6 Exemplification, by size distribution changes, of how gravel populations can be differentiated to create both graded and discontinuous
size facies through particle selection, rejection, and acceptance. These are key mechanisms by which the process–particle–beach morphology
mosaics of gravel beaches are realized. Alongshore grading photo from Komar, P.D., 1998. Beach Processes and Sedimentation. Prentice Hall
New Jersey, 544 pp. Reproduced from Buscombe, D., Masselink, G., 2006. Concepts in gravel beach dynamics. Earth-Science Reviews 79,
33–52.

They go on to note that this type of gravel organization may
exert a future ‘memory’ effect by providing a template for fu-
ture morphology/sediment interactions through facies per-
sistence (Sherman et al., 1993) as a function of sediment
relaxation and/or sediment inertia. Carter and Orford (1984,
1993) have suggested that sediment assemblages create pat-
terns, which may resist further change, as the formation of
textural mosaics, and morphologies would progressively have
fewer configurational possibilities, which would limit further
reorganization. Such facies persistence, largely determined by
the ability to self-organize, has been suggested as a significant
characteristic of gravel beaches under changing conditions
(Sherman et al., 1993).
This concept of successional sediment facies may prove to
be a fruitful way of exploring short-term to longer-term asso-
ciations with gravel dynamics, though crucial to this approach
is providing effective measures of distribution character-
ization. It is this linking of morphology with sediments that
underlines their conceptual framework of gravel-beach dy-
namics, via what they term ‘morpho-sedimentary analysis’.
Much still remains to be done to establish the state defin-
itions, associated probabilities and system controls that
underlie this concept, though Carter and Orford (1984, 1993)
have already explored some of the analytical aspects of state
transitions within gravel assemblages, both cross-shore and
longshore.
10.9.6 Tidal Modulation
Tidal action is important in controlling wave access potentially
in breaker type and character of swash, as the tidal frame rises/
falls (Jennings and Shulmeister, 2002; Pontee et al., 2004;
Austin and Masselink, 2006; Buscombe and Masselink, 2006;
Ivamy and Kench, 2006; Austin and Buscombe, 2008). Ivamy
and Kench (2006) identified that in a mesotidal system, the
step control on both breaking and filtering of wind waves, was
effectively lost by HT when wave breaking moved across the
lower beach. Orford (1977) found that on a type 3 profile
with storm activity on a spring tide at high water (HW),
breaker type became spilling compared to plunging at LT and
that the potential for crestward transport of disks was more
evident under such conditions, whereas at LT the rollers and
spheroids were moving seaward, only to be held up by the
large cobble lag at the gravel edge.
Bluck (1999; 2011) has explicitly considered the role of
tidal range on the beachface as an inhibiting/accelerating
agent to the development of specific sediment assemblages
(mosaics). He indicated that with meso–macro-tidal range
(UK systems), the differentiation/selection regimes of the mid-
beach are spatially extended, though this has to be seen as
relative to both the available beach volume and the relative
sand-to-gravel ratio. Both conditions will constrain the profile
type (Section 10.9.7) and, hence, mosaic-building capabilities.
It is in this mid-beach zone (originally identified by his con-
cept of the sand-run as a winnowing–sorting–sieving environ-
ment) that what he termed ‘pavements of well-selected (by
size and shape) particles’ are enabled. He also gives major
credit to the selective seaward-dipping stratification of
cusps as a principal element of midtide-prograding facies in
Coastal Gravel Systems 255
low-tidal-range systems, whereas in high-tidal-range systems,
this relative proportion is reduced in favor of the crest disks
and outer cobble frames of the bottom beach. This strati-
graphical development cannot be divorced from the profile’s
sediment volume balance, as regardless of tide range, pro-
graded systems will show a stronger beachface domination of
seaward-inclined pavements and imbricate-dominated sedi-
ment assemblages, whereas transgressive sequences are gener-
ally dominated by landward-dipping overwash units, which are
exhumed in the midtide zone as the contemporary beachface
migrates landward under a rollover process.
10.9.7 Gravel-Beach Profile Variation
This size–morphology–density heterogeneity has proven to be
a problem for any tendency to beach characterization solely by
modal grain size. By extension, the definition of gravel-beach
type has also caused confusion (e.g., Caldwell and Williams,
1986; Orford, 1986), particularly in relation to the charac-
terization of key elements of constructive/destructive morph-
ology. Later analyses have considered the macrostructural
profile elements (e.g., distinctive gravel and sand zones) to
show different structural types of profile as a function of
geographical region, for example, Single and Hemmingsen’s
(2001) concern for a specific New Zealand mixed gravel and
sand profile compared to a ‘pure’ gravel profile characteristic
of the UK has probably overcompensated wave exposure as
against other variables structuring profile typology. Jennings
and Shulmeister (2002) through their tripartite analysis indi-
cated distinctive profile differences, the variability of which is
still open to question. Types 1–3 could be variants of a bi-
modal sand-and-gravel sediment system where the pro-
portions of sand to gravel are structurally varying due to
sediment supply and wave energy. Orford et al. (2003b)
showed from a prograded Holocene dune and beach in
Northern Ireland how these varying sediment proportions
over a century scale have radically delivered a differing mor-
phodynamic beach regime from dissipative to reflective, which
in turn controls the depositional record. The resultant sub-
surface architecture of interbedded sand-and-gravel systems
further identifies an implicit problem of gravel-beach analysis,
in that commonly a surface-only description is used in the
profile characterization (a rare exception is provided by Horn
and Walton, 2007), such that even a supposedly pure gravel
feature of Chesil Beach, UK, has considerable fine sediments at
depth, both as interstitial and primary bedding (Carr, 1969).
Recent exploration of gravel-profile variation (Hayes et al.,
2010) has begun to rectify this omission by showing the
sediment variation at depth beneath gravel systems both in its
sediment type and mobility. Likewise, their work has started to
show the variation in gravel-beach profiles drawn from dif-
fering wave energy and sediment regimes (e.g., Oak, 1984),
which underlines the limiting nature of existing profile
typologies.
Step and berm development are identifiable as key elem-
ents of gravel-beach profiles and indeed have been used to
define within-variation of type 2 profiles (Caldwell and Wil-
liams, 1986; Orford, 1986) due to changing incident wave
character and profile persistence (memory effects). However,
256 Coastal Gravel Systems
though the earlier discussion of beach-profile types was based
on the relative sand-to-gravel composition, there was a further
implicit structural element to gravel-beach disposition that
needs consideration. Proportions of sediment texture are only
one aspect of the structures of gravel-beach profiles, as both
overall wave power, sediment supply, and the underlying
basement upon which the profile is built, will interact to
control profile development.
Hayes et al. (2010) have attempted to differentiate types of
gravel facies and structural controls on beach form, via the
profile, as a function of wave-energy exposure (Figure 7). They
used characteristic profiles of open-ocean (Alaska and Australia),
protected-bay (Alaska), and semi-enclosed sea (Wales) sites that
exemplify variation in overall wave exposure – particularly in
swell and local wind-wave proportions. These profiles show
differences in the relative development of specific particle
assemblages: large disks, imbricate disks, swash-reach berms,
winnowed berms, armored lags, and outer cobble frames – each
associated with an aggregate morphological envelope that reflect
feedback controls on sediment selection and sediment inertia.
There are also differing structural contexts on the profile’s
subsurface, which are articulated through into the nearshore
shoaling slopes that influence the morphodynamic regime.
Jackson et al. (2005) have cogently argued that insufficient at-
tention has been given to the geological context of morphody-
namics, for example, through its control of overall shoaling
slope, and, in the case of gravel beaches, this is crucial given the
neotectonic and paraglacial contexts that the gravel profiles of
Hayes et al. (2010) expose. Although morphodynamically, these
profiles are all overall ‘reflective’ (mainly due to steep beach
slope), the combination of: (1) the varying within-beach gradi-
ents, (2) the changing in situ bathymetric control on wave
breaking (and breaker type) due to macro–mesotidal range, and
(3) the radically shifting frictional transport surfaces presented by
assemblages to swash flows during the tidal cycle, contribute to
local morphodynamic regimes that add to spatial partitions of
the regional reflective domain of the whole profile. In an attempt
to differentiate sub-environments of sand beaches in the higher
tidal range, the spatial concepts of inner- and outer-beach do-
main are used. This might prove to be a strategic approach that
can be concentrated into further subdivisions of gravel systems
linking toward the potential scale of mosaics. Much still needs to
be done to establish this type of profile partitioning and asso-
ciated feedback controls (cf. Buscombe and Masselink, 2006).
One further dimension of profiles that needs to be con-
sidered is that of beach volume and textural composition
available on the profile to be reorganized. Beach volume is a
function of sediment supply and the degree to which sediment
supply or lack of supply allows the overall beach system to
move in and out of drift alignment (sediment sufficiency) or
swash alignment (sediment deficiency). The greater the beach-
sediment volume relative to tidal range, the less reflective the
beachface is likely to be, such that reflective morphodynamics
are more overt with swash alignment, than with drift align-
ment. Type 3 profiles in the UK tend to be associated with
depleted sediment-drift- and swash-aligned systems within
headland to bay-head systems. Segmentation of the drift sys-
tem encourages rotation of beaches to meet oblique incident
(and refracted) waves that partition sediment textures on a
longshore basis. This leads to less surface sand in exposed
gravel areas where mosaic development under maximized re-
flectivity is likely, whereas in any energy lees, the increasing
sand element floods out much of the cross-beach mosaic
potential, with only large disks and imbricate smaller disks
and blades evident at berm and ridge top. Overall, cross-beach
facies development appears to be optimal on swash-aligned
beaches where zero net longshore transport occurs, whereas
beach systems dominated by longshore transport tend to be
characterized by less well-defined, cross-beach facies (Orford
et al., 2002). In prograding systems, the interplay of storm
construction of beach ridges and of fair-weather constructions
in the mid-beach- to low-beach area would tend to distort and
mask the classic cross-beach facies gradients (Orford et al.,
2002).
The tendency of profiles to be cumulative can be explored
through the progradation of profiles within a drift-aligned
context. Bluck (1999; 2011) has considered the internal
structure in a dominantly gravel-based system along the
micro-tidal Namibian coastline, where the Orange River
coarse sediment load is driving a 200-km zone of sediment-
rich drift-aligned gravel beaches and barrier. Bluck identified
cusps as the integral morphological element exhibited in
beachface stratification, and regarded them as the causation of
the main sediment assemblages and thicknesses of deposition
in the mid-beach area. Cusp might seem to be indicative of
a reflective regime; however, this coast is dominated by
long-period oceanic swells that, on a low nearshore slope
(associated with the prograding front of the regressive beach
sequence), indicate a more probable intermediate morpho-
dynamic regime, associated with surf cusps, which are sub-
stantially longer in periodicity and have the potential to
dominate the limited tidal range. It is unlikely that this
cuspate condition will dominate depositional patterns on
meso–macro-tidal transgressive coasts.
Neal et al. (2002) highlighted patterns of development in
mixed sand and gravel systems that are particularly well elu-
cidated through the possibilities offered by the differentiation
of radar facies using ground-penetrating radar. The radar facies
analysis of mixed sand-and-gravel beach ridges conducted by
Neal et al. (2003) show a complex prograding sequence of
foreshore, overtop, and overwash deposits associated with
dominant berm-ridge deposits separated by seaward-dipping
bounding surfaces. The beach ridges are essentially composed
of vertically stacked overtop/overwash units overlying the
berm ridges. The radar facies enabled Neal et al. (2003) to
conclude that beach-ridge development in this mixed textural
setting occurred under favorable conditions of overtopping
and overwashing of the upper beachface. They further identi-
fied inter-annual to decade variations in wave climate, ante-
cedent beach morphology, shoreline progradation rate, and
sea level as the likely key factors that generate such favorable
processes of beachface development.
10.9.8 Extreme Events, Barrier Overtopping, and
Overwashing: Bridging Short- to Long-Term
Morphodynamic Processes
Beach morphodynamics are essentially process controlled by
variation in incident wave, which is potentially dominated by
 Coastal Gravel Systems 257

Cobbles and
boulders Boulders
Rock
cliff

(a) 12° LT

Large
storm
berm
Increasing
boulders

(b)
5°
Increasing wave height and frequency

Storm
berm
High-tide berms
(C + P)
(mobile fine gravel)

HT
Beachface Low-tide terrace
Imbricate
zone (C)
Armored
zone (C + B)
(c)
LT
9°
Storm
berm
(disks)

Imbricate
zone Outer
Winnowed frame
berms (spheres and rollers)

Coa Sand
(d) rse
r
Coarser

Raised
storm Moderate-sixed
berm Active storm berm

Berm-like
ridge Cobbles and
Armor boulders
15°

(e) LT
5°

Figure 7 Hayes et al. (2010) development of a gravel-beach profile typology adjusted for sediment variation from boulders through to sand, and
beach exposure to ocean-limited sea-protected coast wave-energy variation. Hayes’s type C profile equates to the type 1 dominant gravel profile
and a type D profile equates to the type 3 gravel and sand profile. Reproduced from Hayes, M.O., Michel, J., Betenbaugh, D.V., 2010. The
intermittently exposed, coarse-grained gravel beaches of Prince William Sound, Alaska: Comparison with Open-ocean gravel beaches. Journal of
Coastal Research 26, 4–30, with permission from JCR.
258 Coastal Gravel Systems

annual variation. However, with gravel systems, it may be
postulated that there is a longer time–domain control im-
posed by extreme events. Such events can generate extended
run-up, superimposed upon surge increases also super-
imposed on tidal elevation, sufficient for swash to reach the
top of the beach crest (overtopping), or to cross the beach
crest to flow down the backbeach landward slope (over-
washing). Although these processes are not per se part of the
traditional morphodynamic regime, it is proposed that as
these low-frequency events are sufficient to control overall
beach-crest height (Orford et al., 2002), thereby forming a
boundary condition to the morphodynamic regime as well as
the morpho-sedimentary regime by which barriers are mo-
bilized. Extreme-event processes are strategically sufficient for
inclusion into the process set for gravel morphodynamics
systems. Swash overtopping tends to build the crest elevation,
and by further steepening the overall beach gradient, increase
reflectivity. Swash overwashing reduces the crest height and
with landward passage of swash (overwash) to infiltrate on the
backbeach slope, can radically reduce overall beachface re-
flectivity by asserting a backbeach spatial dissipative regime
(Figure 8).
Beach-ridge building may have analogous elements of
berm building, but, whereas, berm construction is generally a
tidally modulated constructional process, beach-crest building
is dependent principally on extreme events and the stochastic
realization of a small percentage of swash flows that can reach
to an existing crest top (Hughes et al., 2010). Such extreme
events are commonly storm based, but overtopping has also
been associated with strong swell events (Carr, 1983). Lorang
(2000, 2002) has considered the dynamics of crest building as
a function of particle size and wave run-up.
The extension of flows sufficient to start overwashing and
movement of backbeach material landward via either dis-
crete washover fans (assisted by the excitation of high-level
beachface cusps that concentrate swash uprush sufficient to
eroded crest-top throats), or breach positions across the
strike of the beach crest, associated with later backbarrier,
fan transport landward are crucial to the beach-to-barrier
transition and have links to antecedent morphodynamic
beachface products. Orford and Carter (1984) identified the
overwash process on an Irish gravel barrier, as leaving a
strong rhythmic spacing of throats, probably templated to
the palimpsest of old (or in the same event?) storm-
generated upper beachface swash cusps triggered by sub-
harmonic-excited-edge waves. This longshore consistency of
the overwash process is potentially a morphodynamic
mechanism associating with landward displacement of the

Catastrophic overwash
Rmax >>>> Bh ?
? ?

d
oar
3: freeb Sluicing overwash
de
Mo ative R max >>> B h
g
Ne
Maximum runup: R max

Overwash
h
Rmax >> Bh ==BBh
xx
maa
Rm
ard
r e ebo
f
allF
uttrra
2 ::NNeeu
dee 2
Mood
M a rd
1: eebo
Overtop de fr
Mo itive
Rmax = Bh s
Po

Surge +
Erosion Deposition
run-up level

Beachcrest height: B h

Figure 8 Schematic representation of stages of barrier overtopping and overwashing as determined by the relative value of Rmax (maximum
elevation of surge plus run-up volumes) minus Bh (barrier-crest elevation) that defines freeboard or barrier resistance to cross-barrier crest
flows. Three modes of freeboard are identified with schematic association of different scenarios of beachface reworking, crest overtopping, and
crest overwashing. Note that more extreme values of overwashing will lead to greater degree of reorganization of backbarrier sediments.
Catastrophic overwashing that would lead to major leveling of the barrier ( ¼ breakdown) has yet to be observed on gravel-dominated barriers in
the UK.
 Coastal Gravel Systems 259

barrier under high-level storm, plus surge-generated, dissi-
pative flows. Such a process is probably continued by any
increasing extremity of the generating event. Orford et al.
(2003a) identified a spatial extension to increasing extreme
events, with the merger of longshore fans associated with a
broadening of throats to such a point that the entire crest
top had been translated landward by what has been termed
sluicing overwash (Orford and Carter, 1982). It is only with
an increase in mean sea-level position (secular rise) that
such landward deposition can be re-incorporated into the
general body of the barrier (Orford et al., 1996) through the
distinctive ‘rollover’ process associated with transgressive
barriers.
There is one element of this sediment change that needs
further observation: how does a fringing beach become a
barrier (with a distinctive backslope)? Clearly, there is a rela-
tionship between definitive construction of a beach crest or
beach ridge via the overtopping developments at the swash
limit under extreme events. In this sense, there is a potential
limit to the growth of the crest through the availability of
extreme events that only build up a crest, as opposed to flows
being too extreme, such that overwashing lowers a crest. The
balance of probabilities means that overtopping, even with
marginal occurrence, is more likely than overwashing, so that
crest building will take place to form at the effective swash
limit at a rising elevation, which then defines an emerging
backbeach/barrier slope.
10.9.9 Barrier Resilience and the Morphodynamic
Perspective
The resilience of gravel barriers is an issue that has been less
addressed than other aspects of barrier dynamics, probably
because such resilience occurs in response to rare forcing
events of extreme energy that impact on the short- to longer-
term morphodynamics of the barrier, or involve long-term
barrier functioning that cannot be monitored without re-
course to chronostratigraphic methods. An example of long-
term barrier resilience related to the pulsating activity of tidal
inlets (repeated openings and closures) has been described by
Long et al. (2006), with reference to Dungeness foreland, UK.
A true gravel beachface morphodynamic perspective has only
been addressed by Orford et al. (2003a) who identified
how an artificially maintained gravel barrier in southwestern
England (Porlock, Somerset) was overwhelmed by an intense
westerly depression (degenerate ex-hurricane Lili 1996, rated
at 1: 100 year event) by which the beach crest was set back and
virtually flattened by sluicing overwash (Figure 9). Subsequent
cross-barrier profiles over a period of 4 years showed how this
dissipative spatial extension was reorganized by the range of
normal swash flows to produce a new beach crest at the new
landward edge of prevailing swash reach that was landward of
the old crest line. Reworking of beachface sediment allowed a
progressive elevation and slight seaward migration of the
beach crest out of the original washover fans. This rebuilding

9 Pre-Lili
Crest elevation change (m)

May 2000
March 2000
8
December 2000
10

9 July 1999
7
8 February 1999

7 6 Post Lili October 1996

Elevation (m O.D.)

6 Trajectory of resistance
5
5 −10 −9 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0
December 1988 Crest horizontal change (m)
4
February 1999
3 July 1999

2 March 2000 Proposed

May 2000 post-event
1 profile October 1996
December 2000
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Distance (m)
Figure 9 An example of gravel-barrier resilience observed through the long term (sub-decade changes). Barrier profiles are drawn from Porlock
gravel barrier before and after the effects of ex-hurricane Lili in reorganizing the barrier in October 1996. Beach profiles are from a mix of
sources: the 1988 profile is from UK Environment Agency, and Bray and Duane (2001) between 1999 and 2001. Note the barrier crest rebuilding
evident between July 1999 and December 2000. The structural change in crest height and crest spatial position defines the trajectory of
resilience (inset), as the crest is rebuilt and dissipative cross-barrier flows turn into reflective flows as the crest berm is rebuilt and limits swash
reach.
260 Coastal Gravel Systems

identifies how overtopping swash raises a new berm (incipient
crest) that concentrates swash flows to the new beachface and
reestablishes the reflective morphodynamic regime. However,
the lower overall beach slope associated with this natural,
more stable, beach crest means a reduced morphodynamic
reflectivity. There is a sense of long-term barrier reorganization
as expressed by a trajectory of the crest position in a time/
elevation space, which illustrates the long-term (multi-annual)
development of barrier resilience (inset to Figure 9).
Orford et al. (2003a) also presented an example of a rad-
ically faster barrier-resilience timescale, in which a north
Norfolk (Cley, UK) gravel barrier was reorganized during an
extreme event (The North Sea Flood of 1953, rated at 1:4100
years) that Lamb (1991) referred to as the most extreme storm
of the twentieth century in the North Sea. Using aerial pho-
tography taken immediately after the event, distinctive evi-
dence of sluicing overwash, throat–washover fans, and
crest–overtop morphology (based on longshore and onshore
size variation) was used to support interpretation of a se-
quence of barrier-crest and backbarrier sediment reorganiza-
tion phases during the post-surge peak. These reorganization
phases have been interpreted as being related to the
interaction of tidal-modulated control on surge level relative
to the barrier crest (Figure 10) and the changing ratio of
overwash to overtopping thereby allowed. In this case, the
resilience of the barrier is set to a diurnal scale. Resilience was
related to original width of the barrier such that, despite the
landward migration of the crest, the peak surge was insuffi-
cient to level the barrier as in the case of Porlock, and as such,
barrier restructuring left a sufficient sediment volume to act as
a feedback brake on redistributing barrier sediment during the
falling tide, which allowed a fast crest rebuilding through
overtopping, as the wave plus surge elevation fell relative to
the freeboard of the barrier crest.
The susceptibility to resilience, and the attendant mor-
phodynamics of a gravel barrier appear to be subordinated,
judging from the examples analyzed by Orford et al. (2003a),
to both intrinsic and extrinsic large-scale controls that include
barrier size, antecedent beachface morphodynamic status
(essentially the degree of coarse-grained-induced beachface
reflectivity and finer-grained-induced dissipativeness, generally
of a lower foreshore, when this latter exists), storm intensity
(eventually tsunami intensity) and duration, and tidal
modulation (essentially a function of tidal range and tidal

Surge + run-up level

Relative crest

a Barrier crest position

movement

Offshore
Deposition Erosion

Onshore b
d Overtop (Z1)
c

(a)
Relative height change

a Sluicing overwash (Z3)

+
b d

c
Barrier crest height (b)

Overwash−overtop
(Z2 + Z1)

b
Freeboard status

(c)
− Mode 3 c
a Bar development?
Mode 2
LT Mode 1 HT d LT
+ Tidal cycle
(d)
Reflective Dissipative

Figure 10 Schematic control on storm-surge overwash as a result of freeboard availability based on Blakeney gravel-barrier response to the
1953 extreme storm (North Sea Flood). Freeboard is controlled by the difference between tidal modulation of surge þ run-up elevation and
barrier–crest elevation. Variation in freeboard identifies three domains ((a)–(c)) of morphology associated with dissipative overtop and overwash
conditions. Domain (d) is the reflective domain of the beach face where overtopping has ceased due to falling tidal elevation. Modulation of a
constant extreme storm-surge elevation by semi-diurnal tidal cycle generates both variable barrier-crest elevation and variable barrier-crest spatial
position, as a consequence of fluctuating overtop–overwash flow volumes. This is a graph of resilience in which spatial position and time of crest
height in a semi-diurnal tidal cycle are considered. Z1–Z3 are stages of overwashing and overtopping morphology identified in Orford, J.D.,
Jennings, S.C., Pethick, J., 2003a. Extreme storm effect on gravel-dominated barriers. Coastal Sediments’03. In: Davis, R.A. (Ed.) Proceedings of
the International Conference on Coastal Sediments 2003. World Scientific Publishing Corporation and East Meets West Productions, Corpus
Christi, TX, CD-ROM, 12 pp. (ISBN 981-238-422-7), with permission from World Scientific Publishing.

residence times in the course of the tidal excursion). Besides
sheer barrier volume (as in the case of Cley), the morphody-
namic component of such resilience over time is hinged on
the morpho-sedimentary context that must be considered a
pervasive element of gravel-barrier dynamics. Response to
high-energy events may not involve offshore gravel loss but a
spatial beachface redistribution of sediments that modulates
the ensuing morphodynamics and involving a rapid change
(hinged on storm and tidal modulation conditions) from
steep reflective to flatter, more dissipative. The latter involves
energy loss by swash run-up and seepage over a wider and
flatter beachface, and a slow progressive shift (under ‘modal’
energy conditions) to more reflective beachface conditions.
10.9.10 Morphodynamics and Long-Term Gravel
Barrier Development
Given the time domains of morphodynamic analysis, there
appears to be little overt relationship between morphody-
namic domain development per se, and long-term barrier de-
velopment. To develop an analysis, a relationship must be
shown between morphodynamic regime and the basic con-
trolling factors, such that gravel-barrier genesis and evolution
are engendered. The following analysis is based on Anthony’s
(2009) review of controls on barrier development.
Macroscale controls on gravel-barrier development have
been thoroughly examined by Forbes et al. (1995) and Orford
et al. (1995, 2001, 2002), especially with regard to the forcing
functions of sea level, sediment supply, and basement control.
Gravel-barrier development appears to be a complex function
of sediment-supply conditions, (inducing aspects of drift- and
swash alignment), and relative sea-level change (RSL). Gravel
beaches may be swash- or drift aligned, the difference in state
relating to the balance between the potential longshore
transport rate as an energy term and the availability of sedi-
ment to be transported along the shore by this energy (Orford
et al., 1996, 2002). A longshore sediment-rich supply results
in drift alignment, whereas sediment scarcity in longshore
supply results in swash alignment (Figure 11). Sea-level rise is
identified as a major factor in controlling the rate of terrestrial
sediment supply to the beachface, but this effect is modulated
by variations in availability of sediment volume (Orford et al.,
1995, 2002; Chadwick et al., 2005). Variation in sediment
supply or wave climate can induce beachface reworking, with
persistent longshore loss being identified as the starting do-
main of cannibalization (Dolique and Anthony, 1998; Isla
and Bujalesky, 2000; Anthony and Dolique, 2001; Orford
et al., 2002), which eventually ends with swash alignment and
the minimization (approaching a net zero rate) of longshore
reworking in favor of cross-beach reworking. The consoli-
dation of swash-aligned sediment into a single crested barrier
and its subsequent landward migration will be dependent
upon the rate of sea-level rise. Jennings et al. (1998) have used
associated back-barrier paleo-ecological evidence to indicate
that the coherence and continuity of swash-aligned barriers
were controlled by low rates of sea-level rise (c. o4 mm yr1),
with progressive discontinuity (tidal breaches) occurring as
RSL rise increased to 46 mm yr1. Single-crested barriers are
most likely associated with transgressive conditions and the
Coastal Gravel Systems 261
sediment characteristics of this condition link back to the
likely mosaics realization. This is a limited discernable linkage
between barrier behavior and morphodynamics per se, though
barriers will relate to morphodynamics also via the nearshore
slope. Prograding barriers, by the context of beachface sedi-
ment surplus, are likely to show less reflective conditions given
shallower nearshore slopes, whereas transgressive barriers are
potentially more likely to be reflective due to steeper beachface
slopes. However, the nature of offshore slope tendency with
transgressive barriers is not unequivocal, as without the ad-
justment cover of a sediment surplus (as in prograding sys-
tems), they are defined by the chance nature of a submerging
landscape.
The role of particle zoning, the importance of which has
been highlighted earlier in the upper beach to beach–crest
area parallel to the shore, has been suggested as an important
criterion in the ratio of overtopping to overwashing. This is
thereby a measure of barrier stability (Forbes et al., 1995),
which is therefore an index of barrier behavior, though not a
determinant. Forbes et al. (1995) provided detail of sediment
size and shape variability in space and time with both
stable and unstable gravel barriers to show how realization of
facies may be interpreted as a function of barrier mobility. The
presence of distinct zoned facies associated with more con-
sistent sorting of particle shape and size is more likely to be
associated with overtopping, whereas barriers with disjointed
sorting trends and disturbed facies are likely to be dominated
by overwash and barrier rollover. Orford et al. (2002) sug-
gested, for instance, that the development of a large disk
population in the upper beach is more probable under over-
topping than overwashing conditions, possibly serving as a
prelude to barrier overstepping (Orford and Carter, 1995).
Facies arrangements are unlikely to persist in transgressive
barriers dominated by storm activity, which causes both on-
shore overwashing and mid-beach downcombing. The impli-
cations are that sediment assemblages as mosaics may be
indicative of past persistent trends, but are not in themselves
determinants of future barrier behavior, though in a Bayesian
probability context, they may be an a priori statement of likely
post priori future outcomes as characterizing the likely macro
status of the barrier.
A further dimension of morphodynamic linkages lies with
the view that gravel barriers may be self-organizing forms
(Forbes et al., 1995; Orford et al., 2002), based on the capacity
for barriers to develop as a patterned state, from an initial
unpatterned state, with characteristic scales indirectly related
to the length scale of the external forcing. These workers ar-
gued that barrier behavior is conditioned by negative and
positive feedback into both patterned and unpatterned states,
but in the case of self-organized systems with energy inputs,
the state realization pathway is directed toward organized ra-
ther than disorganized states. Long periods of negative feed-
back are associated with self-regulation. During such periods,
wave–sediment interaction acts to reduce the impact of forcing
perturbations and to stabilize the barrier and provide the
template that dictates mosaic realization. These long phases of
negative feedback are punctuated by short spates of barrier
breakdown followed by rapid reorganization that leads to new
barrier formation. What is yet to be established is the extent to
which extant mosaics may prolong barrier stability.
262 Coastal Gravel Systems

Source Overlapping prograding corridor/sink

Lagoon

Wave cre
st
Qy ≥ 0
Breaker approach
Drift-aligned barrier

Rolling source ‘cannibalizing’ the corridor Corridor/sink

Back-barrier lagoon
Depletion of sediment source

Till-covered
rock basement
Rock

Depleting source

Qy = 0 Breaker Qy ≥ 0 Qy ≥ 0
approach
Cannibalizing barrier

Onshore migrating sink

Lagoon
Till-covered
rock basement

Rock

Depleted source Qy = 0 Qy = 0
Breaker approach

Swash-aligned barrier

Figure 11 A strategic difference in barriers is between drift-aligned (sediment rich) and swash-aligned (sediment poor to starved) barriers. The
former are related to high sediment supply, dominantly from alongshore; the latter occur when longshore sediment supply dwindles. Barriers
experiencing a diminishing sediment supply tend to reshape themselves through cannibalization, by which existing beach sediment is reworked
down drift along the dominant transport corridor, as a diminishing substitute for an exhausted terrestrial source. This sediment realignment is
progressive along the barrier until the planform of the beach matches the refraction arc of the breaking wave and no further longshore reworking
can take place. At the swash-aligned stage, cross-beach transport dominates and mosaics are potentially best developed. Cross-beach sediment
transport is accelerated if secular sea-level rises, driving overwash and barrier rollover that fragment the mosaics. Reproduced from Orford, J.D.,
Forbes, D.L., Jennings, S.C., 2002. Organisational controls, typologies and time scales of paraglacial gravel-dominated coastal systems.
Geomorphology 48, 51–85.

This ability to self-organize determines a further dimension
of the resilience of transgressive gravel barriers. Self-organiza-
tion may operate at the ‘microscale’ mosaic level, but can be
translated, via process stability, into ‘macroscale’ self-organ-
ization. Orford et al. (2002) suggested that at this larger scale
self-organization is expressed through either positional stabil-
ity in the form of a stationary barrier, or positional instability
via rollover. Positional stability is associated with the growth or
consolidation modes of development defined by Orford et al.
(1996) with the establishment of a single ridge controlled by
overtopping processes, whereas positional instability is asso-
ciated with the breakdown mode, dominated by barrier roll-
over due to overwashing. Orford et al. (2002) argued that
because positional stability and instability are measures of self-
organization, they may both be considered as two end
members representing system stability, and between which the
system may switch. Morphodynamics are critical within the
stability phases, and also through the reassertions of beachface
development, are influential in the process of rebuilding bar-
riers in the post-reorganization (breakdown) phase.
10.9.11 Morphodynamic Implications of Human
Intervention on Gravel Systems
Human intervention into the coastal zone has been acceler-
ating during the twentieth century and its cumulative impact
on deflecting coastal systems has left a substantive and non-
transient legacy. Gravel systems in the UK have been exten-
sively used in coastal defense, as gravel-based coastal barriers

occur as a major component of coastal length. Gravel-based
barriers are reworked in two principal ways: (1) the heights of
barriers are extended by physical re-profiling from the barrier
front and rear and (2) the width of the beachface is aug-
mented by the adding of gravel volume (renourishment) so
that the beach buffering effect during extreme events is en-
hanced. Neither method is mutually exclusive, with many
examples from southeast UK showing both reasons tied as
justification of gravel modification. Both methods are seen as
supporting the beach as a flood-defense scheme (FDS), by
which the beach is used as a physical barrier to wave energy
and elevated storm plus tide-water levels, which might
otherwise inundate any of property, infrastructure, services,
and/or agricultural land at the rear of the barrier. This inter-
vention is now essentially an economic cost–benefit action,
though since EU habitat legislation (Natura, 2000) the use of
maintained gravel barriers as FDS has become a principal
element in maintenance of biodiversity, for example, the
maintenance of coastal freshwater wetlands for avian diversity.
These developments are currently of great concern given the
potential for rapid coastal change under accelerating sea-level
change; however, consideration in this section will only be
made of what such changes might do to the beach–barrier
morphodynamics.
In effect, heightening of the crest is designed to prevent
swash uprush from either overtopping or overwashing, that is,
the barrier acts as an impermeable dyke or FDS for the back-
barrier locale. This has a major unintended consequence, as
this action reduces the long-term geomorphologic functioning
of the barrier. It cannot respond to sea-level change or climate-
change-induced wave forcing, by retreating through rollover.
Over time, the barrier is placed in an increasing out-of-
equilibrium position through enforced spatial stability. Crest
heightening may enhance morphodynamic reflectivity by
steepening the overall beachface gradient. It also means that
the asymmetry of cross-beach sediment transport is accentu-
ated toward the offshore direction especially under storm ac-
tivity, such that beachface sediment volume may be reduced.
Bradbury and Orford (2007) have shown that crest mainten-
ance of a Norfolk (UK) gravel barrier has been associated with
the loss of nearly 25% of the barrier’s cross-section volume
during the half-century that this barrier has been maintained
both in position and crest elevation.
Significant loss of nourished gravel may occur where gravel
beaches are fringed by a steep nearshore zone, essentially in
the Mediterranean. The 4.5-km-long gravel beach fronting the
city of Nice, on the French Riviera, in southeastern France, was
artificially nourished from 1976 to 2005 to the tune of
558 000 m3, making this long-term operation one of the most
significant for gravel beaches in the world. Beach width did
not increase over this 30-year period of massive gravel nour-
ishment, thus clearly implying loss of recharged gravel off-
shore on this steep coastal margin. Gravel loss following
nourishment is probably favored by the practice of artificial
beach widening through flattening of a 5–15-m-wide ‘active’
zone of the profile in summer in order to enhance the
‘carrying’ capacity of this highly frequented beach. Beach
widening and flattening following nourishment bring close to
the very steep inner shoreface zone, several cubic meters of
gravel for each meter of beach that may be permanently lost
Coastal Gravel Systems 263
downslope during autumn and winter storms. These storms
are associated with plunging waves that are particularly
effective and concentrated, on this almost tideless shore, over
the narrow active zone of the beach profile where steep re-
flective berms are built. The high dynamic pressures associated
with this narrow zone of concentrated wave breaking, and
energy reflection from the steepened profile, are deemed to
contribute to the transport of gravel downslope to depths
from which it cannot be recovered by fair-weather waves.
Renourishing gravel-based beaches along the southern
coast of England has been a major element in maintaining
these contemporary sediment-scarce, flint-dominated, gravel
beaches as a buffer to wave flooding and erosion of property
and infrastructure, over the past half century. These gravel-
dominated beaches lack a substantial sand component due to
regional sediment partitioning by tidal dynamics in the east-
ern English Channel (Anthony, 2002). A number of these
southern English beaches have a history of three to four
phases of alternating between drift and swash alignment over
the last 5000 years (Orford and Jennings, 2007), but are cur-
rently in a regional sediment-deficit mode that necessitates
major renourishment to prevent shoreline retreat. The con-
tinuing reflectivity of these transgressive-tending profiles is
likely to accelerate losses of sediment longshore and offshore.
Powell (1990) has attempted to establish an equilibrium
profile for these renourished gravels, but as it does not specify
the morphodynamics state of the system, it is unlikely to be
effective in predicting a long-term (decade) statement of
eventual beach behavior. The need for active recharge within
decades does not allow the development of mosaics that may
pattern the sediment into more stable configuration. Likewise,
the forcing of profiles into non-swash aligned solutions is also
preventing the assertion of stable mosaics given the artificial
enhancement of longshore transport.
10.9.12 Conclusions
The past decade has seen a substantial development in
understanding about gravel beachface processes and re-
sponses, which are complementary to the development of
knowledge concerning gravel-barrier origin and evolution
during the preceding decade. The use of these two concept sets
is not unitary with respect to establishing morphodynamic
understanding of coastal gravel systems. There is certainly
strength to a recognition that the reflective domain of steeply
sloping gravel systems is not as unexciting as may have been
postulated from the first flush of success in its analysis on
sand-based systems. Although the scale of variation of bed-
form is substantially less in gravel systems than their sandier
counterparts, there is a beginning of recognition of the variety
of process–morphology–sedimentary responses that can be
encapsulated in a micro-scale, morpho-sedimentary analysis
that needs further exposition. It is expected that this devel-
opment, based both on probability approaches and event
realization analysis, will be helped by context in a morpho-
dynamic perspective. However, any upscaling links of this type
of analysis are still uncertain with respect to future macroscale
perspectives on the traditional morpho-sedimentary analysis
associated with gravel-dominated barriers.
264 Coastal Gravel Systems
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266 Coastal Gravel Systems

Biographical Sketch

Julian Orford obtained his PhD (1978) from Reading University and has worked in geography at Queen’s
University, Belfast since 1977. He is professor of physical geography and was head of the School of Geography,
Archaeology and Palaeoecology (2005–09) at Queen’s. His research has concentrated on the dynamics and
development of gravel beaches and barriers in Britain, Ireland, and eastern Canada, with respect to relative sea-
level change and sediment supply. Over the past decade, he has been working on the responses of coastal
morphologies to both sea-level change and increased storminess related to climatic change. In particular, he is
focusing on the trigger role of extreme events on coastal morphology, beach/dune interactions, and swash-aligned
gravel barrier behavior. His research work on coastal function and behavior has stimulated collaboration with EU
R&D, UK Government agencies, NGOs, and coastal consultancies over the future of the UK coastline and in-
frastructure.

Edward Anthony obtained his PhD (1982) and D Litt (1988) theses at the University of Strasbourg. Following an
earlier lectureship at the University of Nice (1988–94), where he first became involved with gravel beaches, he
moved to a professorial position at the Université du Littoral in Dunkerque, a new university strongly involved in
coastal research, where he was involved in teaching, research, and top-level administration from 1994 to 2009,
before moving to Aix-Marseille University. Over the past decade, he has been working on the morphodynamics of
macrotidal bar–trough beaches, on beach–dune interactions, on Holocene coastal paleoenvironments in
northern France and in West Africa, and on sedimentary processes associated with the muddy Amazon-influenced
coast of South America.
 10.10 Beach and Dune Interaction
C Houser, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
J Ellis, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.10.1 Introduction 267

10.10.2 Process-Scale Aeolian Transport from Beach to Dune 268
10.10.2.1 Boundary Layers, Sediment Entrainment, and Transport 268
10.10.2.2 Transport Models 268
10.10.2.3 Surface Moisture and Crusts 269
10.10.2.4 Topographic Variability and Vegetation 270
10.10.2.5 Fetch 272
10.10.3 Beach–Dune Interaction at Tidal and Storm-Scales 272
10.10.3.1 Transport Potential and Sediment Supply 272
10.10.3.2 Beach and Backshore Accretion 274
10.10.3.3 Backshore Erosion and Dune Scarping 276
10.10.3.4 Wrack and Lag 277
10.10.4 Beach–Dune Interaction over the Holocene 277
10.10.5 Beach–Dune Interaction Models 279
10.10.6 Conclusions 282
References 282

Abstract

This chapter examines beach–dune interactions, the sediment transport, and morphological connection between beach and
dune systems, from a process perspective. We introduce the components of beach-dune interactions from small to large
temporal scales: process, tidal and storm, and Holocene. The chapter concludes by integrating the previously discussed
concepts and introducing dominant beach–dune interaction models. Linking these processes over a range of spatial and
temporal scales has proven quite difficult, remains an important focus of the science, and provides opportunity for future
investigations.

10.10.1 Introduction
Coastal dunes occur along many of the world’s marine and
freshwater coasts, and range in size from small hummocks to
large, shore-parallel ridges, and to complex transgressive
dunefields that extend inland for tens of kilometers. Ultim-
ately, dune development depends on the exchange of sedi-
ment between the beach and backshore by wind, which varies
with the speed and direction of the wind, tidal range, the
availability and characteristics of sediment, and the morpho-
dynamic state of the beach and nearshore. Differences in the
rate of dune formation and morphology reflect differences in
the wind regime, wave climate, temperature and precipitation,
littoral sediment supply, sediment size and mineralogy, and
vegetation type and density (Olson, 1958a, b; Jennings, 1964;
Ritchie, 1972; Borowka, 1980; Short and Hesp, 1982; Pye,
1982, 1983; Hesp, 1989; Klijn, 1990). The amount of sedi-
ment transported from beach to dune is also regulated (to
varying degrees) by erosion and washover of the dune by
Houser, C., Ellis, J., 2013. Beach and dune interaction. In: Shroder, J.
(Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology.
Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology,
pp. 267–288.
waves and surge during storms (Leatherman, 1979; Kriebel
and Dean, 1985; Thom and Hall, 1991).
In general, coastal dunes develop where there is an avail-
able supply of beach sediment (Swift, 1976), a sufficient fetch
for the transport of sediment from the beachface to the
backshore (Bauer and Davidson-Arnott, 2003), and vegetation
to capture the sediment (Nickling and Davidson-Arnott, 1990;
Davidson-Arnott, 2005; Davidson-Arnott et al., 2005). Inter-
vening factors that may modulate sand transport by wind
include the intrinsic properties of beach–dune interfaces, such
as microscale topography, vegetation cover, moisture content,
and extrinsic factors, such as surrounding morphology and
storm wave impact on the upper beach and dune front. Our
understanding of the interactions between beach and dune
systems is complicated by the need to link aeolian, swash, and
nearshore processes over a sequence of alternating erosional
and accretional periods. Due to the complexity of linking
these processes, predictions of beach–dune sediment budgets
and morphological change based on empirical relationships
are not reliable at the smallest spatial and temporal scales
(Sherman et al., 1998) and tenuous when extrapolated to re-
gional scales (see Davidson-Arnott and Law, 1996; Davidson-
Arnott et al., 2005).
The short-term processes affecting beach–dune systems are
largely dependent on the balance of the aeolian transport

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00283-9 267

268 Beach and Dune Interaction
potential and the intensity of storms that erode the backshore
and scarp the dune. Long-term patterns of dune develop-
ment are dependent on sediment supply, which is in turn
dependent on the availability of sediment from alongshore,
and offshore sources, and sufficient time for dune recovery
following storm activity (Sabatier et al., 2009). Sherman and
Bauer (1993) suggested that a ‘robust conceptual framework
or grand, unifying theory’ of beach–dune systems requires that
‘small-scale’ aeolian sediment transport processes can be in-
tegrated with ‘mesoscale’ investigations of beach morphology,
and dune evolution and the development of beach–dune
systems over the Holocene. This review of beach–dune inter-
action is structured relative to those different time scales and
concludes with a review of the conceptual models that try to
integrate process and form across several of those scales.
10.10.2 Process-Scale Aeolian Transport from
Beach to Dune
Ultimately, beach–dune interaction depends on aeolian sedi-
ment transport across the beach and backshore. This section
examines the transport processes that are unique to the beach
and backshore environment. More details about boundary
layers and aeolian sediment transport are found in Bauer
(1991) and in Chapter 11.6 of this Treatise.
10.10.2.1 Boundary Layers, Sediment Entrainment, and
Transport
Much of the interaction between beach and dune occurs on
the backshore, a transitional area between the dynamic wave-
and tide-dominated surf and swash zones, and the dunes built
through aeolian transport. The availability of sediment on the
backshore is dependent on deposition of beach or dune
sediment during storms when water levels tend to be elevated
above normal tidal heights (see Section 10.10.3.2). Transport
of this sediment is dependent on the ability of onshore winds
to entrain and transport more sediment from the beach to the
dune than is lost from the dune during storms that erode
the dune. Ultimately, the amount of sediment transport across
the backshore from beach to dune depends on the adjustment
of the wind to the beach morphology and size (fetch), the
limits to transport and the presence of vegetation to capture
the sediment. However, our understanding of small-scale
sediment transport processes on the beach, backshore, and
dune are confounded by limitations of the available technol-
ogy and the complexity of the transport in the prototype.
Wind blowing over a surface leads to the formation of a
boundary layer, the region closest to the surface, which is
slowed by the frictional resistance offered by the sediment and
other roughness elements (pebbles, shells, wrack, etc.). The
lower portion of the wind profile over a flat homogenous
surface is defined as a log-linear increase in velocity with in-
creasing height (Oke, 1978) as described by the Prandtl-von
Kármán equation, or ‘Law of the Wall.’ Beaches that are steep
or with a berm and swale topography will have an under-
developed boundary layer or multiple internal boundary lay-
ers (Short and Hesp, 1982; Bauer, 1991; Houser et al., 2008).
Unless the wind is steady, using the Prandtl-von Kármán
equation to estimate shear stress can introduce significant
errors (Bauer et al., 1992; Namikas, 2003) that are com-
pounded when estimating the sediment transport rate (Sher-
man and Hotta, 1990), especially when employing models
such as Bagnold’s (1936) that cube shear velocity.
In general, grains will be moved by the wind when the
fluid forces of lift and drag overcome the effects of the weight
of the particle and cohesion between adjacent particles. The
drag force results from the fluid flow over and around the
exposed particle (i.e., the shear stress), whereas the lift force
results from lower fluid static pressure above the grain and the
steep velocity gradients at the grain surface. The shear velocity
required for the initiation of motion depends largely on the
grain diameter and a coefficient, which varies with sediment
packing and shape (Iversen et al., 1976). For a more detailed
discussion on the initiation of motion, refer Bagnold (1941),
Hunt and Nalpanis (1985), Middleton and Southard (1984),
or see Chapter 11.6. Once entrained, the dominant mode of
sand transport is saltation (Bagnold, 1941). When aero-
dynamically entrained grains impact the sediment surface,
they transfer momentum to the stationary grains on the bed.
In other words, there is a cascade effect in which the few
aerodynamically entrained grains cause an exponential in-
crease in the number of grains in motion across the beach;
generally the newly entrained grains move via reptation.
Equilibrium or steady-state saltation develops very rapidly
(1–2 s), which some suggest may translate into a large dis-
tance for equilibrium transport to develop across the beach
(e.g., Gillette et al., 1996).
10.10.2.2 Transport Models
Various methods are used to measure sediment transport rates
in the beach–dune environment: vertical and horizontal traps
(Bagnold, 1938; Leatherman, 1978; Nickling and McKenna
Neuman, 1997; Rasmussen and Mikkelsen, 1998; Wang and
Kraus, 1999), sediment tracers (Willetts and Rice, 1985), and
sensors (Stockton and Gillette, 1990; Spaan and van den
Abeele, 1991; Baas, 2004; Davidson-Arnott and Bauer, 2009;
Ellis et al., 2009; Udo, 2009; Sherman et al., 2011). Tradi-
tionally, transport rates are ascertained using sets of traps that
passively collect transporting sand. More recently, sensors are
used to directly or indirectly measure transport rates. However,
field-based measurements are not always feasible and sedi-
ment transport rates are estimated using models (Bagnold,
1936; Kawamura, 1951; Zingg, 1953; Kadib, 1965; Hsu, 1973;
Lettau and Lettau, 1977; Horikawa et al., 1986; McEwan and
Willetts, 1994). These models are similar in that they include
empirical ‘constants’ and are based mainly on wind tunnel
experiments. The first model for sediment transport rate (q)
was introduced by Bagnold (1936). Kawamura (1951) in-
cluded a threshold shear velocity for the first time. The
performance of these models and others like them is highly
variable from site to site (e.g., Svasek and Terwindt, 1974;
McCluskey, 1987; Sarre, 1988; Bauer et al., 1990; Bauer
et al., 1996; Davidson-Arnott and Law, 1996; Jackson and
Nordstrom, 1998; Sherman et al.,1998) and the different co-
efficients and form of the equations leads to very large

absolute differences in the predicted transport rate (Horikawa
et al., 1986; Nickling and Davidson-Arnott, 1990; Sherman
and Hotta, 1990; Anderson and Willetts, 1991; Sherman et al.,
1998; Sherman and Li, 2012). Complicating the use of these
models in the field is the assumption that the local wind field:
(1) is steady and uniform; (2) occurs over a flat, horizontal,
and unobstructed surface of dry, noncohesive sediment; and
(3) that transport is dominated by saltation in equilibrium
with the local wind field (Sherman and Lyons, 1994). Several
have compared field-based measurements of mass transport
to model results with little success (Berg, 1983; Sarre, 1988;
Chapman, 1990; Bauer et al., 1990; McEwan and Willetts,
1994). For example, Sherman et al. (1998) found that pre-
dicted-to-observed transport ratios were between 0.65 and
5.00. Bauer et al. (1990) and Nordstrom and Jackson (1992)
determined Bagnold’s (1941) model over-predicted measured
transport rates. Greeley et al. (1996) found that the Bagnold
(1941) and White (1979) models agreed most with trapped
sediments when compared to the models of Hsu (1973),
Kawamura (1951), Lettau and Lettau (1977), Williams (1964),
and Zingg (1953). The potential source for error when making
the comparison between predicted and observed transport lies
in the model and the inefficiencies in sediment transport in-
strumentation (Horikawa, 1990; Nickling and McKenna
Neuman, 1997; Baas, 2004; van Pelt et al., 2009; Barchyn and
Hugenholtz, 2010; Sherman et al., 2011).
The ideal conditions on which the models are based on,
rarely if ever occur: It is common to have a moist sand surface
(cf., Namikas and Sherman, 1995; Corneilis and Gabriels,
2003; McKenna Neuman, 2003; Jackson and Nordstrom,
1998; Wiggs et al., 2004), surface crusting (cf., Leys and
Eldridge, 1998; Rice and McEwan, 2001), topographic vari-
ability (cf., Iversen and Rasmussen, 1999; Hesp et al., 2005),
and vegetation present (cf., Arens et al., 2001; Kuriyama et al.,
2005). Entrainment and transport are also influenced by
inconsistencies in the wind, such as unsteadiness (cf., Ellis,
2006), intermittency (Rasmussen and Sorensen, 1999;
Davidson-Arnott and Bauer, 2009), and variations in fetch
length (Nordstrom and Jackson, 1992; Jackson and Cooper,
1999; Bauer and Davidson-Arnott, 2003; or Dong et al., 2004;
Delgado-Fernandez and Davidson-Arnott, 2011). These com-
plicating factors not only affect our ability to predict aeolian
sand transport, but also affect the transport of sand between
the beach–dune systems.
10.10.2.3 Surface Moisture and Crusts
Surface moisture is one of the most important controls on
aeolian sand transport from beach to dune (e.g., Svasek and
Terwindt, 1974; Hotta et al., 1984; Arens, 1996; Sherman
et al., 1998; Wiggs et al., 2004; Yang and Davidson-Arnott,
2005; Bauer et al., 2009), and spatial and temporal variations
in soil moisture can degrade the ability of the transport
models (Sherman et al., 1998). In general, surface moisture
spatially varies across the beach, from the wet and variable
foreshore and berm to the dry backshore and dune (Yang and
Davidson-Arnott, 2005; Namikas et al., 2010). The uniformity
increases when the sand is either very wet or very dry, and
Beach and Dune Interaction 269
decreases with intermediate gravimetric water contents (Yang
and Davidson-Arnott, 2005).
The extent and variability of surface moisture depends on a
range of oceanographic and atmospheric forcing including,
wave set-up and run-up (Hanslow and Nielsen, 1993), baro-
metric pressure changes (Dominick et al., 1971), and ocean
tide ranges (Turner, 1993). The sloping beachface is a non-
linear filter that causes the intersection of the water table and
beachface (the exit point) to rise with the storm tide, but lag
behind the tide as it starts to ebb (Turner and Masselink,
1998). In response, a seepage face, where the groundwater
flow is vertically outward, develops above the mean water
level. The length of the seepage face varies directly with the
hydraulic conductivity, tidal period, and tidal extent, and
inversely with the beach slope (Turner, 1993). As the water
table falls and the beach dries as the tide recedes, a wider
expanse of dry sediment is available for transport. However,
the beach landward of the seepage face can remain moist
through the creation of a capillary fringe that extends B0.2 to
0.5 m above the water table (Turner and Nielsen, 1997).
As the gravimetric water content in sediment exceeds
B1%, sufficient interparticle cohesion makes aerodynamic
entrainment much more difficult (McKenna Neuman and
Nickling, 1989; Wiggs et al., 2004). Field studies have shown
that soil moisture contents over which transport events can
occur tend to be greater than those measured in the laboratory
or predicted theoretically. Hotta et al. (1984) suggested that
the threshold shear velocity increases by 7.5 cm s1 for each
1% increase in soil moisture up to a moisture content of 8%,
at which point entrainment ceases. Equations have been for-
mulated to use in tandem with sediment transport rate models
to compensate for the presence of moisture. Although the
earliest correction for moisture was formulated by Chepil
(1956), the most frequently used is Belly (1964):
utw ¼ ut ð1:8 þ 0:61log10 wÞ
where w is the percent moisture content by weight, and u*tw is
the adjusted threshold shear velocity. Sherman et al. (1998)
found that this adjustment was most applicable for moisture
contents up to 7%, whereas Jackson and Nordstrom (1998)
and Sherman et al. (1998) observed transport on surfaces with
w 4 7% following light rains, and Sarre (1988) found that the
correction could be used up to w ¼ 14%, although moisture
contents o7% were not measured. This discrepancy may, in
some cases, reflect the presence of saltating grains from a dry
upwind source and an increase in the elasticity of the moist
surface (Jackson and Nordstrom, 1997; McKenna Neuman
and Scott, 1998). In the absence of a dry upwind source, ae-
olian transport is dependent on the rate of surface drying
through evaporation, which can take 10–30 min following a
soaking rain (Gillette, 1999). Spatial and temporal variations
in surface moisture can lead to intermittent transport
(Davidson-Arnott et al., 2005), or organization of the saltation
cloud into streamers (Baas and Sherman, 2005; see Figure 1),
even in the presence of a steady wind (McKenna Neuman and
Langston, 2006).
In addition to surface moisture, the presence of physical
and biological crusts limits sediment transport and increases
threshold velocities. The former occur as moisture evaporates
270 Beach and Dune Interaction
Figure 1 Streamers (light-colored linear streaks) from beach to
dune under a steady south wind at Burley Beach, Lake Huron,
Ontario, Canada (Photo by C. Houser).
and the salt recrystallizes, creating a cement-like bond between
individual particles (Nickling, 1978, 1984; Pye, 1980; Nickling
and Ecclestone, 1981; Gillette et al., 1980, 1982). In addition
to salt crusts, biological crusts limit sediment entrainment and
transport in humid beach environments (Pluis and de Winder,
1989; Pluis and van Boxel, 1993). Sediment is bound through
extracellular excretions that act as cementing agents and fila-
mentous growths that form a mesh around the sediment
(Goossens, 2004). The ability of the crust to stabilize the
surface is dependent on the mat thickness and heterogeneity
(McKenna-Neuman and Maxwell, 1999).
10.10.2.4 Topographic Variability and Vegetation
The beachface and backshore are rarely flat, as is typically
assumed from a modeling perspective. Intertidal bar morph-
ology is common on many beaches and is responsible for
continuous boundary layer adjustment across the beachface.
In addition, damp troughs segment the beach and limit the
availability of sediment from the beach (Anthony et al., 2006;
see Figure 2). Outside of the influence of the intertidal bars
the gentle slope of a dissipative beach has little effect on the
flow (Sherman and Lyons, 1994). The lack of disturbance
allows a gradual increase in the near-surface wind speed,
which promotes the transport of sediment from the beach to
the backshore and dune (Short and Hesp, 1982). On steep
reflective beaches, the wind is accelerated across the foreshore
and berm crest, leading to flow separation landward of the
crest (Bauer et al., 1996) and the inability of the boundary
layer to adjust (Short and Hesp, 1982; see Figure 3). At a
smaller spatial scale, aeolian ripples with heights ranging be-
tween 20–50 mm with wavelengths between 0.1–2.5 m form
onshore of the intertidal zone, forcing boundary layer ad-
justments (Wilson, 1972; Pelletier, 2009).
As the wind encounters the toe of the dune there can be a
stagnation (speed-down) at lower wind speeds followed by a
compression of the flow and speed-up as the air encounters
the stoss slope of the dune (Hesp et al., 2005; Walker et al.,
2009). The amount of speed-up is directly dependent on the
angle of the stoss slope, and can exceed 200% for slopes
greater than 351 and direct onshore winds. Acceleration of the
Figure 2 Moisture variation across a dissipative ridge and runnel
beach in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada with
foredune in background (Photo by C. Houser).
flow is reduced as the wind angle relative to dune orientation
becomes more oblique and as the apparent slope of the dune
decreases (Walker et al., 2006). Erosion of the backshore and
dune foot leads to a scarped slope that promotes aeolian
sediment transport to the lee slope and the migration of the
dune landward (Bauer and Sherman, 1999; Davidson-Arnott,
2005). Only as sediment accumulates at the base of dune
scarp and a vegetated sand ramp develop does the turbulent
shear layer at the crest weaken. Christiansen and Davidson-
Arnott (2004) suggest that the critical ramp height for effective
sediment transfer from beach to dune is 0.6  the dune height
or a ramp-to-crest distance of B1 m. The dune ridge topo-
graphically steers the alongshore obliquely offshore winds
into the dune so that sediment is supplied from beach to the
developing ramp (Svasek and Terwindt, 1974; Arens et al.,
2001; Walker et al., 2006).
The effect of acceleration across the backshore, ramp,
and dune is partly offset by the presence of vegetation, which
extracts momentum from the wind, protects the surface, and
traps sediment (Wolfe and Nickling, 1993). In the presence of
vegetation or a high density of roughness elements (shells,
rocks, wrack, etc.), the velocity profile is displaced upward
from the surface to a new reference plane that scales with the
density, height, porosity, and flexibility of the roughness
elements (Oke, 1978). Low-lying vegetation that spreads
across the surface provides a great protection to the surface,
creating an effective trap for sediment. This vegetation type
acts as a physical barrier to the saltating grains, causing them
to be deposited below the canopy. For thin-stalked, taller
grasses, sediment becomes trapped in the lee of the individual
stems creating small sand shadows (Hesp, 1981) and de-
position occurs over a broad area (Hesp, 1989). As density or
breadth of the vegetation increases, the sand shadows will
coalesce (Arens et al., 2001), and deposition will occur in a
narrow band along the landward edge of the beach (Hesp,
1989). The amount of sediment deposited within an embryo
dune also depends on the seasonal growth of the vegetation,
which can lead to capture as the vegetation attains its max-
imum height through the late summer and fall, and sediment
 Beach and Dune Interaction 271

4.0 2.0
3.5 Reflective subaerial beach Dissipative subaerial beach
3.0 88
99 1.5 98
2.5
2.0 1.0 96
1.5 95
95
Elevation (m)

1.0

Elevation (m)
87 85 0.5 90
0.5
0.0 80
−0.5 Dune 0.0
Bachshore
−1.0 85
96
−1.5 70 −0.5
103
−2.0 Backshore 60
Berm
80 Gently sloped
−2.5 −1.0 beachface
−3.0
Steep
−3.5 70 −1.5
beachface
−4.0 60
−4.5 −2.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
(a) Cross-shore distance (m) (b) Cross-shore distance (m)

(c) (d)

Figure 3 Wind profiles over a reflective (a) and a dissipative beach (b) modified from Short, A., Hesp, P., 1982. Wave, beach and dune
interactions in Southeastern Australia. Marine Geology 48, 259–284. Also shown are representative reflective (c) and dissipative (d) beaches
respectively from New Zealand (Photo by P. Hesp) and the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada (Photo by C. Houser).

release to the backing foredune as the grasses die back through

the winter and spring.
In addition to climatic conditions, the type of vegetation
+ Positive

present at a site depends on the amount of sediment being

transported from beach to dune and the rate of sand accretion Positive-stimulatory
(Maun, 1998; Figure 4). Although grasses can thrive with response
intermediate rates of burial (Van der Putten et al., 1993),
Growth response

Neutral then
woody shrubs and herbaceous plants are partially to fully negative response
intolerant of burial and sand blasting (Nickling and Wolfe,
0
1994; Maun, 1998). In this respect, the ability of dune
vegetation to capture sediment and promote vertical growth
is dependent on the degree to which a species is burial
Negative −

dependent, which is in turn dependent on the sediment

transport potential at the site (Ranwell, 1958; Hewett, 1970;
Van der Valk, 1974; Moreno-Casasola, 1986; Sykes and
Wilson, 1990; Zhang and Maun, 1989; Kent et al., 2001;
Maun, 2004). Tyndall et al. (1986) argue that the dependency
of dune vegetation on burial is related to the differential
ability of species to establish seedlings from buried seeds,
whereas Dech and Maun (2005) suggest that vegetation gra-
dients follow deposition gradients closely. The density of
vegetation, which is also species dependent, affects how
sediment is captured. Higher stem densities produce steeper
dunes of greater height compared to lower densities in which
sediment is deposited more evenly (Arens et al., 2001).
Negative-inhibitory
response
Sand accretion
Figure 4 Functional relationship between vegetation growth
response and sand accretion showing positive, neutral, and negative
responses. Modified from Maun, M.A., 2004. Burial of plants as a
selective force in sand dunes. In: Martı́nez, M.L., Psuty, N.P. (Eds.),
Coastal Dunes: Ecology and Conservation. Ecological Studies.
Springer-Verlag, Berlin, vol. 171, pp. 119–135.
272 Beach and Dune Interaction
10.10.2.5 Fetch
Assuming that the availability of sediment on the beach and in
the backshore is not limited by surface moisture, nonerodible
roughness elements, surface crusting, and vegetation, saltation
transport increases exponentially until the air is saturated
(Gillette et al., 1996) and ‘steady-state’ transport occurs (Ungar
and Haff, 1987). The distance required for the transport to
reach steady-state from the leading edge of the sand is termed
the fetch length (Bauer and Davidson-Arnott, 2003). For wind
speeds at or close to the threshold, the length of the fetch is
dependent on the ability of saltating grains to further eject
sediment downwind (Chepil, 1957), whereas for winds well
above the threshold, the length of the fetch is dependent on the
rate at which momentum is extracted from the wind (Gillette
et al., 1996). If the available fetch length is shorter than required
to achieve equilibrium transport, then the transport rate will be
lower than predicted by an equilibrium transport model (Bauer
and Davidson-Arnott, 2003). Field studies suggest that the
critical fetch length is on the order of tens of meters (Nordstrom
and Jackson, 1992, 1993; Van der Wal, 1998; Davidson-Arnott
and Dawson, 2001; Davidson-Arnott et al., 2008; Bauer et al.,
2009). Transport increases exponentially over the first few
meters but with distance the increase in transport is slower
(Dong et al., 2004) and asymptotic as transport heights increase
and grain speeds increase (Wang et al., 2008). If the availability
of sediment is limited, then the required fetch to achieve
equilibrium transport increases substantially (Davidson-Arnott
et al., 2005, 2008; Bauer et al., 2009).
Gillette et al. (1996) reviewed three possible explanations for
fetch: avalanching, soil resistance, and aerodynamic feedback.
Avalanching is the movement of particles from saltating grains
descending on the stationary bed and transferring energy
(Chepil, 1957). Soil resistance explains that as distance from
leading sand edge increases, particles become more susceptible
to sandblasting, thus increasing the potential for erosion.
Aerodynamic feedback, proposed by Owen and discussed by
Gillette et al. (1996), is the increase of the apparent aero-
dynamic roughness height during saltation. Increasing rough-
ness heights leads to the formation of internal boundary layers
that allow for increased transfer of momentum to the surface,
thus increasing the potential for transport. This system is a
positive feedback mechanism. Gillette et al. (1996) concluded
that when wind velocity just exceeds the threshold for move-
ment, the fetch effect is caused from aerodynamic feedback and
avalanching. For conditions well above threshold speeds, aero-
dynamic feedback drives the fetch effect (Gillette et al., 1996).
Since the critical fetch length tends to be limited by the
beach width for shore-normal winds, transport rates tend to
be significantly greater for alongshore winds (Davidson-Arnott
and Law, 1996; Nordstrom and Jackson, 1993), particularly
during storms in which water levels are elevated (Cloutier and
Héquette, 1998). As shown by Nordstrom and Jackson
(1993), transport rates for oblique winds with a 37 m fetch
were almost double the transport rates for onshore winds with
a fetch of 18 m. The available fetch (F) for a given beach width
(Wb) is calculated as:
Wb
F¼ ½1
cosðaÞ
where a is the angle of wind approach from shore-normal.
Although transport is greater for oblique winds, a tradeoff
occurs with increasing obliquity, as sediment is distributed
over an increasing length of the dune (Davidson-Arnott and
Dawson, 2001; Bauer and Davidson-Arnott, 2003). The supply
of sediment to the foredune (Ql) is:
Ql ¼ Qc cosa ½2
where Qc is the sediment transport rate at the top of the beach
with a width of c (Bauer and Davidson-Arnott, 2003). In
general, shore-normal winds have a ¼ 01, c ¼ l, and Wb 4 Fc,
whereas alongshore winds have a ¼ 90, c ¼ 0, and F Z Fc.
The above equations suggest that maximum transport into the
dune on a narrow beach occurs during winds approaching the
shoreline between 601 and 701 from shore normal (Bauer and
Davidson-Arnott, 2003). The critical fetch length may not be
an important constraint on sediment supply to the dunes
where there is a relatively large supply of dry sand in the
backshore (Jackson and Cooper, 1999). Lynch et al. (2006)
argued that it is the availability of sediment emplaced in the
backshore by nearshore processes rather than the fetch length
that determines the amount of sediment delivered to the
dunes (see also Saye et al., 2005; Christiansen and Davidson-
Arnott, 2004; Houser, 2009).
Delgado-Fernandez and Davidson-Arnott (2011) have
provided a new conceptual model that incorporates the fre-
quency, magnitude, and duration of wind events with changes
in the fetch length (Figure 5). Following Wolman and Miller
(1960), the authors suggested that the total predicted trans-
port across the beachface is greatest for moderate storm events
and that the strongest winds are too infrequent to contribute
substantially to the dune volume. Combined with the change
in available fetch and higher probability of wave scarping (see
Section 10.10.3.3), transport to the dune effectively stops and
the largest storm winds are not the most important to dune
development. Based on a medium-term monitoring program,
they found that a large portion of the total transport into the
dune occurred with a few small to medium wind events, and
that the angle of wind approach and fetch length was more
important than having a strong wind. The balance between
moderate accretionary winds and strong erosional winds
is expressed at the storm-scale (Section 10.10.4), in which
beach–dune interaction is defined by the nearshore bar cycle.
10.10.3 Beach–Dune Interaction at Tidal and Storm-
Scales
10.10.3.1 Transport Potential and Sediment Supply
As discussed in the preceding section, the amount of sediment
that is transported from beach to dune for a given wind speed
and direction is limited to varying degrees by the presence of
moisture, boundary layer adjustments, and lag deposits. Each
of these controls influences the length of the required fetch for
transport to reach a maximum, which can be further reduced
through inundation by tidal excursions, storm surge, and wave
set-up and run-up that can erode the sediment stored in the
backshore and dune. In this respect, sediment accumulation in
 Beach and Dune Interaction 273

d product of frequency and rate

b frequency of occurrences
a potential transport rate
ent
d re cont
oistu
of m
ase
a Incre
Decrease of
available fetc

e predicted transport toward foredunes

h
b
d
(a) Applied stress

d total predicted transport

d product of frequency, rate and duration

f observed transport
d
f
b frequency of occurrences

c
a potential transport rate

c duration of wind event

a
Mean wind speed
Probability of aeolia
b transport decrease
Probability of wave
scarping increases
Mean wind speed

(b) (c)

Figure 5 Conceptual model of Delgado-Fernandez and Davidson-Arnott (2011) based on the frequency–magnitude model of Wolman and
Miller (1960). Reproduced from Delgado-Fernandez, I., Davidson-Arnott, R.G.D., 2011. Meso-scale modeling of aeolian sediment input to coastal
dunes: the nature of aeolian transport events. Geomorphology 126, 217–232.

the backshore and dune (for an individual storm or multiple was relatively weak at that time, the onshore winds were not
storms) is not strictly dependent on the transport potential, accompanied by storm surge.
but rather the synchronization of the transport potential with In this respect, the availability of sediment varies in re-
an available supply of sediment (Short and Hesp, 1982; Hesp, sponse to water levels including storm surges, seasonal vari-
1988; Sherman and Bauer, 1993; Houser, 2009). This is sup- ations, and long-term trends, which also determine the
ported by Psuty (1992) who described alongshore variation in potential for dune erosion during storms (Davidson-Arnott,
dune development and erosion on Fire Island as a response to 2005). Although the fetch model of Bauer and Davidson-
the offshore bathymetry that determines wave set-up, storm Arnott (2003) suggests that transport from beach to dune is
surge elevations, and beach state. dependent on the fetch length, it does not account for the
The importance of a long fetch and an available supply of amount of sediment available, which is determined by near-
sediment to be transported, suggests that transport may be shore processes and the cyclical nature of the beach and bar
limited to periods with strong onshore or slightly oblique system. Van Dijk et al. (1999) found that the amount of
winds that are not accompanied by storm surge reaching the sediment that is available for transport depends on the sedi-
backshore (Arens, 1996). As shown by Ruz and Meur-Ferec ment supply on the beachface, and model results suggest
(2004), sand accumulation in the dunes along the northern that only through replenishment of sediment can sediment
coast of France tends to be limited to the summer season continue to be transported landward. Bauer and Davidson-
despite strong winds in the winter and spring seasons (see also Arnott (2003) suggested a need to integrate their fetch model
Haxel and Holman, 2004). The stronger winds are accom- with a littoral sediment budget model such as Bowen and
panied by storm tides that not only limit the fetch length, Inman (1966) to account for both transport and supply
but also erode the beachface and scarp the dune (Figure 6). limitations. Changes in beach width due to storm, seasonal,
The sediment is emplaced on the lower foreshore and in the and multidecadal changes in water level affects the beach
nearshore as bars that eventually migrate landward during width, which in turn increases the transport potential (Bauer
the summer season to reattach to the foreshore and dune. and Davidson-Arnott, 2003), the availability of sediment
During this period of recovery, the now planar upper-beach available for transport (Davidson-Arnott and Van Heyningen,
allows storm waves to reach the base of the dune and further 2003), and the potential for erosion of the dunefoot
scarping by smaller tides. Accumulation in the dunes was only (Davidson-Arnott, 2005). An increase in beach width may
observed once the beach and backshore had recovered also result from the alongshore migration of sand waves
through the summer. Although the aeolian transport potential (Stewart and Davidson-Arnott, 1988; Carter et al., 1990;
274 Beach and Dune Interaction
(a)
(b)
Figure 6 Dune scarps at (a) Skallingen, Denmark and (b) the Queen
Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada (Photos by C. Houser).
Ruessink and Jeuken, 2002), which forces the innermost bar
higher on the shoreface. Not only does this provide more
sediment for aeolian transport, but also provides greater pro-
tection to the dune foot during storms.
Lynch et al. (2009) suggested that sediment exchange be-
tween beach and dune can occasionally result from offshore
winds. Flow separation over the seaward slope of the dune
causes the near-bed winds to be directed landward and
available sediment in the backshore to be transported toward
the dune (see also Lynch et al., 2010; Jackson et al., 2010).
While the observations of Lynch et al. (2009) avoid the
problem of aeolian transport under strong onshore winds that
tend to be accompanied by storm surge and a restricted fetch,
the importance of offshore winds in dune accretion requires
further study. In contrast to the results of Lynch et al. (2009),
Wal and McManus (1993) observed seaward dune migration
and sediment transport from dune to backshore and beach
during offshore winds. Despite reworking by swash at high
tide, the sediment accreted on the beach during these offshore
winds is returned to the dune by onshore winds.
Although the beach width is at a maximum at low tide, the
amount of sediment available for onshore transport depends
on the distribution of surface moisture, which in part depends
on the rate at which the beach water table retreats seaward
during falling tide. The water table follows the tide during the
flood event, but this pattern is not repeated during the ebbing
tide as the water table lags behind the tide (Turner and Mas-
selink, 1998). The rates at which the water table retreats and
Figure 7 Transport over variable surface composed of moist,
lagged, and dry sediment at Burley Beach, Lake Huron, Ontario,
Canada showing an anemometer and trap transect deployed by Robin
Davidson-Arnott (Photo by C. Houser).
the beach dries vary inversely with the beach slope, and dir-
ectly with the hydraulic conductivity, tidal period, and tidal
extent (Turner, 1993). Drying of the upper-sediment surface
from sediment is entrained significantly slower than typically
assumed (Atherton et al., 2001) and also sensitive to the rate
of evaporation. Following a high tide and precipitation event,
drying is slow where the water table lies close to the surface
and fast where the water table has retreated well (Yang and
Davidson-Arnott, 2005; Darke and Neuman, 2008). As a re-
sult, surface moisture across the beach varies from the wet and
variable foreshore and berm to the dry backshore where most
of the transport takes place (Yang and Davidson-Arnott,
2005). Similar observations led Jackson and Nordstrom
(1997) to identify five transport states that can exist on a
beach: (1) entrainment of moist sediment; (2) in situ drying of
sediment and entrainment of surface sediment; (3) entrain-
ment of dry sediment in bedforms migrating across the moist
sediment; (4) saltation of sediment across the moist surface;
and (5) entrainment from a dry surface upwind (Figure 7). As
a consequence and as previously noted, surface moisture re-
sults in poor correspondence between measured transport
rates and model predictions that depend on both beach slope
and gravimetric water content (Sherman et al., 1998).
10.10.3.2 Beach and Backshore Accretion
The shore zone comprising the shoreface, foreshore, and
backshore is affected to varying degrees by wave shoaling,
breaking, and swash, and can be separated into four zones: (1)
a zone largely influenced by shoaling wave processes; (2) a
zone controlled by surf zone and shoaling wave processes; (3)
a zone dominated by swash and surf processes; and (4) a zone
across which swash and aeolian transport dominate (Masse-
link and Short, 1993). The width of each zone depends on the
tidal range and the slope of the shoreface, which in turn de-
pends on the sediment size, modal wave height and wave
period (Wright and Short, 1984), and offshore and alongshore
sediment sources. A reflective beachface characterized by a
steep foreshore, prominent berm, and narrow to wide back-
shore develops during nonstorm (accretional) conditions.

The available fetch length for aeolian transport depends on
the seaward extension of the backshore with continued fore-
shore accretion during fair-weather conditions. On dissipative
beaches characterized by a longer, flatter profile, the exchange
of sediment between beach and dune depends on the delivery
of sediment to the beach and backshore by surf and swash
processes (e.g., Jackson et al., 2004; Pritchard and Hogg, 2005;
Houser and Barrett, 2010) or the landward migration of sub-
tidal and intertidal bars during storms (Aagaard et al., 2004;
Houser and Greenwood, 2005, 2007).
The importance of intertidal bar migration has been clearly
demonstrated by Aagaard et al. (2004) at Skallingen, Denmark.
Landward migration of the bars on this gently sloping, dissi-
pative shoreface during storms is a result of relatively weak
undertow currents (Aagaard et al., 2004) and a persistent on-
shore-directed transport, particularly within the intertidal zone
(Houser and Greenwood, 2007; Houser et al., 2006). The per-
sistent landward migration of the subtidal and intertidal bars
indicates that the beach–dune interaction is largely controlled
by sediment supply rather than aeolian transport. Construction
of dikes to the north of Skallingen in 1900 has restricted sedi-
ment supply leading to an end to dune aggradation (Aagaard
et al., 2007). The bar behavior described at Skallingen and the
potential for dune accumulation in response to storm tides is
not representative of the persistent offshore migration of bars
further south on the Dutch Coast (see Ruessink and Kroon,
1994; Wijnberg and Terwindt, 1995) and in New Zealand
(Shand, 2003), or the cyclical (storm-dominated) bar migration
observed at Duck, North Carolina (Lippmann and Holman,
1990). Anthony et al. (2006) suggested that differences in the
beach–dune sediment budget of a storm-dominated system are
controlled by the availability of sediment from the tide- and
storm-dominated shoreface. Landward transport of this sedi-
ment and the welding of shoreface tidal banks creates a wide
upper beach that maximizes aeolian transport and accretion in
the backshore and dune.
Where and when the beach is narrow or characterized by
intertidal bars, there is insufficient fetch and available sedi-
ment for dune accretion (Anthony et al., 2006). As noted,
intertidal bars dissect the beach with damp troughs (aeolian-
muting zones) that may limit the fetch and sediment transport
from the beachface to the backshore (Anthony et al., 2006,
2007; Masselink and Anthony, 2001; Mulrennan, 1992). Un-
like the dynamic swash bars at Skallingen (Aagaard et al.,
2004), the intertidal bars described by Anthony et al. (2006)
are relatively stable ridge and runnel forms that do not migrate
landward to supply sediment to the backshore. Landward
migration appears only possible for the swash bars described
by Aagaard et al. (2004) and not the ridge and runnel bars
examined by Oblinger and Anthony (2010). Thus, notwith-
standing the large beach width, bar-trough beaches are char-
acterized by a narrow upper beach and backshore with limited
fetch and sediment supply. However, Reichmuth and Anthony
(2007) found that fair-weather swash transport during spring
tides can infill the troughs of the uppermost intertidal bar,
creating a wider upper-beach and backshore for transport, but
this may also lead to greater surface moisture and reduced
transport. It is also possible that sediment delivery to the
dunes is dependent on the larger fetch length associated with
slightly oblique winds (Bauer and Davidson-Arnott, 2003).
Beach and Dune Interaction 275
In the absence of intertidal bars welding to the beach, the
recovery of the beachface and backshore is dependent on the
emplacement of thin laminae of sediment advected landward
by the swash (Hughes et al., 1997; Butt et al., 2004; Jackson
et al., 2004; Pritchard and Hogg, 2005). Recent evidence from
Houser and Barrett (2010) suggests that the balance between
erosional and accretional swash depends on the seaward
boundary condition of the swash zone. As described by Elfrink
and Baldock (2002), the depth and velocity of the swash de-
pends on the transformation of the incident waves and spe-
cifically the degree of wave saturation inshore as defined by
the wave height to water depth ratio. Saturation leads to more
symmetrical swash with a relatively strong uprush with a
sediment concentration (C) that is greater than the suspension
potential (S) of the backwash (Guard and Baldock, 2007).
Greater saturation was observed with the more gently-sloped
foreshore fronted by a shallow nearshore terrace and on both
slopes when wave breaking was forced by the nearshore bars at
and close to low tide. Assuming no new supply of sediment,
sediment from the lower swash zone is advected landward and
accretes within the upper-swash leading to a steeper swash
profile at low tide. At high tide and when the foreshore is
fronted by a trough, wave saturation is at a minimum and the
deeper, more asymmetric swash has a weaker inflow with less
advected sediment than is removed by the backwash. Again,
assuming no net loss of sediment from the foreshore slope,
this sediment accretes within the lowerswash leading to a
gentler slope.
The dependency of swash transport and morphological
change on the boundary conditions at the seaward limit of the
swash zone results from the time-varying combination of
water depth, and the shape and wavelength of the incident
wave. At the smallest-scales, the swash zone changes in re-
sponse to wave-scale changes in height, period, and infra-
gravity-scale variations in both the incident waves and water
depth. The centimeter-scale variations in bed elevation at this
scale are superimposed to changes in response to tidal-scale
variations in the degree of wave saturation inshore (Elfrink
and Baldock, 2002), which may be reinforced by changes in
swash infiltration and exfiltration. Welding of the inner-bar-
created, a nearshore terrace in which wave heights were sat-
urated, which in turn lead to swash with greater inflow and
sediment accretion. The accretion was not simply the result of
a larger supply of sediment at the base of the foreshore, but by
the transformation of the wave field by the shallower depths of
the welded bar. In this respect, swash zone hydrodynamics,
sediment transport, and morphological change at wave and
tidal scales are dependent on the broader nearshore state (see
Wright and Short, 1984). As the nearshore changes during and
following storms, the swash zone will exhibit the greatest
change in bed elevation and slope. This is consistent with
previous observations that intertidal sediment transport
(Aagaard and Hughes, 2006) and inner-bar behavior (Houser
et al., 2006; Houser and Greenwood, 2005) varies in response
to changes in the nearshore state.
In many cases, the deposition of sediment by swash leads
to berm formation, supratidal shore-parallel depositional
ridges with a steep seaward face and a slightly landward dip-
ping berm terrace (see also Komar, 1976). Height of the berm
is dependent on wave run-up, which in turn dependent on the
276 Beach and Dune Interaction
wave height and period of the incident waves (Takeda and
Sunamura, 1982; Okazaki and Sunamura, 1994). The terrace
may terminate in a runnel that collects swash at spring high
tides. These features are most pronounced on micro- and
mesotidal intermediate beaches and are not common in
macrotidal or dissipative environments. Where there are fre-
quent or seasonal variations in wave energy, there may be
remnant or abandoned berms in the backshore backing an
active berm at the shoreline. The steep face of the berm and
the complex and water-filled topography of the backshore can
limit aeolian transport in the backshore and accretion in the
dune (Short and Hesp, 1982; Hesp, 1988).
10.10.3.3 Backshore Erosion and Dune Scarping
Backshore and dune accretion depends on the emplacement
and landward transport of sediment on the beachface during
fair-weather conditions. This sediment is eroded when ele-
vated water levels exceed the backshore elevation (Sallenger,
2000; Ruz and Meur-Ferec, 2004) and are combined with
storm waves (e.g., Ruggiero and McDougal, 2001; Pye and
Blott, 2008). Storm surges can completely eliminate aeolian
sediment accumulated during the summer, such that upper
beach/dune evolution is strongly controlled by the magnitude
and frequency of occurrence of high water levels (Ruz and
Meur-Ferec, 2004), the duration that storm waves impact the
beachface (e.g., van Gent et al., 2008), and the prestorm beach
width (Thornton et al., 2007). The sediment deposited in the
upper-beach and backshore can be quickly eroded during a
subsequent storm despite a strong transport potential associ-
ated with the onshore winds (Nordstrom and Jackson, 1992).
Even if the storm surge just exceeds the backshore elevation,
dune recession can occur through the loss of stability at the
base of the dune and mass failure (Erikson et al., 2007).
Castelle et al. (2010) has linked dune erosion to storm
frequency, with greater erosion rates observed during later
storms in a sequence of storm events. This is explained by the
outer bar decay following the late winter extreme event, which
did not provide any significant protection during subsequent
storms. In this respect, periods of erosion and accretion may
be associated with variations in the nearshore bar morphology
in response to and recovery from storms. The model of Wright
and Short (1984) is the most commonly cited morphometric
model that describes how the cycle of bar forms in response to
storm erosion and fair-weather accretion. Over the longer
term, a given beach will tend to exhibit a ‘modal’ (or most
frequently recurrent) state, which depends on the modal wave
conditions, around which a spread of higher or lower waves
may prevail (Wright and Short, 1984). Lippmann and Hol-
man (1990) identified a similar pattern to that of Wright and
Short (1984), but it turned out (over a longer period of ob-
servation) to be part of a larger scale ‘bar cycle’ that depended
on the presence or absence of a second, outer bar (e.g., Shand,
2003; Houser and Greenwood, 2005). The bar cycle tends to
be extremely episodic and is associated with the crest of the
outer bar reaching a threshold depth that allows a larger
proportion of the incident waves to pass unbroken into the
inner nearshore, thus maximizing the set-up driven undertow
that erodes the beachface and moves the bars offshore. Guillen
et al. (1999) identified decadal scale variations in the dune toe
that were correlated with the migration of the intertidal and
subtidal bars. Specifically, they found that the evolution of the
dune was correlated with cross-shore migration of the bar
system and the alongshore variation in the beach state on a
decadal scale.
Erosion and scarping of dunes has been the focus of a
number of studies (Dolan, 1972; Parker, 1975; Leatherman,
1979; Vellinga, 1983, 1984; van de Graaf, 1977; 1986; Carter
and Stone, 1989; Carter et al., 1990; Edelman,1972; Hughes
and Chui, 1981; Dette and Uliczka, 1987; Larson and Kraus,
1989; Overton et al., 1987; Overton et al., 1994). In general,
dune erosion is related to the antecedent morphology of the
beach and dune, sediment texture (size, shape, and packing),
water level, and incident wave forcing (Larson et al., 2004).
The rate of erosion decays exponentially through a storm as
the beach and nearshore establish a new equilibrium with the
sediment eroded from the dune (Dette and Uliczka, 1987),
and Hughes and Chui (1981) suggested that most of the
erosion can occur before the peak surge. In this respect, storm
duration may also control the amount of erosion (Edelman,
1972; Hughes and Chui, 1981), since a short storm does not
provide sufficient time for the swash to impact the dune (e.g.,
Overton et al., 1987; Overton et al., 1994).
Because dune scarping is largely the result of basal under-
cutting by swash, the steep scarp may fail as a slab wedge or a
steeply inclined rotation failure (Carter and Stone, 1989;
Carter et al., 1990). Maintenance of a scarp ultimately de-
pends on the moisture content of the dune sediment and
interparticle cohesion, with no scarp developing where the
sediment is cohesionless, and on the degree of vegetation
cover and density on the scarp crest. The failure may protect
the dune from further landward retreat and collapse, particu-
larly when the failure occurs as a single discrete slump or slide.
These larger, less frequent failures tend to be promoted by
vegetation that increases cohesion and allows for steeper
scarps. Dunes lacking vegetation tend to have less steep slopes
that fail continuously or intermittently through small ro-
tational collapses. Failure of the slope creates a dune ramp
that allows for sediment accumulation at the crest (Hesp,
1988).
As noted, erosion of the backshore and dunes leads to a
scarped, seaward dune slope that promotes sediment transport
to the lee slope and the migration of the dune landward
(Davidson-Arnott, 2005). Conaway and Wells (2005) ob-
served rapid onshore aeolian transport and dune growth by
increasing both sediment availability and by altering and de-
nuding the seaward slope. This behavior is recognized to
varying degrees in beach–dune models (e.g., Psuty, 1992) and
through observations on Lake Erie (Davidson-Arnott and Law,
1996) and at Skallingen, Denmark (Aagaard et al., 2007). An
increase in sea level will also lead to the landward migration of
the nearshore and beach profile, creating the potential for the
dune system to retreat landward without loss of height
(Davidson-Arnott, 2005). As argued by Psuty (1992), many
eroding shorelines continue to retain foredunes despite cen-
turies of documented landward displacement. Migration of
the beach–dune system in line with the rise in sea level re-
quires sediment eroded offshore by the storm surge to be
delivered first to the beachface by nearshore (surf and swash)
processes and then transported to the backshore by the wind.
 Beach and Dune Interaction 277

10.10.3.4 Wrack and Lag rise. Ruz and Anthony (2008) argued that wrack and brush-
wood fences are only effective in promoting backshore ac-
In addition to the emplacement of fresh sediment or erosion
cretion if there is a positive littoral supply and limited storm
of the backshore, storm surges can also deposit masses of
surge during the initial stages of accretion.
brown algae (Sargassum fluitans and S. natans; Figure 8) and
The supply of sediment on the beachface can be limited by
other wrack near the high tide line (Tanaka and Fosca, 2003),
the development of a lagged surface of shells and pebbles that
which can promote the accumulation of sediment and the
can develop over a couple of days when conditions are fa-
development of embryonic dunes (Davies, 1990; Hesp, 1983,
vorable (Carter, 1976; see Figure 10). The lag limits sediment
1984, 1989; Carter et al., 1992; Anthony et al., 2006; Tsoar,
available from the beach and backshore, such that the wind is
2005). Where vegetation is able to develop from, and within
unsaturated and the ability for vegetation to capture sediment
the wrack, sediment transport decreases rapidly, and sediment
is reduced (Houser et al., 2008). As shown by both Carter et al.
accumulates readily within the backshore (Kuriyama et al.,
(1992) and Houser et al. (2008) a lagged backshore can lead
2005), compared to sediment accumulation at the dune foot
to a mobile dunefield. Under slow wind speeds, however, the
where the vegetation was absent. Conway and Wells (2005)
lagged surface can capture sediment and act as a sand reservoir
also suggested that the accumulation of wrack and sediment
until wind speeds increase and the deflation surface re-
can limit storm erosion, at least for the initial part of the
develops (Carter, 1976). Frey and Dörjes (1988) attributed the
storm. The species composition of the wrack and its ability to
development of wrack line shell deposits to longshore drift
capture sediment appears to be dependent on the beach
that causes the shells to accumulate in small beach ‘pockets,’
morphology and the degree of wave exposure (Orr et al.,
although shell lines are common along the high tide line of
2005). However, Nordstrom et al. (2006) found that although
many beaches. The shells are moved offshore or deposited
fresh storm wrack can have great local impact of sediment
along the upper-elevation of the surge during storm con-
transport and accumulation, the effect is temporary. Williams
ditions, but are again deposited on the beach under fair-
et al. (2008) also found no statistically significant difference in
weather conditions.
backshore and dune sediment accumulation between adjacent
beaches that were raked and not raked of beach wrack.
Although the importance of algae in modifying the ex-
change of sediment between beach and dune is not clear, 10.10.4 Beach–Dune Interaction over the Holocene
Walker and Barrie (2006) argued that large woody debris de-
posited as wrack is able to promote dune development along Beach–dune interaction over the Holocene is marked by
the western coast of Canada (Figure 9). The woody debris acts transitions between erosional and accretional dune phases
as both a barrier to saltation and is capable of extracting that reflect decadal-scale changes in storm frequency and
momentum from the wind, thereby promoting sediment de- magnitude (Morton et al., 1994; Orford et al., 1999), sedi-
position and facilitating the development of an incipient ment supply (Cooper, 1993; FitzGerald et al., 2000), sea-level
foredune. The amount of sediment that is transported into the change (Storms et al., 2002), and precipitation (e.g., Jelgersma
backshore and the morphology of the backshore and dune and van Regteren Altena, 1969; Ahlbrandt et al., 1983; Pluis,
exhibit a spatial dependency on the physical characteristics 1992). Numerous examples occur through the Holocene
and relative in-filling of the log debris jam (Eamer and Walker, where a multidecadal change or trend in the wind regime,
2010). The authors argue that the woody debris enhances the sediment supply, or anthropogenic disturbance has affected
development of incipient dunes in the backshore, thereby the exchange of sediment between beach and dune. For ex-
buffering the coast against increased storminess and sea level ample, Ranasinghe et al. (2004) described erosion and

Figure 9 Driftwood wrack promoting sediment accretion and dune

Figure 8 Algal beach wrack at Padre Island National Seashore, development in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada
Texas (Photo by C. Houser). at the site of Anderson and Walker (2006) (Photo by C. Houser).
278 Beach and Dune Interaction
(a)
(b)
Figure 10 Shell and pebble lagged surfaces at (a) Pensacola Beach,
Florida and (b) the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada
(Photos by C. Houser).
accretion cycles in embayed beaches of New South Wales,
Australia. During La Nina conditions, the southern part of the
embayed beach accretes and dune development is promoted,
whereas El Nino conditions cause beach and dune erosion in
these same areas. Although these phases tend to occur at a
decadal scale, the cumulative effect of multiple erosion and
accretion cycles (net gain or net loss) defines the long-term
trend over the Holocene. Pye (1990) suggested that in general,
high winds, anthropogenic disturbance, and relatively low
sediment supply and frequent storm events lead to an eroding
coastline characterized by parabolic dunes and transgressive
sand sheets and dunefields, whereas high winds and a large
sediment supply lead to accreting shorelines and parallel dune
ridges. However, as noted by Short and Hesp (1982) large
parabolic and transgressive dunefields are common on inter-
mediate to dissipative beaches with high wind energy and
sediment supply in New Zealand (e.g., Muckersie and Shep-
herd, 1995), South Africa, and Brazil (Dillenburg and Hesp,
2009). A more conservative interpretation of the Pye (1990)
model is that changes in sediment supply and wind regime
can cause significant transitions in the dune field.
Buynevich (2007) have linked periods of dune scarping
during the past 500 years to an increase in the frequency
or intensity of extratropical storms in the Gulf of Maine. The
width of the coastal sequence preserved between successive
dune scarps was correlated to the time interval that elapsed
between storms, indicating a relatively calm period that per-
mits deposition. Many coastal dune systems in western Europe
were activated and reactivated during the Little Ice Age (LIA),
in response to a combination of low sea level and strong
winds (Clemmensen and Murray, 2006; Klijn, 1990; Pye and
Neal, 1993; Clemmensen et al., 2001; Wilson et al., 2001,
2004; Clarke et al., 2002; Dawson et al., 2004; Matthews and
Briffa, 2005). These conditions provided sufficient wind en-
ergy to transport available sediment on the wide exposed
shoreface (Aagaard et al., 2007). Thermoluminescence dating
suggests that dune building was most active between AD 1550
and 1850 (e.g., Wilson et al., 2004; Clarke et al., 2002), par-
ticularly along the west coast of Denmark (Liversage and
Robinson, 1993). The last major phase of dune activity was
around 1820, during a period of apparent increased stormi-
ness in which beachface erosion and dune scarping by storm
surge destabilized many coastal dunes leading to large trans-
gressive dune fields according to Pedersen and Clemmensen
(2005). Dune stabilization was initiated by a decrease in storm
activity during spring and summer and rise in sea level,
although the planting of marram grass starting in 1792 may
have also contributed (Pedersen and Clemmensen, 2005).
At most locations in the North Sea basin, deposition during
the LIA was associated with onshore westerly winds, although
coasts where westerly winds blow offshore also experience
a period of increased coastal dune deposition (Aagaard et al.,
2007). Orford et al. (2000) found that dune-building phases
during the LIA were not synchronous alongshore in eastern
England. Similarly, the periods of dune building in Denmark
and Holland are also not synchronous. Clemmensen et al.
(2001) found evidence of increased dune activity in northern
Denmark between AD 1100 and 1850 with a peak around AD
1700 (Clemmensen et al., 2001), whereas Christiansen et al.
(1990) inferred a period of enhanced activity during AD
1450–1750 just further south. Along the southwest coast of
Denmark, Clemmensen and Murray (2006) identified four
separate dune building phases between 1550 and 1850,
whereas Klijn (1990) identified two periods of dune activity
around AD 1300–1600 and AD 1750–1850 along the coast of
Holland. In addition to the potential for dating errors and
preservation of aeolian deposits, Orford (2005) also suggested
that variations in dune building may reflect changing air pres-
sure patterns driven by NAO conditions or in sediment avail-
ability and supply at particular sites.
It is not clear whether dune formation in the North Sea
basin occurred in response to a rising or a falling sea level.
Schofield (1975), Saunders and Davidson-Arnott (1990),
and Lees (2006) all suggested that dune formation is caused
by falling water levels that exposes more of the foreshore for
greater aeolian transport to the dune. However, a regressive
sea level also results in an increase in vegetation and dune
stabilization, whereas increased scarping, washover, and
breaching with sea level rise limits vegetation and increases the
potential for (transgressive) dune formation (Cooper, 1958;
Pye, 1983). In this respect, Aagaard et al. (2007) argued that
dune accretion at such places as Skallingen was caused by an
increase in storm surge activity and sea level rise. This was
supported by Giannini et al. (2007), who found that dune

development in southern Brazil was initiated by relative
sea level rise in postglacial period through both thermo-
luminescence and optically stimulated luminescence dating.
Similar results were reported by Dillenburg and Hesp (2009)
for the Brazilian coast. Giannini et al. (2007) suggested that in
the presence of onshore winds the sediments deposited in the
intertidal zone can be transported landward into the dunes
(e.g., Cooper, 1958; Thom et al., 1981; Pye and Bowman,
1984). The storm surge emplaces sediments in the backshore
through either intertidal bar migration or swash deposition,
where it becomes available for transport as the sediment dries
and becomes exposed to the wind. In this respect, elevated
water in the presence of storm waves can both erode sediment
from the backshore and dune (e.g., Vespremeanu-Stroe and
Preoteasa, 2007), but also bring sediment to the beachface and
backshore.
Moura et al. (2007) examined dune dynamics in response
to sea level fluctuations over the Holocene and described
transgressive dune formation in response to rapid sea level rise
and drought conditions. They argued that the dunes stabilized
with the wet Atlantic climate as sea level reached a maximum
and the beach width was at a minimum, and dune develop-
ment was initiated as the beach width and sediment supply
increased with falling sea level. However, they did not consider
the possibility that dune vegetation can extend into the
backshore and keep pace with the progradation, and that only
in the absence of vegetation in the backshore would dune
aggradation result from sea level fall. Similarly, Bryan et al.
(2008) presented evidence to suggest that morphological ad-
justment (and change in the transfer of beach and dune
sediment) occurs at multidecadal scales in response to El Niño
and La Niña episodes that modulate waves and sea level, as
well as changes in sediment supply. Oscillations in dune
building and erosion are also observed on the Great Lakes as a
result of lake level variations (e.g., Olson, 1958; Loope and
Arbogast, 2000; Arbogast et al., 2002). Radiocarbon dating
suggests that transgressive dune activity occurs during high
stands that tend to occur every 150 years (Loope and Arbogast,
2000) and that widespread dune activity occurred as water
levels rose during the Nipissing transgression (Hansen et al.,
2010). Increasing sediment supply to the southern part of the
lake has been responsible for the development of broad bea-
ches backed by large foredunes that are largely protected from
wave erosion (Arbogast et al., 2004).
10.10.5 Beach–Dune Interaction Models
Based on a survey of Australian beaches, Short and Hesp
(1982) emphasized the role of wave energy in controlling the
morphodynamic state of the beach and nearshore, which
controls the amount of sediment transported from beach to
dune. In general, they argued that the more dissipative the
beachface, the less flow disturbance and the greater sediment
transport off and across that surface (Hsu, 1977; Hesp, 1982;
Kaimal and Finnigan, 1994). Based on wind measurements
across a microtidal beach, the lack of disturbance on a dissi-
pative beach allows for a gradual increase in the near-surface
wind speed (see Figure 5; Short and Hesp, 1982). Sediment
accretion involves broad deposition or removal of swash
Beach and Dune Interaction 279
laminae that become exposed to aeolian transport at mid- to
low-tide elevations. In mesotidal environments, there is the
potential for intertidal bar development (Masselink and Short,
1993), which reduces the available fetch and transport from
the beach to the backshore and dune (Anthony, et al., 2006,
2007; Masselink and Anthony, 2001). Although swash bars
may migrate landward to provide sediment directly to the
backshore (Aagaard et al., 2004), ridge and runnel bars do not
migrate leading to a narrow upper beach and backshore with
limited fetch and sediment supply. Under the largest tide
ranges, berms, and intertidal bars become less prominent or
absent and the profile becomes more concave in profile
allowing for greater sediment transfer and dune development.
Reflective beaches are characterized by steep beach cusps
and berms or a steep linear beachface (Short and Hesp, 1982).
The wind accelerates across the steep beachface and berm and
decelerates rapidly beyond the crest, leading to a reduction in
the transport potential across the backshore. Only in places
where the backshore is relatively wide to permit adjustment of
the boundary layer and the transport potential be sufficient to
permit dune development. Intermediate beaches exhibit con-
siderable variability in form from relatively steep beachfaces
at the reflective end of the spectrum to relatively flat at the
dissipative end of the spectrum. Where there are intertidal
or supratidal bar structures or topographic variation, the
boundary layer is unable to adjust, thereby limiting sediment
transport (Short and Hesp, 1982; Houser, 2009). Intermediate
beaches tend to be associated with parabolic dune fields,
whereas dissipative and reflective beaches tend to be associ-
ated with large-scale and small-scale dune fields respectively
(Short and Hesp, 1982; Hesp, 1988).
Sherman and Lyons (1994) used a numerical model to
quantify sediment transport for reflective, intermediate, and
dissipative beach types to examine the relative importance of
slope, grain size, and moisture. The authors found that there
was only a 20% difference in transport between the reflective
and intermediate beaches when only grain size and slope were
considered. With the inclusion of moisture, transport across
the dissipative beach was almost two orders of magnitude
greater than on the reflective beach. Note, however, that their
leeward-berm backshore width was the same in every case, a
condition which does not reflect the natural morphologies of
these three different beach types. Davidson-Arnott and Law
(1996) also found that the larger fetch length of a dissipative
beach allowed for greater sediment transport across the beach.
Dissipative beaches also have a lower mobility (less variation
in the position of the shoreline) and lower frequency of wave
set-up reaching the upper-beach and backshore (Short and
Hesp, 1982; Hesp, 1988). In contrast, intermediate and re-
flective beaches have a more variable fetch in response to
greater beach mobility and a higher frequency of wave set-up.
More transport across a dissipative beach equates to greater
deposition in the backshore and dune, which leads to greater
dune volumes backing dissipative beaches (Short and Hesp,
1982; Hesp, 1988). Jackson and Cooper (1999) have shown
that the critical fetch is not an important constraint on sedi-
ment transport for beaches with a large supply of dry sand in
the backshore. This led Lynch et al. (2006) to argue that the
availability of sediment, rather than the fetch effect, is the
primary control on the transport rate and amount of sediment
280 Beach and Dune Interaction
delivered to the dunes (see also Saye et al., 2005 and Chris-
tiansen and Davidson-Arnott, 2004).
Based on the observations from the Sefton coast in north-
western England, Pye (1990) presented an alternative model
that accounts for: (1) the rate of littoral sand supply; (2) the
wind energy available for transport; and (3) the effectiveness of
sand-trapping vegetation. Beach ridge plains develop in re-
sponse to a positive sand budget and low wind energy, and
develop into a parallel foredune ridge with stronger winds
capable of moving sediment into the developing dunes. If the
vegetation is of low density or discontinuous, possibly in re-
sponse to direct or indirect impact by human activity, irregular
hummock dunes develop as an assemblage of irregular sand
hills with blowouts and incipient parabolic dunes. A single
foredune ridge develops if the vegetation is sufficient to trap
sediment, and the amount of sediment transferred from beach
to dune balances the littoral supply. Slowly migrating parabolic
dunes develop where the amount of sediment transferred from
beach to dune is less than the littoral supply, ultimately leading
to low-relief, transgressive sand sheets where the littoral supply
is much smaller than the aeolian transport. The rapid lowering
of the beach surface through aeolian transport leads to an in-
creased risk of storm wave damage and loss of vegetation. This
model is supported by the results of Ruz and Allard (1994) who
found that large subarctic foredunes develop during periods of
lower sediment supply and slow beach progradation (cf.
McCann and Byrne, 1989, 1994). Where rapid seaward devel-
opment of the beach is promoted by a large sediment supply,
low foredune ridges, and foredune terraces were observed.
Psuty (1992) presented an alternative model in which both
dune volume and morphology are related to the negative
or positive sediment budget of the beach and the dune
(Figure 11). Where the beach budget is large, foredune
development is limited because the expanding beach
Foredune
development Maximum
foredune
quadrant
development
+ Positive
Increasing
Reduced foredune
Foredune budget
growth rate dimensions
0
Blowouts
Parabolics Foredune
Hummocks attenuation
Negative −
Washover
Negative
Beach budget
Figure 11 Beach–dune interaction model. Adapted with permission
from Psuty, N., 1992. Spatial variation in coastal foredune
development. In: Nordstrom, K.F., Psuty, N.P., Carter, R.W.G. (Eds.),
Coastal Dunes: Form and Process. Wiley, Chichester, pp. 3–13.
intermittently strands the foredunes and restricts the duration
of sediment accumulation at a single point. Rapid prograda-
tion leads to ridge and swale topography characterized by low
foredune ridges, whereas less rapid progradation allows sedi-
mentto accumulate along a single foredune ridge. Psuty (1992)
predicted maximum foredune development where the sedi-
ment budget of the beach is slightly negative (erosional) and
allows for intermittent scarping of the dune face and sediment
transfer inland of the foredune crest (Hesp, 1988). As the
beach budget becomes increasingly negative, less sediment
would be available for aeolian transport and the dune base
would experience more frequent erosion by waves and surge.
Sherman and Bauer (1993) modified Psuty’s (1992) model to
include steady state sediment budget conditions. The addition
of steady state conditions allows explanation for wind con-
ditions that are below threshold velocity and large-scale dune
transgression due to sea level rise. However, both the Pye
(1990) and the Psuty (1992) model are unable to explain the
large parabolic and transgressive dunefields occurring on
high wind energy and high sediment supply beaches of New
Zealand (e.g., Muckersie and Shepherd, 1995), South Africa,
and Brazil (Dillenburg and Hesp, 2009).
The models of beach–dune interaction described above
largely ascribe regional variations in dune morphology to
fixed constraints on the beach and nearshore state (Short and
Hesp, 1982; Hesp, 1988) and sediment budget (Pye, 1990;
Psuty, 1992), without explicit recognition of the processes
involved in the exchange of sediment between beach and
dune. Granted, the model of Short and Hesp (1982) and
Hesp (1988) account for beach mobility, this is not necessarily
a surrogate for aeolian transport from beach to dune. Only
a limited capacity remains to predict the evolution of
beach–dune systems through these models, largely because the
beachface tends to be viewed as a static transport surface
without regard to the supply of sediment or the transport po-
tential. Hesp (2002) provided an alternative model of beach-
Dune-ridge foredune interaction according to whether the foredune is
topography
eroding, accreting, or stable (Figure 12). Minor to major wave
quadrant
erosion leads to a steep scarped foredune in which a foredune
ramp redevelops (Figure 13). If the ramp is not revegetated, the
dune will recede landward, possibly developing into a blowout
or parabolic dune (see also Levin, 2011). As noted by Hesp
(2002), significant erosion can force the dune to jump to
a more erosional form characterized by scarps, slumping, and
the dieback of vegetation or even to partial or complete re-
moval of the dune through washover. Depending on the ability
of the dune to rebuild and revegetate determines whether it
will build in place or redevelop further landward. As argued in
the present review, sediment accumulation in the backshore
and dune is not only dependent on the available fetch and
wind speeds as suggested by Bauer and Davidson-Arnott
Beach-ridge (2003) and supported by Short and Hesp (1982), but also
topography
depends on the availability of sediment on the beachface and
quadrant
in the backshore. The amount of sediment available on the
Positive beachface and in the backshore is dependent on the amount
of sediment added to and subtracted from these areas by
swash and surf-zone processes. This led Houser (2009) to
argue that dune development depends on the synchronization
of transport potential and sediment supply in both space and
time. Since beachface accretion tends to be dominated by
 Beach and Dune Interaction 281

3
1 Stable
1

3
Stable to prograding
Blowcut 1

Cycle
3 Gradual erosion 2
Stable Prograding coasts
1 3
1 2

3
3 2 1 3b
Erosion and

Cycle
landward movement

Erosion
3 2 4
1 Eroding
Erosion to stage 5 coasts 4b

Accretion
(b)
5 5b
Blowcut or sandsheet
2
3 Gradual erosion
1 Wave erosion
of knobs
Complete erosion event (Formation of new foredone)
(a) Stage 1

Erosion
Accretion/
revegetation
Minor to major wave erosion (or) Various scales of overwash
D Storm event

Long term development 3 Scarp fill and 3

A−C 1 In-place
scenarios (1−3) 2 revegetation 1
rebuilding
2
1 3 Recession and
3 2 Erosion and 1 rebuilding
recession
2

(c) (d)

Figure 12 Beach–dune interaction model of Hesp (2002) showing different stages of foredune development relative to the balance of storm
erosion and poststorm recovery.

landward migration and welding of nearshore bars, the con-
cept of synchronization suggests that dune development is
dependent on the episodic delivery of a sediment supply from
the nearshore at the scale of a bar cycle. Similarly, Ruessink
and Jeuken (2002) suggested that the alongshore variation in
dunefoot position is dependent on the alongshore migration
of sandwaves with a fresh supply of sediment and wide fetch.
To this point, beach–dune interaction has been treated
from a traditional bottom–up perspective, in which the small-
scale exchange of sediment between beach and dune over tidal
and storm scales is ultimately responsible for dune develop-
ment and evolution at much longer timescales. Recent
evidence suggests that alongshore and regional variations in
dune development are related to preexisting geological con-
trols and shelf gradients (e.g., Hesp et al., 2009) (Houser and
Hamilton, 2009; Servera et al., 2009; da Silva and Hesp, 2010;
Hapke et al., 2010). Intrasite variability in dune morphology
along Mocambique Beach in southern Brazil is controlled by
shoreline orientation relative to the prevailing wind leading
to small foredunes in the south, parabolic and transgressive
dunes along the central part of the coast, and large trans-
gressive dunes in the north (da Silva and Hesp, 2010), con-
sistent with the Short and Hesp (1982) model. Smaller scale
variations in dune height depend on the alongshore cor-
respondence of sediment supply and transport potential,
which varies with the beach state (Houser and Hamilton,
2009). Historically, and following the 2004/2005 U.S. Gulf
Coast hurricane season, Houser and Hamilton (2009) sug-
gested that the exchange of sediment between beach and dune
in erosional areas with a relatively reflective foreshore is lim-
ited by the steep gradient and limited fetch of the beach berm,
whereas the larger beach width and lack of berm development
in intermediate sections of the island are more conducive to
the transport of sediment from beach to dune (Short and
Hesp, 1982; Hesp, 1988).
The discrepancies between these beach–dune interaction
models largely reflects a poor understanding of the relative
importance of sediment supply and aeolian transport poten-
tial, which has resulted from a combination of scale- and
site-dependent observations. Following Sherman and Bauer
(1993), beach–dune interaction at the smallest scale is
the result of aeolian transport over a fixed surface (Sec-
tion 10.10.3). As the temporal and spatial scales increase,
beach–dune interaction becomes increasingly dependent on
the dynamic nature of the beach and backshore resulting from
bar migration cycles, which affects both sediment supply and
282 Beach and Dune Interaction

the availability and characteristics of sediment, and the mor-

phodynamic state of the beach and nearshore. Coastal dunes
develop where there is an available supply of beach sediment,
a sufficient size fetch for the transport of sediment from the
beachface to the backshore, and (but not always) vegetation to
capture the sediment. The amount of sediment transported
from beach to dune depends on intrinsic factors of the beach
morphology including microscale topography, vegetation
cover, moisture content, and extrinsic factors such as sur-
Figure 13 Unvegetated dune ramp along a previously scarped rounding morphology and storm wave impact on the upper
foredune at Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland (Photo by beach and dune front. Over slightly longer timescales (the
C. Houser). mesoscale), coastal dune morphology is largely dependent on
the aeolian transport potential and the intensity of storms that
erode the backshore and scarp the dune. Over much longer
periods, dune development is dependent on sediment supply,
which in turn is dependent on the availability of sediment
Sediment
Trends supply
from alongshore, and offshore sources. Linking these pro-
cesses over a range of spatial and temporal scales has proven
quite difficult, and predictions of beach–dune sediment bud-
Macro-scale
gets and morphological change based on empirical relation-
Geologic setting ships are not reliable at the smallest spatial and temporal
climate and sea level scales (Sherman et al., 1998), and tenuous when extrapolated
Cycles to regional scales (Davidson-Arnott and Law, 1996; Davidson-
Time

Arnott et al., 2005).

Meso-scale
Events Beach and backshore morphology
Beach mobility
Transport Backshore accretion and erosion
potential Nearshore bar cycle
Micro-scale
Moisture and crusts
Topo graphic variability
vegetation
wind speed and direction
Space
Figure 14 Summary model of beach–dune interaction identifying
scale-dependent variables and controls. Adapted from the model of
Sherman, D.J., Bauer, B.O., 1993. Dynamics of beach-dune systems.
Progress in Physical Geography 17, 413–447, with permission from
SAGE.
transport (Section 10.10.4). Ultimately, beach–dune inter-
action at the largest scales is dependent on sediment supply
defined by the geologic setting and changes in both sea-level
and climate (Section 10.10.5). In this respect, the integration
to larger domains (upscaling) does not work well because the
causal relationships and the relative importance of sediment
supply and transport potential change (Figure 14). Specifically
the dependent variables at one scale become independent
parameters at another (Sherman and Bauer, 1993). Large-scale
processes represent independent boundary conditions to
small-scale transport processes, whereas small-scale process is
subsumed within the sediment budget at the largest scales.
10.10.6 Conclusions
In general, dune development depends on the exchange of
sediment between the beach and backshore by wind, which
varies with the speed and direction of the wind, tidal range,
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Wilson, P., McGourty, J., Bateman, M., 2004. Mid- to late-Holocene coastal dune
event stratigraphy for the north coast of Northern Ireland. Holocene 14,
406–416.
Wilson, P., Orford, J.D., Knight, J., Braley, S.M., Wintle, A.G., 2001. Late-Holocene
(post-4000yr BP) coastal dune development in North Umberland, northeast
England. The Holocene 11, 215–229.
Wolfe, S.A., Nickling, W.G., 1993. The protective role of sparse vegetation in wind
erosion. Progress in Physical Geography 17, 50–68.
Wolman, M.G., Miller, W.P., 1960. Magnitude and frequency of forces in
geomorphic processes. Journal of Geology 68, 54–74.
Wright, L.D., Short, A.D., 1984. Morphodynamic variability of surf zones and
beaches- a synthesis. Marine Geology 56(1-4), 93–118.
Yang, Y., Davidson-Arnott, R., 2005. Rapid measurement of surface moisture
content on a beach. Journal of Coastal Research 21, 447–452.
Zhang, J., Maun, M.A., 1989. Seed dormancy of Pannicum virgatum L. on
the shoreline sand dunes of Lake Erie. American Midland Naturalist 122(1),
77–87.
Zingg, A.W., 1953. Wind tunnel studies of the movement of sedimentary material,
5th Hydraulics Conference. Proceedings of the 5th Hydraulics Conference.
Institute of Hydraulics, Iowa City, pp. 111–135.
288 Beach and Dune Interaction

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Chris Houser is a coastal geomorphologist in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University. Since
graduating in 2004 as PhD student of Dr. Brian Greenwood at the University of Toronto, Chris has focused his
research on coastal morphodynamics with a focus on the response and recovery of barrier islands along the Gulf
of Mexico to extreme storms. This involves research at a range of spatial and temporal scales from swash zone
processes, to nearshore bar behavior and aeolian sediment transport from beach to dune.

Dr. Jean Ellis is a coastal scientist in the Department of Geography and Marine Science Program at the University
of South Carolina. Jean is a former NOAA Knauss Fellow, serving at NASA Headquarters. She finished her PhD in
2006 from Texas A&M University, and then went to work at NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. A major
thrust of Jean’s research is currently focused around small-scale aeolian sediment transport. She is also working on
nearshore hydrodynamics along a coast with offshore breakwaters and analysis of historical land-use and land-
cover patterns to aid restoration and conservation decision makers.
 10.11 Rock Coasts
WJ Stephenson, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
ME Dickson, University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland, New Zealand
AS Trenhaile, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.11.1 Introduction 289

10.11.2 Processes 290
10.11.2.1 Sea Level 291
10.11.2.2 The Role of Tides 291
10.11.2.3 Waves 291
10.11.2.3.1 Wave quarrying 291
10.11.2.3.2 Abrasion 292
10.11.2.4 Weathering 292
10.11.2.4.1 Salt weathering 293
10.11.2.4.2 Wetting and drying 293
10.11.2.5 Biology 293
10.11.2.6 Mass Movement 294
10.11.3 Rocky Coast Landforms 295
10.11.3.1 Relict, Composite, and Plunging Sea-Cliffs 296
10.11.3.2 Shore Platforms 297
10.11.3.2.1 Near-horizontal platforms 298
10.11.3.2.2 Sloping platforms 299
10.11.3.3 Inheritance 300
10.11.4 Rock Coast Modeling 300
10.11.4.1 Coastal Profiles 300
10.11.4.2 Plan Shape 302
10.11.5 Conclusions 303
References 303

Abstract

Rock coasts constitute the majority of the world’s shorelines and result from erosive processes. Rates of erosion vary from
almost nil to tens of meters per year. Cliff and shore platforms are the most common landform types but even these display
significant variations in morphology depending on sea-level history, tidal range, the relative contributions of marine and
subaerial processes, and geological properties of the rock. Smaller scale features such as stacks and arches are important
elements and contribute significantly to landscape values and subsequently, tourism economies. The evolutionary history of
rock coasts is difficult to reconstruct because of their erosional origin but modeling has revealed much about how such
coastlines have developed over the latter part of the Pleistocene and Holocene, and it has also provided important insights
into the modeling of these coasts to modern sea-level and coastal processes.

10.11.1 Introduction
Rock coasts are ubiquitous along the world’s coast lines, oc-
curring at all latitudes and in all morphogenetic environ-
ments. Rock coasts can be defined as those that are composed
of consolidated material (rock) of varying strength (Suna-
mura, 1992). The strength of material forming rock coasts can
vary enormously from very hard granite to soft materials such
as clay and consolidated gravels. The common distinction
between hard and soft rock coasts is thus misleading, because
Stephenson, W.J., Dickson, M.E., Trenhaile, A.S., 2013. Rock coasts. In:
Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on
Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal
Geomorphology, pp. 289–307.
rock strength occurs along a very wide continuum. Sea cliffs
are the most characteristic landforms along the rocky shore-
lines. According to Emery and Kuhn (1982), cliffs, including
those cut into hard and soft rocks, as well as cohesive clays and
sands, occur along about 80% of the world’s coasts (Figure 1),
although little work has been done to substantiate this figure.
Rock coasts may also be composed of shore platforms that
either slope (411) or lie close to horizontal. Shore platforms
are commonly front cliffs but in some cases platforms are
backed by beaches and sand dunes. Unlike coasts composed
of accumulations of sediment, rock coasts are almost entirely
erosional in origin and consequently reconstructing the evo-
lutionary history of rock coast landforms presents significant
challenges to earth scientists. Furthermore the erosional origin
of rock coasts also presents significant management challenges

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00284-0 289

290 Rock Coasts
Figure 1 Distribution of cliffed coasts around the world. Adapted from Emery, K.O., Kuhn, G.G., 1982. Sea cliffs: their processes, profiles, and
classification. Geological Society of America Bulletin 93, 644–654, with permission from Geological Society of America.
as rock coasts lack the capacity to recover from erosive events
in the way beaches or other sedimentary environments return
sediment to their form. Paradoxically the scenic value attached
to rock coasts owes its origin to that same suite of erosional
processes, so management and conservation requires main-
taining erosive processes that are not attractive in most coastal
management strategies.
Rock coasts are also at the center of several key debates in
coastal geomorphology. For example, Cruslock et al. (2010)
considered shore platforms in different genetic settings to
demonstrate equifinality. The environmental significance of
boulder deposits are beginning to be better understood by the
examination of cliff top deposits (Hansom et al., 2008) and
viewed more critically through the consideration of geological
settings (Stephenson and Naylor, 2011a, b; Knight and Bur-
ningham, 2011). Large boulders deposited on cliff tops or far
inland beyond the reach of normal sea conditions have previ-
ously been attributed to tsunami (Bryant et al., 1992, 1996;
Young et al., 1996). Work on rock coasts is illustrating how
boulders and even megaclasts can in fact be attributed to (the
work of) extreme storm events (e.g., Hall et al., 2006, 2008;
Etienne and Paris, 2010; Switzer and Burston, 2010). Thus de-
bates over the role of tsunami as an agent of change of coastal
landscapes are becoming better understood and the role of
storm waves is better recognized. What is yet to be understood
is whether these high magnitude–low frequency events make a
significant contribution to long-term rock coast development.
Today there are still many challenges to understanding the re-
sponse of rock coasts to contemporary processes across a variety
of scales and to interpreting the long term response, or evo-
lution, of these coasts (Naylor et al., 2010).
In this chapter, we review these debates in rock coast
geomorphology and provide an overview of the role of dif-
ferent process and geological frameworks that lead to rock
coast landforms. The evolutionary pathways that rock coasts
take are explored through the use of models. In Sec-
tion 10.11.2 we discuss the processes that drive rock coast
landform development. Sea level is the fundamental
determinant of where coast lines occur, so it is first necessary
to examine the role of changing sea levels in the evolution of
rock coasts. Closely associated with sea-level changes are tides,
because these determine the vertical range within which rock
coasts develop, and, to a certain degree, rock coast morph-
ology. The traditional role of waves and weathering are ex-
plored. In addition, the roles of biological processes are also
considered. Section 10.11.3 reviews how geological and
lithological frameworks determine landform morphology.
Different rock coast landforms are presented and explained
within a geological framework. Reconstructing the evolution-
ary history of rock coasts is problematic because of an ero-
sional origin, so that modeling is currently the best approach
to understand how rock coasts have evolved and how they
might evolve into the future. Consequently Section 10.11.4
reviews modeling efforts that bring together our current state
of understanding of how rock coasts develop.
10.11.2 Processes
Rock coasts are exposed to a wide range of processes that are
unique in terms of geomorphic process response systems, es-
pecially when compared to other coastal systems. In addition
to marine processes such as wave impact, quarrying, and
abrasion, subaerial processes may reduce rock strength and in
some settings can be the dominant process set. Subaerial
processes include the full range of physical and chemical
weathering processes and the relative significance of any par-
ticular one (e.g., wetting and drying, salt weathering, heating
and cooling, solution) is variable in time and space. In add-
ition to marine and subaerial processes, biological activity is
also important. Included here are not only erosion processes
but also bioprotection that can act to reduce the efficiency
of physical processes and construction where organisms con-
struct reefs or accumulate sediment. Where rock coasts are
wholly or partly composed of cliffs, mass movement is an
important process that causes cliff erosion and retreat.

10.11.2.1 Sea Level
Sea level is the primary control of coast evolution as it is the
basic spatial and temporal frame of reference upon which
processes responsible for shoreline development occur. Rock
coasts evolve slower than sedimentary coasts because of the
greater resistance of their material composition, but as a
consequence there is a much greater potential for rock coasts
to be preserved in the landscape after sea-level changes. This
has two important implications. First, many rock coasts may
not change rapidly enough to record all sea-level variations,
particularly short term Holocene variations. Second, some
rock coasts may have undergone more than one episode of
development when sea-level reoccupies a similar elevation, or
tectonic processes lift submerged shorelines to coincide with a
contemporary sea level. The challenge for scientists investi-
gating rock coasts is to recognize the impact of multiple sea
levels occupying rock coasts and identify the morphologies
that have been inherited from earlier sea-level histories.
Patterns of Quaternary sea-level change (2.5 Ma – present)
are generally known although the details of sea-level durations
and elevations at specific sites are not (Pirazzoli, 1991). Sea-
level change since the last two glacial periods are of most sig-
nificance to rock coast development although some rock coasts
may be inherited from sea levels dating back to the Tertiary,
65–2.5 Ma ago (Trenhaile, 1989). It is likely that highly resist-
ant rock coasts have retained some degree of inheritance from
the last interglacial at approximately 125 ka (Trenhaile, 2002).
More recently Trenhaile (2010a) has endeavored to examine the
role of relative sea-level rise during the Holocene, and this is
considered further in Section 10.11.4.
10.11.2.2 The Role of Tides
If sea level determines where and for how long coastal processes
act on shorelines, tides determine the vertical range within
which those processes operate. Even the location of supratidal
processes are partially determined by tidal range. Globally, rock
coast morphologies develop in all tidal environments and
vertical ranges. In addition, rock coast landforms develop in
lakes where tides are absent (Matthews et al., 1986; Allan et al.,
2002; Trenhaile, 2004a; Aarseth and Fossen, 2004). Lake levels
can fluctuate both naturally and from management inter-
vention (as in the case of hydropower generation) but whether
these fluctuations mimic tides with a geomorphic consequence
for lacustrine rock coasts remains unclear.
Tidal range has been identified as a primary control of
gross morphology of shore platforms. Trenhaile (1999) re-
viewed the published data on shore platform gradient and
tidal range for a variety of coasts around the world. He found
that there is a strong positive relationship between these
variables (r2 ¼0.85), with steeper sloping platforms occurring
in areas with the highest tidal ranges, including in the Bay of
Fundy in eastern Canada and the Severn Estuary in south
western Britain. In addition, tidal range and type (diurnal,
semidiurnal, or mixed) determine how and where wave energy
is distributed within the vertical range of the tide and the
horizontal extent of the shore profile. Fluctuations in baro-
metric pressure, wind, and wave set up can also change the
vertical range within which wave forces are expended.
Rock Coasts 291
10.11.2.3 Waves
Waves impacting on rock coasts impart a variety of forces, but
understanding the erosional efficiency of these forces still re-
quires a great deal of empirical research. Until recently there
have been relatively few field studies reported in the literature.
Undoubtedly waves erode rock coasts and transport the wea-
thered and unconsolidated debris, but the precise quantifi-
cation of the relationship between wave forces and rock
resistance, as expressed by Sunamura (1992, 1994), remains
elusive. Sunamura proposed that rock coast erosion occurs
when the erosive force of waves exceeds the resisting force of
rock. The challenge that remains is to accurately quantify both
forces. Waves can erode by (1) directly expending a force (water
hammer) by hydraulic quarrying of jointed blocks, or (2) by
abrasion when waves mobilize loose sediment against bedrock.
Our understanding of wave processes on shore platforms
has been hampered by a lack of field investigations. In recent
times the number of field investigations has grown and new
data reveal that the hydrodynamics of waves across shore
platforms are as complex as the surf zones of beaches. Work by
Stephenson and Kirk (2000a) considered how energy was
transformed across platforms, noting the highly dissipative
nature of the platforms they studied. Taylor (2003) was the
first to record wave energy in the infragravity band on shore
platforms. Farrell et al. (2009) demonstrated that the wave
breaking criterion of 0.42 h (water depth) for inner surf zone
root-mean-squared wave height (Hrms) proposed by Thornton
and Guza (1982) applied to the platform they studied in
Portugal. Prior to Taylor (2003) no attention had been given
to infragravity energy or consideration of the geomorphic
consequence of such energy for rock coasts. This has changed
recently with a number of published studies examining wave
transformations and energy dissipation across shore platforms
(Ogawa et al., 2011; Ogawa et al., 2012; Beetham and Kench,
2011; Marshall and Stephenson, 2011). Unsurprisingly, infra-
gravity energy is present on shore platforms during rising and
high tides when the platform acts to modulate incident wave
energy in a similar way as the surf zones of beaches excite
infragravity motions. It remains to be seen what, if any, con-
sequence there is for the geomorphic evolution of rock coasts
as a result of infragravity energy.
10.11.2.3.1 Wave quarrying
Wave quarrying is thought to be the most important erosive
process on shore platforms in the storm wave environment of
the northern hemisphere (Trenhaile, 1980, 1987). Quarrying
is the breaking free and removal of rock fragments by shock
pressures from breaking waves, water hammer, and the com-
pression of air in rock joints. Although shock pressures and
water hammer are generated by breaking waves, both breaking
and broken waves can cause compression of air in joints. Air is
compressed in joints and bedding planes as water rushes in,
followed by a sudden explosive release as the water recedes
(Trenhaile, 1987). Robinson (1977a, b) proposed that
quarrying becomes more effective when sand is washed into
cracks and keeps them open. He called this process ‘wedging.’
Wave quarrying is limited in extent over a shore platform,
since maximum pressures occur at or near the mean water
292 Rock Coasts
level whose position on a shore platform and in front of a cliff
is controlled by the tide and wave set up (Trenhaile, 1987).
The effectiveness of quarrying has been assessed largely on
the basis of morphological evidence such as fresh block scars
and angular blocks on platforms and in front of cliffs. Few
studies have attempted to determine the effectiveness of
quarrying using field data. This is largely because of the
difficulty of working in a very dynamic environment and
problems with the availability of suitable instrumentation.
Trenhaile and Kanyaya (2007) measured waves on platforms
in the macrotidal Bay of Fundy on the Atlantic coast of North
America and the micromesotidal coast of Gaspe, Quebec, and
concluded that calculated wave stresses are capable of re-
moving large rock blocks from the platform in this area. In-
stantaneous recordings of block removal are required to
improve our knowledge of this process but since it most often
occurs under during storm conditions, it is difficult to obtain
real time observations. Cruslock et al. (2010) used a block scar
inventory to illustrate the removal of blocks on the Swedish
and Fårö Island coasts in the Baltic Sea. Systematic repeat
surveys revealed the removal of blocks over a 4-year period.
Naylor and Stephenson (2010) used repeated photography
following storms to demonstrate the removal of blocks from a
platform surface on the Glamorgan coast in South Wales. Hall
et al. (2006), Hansom et al. (2008), and Hall et al. (2008)
used a combination of historical photography, mapping,
dating, and modeling to show the effectiveness of wave
quarrying on cliffs and cliff tops in the British Isles. Blocks
deposited at the 15 m elevation on The Grind of the Navir on
the Shetland Islands, Scotland, have been quarried from the
cliff face during annual-frequency storms. Atlantic storm
waves have also been demonstrated as effective generators of
cliff top storm deposits by Suanez et al. (2009). Along the
coast of Banneg Island located in the archipelago of Molène,
in Brittany, France, wave quarrying has liberated blocks that
were subsequently deposited on top of cliffs.
Boulders and megaclasts strewn along rock coasts on shore
platforms and cliff tops are frequently cited as evidence for the
occurrence of tsunami (Noormets et al., 2002, 2004; Scheffers
et al., 2005; Scheffers and Scheffers, 2006; Morton et al.,
2006). However such evidence remains controversial (Felton
and Crook, 2003; Switzer and Burston, 2010) and in light of
recent work illustrating the ability of storm waves to deposit
boulders on cliff tops the role of tsunami is being questioned
(Hall et al., 2006; Hansom et al., 2008; Hall et al., 2008; Paris
et al., 2011). Nevertheless, there are examples of very large
boulders located on cliff tops that are incapable of being
transported by storm waves, and tsunami remain the only
plausible explanation (e.g., Goto et al., 2010). Thus, both
storm waves and tsunami are responsible for wave quarrying,
but their relative contribution to long-term rock coast evo-
lution remains unclear.
10.11.2.3.2 Abrasion
Abrasion has been identified as an important erosive process,
particularly on shore platforms (Sunamura, 1976; Robinson
1977a, b, c; Kennedy and Beban, 2005; Blanco-Chao et al.,
2007). Abrasion operates where sediments that are as hard or
harder than the underlying bedrock accumulate and are
moved by wave action. Trenhaile (1987, p.25) defined
abrasion as ‘the result of sweeping, rolling, or dragging of
rocks and sand across gently sloping rock surfaces, or the
throwing of coarse material against steep surfaces.’ Abrasion
relies on the presence of sediment and sufficient wave energy
to move it, and it generally occurs in a narrow zone, the extent
of which is controlled by the character of the tide and wave
environment, and the accumulated sediment. Conversely,
Sunamura (1976) noted that large or very thick accumulations
of sediment can prevent abrasion by acting in a protective
manner. Robinson (1977a, b, c) found that abrasion occurred
on a shore platform in northeastern England at a height of
10 cm above a beach at a cliff foot and extended 14.5 cm
below the beach. Waves moved sediment at a depth of 5 cm
and as deep as 13.5 cm under the largest waves (Robinson,
1977c). Robinson (1977a, b, c) found that abrasion was more
effective during winter when storms are of greater magnitude
and frequency. Abrasion rates in this setting were as high as
4.5 cm yr1. Blanco-Chao et al. (2007) demonstrated how
abrasion was effective on shore platforms where the landward
margin of the platform was buried by deposits of fluvio-nival
and periglacial slope deposits. Sediments, liberated from the
slope deposits by erosion were made available in the upper
part of the tidal range as abrasive tools. In this zone, abrasion
rates were between 0.13 and 1.8 mm yr1. These rates are
similar to those measured with microerosion meters, reported
from other shore platforms where abrasion is absent (Ste-
phenson and Finlayson, 2009).
The significance of abrasion to shore platform develop-
ment is unclear. Given that abrasion is a spatially and tem-
porally discrete process, and works most effectively only where
and when abrasive sediments accumulate, typically at the
landward margin of shore platforms, then large parts of shore
platforms are apparently eroded by other processes. Never-
theless, abrasion is significant in many areas because of rela-
tively high erosion rates (where they occur) and the landward
migration of the cliff-foot zone as shore platforms develop.
Conversely, many shore platforms have developed in the
complete absence of abrasive materials.
10.11.2.4 Weathering
Coasts are perhaps the ideal weathering environment because
of a plentiful supply of salts, water, temperature extremes, and
bare rock surfaces. Although both physical and chemical
weathering processes and biological activity occur, consider-
ation of weathering usually focuses on (1) wetting and drying,
(2) solution, and (3) salt weathering. Many rock types are
susceptible to chemical dissolution as well as physical fatigue
from repeated wetting and drying by tides and aided by salt
water. In warmer environments wetting and drying can be
important while on higher latitude coasts freeze-thaw may be
more significant. The relative contribution of each type of
weathering depends upon the suite of environmental con-
ditions, so that the importance of each will be different spa-
tially and temporally. Seasonal variations are likely to be
important in temperate environments. The suite of weathering
processes is also responsible for a number of micromeso scale
landforms such as tafoni (Figure 2), pits, and model/karren
(on limestone).

Figure 2 Honeycomb (tafoni) weathering. Vernier calipers are
230 mm long.
10.11.2.4.1 Salt weathering
Cooke and Smalley (1968) identified three mechanisms by
which salt causes weathering: (1) pressures exerted by crystals as
they grow from solution, (2) pressures exerted by expanding
salt crystals due to heating, and (3) pressures from volume
changes induced by hydration. Furthermore, three variables
control the effectiveness of salt weathering: (1) the nature of the
salts and their solutions, (2) the properties of the affected
materials, and (3) the nature of the environment in which salts
may cause the materials to disintegrate (Cooke, 1979). Cooke
and Smalley (1968) noted that the degree of saturation of the
solution is important, as is the duration of exposure of the bed
materials to supersaturated conditions. The capacity to absorb
water, porosity, microporosity, the rate at which solutions
penetrate rocks and tensile strength, are all properties of rock
that control the effectiveness of salt weathering (Cooke, 1979).
Using laboratory experiments, Goudie et al. (1970) found that
igneous rocks were little affected by salts, whereas chalk, lime-
stone, and sandstones broke down rapidly after repeated im-
mersion in saline solutions. Cooke and Smalley (1968)
proposed that the growth of crystals from solution is important
in humid coastal deserts, where dissolved salts are abundant.
Salt weathering operating on rock coasts in warmer temperate
environments is probably a significant weathering agent, but
little work has been conducted to establish the relative contri-
bution of individual weathering processes relative to others on
coastal rock coasts. A number of laboratory or simulation
studies have examined the relative roles of salts and other
weathering processes. Jerwood et al. (1990a, b) in a series of
experiments using groups of chalk cubes immersed in water
and different salt solutions showed how different salts impacted
differently on freeze thaw weathering, for example. Sodium
chloride enhanced freeze thaw while magnesium sulfate in-
hibited freezing and subsequent rock fatigue. How the results of
laboratory experiments apply to field settings remains unclear
(Tingstad, 2008). The significance of salt weathering is difficult
to determine, particularly when wetting and drying is also oc-
curring simultaneously.
10.11.2.4.2 Wetting and drying
The intertidal location and proximity to sea spray of many rock
coast landforms facilitates repeated wetting and drying.
Rock Coasts 293
Figure 3 Water Morphology of water layer weathering morphology
of shallow pans surrounded by raised rims. The location of the raised
rims is determined by the occurrence of joints.
Sedimentary rocks such as shales and mudstones are particu-
larly susceptible to this form of weathering because the clay
minerals found in them expand on wetting and shrink on
drying (Yatsu, 1988). The observation that rock surfaces on
shore platforms undergo swelling when measured with a
microerosion meter has been linked with wetting and drying
(Kirk, 1977; Stephenson and Kirk, 2001; Stephenson et al.,
2004; Kanyaya and Trenhaile, 2005; Trenaile, 2006; Porter and
Trenhaile, 2007; Porter et al., 2010a, b, c) and is consequently
thought to contribute to rock stress, weakening, and eventual
erosion.
Wetting and drying is well recognized on shore platforms
where flat surfaces allow water to pool. In this particular situ-
ation the process has been termed ‘water layer weathering.’ It
can operate wherever sea water can accumulate and evaporate.
Water layer weathering was first recognized by Bartrum and
Turner (1928). The physical process of water layer weathering
remains to be fully explained but most researchers consider it
important in addition to wetting and drying, salt weathering,
chemical weathering, and the movement of solutions through
rock capillaries (Trenhaile, 1987). Kanyaya and Trenhaile
(2005) and Trenhaile et al. (2006) used tidal simulators to
replicate real time wetting and drying conditions on more than
1000 cores comprising different rock types in a series of la-
boratory experiments. Their results showed that wetting and
drying worked more effectively on coarse grained rock (sand-
stone) when salt water was used compared to wetting and
drying with fresh water. However the opposite result occurred
in finer grained rocks (basalt and argillites), with more erosion
occurring during wetting and drying using fresh water than salt
water. The processes of water layer weathering produces a dis-
tinct morphology where shallow pools are surrounded by
raised rims associated with joints (Figure 3). The raised rims
around the pool occur along joints and retain water in the joint.
The rims undergo fewer wetting and drying cycles than the
pools which consequently weather and lower more quickly.
10.11.2.5 Biology
A common definition of bioerosion is the removal of lithic
substrate by the direct action of organisms (Neumann, 1966).
294 Rock Coasts
A bewildering array of organisms are capable of eroding
bedrock on rock coasts and these operate from above the
spring high tide line that is regularly splashed, but not sub-
merged by ocean water (the supratidal zone), to depths that
are permanently submerged (the subtidal zone). On rock
shores microboring occurs as a result of cyanobacteria and
chlorophytes, and other boring activity is carried out by in-
vertebrates including sponges and mollusca such as chinton,
gastropods, and bivalves.
Rates of bioerosion vary enormously from microns to
meters per year, depending on the type and population
densities of the organisms responsible. Erosion is achieved
through grazing, chemical reaction to secretions, and boring.
Grazing gastropods feed by scraping the rock surface with their
radula to ingest the rock and digest the endolithic algae con-
tained in the rock (Figure 4). Grazing on chalk platforms
along the English Channel by limpets (Patella modelli) con-
tributed between 12 and 35% of the annual lowering rate of
2.3 mm yr1 (Andrews and Williams, 2000). Trudgill (1976)
measured rates of boring organisms on Aldabra Atoll, part of
Figure 4 Grazing track of a limpet. The limpet has traversed from
left to right of the images scrapping the rock surface to remove and
ingest the rock. Endolithic algae are digested and the rock excreted.
Figure 5 Durvillaea antarctica washed up on a beach with bedrock
attached. The block detached from a rock mass is 50 cm in the
long axis.
the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean and found that rates varied
from 0.9 cm yr1 to 4.5 cm yr1. Trenhaile (1987) presented a
summary of 42 investigations of bioerosion rates which range
from 30 to 50 mm in 3 to 4 weeks by algae on carbonates, to
1 m yr1 on limestone by boring sea urchin (Paracentrotus
lividus). Naylor et al. (2012) has been critical of geomorph-
ologists for not paying greater attention to the role of
bioerosion and when bioerosion has been considered it has
been in an oversimplified manner. They argue that erosion
rates reported as millimeters per year of downwearing fail to
disclose the complexity of bioerosion and advocate erosion
rates instead be reported as volume loss. Naylor et al. (2012)
also attempt to show how bioerosion at the scale of milli-
meters can influence erosion rates at larger scale and con-
cluded that bioerosion is cross-scalar, influencing erosion at
larger scales.
In contrast to agents causing erosion, biota on rock coasts
can also provide protection from other erosive processes
(Naylor and Viles, 2002; Naylor et al., 2002). Hills (1949)
modeling this protective role on platforms in Victoria, south-
eastern Australia, where the extensive covering of Hormosira
banksii (Neptune’s necklace, sea grapes, or bubbleweed) pre-
vents erosion by mechanical or subaerial processes. Stephenson
and Kirk (1998) measured erosion rates on shore platforms and
found that winter rates were lower compared with summer. The
main reason for this was that cooler winter temperatures
allowed extensive covering of algae over the platform which
prevented drying, trapped sediment, and provided protection
from wave erosion. Bioprotection has not been widely studied
and the relative importance of it compared to bioerosion and
other erosion processes is unknown. Macroalgae (e.g., Durvil-
laea modelling, a common bull kelp) can dissipate wave energy
through mechanical movement and protect rock surfaces
against wave impact forces. The removal of macroalgae by
strong waves, however, often removes the rock to which they
were attached, resulting in block erosion (Figure 5).
Even less well understood than bioprotection is biocon-
struction on rock shores (coral reefs excluded). Encrustation of
rock surfaces by a variety of organisms such as barnacle and
vermetid worms provides additional protection to rock sur-
faces by the construction of sessile (fixed in one place) shells.
Naylor and Viles (2000) documented meter-scale reef building
on the seaward edge of shore platforms in southern Wales
(UK) by honeycomb worms (Sabellaria alveolata) that build
tubes by cementing sand grains together. These reefs may play
a role in dissipating wave energy by reducing the water depth
and forcing wave breaking.
10.11.2.6 Mass Movement
In addition to marine and weathering processes, sea cliffs are
subject to mass movement and other processes that drive
slope evolution. The type of mass movement occurring on
rock coasts (e.g., topple, fall, slide, avalanche, and flow) de-
pends on the climate, groundwater hydrology, and geological
and lithological framework of the coast (Trenhaile, 1987;
Sunamura, 1992; Hampton and Griggs, 2004). Understanding
the relative contributions of the subaerial, marine, and mass
movement processes that control sea cliff erosion is complex
as these processes vary regionally and commonly work

Figure 6 Cliff failure with associated rock fall in Blue Lias
limestone, Glamorgan, South Wales coast (UK).
together. Cliff erosion is commonly viewed as a result of
marine processes where waves undercut cliffs and reduce cliff
support until collapse occurs, and the fallen debris is sub-
sequently removed by waves to expose the cliff – thereby re-
peating the cycle (Figure 6). However, sea cliffs can continue
to erode even when abandoned by the sea or in the absence of
undercutting because of mass wasting processes (Nott, 1990;
Lee and Clark, 2002). Consequently, coastal cliff profiles de-
cline in gradient. In many areas, cliff erosion is also a function
of the amount, mobility, and morphology of the sediment or
mass movement debris at its base, which determine the ac-
cessibility of the cliff face to wave attack. In addition, surface
and ground water also play parts in producing conditions for
cliff failure. Surface water running down cliff faces washes
material down slope. Groundwater causes loading and lubri-
cation in discontinuities, thus reducing the strength of rock
materials. Seepage of ground water at the cliff face can erode
material and weaken discontinuities. Water can also cause
weathering and dissolution, thereby further reducing rock
strength.
10.11.3 Rocky Coast Landforms
Worldwide, the morphology of sea cliffs is highly varied, re-
sulting from the complex interplay between different erosion
processes and the bedrock in which the cliffs have formed.
Moreover, many rocky coasts have evolved slowly and may
have partly inherited their morphology from processes oper-
ating under different climatic conditions. Figure 7 provides a
simple conceptual framework that considers the varied de-
velopment of sea-cliff morphology. During the Last Glacial,
global eustatic sea-level was as much as 120 m below present
(Chappell and Shackleton, 1986). Hence, for many thousands
of years, many contemporary sea cliffs were subject only
to subaerial processes that degraded and rounded cliff
profiles. Subsequent climatic warming was accompanied by a
marine transgression that drove sediments landward, flooded
embayments, and reexposed cliffed coasts to wave attack. At
present, some degraded (former) profiles remain at the coast,
Rock Coasts 295
Active
M >> SA
Boulders
M > SA
Inactive
Talus
M = SA
Former
M < SA
Fan
(a) (b)
Figure 7 Idealized cliff profiles cut in homogenous rocks, showing
(a) geological history, and (b) relative efficacy of marine (M) and
subaerial (SA) processes. Adapted from Emery, K.O., Kuhn, G.G.,
1982. Sea cliffs: their processes, profiles, and classification.
Geological Society of America Bulletin 93, 644–654, with permission
from Geological Society of America.
but in some locations profiles have been partially rejuvenated
by undercutting. In some cases there is little evidence of a
formerly degraded profile.
Shore platforms generally occur where cliff erosion has
been active, although they may be partially or completely
covered by beaches. In contrast, where steep cliffs plunge into
deep water, wave energy is reflected from the cliff-face
and marine erosion processes are ineffectual. These different
evolutionary pathways are heavily dependent on the local
sea-level history, sediment supply, lithology, antecedent
topography, tectonics, and the local process regime.
Stacks and arches (Figure 8) are smaller scale features of
many rock coasts and are commonly valued components of
coastal landscapes, important to tourism and sightseeing. The
geomorphic significance of such features is seldom investi-
gated. An exception is the work of Trenhaile et al. (1998) who
assessed the role of rock hardness and joints in the develop-
ment of stacks at Cape Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick,
Canada. Stacks in rock with the same strength as the sur-
rounding shore platforms resulted from the patterns, spacing,
and location of jointing and faults. In other cases, stacks occur
because they are formed from more resistant rock and become
isolated as the surrounding shore line retreats. Earlier work by
Shepard and Kuhn (1983) also noted the importance of
preferential erosion along joints and channels cut by surges in
the development of sea arches and caves. Johnson (1925)
documented the development of a sea arch from a cave which
broke through the other side of a promontory. In both ex-
amples researchers utilized historical photographs to docu-
ment the evolutionary sequence of arch development.
296 Rock Coasts
Figure 8 Stack on Flower Pot Island, Bruce Peninsula, between
Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
10.11.3.1 Relict, Composite, and Plunging Sea-Cliffs
‘Former’ sea-cliffs (Figure 7) are cliffs that were exposed
to marine undercutting in the distant past, perhaps during
the Last Interglacial, high sea level (124–119 years BP), or
even prior to that. Cliff profiles were subsequently degraded
during the Last Glacial, and for a number of local reasons
the cliffs were not reexcavated during the Holocene.
Good examples of such profiles occur on coasts exposed to
tectonic uplift, such as the central Californian (USA) coastline,
where a suite of marine terraces exhibit paleocliff profiles that
become more rounded with age (Rosenbloom and Anderson,
1994). On tectonically stable coasts, most rocky shorelines
have been reactivated to some extent by Holocene raised
sea level.
The importance of different local controls was well
demonstrated in Savigear’s (1952) classic study of slope-
development in southern Wales (UK), where he noted that a
laterally extending beach system in front of a cliffed hinterland
had resulted in the cliffs progressively losing contact with the
sea, resulting in a gradual conversion of the cliffs to debris-
mantled slopes. The sequence of cliff profiles was immediately
identified as showing ergodic evidence of space–time substi-
tution (Burt, 2003).
These examples are typical of many observations that cliff
profiles are generally steepened under wave attack and de-
graded under subaerial erosion. Some cliffs, known as com-
posite cliffs, consist of a number of distinct slope elements. A
variety of terms have been used to describe composite cliffs
that have fairly gentle slope above a steep cliff face, including
‘slope over wall,’ ‘hog’s back,’ and ‘beveled cliffs’ (see Trenhaile,
1987). There has been much discussion of the origin of
composite profiles. Fisher (1866) originally suggested that
alternating periods of marine and subaerial erosion might be
responsible, whereas Challinor (1949) thought that the upper,
gently sloping surface and the lower, steep cliff face could form
contemporaneously. Improved recognition of the nature of
repeated Quaternary sea-level fluctuations led later researchers
toward the view that the degraded, rounded profile is likely
formed by subaerial processes during periods of lower sea
level, whereas with warmer climates, rising sea levels renew
wave attack and steepen the base of the cliff (e.g., Cotton,
1951; Guilcher, 1958). This view has been supported by
Kirkby’s (1984) modeling that supported Savigear’s (1952)
view of the very gradual nature of degraded slope develop-
ment. The simplest development of composite cliffs involves
one glacial–interglacial cycle in which all previous evidence of
development have been destroyed. Flemming (1965) and
Cotton (1967) discussed such a possibility in the context of
cliffed profiles around the Auckland Islands in the Southern
Ocean. However, in other instances, cliff profiles may have
been produced by several phases of erosion across multiple
glacial/interglacial cycles (Wood, 1959; Griggs and Trenhaile,
1994).
The form of composite cliffs results from the interplay
between several factors. Arber (1949) discussed the interplay
between geology and the process environment while con-
sidering the development of cliff profiles in Devon and
Cornwall along the southeastern coast of England (UK). She
noted that landward dipping strata generally give rise to ‘hog’s
back’-type composite cliffs, but in cliffs without structural
planes the resulting profile tends to be very steep with a flat
top, provided that marine processes are dominant. If there is a
balance between marine and subaerial processes, then the
upper portion of the profile may be rounded whereas the
lower portion may be steep because of wave undercutting (as
depicted in Figure 7). In highly resistant rocks, vertical slopes
can persist even in the absence of basal undercutting by wave
action. Hence, where precipitous hard-rock cliffs occur in
coastal environments, the profile that develops during glacial
periods is not a degraded, rounded hillslope, but is instead a
near-vertical cliff face mantled at its toe by talus. If the cliff is
high and the lithology resistant, there will be insufficient time
for the talus slope to accumulate and build to the cliff top. At
Lord Howe Island (located 600 km east of Australia in the
Tasman Sea), for instance, very large talus slopes occur at the
base of near-vertical basalt cliffs 800 m high (Dickson, 2004;
Dickson and Woodroffe, 2005). Holocene sea-level rise has
been unable to remove these very large talus deposits, and the
cliffs are relict in the sense that marine erosion processes are
currently ineffectual. Where lower cliffs occur around Lord
Howe Island, smaller talus slopes accumulated during the Last
Glacial, and wave action has since been sufficient to remove
the talus. In some locations, the rocks are sufficiently hard that
upon removing talus, the cliff face was drowned, rather than
eroded by sea-level rise. These are referred to as plunging cliffs.
An important feature of plunging cliffs is that deep water oc-
curs at the cliff toe, preventing waves breaking against the cliff
face, and preventing an accumulation of debris within the
water column that might be used in abrasion (Cotton, 1949).

As a result, plunging cliffs are generally considered to be re-
sistant to erosion (Figure 9).
Davis provided one of the first specific descriptions of
plunging cliffs in basaltic rocks around the Pacific Islands and
also on Banks Peninsula, New Zealand (Davis, 1928). At a
similar time, Daly (1927) described plunging cliffs around the
island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Darwin
(1844, 1846) also considered the development of the cliffed
coast of Saint Helena, and pondered how marine processes
could have continuously cut the cliffs around the island under
stable levels of land and sea. Darwin (1846, p. 26) concluded
that the island must have slowly subsided in order that waves
could continue their attack with ‘fresh and unimpaired vigor.’
Darwin’s theory was overlooked for many decades as re-
searchers believed that waves could cut rock to a great depth
below sea level, thereby enabling the continued delivery
of high energy waves to the cliff toe. Dietz and Menard
(1951) and Dietz (1963) eventually dispelled this notion,
and a greater understanding of Quaternary glaciations in the
Figure 9 Plunging cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbor, Australia.
Shore platform (type A and B)
No platform (plunging cliff)
102
p (tonne m–2)
Shore platform formation
101
101
Figure 10 Demarcation between shore platform and plunging cliff. Reproduced from Tsujimoto, H., 1987. Dynamic conditions for shore
platform initiation. Science Report of the Institute of Geoscience, University of Tsukuba A8, 45–93, with permission from Dspace.
Rock Coasts 297
twentieth century made it clear that repeated sea-level move-
ments provided the mechanism necessary for continued cliff-
ing, rather than gradual subsidence.
10.11.3.2 Shore Platforms
Plunging cliffs are resistant to marine erosion, but where cliffs
do yield to erosive forces a range of morphologies can be
produced. Shore platforms are one of the most distinctive fea-
tures. The critical conditions necessary for the erosion of rock
coasts were considered in detail by Tsujimoto (1987). He se-
lected 25 sites around the Japanese coast and quantified rock
resistance using measurements of compressive strength as well
as a discontinuity index based on longitudinal, wave velocity
measurements. Wave force at each site was calculated on the
basis of nearshore bathymetry and incident wave conditions. As
Figure 10 illustrates, this work showed that when a threshold is
exceeded between rock resistance and wave force, rocky shore
morphology changes from plunging cliffs to shore platforms.
A large proportion of the rocky coast literature is focused
on the horizontal or gently sloping surfaces that develop at the
base of cliffs as they retreat. Various terms have been used to
describe these features, but the most appropriate is ‘shore
platform,’ which usefully has no genetic connotation, for there
remains some debate in respect to the relative importance of
different controls on shore platform evolution. At a broad
scale, a process-based distinction between sloping and near-
horizontal platforms is possible on the basis of tidal range. In
most areas where the tidal range is from the high end of the
mesotidal to the macrotidal, shore platforms are sloping
(typically 1.51 to more than 41), and they extend from the
cliff-platform junction to below the low tide level without a
clear break in slope. Platform gradient increases as tidal range
increases, implying that erosion at different tidal stages exerts
an important influence on platform development (e.g., see
Trenhaile, 1974, 1987, 1999; Trenhaile and Layzell, 1981). In
microtidal areas, shore platforms are usually near-horizontal,
with a gradient of about 11 or less, and ‘often’ but not always
No platform formation
102 103 104
S∗ (tonne m–2)
c
298 Rock Coasts

they have a distinctive scarp at the seaward edge. Sunamura

(1992) referred to these morphologies as ‘Type-A’ (sloping)
and ‘Type-B’ (near-horizontal) and viewed the presence of a
seaward scarp as an essential distinction. One difficulty arises
in classification because some microtidal locations have plat-
forms with very low gradients and no clear seaward scarp (e.g.,
Edwards, 1951; Hills, 1972; Kennedy and Dickson, 2006). The
gradient of these platforms may be minimal, commonly 11 or
less, but the presence or absence of the scarp is generally used
in classifying the morphology as Type-A or Type-B. Potential
confusion exists, therefore, because microtidal platforms of
very low gradient without a clear seaward edge might be
considered Type-A alongside platforms that have developed in
quite different conditions in macrotidal environments. For the
purposes of this section we discuss ‘near-horizontal’ platforms
(gradients of less than about 11), which generally occur in
microtidal areas, and ‘sloping platforms’ which have gradients
of greater than about 11 and generally occur in high mesotidal
and macrotidal areas, separately. In the case of near-horizontal
platforms we specifically discuss the presence or absence of a
clearly marked seaward scarp.

10.11.3.2.1 Near-horizontal platforms

Contemporary shore platforms, as opposed to those inherited
from previous high stands of sea level, were probably initiated at
the beginning of the Holocene still-stand (i.e., 6000–7000 years
BP). Sunamura (1975, 1976, 1991) conducted laboratory ex-
periments on model cliffs composed of Portland cement, quartz
sand, and water. When subjected to wave attack, notches de- Figure 11 Seaward edge of a horizontal platform on Kaikoura
veloped in the cliff face and deepened over the experiments, Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand, showing abrupt seaward edge
which generally ran for around 100 h (Sunamura, 1992). In the sometimes referred to as a low tide cliff.
field a continuation of this process would lead to a stress state in
the cliff face that would result in cliff collapse. Subsequent debris
removal would expose a cliff and near-horizontal platform with
an abrupt seaward scarp (Figure 11). Basal erosion of cliffs is an
important process, and the simple cantilever-collapse mech-
anism plays an important role in the gradual evolution of many
rocky coasts. However, it is interesting to note that recent
measurements on cliffs in North Yorkshire (UK) show that
complex rock-fall patterns occur on the faces of sea-cliffs without
a high degree of connectivity to basal erosion processes (Lim
et al., 2005, 2010a, b).
Near-horizontal platforms with a characteristic seaward
scarp have been described in many areas, particularly around
Australasia (e.g., Bartrum, 1924, 1926; Jutson, 1939; Edwards,
1941; Hills, 1949; Gill, 1967; Cotton, 1963; Bird and Dent,
1966; Kirk, 1977; Stephenson and Kirk, 2000a, b; Dickson,
2006; Kennedy and Dickson, 2006; Kennedy, 2010) and Japan
(e.g., Takahashi, 1977; Tsujimoto, 1987; Sunamura, 1992).
The width of these platforms is measured from the cliff-toe to Figure 12 A near-horizontal platform, 100–130 m wide, cut in
the seaward edge, and varies between narrow platforms only a sandstone at Pakiri, 65 km northeast of Auckland, North Island, New
few meters wide to platforms hundreds of meters in width Zealand. The platform is elevated just above high tide level and
(Figure 12). Platform elevation also varies considerably, with plunges into 10–13 m water depth.
some platforms formed around low-tide level, others at a
range of inter-tidal elevations, and yet others at a range of when salt weathering processes operate on structural weak-
supratidal elevations up to several meters above high tide. nesses in the rock mass (e.g., Ongley, 1940). These structural
Multiple Holocene shore platform elevations are preserved on benches differ from shore platforms, which develop at an
some coasts due to tectonic uplift (e.g., Kennedy and Beban, elevation that is not predetermined by rock structure.
2005). On stable coasts it is also possible to form benches in The laboratory results of Sunamura (1991) imply that
cliff faces at multiple elevations tens of meters above sea level shore platform elevation increases as rock resistance increases.

This observation is consistent with many field observations
(e.g., Gill, 1967; Trenhaile, 1969, 1987; Hills, 1971; Kirk,
1977; Reffell, 1978; Gill and Lang, 1983; Thornton and Ste-
phenson, 2006). Sunamura (1991) also deduced that platform
elevation should be higher where nearshore water depth is
greater. At Lord Howe Island (Tasman Sea) the elevation of
basalt shore platforms positively correlated both with rock
resistance and nearshore water depth (Dickson, 2006). Some
researchers have also noted that higher platforms tend to form
where wave exposure is greater (e.g., Kirk, 1977; Reffell, 1978).
Multiple controls on platform elevation mean that their
potential use as paleosea-level markers is fraught with dif-
ficulty. One of the earliest descriptions of near-horizontal
platforms was made by Dana (1849), who described surfaces
with a clear seaward scarp around the Bay of Islands, New
Zealand. Bartrum (1916, 1926) noted that the elevation of
these platforms is a little below HWL, and subsequently de-
veloped a theory that rock saturation level might control
platform elevation. This formed an early focus for debate
around the relative roles of weathering and wave erosion
processes. Trenhaile and Mercan (1984) subsequently showed
that rock saturation does not control elevation, and Kennedy
et al. (2010) recently surveyed the platforms in the Bay of
Islands, showing that they occur at a range of elevations be-
tween a little above mean high spring tide and closer to mean
sea level. They noted that platform elevation tends to increase
both with exposure to wave action and with the depth of water
immediately in front of the platform.
A level of agreement has emerged with respect to controls
on the elevation of near-horizontal platforms, but no such
consistency is apparent with respect to platform width. Several
studies have noted that wider platforms occur where rock re-
sistance is lowest (e.g., Agar, 1960; Everard et al., 1964;
Takahashi, 1977). Similarly, the narrowest platforms commonly
occur where more resistant rocks limit the extent of platform
widening. However, in some areas resistant rocks are associ-
ated with wider platforms, whereas less resistant rocks have
narrower platforms (e.g., Edwards, 1941; So, 1965). Similar
discordance exists with respect to exposure to wave energy,
because width is commonly greater where wave exposure is
greater (e.g., Swan, 1971; Trenhaile, 1972), but in some in-
stances wider platforms actually occur in sheltered embay-
ments (e.g., Edwards, 1941; Hills, 1949; Bird and Dent, 1966).
A number of factors obfuscate platform–width relationships.
For instance, some shore platforms may have been formed
over more than one sea-level cycle (e.g., Brooke et al., 1994).
Another issue concerns the assumption that the seaward edge
of shore platforms marks the origin of platform cutting. Many
early researchers considered the possibility that the seaward
scarp of near-horizontal platforms might retreat (e.g., Bar-
trum, 1926; Jutson, 1939; Edwards, 1951; Hills, 1949). On
aeolianite coasts the edge of shore platforms can be seen to be
undercut with many dislodged blocks in front of the platform
(e.g., Gill, 1972; Dickson and Woodroffe, 2005). Blocks in
front of the seaward scarp can be seen in other lithologies also,
but as Stephenson (2000) pointed out, because of the slow
rate of change, it is not always clear whether these blocks have
been sourced from the seaward scarp or the landward cliff.
Sunamura (1992) noted that there has been little con-
sideration of wave dynamics on the seaward edge of shore
Rock Coasts 299
platforms. He described the results of laboratory experiments
(Sunamura, 1991) that show that the submerged part of a
homogenous cliff is free from erosion, because the assailing
force of breaking waves decreases exponentially with water
depth. Sunamura (1992) further pointed out that following
storms, field observations show that seaward scarps com-
monly remain covered in marine flora/fauna. He concluded
that the seaward scarp does not recede under present sea level
provided that platforms are cut in insoluble rocks without
significant lithological structures. This latter ‘proviso’ is par-
ticularly important, for in many situations shore platform
development occurs in areas where there are significant
lithological structures. Despite this, most recent studies of
shore platforms in microtidal settings assume that the seaward
edge has remained stationary over the course of platform de-
velopment. This is clearly not the case in the Bay of Islands
(North Island, New Zealand), where joints generally run
parallel to the cliff face and have been heavily eroded, in some
instances causing a platform to be completely dissected,
causing a decrease in platform width (Kennedy et al., 2010).
Significant erosion of the seaward edge of platforms affords
one possible explanation for anomalous relationships be-
tween platform width and exposure to wave energy, although
many other factors could be important from site to site.
A second important matter in respect to the seaward scarp
concerns the issue of preservation. It is possible along short
sections of coast in which the tidal range is micro or low
mesotidal, to observe platforms with very gentle slopes alter-
nating between areas that have a clearly marked seaward scarp
and those that descend beneath sea level without a clear edge
(e.g., Healy, 1968; Stephenson and Kirk, 2001). Gill (1972)
noted that the seaward edge is generally preserved where rock
resistance is higher, and Bird and Dent (1966) commented
that local availability of abrasive material seems to be im-
portant. In addition to distinguishing a critical condition be-
tween plunging cliffs and shore platforms, the data collected
by Tsujimoto (1987) also provides for discrimination between
sloping (Type-A) and near-horizontal (Type-B) platforms. In
rocks of lesser resistance the seaward edge is destroyed by wave
attack leading to the sloping form.
10.11.3.2.2 Sloping platforms
A strong positive correlation occurs between tidal range and
the gradient of sloping platforms (Trenhaile, 1974, 1987).
Seaward scarps generally do not form in high mesotidal set-
tings (tidal range 3 to 4 m) and are absent from macrotidal
environments regardless of rock type. Sloping shore platforms
have been the subject of many conceptual models. A widely
held view of their development follows the theoretical work of
Challinor (1949) who proposed that such platforms might
retreat self-parallel, with constant geometry, provided that
rates of downcutting are sufficiently rapid to allow continued
wave attack at the cliff toe. Several mathematical models
subsequently expanded on this work. Flemming (1965) sim-
plified the important processes involved in self-parallel retreat
by neglecting the possible effects of rock weathering, tidal
movement, and beach development. The model implied that
cliff recession decreases with time but never ceases. By con-
trast, the equations developed by Sunamura (1978a, b, 1992)
imply that erosion rates decline over time and eventually
300 Rock Coasts
become zero when the wave assailing force is below the re-
sistance of the cliff rock. This suggests that platform geometry
becomes wider and flatter as rock resistance decreases, al-
though the model does not account for weathering, or the
accumulation of beach materials, or the effect of tide range. In
contrast Trenhaile (1983) specifically modeled the effects of
variable rates of erosion at different tidal levels. Again the
model showed that initial rates of platform development are
rapid, but eventually that rates of erosion at high and low tidal
levels become similar, resulting in an equilibrium morph-
ology. Walkden and Hall (2005) and Walkden and Dickson
(2008) recently explored the development of sloping plat-
forms in soft rocks using a numerical model, and reached a
conclusion similar to that of early conceptual models: erosion
rates decrease asymptotically from some initial condition (e.g.,
a vertical cliff), and eventually the sloping rock shore profile
dynamically adjusts to wave forcing but over time maintains a
similar profile, provided that boundary conditions are con-
stant. Similar equilibrium profiles develop with stable sea level
in Trenhaile’s (2010b) cohesive-clay coast model.
Field studies have shown that the size and amount of debris
on sloping platforms leads to changes in the platform profile
(Robinson, 1977a, b, c). On chalk cliffs, more elevated plat-
forms were noted in embayments near Kent, England (UK)
because sand in embayments resulted in wave runup accessing
higher parts of the cliff than on headlands (Wood, 1968).
However, the reverse situation has also been noted on the Isle
of Thanet in Kent (So, 1965), where lower platform surfaces
have been attributed to the abrasive role of sediment in low-
ering platforms. Wright (1970) noted that alongshore variation
in the cliff–platform junction on the southern coast of England
generally correlates with changes in tidal range, but the lo-
cations of more resistant strata are also important (Wright,
1967). Similarly, Trenhaile (1972) showed that in the Vale of
Glamorgan, Wales, the elevation of the cliff–platform junction
increases as the magnitude of tidal range increases, but con-
siderable variability is owing to differences in local lithology.
10.11.3.3 Inheritance
Understanding the role of inheritance in rock coast evolution is
one of the most significant problems in rock coast research
(Trenhaile, 2002). Several studies have shown that because of
the slow rate of change of rock coasts, shore platform morph-
ology observed today may have been partly formed during the
Last Interglacial or before (Bird and Dent, 1966; Woodroffe
et al., 1992; Young and Bryant, 1993; Brooke et al., 1994; Stone
et al., 1996; Trenhaile et al., 1999; Blanco Chao et al., 2003;
Gómez-Pujol et al., 2006). Although based on measurements of
relatively rapid erosion rates, Kirk (1977), and later Stephenson
and Kirk (1998) argued that the shore platforms on Kaikoura
Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand are contemporary fea-
tures developed in the last 6000 to 7000 years.
It is important to consider if Holocene sea-level fluctu-
ations (where they occurred) influenced platform develop-
ment to any great extent. There have been few detailed studies
of the effect of Holocene sea-level change on rock coasts, al-
though the effect of a Holocene highstand on calcarenite
shore platform morphology is clear at Lord Howe Island
(Woodroffe et al., 1995; Dickson and Woodroffe, 2005), and
the possible effects of Holocene higher sea level have been
noted in Sydney, Australia (Kennedy, 2010). An analysis of
high-resolution, laser scan data from Shag Point, South Island,
New Zealand, which revealed the extent of two distinct sur-
faces, raises the possibility that Holocene sea-level movements
initiated platforms at more than one elevation (Palamara
et al., 2007).
Trenhaile (2010a) considered the issue of a higher Holo-
cene sea level using a numerical model. Interestingly, although
the model results supported previous work that showed a link
between tidal range and platform slope, and between rock
resistance and platform type, the model runs imply that
Holocene sea-level history provides a further reason for the
difference between sloping platforms and subhorizontal
platforms. This example highlights the importance of model-
ing as a valuable method for understanding longer term rock
coast development.
10.11.4 Rock Coast Modeling
Rock coasts develop very slowly and attempts to determine
modes and rates of long-term development are constrained by
the general absence of datable deposits and suitable dating
techniques. Many attempts have been made to model the
evolution of rock coasts (e.g., Trenhaile, 2003), although their
inherent complexity – the product of myriad geological and
morphogenic factors – makes it difficult to represent all the
variables that play a role in their development. Although
Sanders (1968) and Sunamura (1973, 1975) studied the
erosion of plaster and cement blocks in wave tanks and
flumes, most rock coast models have been mathematical and
focused on the two-dimensional development of coastal pro-
files, and especially with intertidal shore platforms and sub-
marine continental shelves.
10.11.4.1 Coastal Profiles
The first models of coastal profiles were qualitative, structured
within a cycle of erosion and based on the premise, which was
prevalent in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth
century, that submarine erosion is effective down to depths of
about 100 m or more, and thus able to produce extensive
marine surfaces while sea level is stationary (Ramsey, 1846;
Johnson, 1919). Davis (1896) inferred, in diagrammatic form,
that wave-eroded submarine surfaces become wider through
time while maintaining a constant gradient, whereas Johnson
(1919) proposed that surface gradients decrease, albeit at a
slow rate in the early stages of development, as surface width
increases. Conversely, Challinor (1949) thought that sub-
marine surfaces undergo parallel slope retreat, without any
change in width or gradient, as they migrate landward. Several
workers also suggested that shore platforms experience paral-
lel slope retreat (Edwards, 1941; Bird, 1968; Trenhaile, 1972).
These conceptual models were based on the assumption that
the negative feedback relationship between bottom gradient,
rates of wave attenuation, and the energy reaching the cliff

foot produces a constant rate of erosion at different elevations
within the intertidal zone.
Most of the early mathematical models were concerned
with erosion with constant sea level in tideless seas (Flem-
ming, 1965; Scheidegger, 1970; Sunamura, 1976, 1978a, b).
Trenhaile’s (1983) model calculated erosion rates at the high
and low tidal levels but did not consider rates at intermediate
elevations. Trenhaile and Layzell’s (1981) model was the first
to consider erosion within the intertidal zone, based on the
percentage frequency or total time each year that the water
surface, and consequently wave action, is at each intertidal
elevation (the tidal duration value).
Mathematical models developed in Japan related the rate of
cliff erosion (dx/dt) to the height of the waves at the cliff foot
and the compressive and impact strength of the rocks (Hor-
ikawa and Sunamura, 1967). Sunamura (1977) proposed that:
dx=dt p 1nðfw =fr Þ ð1Þ
where dx/dt is the mean cliff erosion rate, fw is the assailing
force of the waves, and fr is the resisting force of the rocks. The
term fr can be approximated by (rgH/Sc) þ C, where r is the
density of sea water, g is the acceleration due to gravity, H is
the wave height at the cliff base, Sc is the compressive strength
of the rock, and C is a dimensionless constant. Tsujimoto
(1987) provided expressions for fw and fr based on wave
pressure and the longitudinal sound wave velocity in the rock
body, as well as nondimensional constants representing
abrasion and the effect of weathering. Although these in-
vestigations attempted to identify and quantify factors that
determine rates of cliff erosion, it is questionable whether
these simple variables can adequately represent the driving
and resisting forces. There are also many other variables to
consider, including the effect of tidal variations, which deter-
mine the frequency of wave attack at the cliff foot, the dip and
strike of the rock, and the presence, mobility and quantity of
cliff-foot deposits, and whether they function as protective or
erosive agents (Trenhaile, 1999). It is unlikely that math-
ematical equations can adequately represent the effect of
many of these factors, and rock coast models may therefore
have to continue to rely, at least in part, upon empirical data.
Field evidence indicates that most mechanical wave ero-
sion occurs through processes that are closely associated with
the water surface, including water hammer and air com-
pression in joints, bedding planes, and other rock crevices
(Sanders, 1968; Robinson, 1977a; Trenhaile, 1987). Trenhaile
(2000) developed a wave-erosion model that used basic wave
equations to explore the interaction between wave dynamics,
tidal regimes (tidal range, tidal duration distribution), rock
resistance, coastal morphology, and erosion at the shoreline.
The model predicted that, under stable sea-level conditions,
shore platform width increases and gradient decreases until a
state of static equilibrium is reached, when the attenuated
waves at each tidal elevation are unable to erode the rock.
Because the breaker depth is related to the wave height, high
waves expend more of their energy in crossing wide, turbulent
surf zones than lower waves crossing narrow surf zones; con-
sequently, there was no consistent relationship in the model
runs between the width of the shore platforms and deep water
wave height.
Rock Coasts 301
The present morphology of slowly changing rock coasts is
also the result of Quaternary changes in sea level, and in many
areas changes in the elevation of the land. Scheidegger (1962,
1970) and King (1963) modeling the effect of steadily rising
and falling sea level on rock coasts, and Sunamura (1978b)
modeling the development of erosional continental shelves,
albeit in a tideless sea, during the Holocene transgression. The
effect of different Holocene relative sea-level curves, which are
characteristic of different geographic locations, was examined
by Trenhaile and Byrne (1986), based on Trenhaile’s (1983)
wave erosional model, and the same model was used to in-
vestigate the formation of continental shelves and wide coastal
terraces with changing sea level over five glacial–interglacial
cycles (Trenhaile, 1989). Cinque et al. (1995) and Anderson
et al. (1999) included, in addition to Quaternary changes in
sea level, the effect of tectonic uplift on marine terrace for-
mation. Trenhaile’s (2000) model, which considered the way
that wave energy is expended within the intertidal zone, was
used to study: (1) the effect of high sea level during the last
two interglacial sea stages on contemporary intertidal shore
platforms (Trenhaile, 2001a); (2) the evolution of shore
platforms and erosional continental and volcanic island
shelves during the Quaternary (Trenhaile, 2001b; Quartau
et al., 2010); (3) the formation of subaerial and submarine
terraces during the Quaternary on tectonically mobile coasts
(Trenhaile, 2002); and (4) the effect of Holocene changes in
relative sea level on subaerial to submarine profiles (Trenhaile,
2010a). The main conclusions of these investigations were
that:
1. Shore platforms are over-steepened and truncated by fall-
ing and rising sea level during the onset and end of glacial
stages, respectively, and then modified and restored to a
state of quasiequilibrium during the ensuing interglacials,
largely by erosion at the high tidal level (Trenhaile, 2001b).
2. Marine terraces are formed during interglacial stages on
rising landmasses and during glacial stages on subsiding
landmasses. The number of terraces increases with the rate
of uplift and subsidence and with the slope of the land
(Trenhaile, 2002).
3. Although tidal range is also important, falling relative
sea level from its mid-Holocene maximum, 1 to 2 m above
its present level, promoted subhorizontal platform devel-
opment in Australasia and over much of the Southern
Hemisphere, whereas the asymptotic rise in sea level over
much of the Northern Hemisphere promoted the devel-
opment of sloping platforms (Trenhaile, 2010a).
Most rock coast modeling has been concerned with
mechanical wave erosion on sloping platforms in mega to
mesotidal environments, and the additional effect of wea-
thering has only been considered recently. Downwearing data
from transverse arrays of microerosion meters was incorpor-
ated into a model that considered the role of weathering in
conjunction with wave quarrying, abrasion, and beach devel-
opment (Trenhaile, 2005), and in a wave erosional model
to investigate the development of sloping and horizontal
shore platforms (Trenhaile, 2008a, b). Other models have
considered the effect of weathering, acting alone, in shore
platform development (Trenhaile, 2001c, 2004b). These
models suggested that weathering is unable to produce wide
302 Rock Coasts
shore platforms by itself, although it can play an important
direct role in lowering and widening wave-cut surfaces, as well
as facilitating wave quarrying by acting along joints and other
rock discontinuities, and by lowering platform surfaces, re-
ducing rates of wave attenuation.
Many coasts are composed of rocks that break down into
clays and other fine-grained particles that are carried offshore,
or of rocks that break down too slowly to produce extensive
sandy or pebble beaches. Nevertheless, there is commonly a
thin strip of sand or pebble at the cliff foot, or in small pockets
trapped against scarps or in topographic depressions, and
some rocky intertidal zones are covered entirely in beach
sediment. The occurrence and morphodynamics of platform-
beaches has received little attention in the literature, although
many beaches have a rock foundation and will therefore re-
spond in a different way to storms and rising sea level than
beaches on entirely depositional coasts. Trenhaile (2004c)
modeled beaches on shore platforms to determine the con-
ditions under which deposition takes place, and how plat-
form-beaches adjust to changing wave conditions. The model
was based on the assumptions that: sediment accumulation
occurs where the local gradient of the platform is lower than
the gradient of the beach face (which depends on grain size,
breaker height, and wave period); and deposition takes place
on the most landward of the suitable sites. Consequently, if
the surface is linear and has a gradient that is lower than the
beach face for the prevailing wave conditions, sediment ac-
cumulates at the cliff foot, and then, depending on sediment
availability, extends increasingly seaward. On concave and
convex platform profiles, accumulation begins on the gently
sloping, seaward portions and on the more gently sloping
landward portions, respectively, as long as these local gradi-
ents are lower than the beach face gradient. During storms,
platform-beaches become thinner and more gently sloping
and, depending on such factors as sediment grain size, plat-
form gradient, wave characteristics, and storm duration, may
disappear completely. The model suggested that because
platform and sandy beach face gradients are generally similar,
only a small proportion of the material eroded from the cliff
and platform can be stored in the intertidal zone. The beach-
platform model was also used as a component of a wave
erosional-weathering model to predict spatial and temporal
variations in the protection afforded to the underlying rock
surface by thick beach deposits and the abrasive effects of
thinner accumulations (Trenhaile, 2005).
The term ‘soft rock’ is commonly used to refer to cohesive
clays, shales, and other weak or weathered materials. Cohesive
clay coasts represent a ‘soft rock’ subset of a broad spectrum
of rock coast processes and forms, with cliffs and shore plat-
forms that are similar to those in quasihomogeneous shales.
Soft rock coasts experience fairly rapid coastal erosion
and the consequent threat to human life, and property has
generated a need for predictive bluff recession and other ero-
sional models with constant and rising lake and sea levels
(Bray and Hooke, 1997; Kamphuis, 1986; Nairn et al., 1986;
Sallenger et al., 2005; Lee, 2005; Collins and Sitar, 2008;
Hapke et al., 2009).
Several attempts have been made to model the effect of
changing sea level on soft rock coasts (Dar and Dar, 2009).
Walkden and Hall’s (2005) model was partly based on
Kamphuis’s (1986) erosional equation and described a broad
coastal system that could be perturbed to represent manage-
ment interventions and climate change (Dickson et al., 2007).
Walkden and Dickson (2008) used the model to explore the
effects of sea-level rise on soft-rock shores with little beach
sediment. Ashton et al. (2011) reproduced the basic finding of
Walkden and Dickson (2008) and used a simpler model to
discuss the potential responses of different types of cliffed
coasts to changes in the rate of sea-level rise. Trenhaile’s
(2009) model combined elements of previous hard rock
models (Trenhaile, 2000, 2001a) with additional expressions
representing the effect of wave-generated bottom shear stres-
ses, and depending on beach thickness, determined using
Trenhaile’s (2004c) model, the abrasional or protective role of
beach material. This combined model has also been used to
study the effect of rising sea level and increased storminess on
hard and soft rock coasts (Trenhaile, 2010a, b, 2011).
10.11.4.2 Plan Shape
Much less work has been conducted on the plan shape than
on the sectional shape of rock coasts, or in integrating changes
in the vertical and horizontal planes. Many rocky coasts have
an irregular plan shape consisting of protruding headlands
and intervening fiord or ria inlets, or shallower bays that are
commonly occupied by bay-head beaches. Crenulated estu-
arine coasts were created by the drowning of river valleys by
rising sea level during the Holocene, and their morphology is
not directly related to differences in the resistance of the rocks
to erosion, although river valleys frequently develop along
faultlines or other zones of structural or lithological weakness.
In southeastern Australia, for example, the length of estuarine-
bays is related to the area of the associated drainage basins,
and their size depends upon the stream order at the coast and
the degree to which the sea has penetrated into the drainage
network (Bishop and Cowell, 1997). Conversely, bays that are
not at the mouth of river valleys are generally produced by
differential erosion of material that is weaker than in the ad-
jacent headlands. Variations in erosional efficacy along a coast
may reflect the occurrence of different rock strata striking at
high angles to the coast, the presence of folded rocks, faulting,
or more subtle, and harder to distinguish, variations in rock
structure. The amount of debris that accumulates at the foot of
a cliff, protecting it from erosion, is partly determined by the
height of the cliff. This factor is of little importance in clays
and other fine-grained materials that are quickly broken up
and carried offshore in suspension, but it can play an im-
portant role in rocks, that because of joint density and bed
thickness, break down into large rock fragments that remain at
the cliff foot for years. Therefore, variations in cliff height can
influence cliff recession rates, and because of low cliffs around
the mouths of rivers, cause bays to develop without any
marked alongshore variation in the resistance of the rock to
erosion.
The long-term development of crenulated coasts is gov-
erned by several important feedback mechanisms. As bays
develop along outcrops of weaker material, offshore gradients
become much lower than off the adjacent headlands and
the waves are consequently more attenuated in the bays.

Additionally, as the bays become deeper, wave refraction in-
creasingly concentrates wave energy on the headlands and
reduces it in the bays; bay erosion may be further inhibited by
the accumulation of eroded material in bay-head beaches.
Therefore, theory suggests that crenulated coasts eventually
attain a state of equilibrium, whereby stronger, less attenuated
and refracted waves erode largely bare cliff foots on headlands
at the same rate as weaker, more attenuated and refracted
waves erode beach-protected cliffs in bays (Johnson, 1919;
Muir-Wood, 1971; Komar, 1976; Philpott, 1984). It might be
expected that the depth of the bays would increase with the
difference in the erosional resistance of the rocks in the bays
and headlands, and decrease with the distance between the
headlands.
The development of crenulated coasts has important im-
plications for the prediction and mitigation of cliff erosion,
and particularly for anticipating the effect of rising sea level.
We lack reliable long-term records of episodic cliff recession
on crenulated coasts, however, and it is not known whether
these coasts trend toward equilibrium or whether there has
been enough time for such states to have developed. Fur-
thermore, it cannot be assumed that coasts become increas-
ingly crenulated, albeit at a decreasing rate, until an
equilibrium is attained. Profile adjustment to changing sea
level during the Quaternary would have disturbed any simple
trend toward an equilibrium state (Trenhaile, 2002) and cre-
nulated coasts are also affected in many areas by tectonic or
isostatic adjustments in the elevation of the land.
Small amounts of abrasive beach material can increase
rates of cliff and platform erosion in bays, but large amounts
may protect the cliff and allow erosion of the exposed head-
lands to reduce the degree of crenulation; this could eventu-
ally permit bay-head sediment to escape alongshore.
Therefore, beaches may play an important role in the devel-
opment of rocky coasts where there is a copious supply of
beach material from rivers or from rapidly eroding cliffs, and
particularly where, as on plate collision coasts, the rocks are
fairly homogeneous alongshore, and the plan shape presents
few obstacles to longshore transport. It has been proposed
that longshore variations in beach width, and consequently in
cliff and shore platform abrasion and protection, may provide
an additional explanation for the development of crenulated
coasts which does not depend upon differences in the resist-
ance of the rocks to erosion. Preliminary numerical modeling
suggests that variations in the alongshore distribution of
beach sediment may result in self-organization of headlands,
and that the headlands and intervening stretches of cliff-
backed pocket beaches all retreat at the same rate (Limber
et al., 2008, 2009).
10.11.5 Conclusions
Rock coasts dominate the world’s shorelines and will face
significant pressure from increasing development and occu-
pation, and sea-level rise predicted by climate warming
models. A resurgence in research activity in the last 15 years
has resulted in significant advances in our understanding of
the role of different processes and rates of development. The
application of new technologies and methods such as
Rock Coasts 303
terrestrial laser scanning, cosmogenic dating, and wave re-
cording, is improving our understanding of these common
coastal landforms. However, significant challenges remain
particularly in terms of representing rock resistance to erosion
processes across a range of scales, unraveling inheritance, and
the long term evolution of cliffs and shore platforms. Further
field-based investigations of surf zone hydrodynamics are re-
quired to better understand the erosional effectiveness of wave
processes and the significance, if any, of infragravity energy on
rock coasts. The role of weathering and biological processes in
reducing rock resistance still has not been fully explained. For
example, the relative contributions of bioerosion, protection,
and construction at any one site should be assessed. Further
modeling will aid in predicting how rock coasts respond to
climate change and sea-level rise.
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Biographical Sketch

Wayne Stephenson is currently a Senior Lecturer in Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. From
1999 to 2010 he was a member of the Geography Department at the University of Melbourne in Australia. He holds a PhD and MSc from the University of
Canterbury. His research is focussed on the geomorphology of rock coasts.

Dr. Mark Dickson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment, University of Auckland. He studied Geography at Massey University before completing a
PhD at the University of Wollongong where he studied the geomorphic evolution of hard rock shorelines around Lord Howe Island. Mark worked as a
postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol where he modelled the effects of climate change on rapidly eroding soft-rock coasts. He then returned to
New Zealand on a FRST Postdoctoral Fellowship and worked at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research modeling on chronically eroding
gravel shorelines. Mark has been at the University of Auckland since 2008. His current research interests include cliff erosion and shore platform devel-
opment, prograded barrier coasts and chenier plains, gravel coasts, and a range of coastal management issues associated with these landforms.

Alan Trenhaile (BSc, PhD, DSc) grew up in Abertillery, South Wales (UK). He was an undergraduate and graduate
student in the Geography Department of University College Swansea (now Swansea University), a constituent
college of the University of Wales. Upon completion of his doctorate, which was on the wide shore platforms
along the northern coast of the megatidal Severn Estuary, he accepted a position in the University of Windsor,
Ontario, Canada, where he now holds the title ‘University Prof.’ in the Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences. He has continued to work on various aspects of rock coasts. In addition to mathematical modeling of
hard and soft rock coastal evolution with changes in relative sea level and climate, his recent work, in the field and
through laboratory experiments, has been concerned with the processes operating on the sloping and horizontal
shore platforms of eastern Canada. Work is also being conducted in several other areas, including near La Paz,
Mexico, in the southern Baja Peninsula, Galicia in northwestern Spain, and on several island archipelagos in the
Atlantic Ocean. In addition to many research papers and several edited volumes, Dr. Trenhaile is the author of a
number of books, including: ‘The Geomorphology of Rock Coasts’ (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK);
‘Coastal Dynamics and Landforms’ (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK); ‘The Geomorphology of Canada’
(Oxford University Press, Toronto); and ‘Geomorphology: a Canadian Perspective’ (Oxford University Press,
Toronto), which is now in its fourth edition.
 10.12 Estuaries
NL Jackson, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.12.1 Introduction 308

10.12.2 Definition and Distribution 309
10.12.2.1 Characteristics and Dimensions 310
10.12.3 Classification of Estuaries 311
10.12.3.1 Geomorphic Classification 311
10.12.4 Estuarine Morphodynamics: Physical Factors 312
10.12.4.1 Sea Level 312
10.12.4.2 Tides 313
10.12.4.3 Waves 314
10.12.4.4 River Discharge 314
10.12.5 Morphodynamics and Evolution 315
10.12.5.1 Sediment Transport in Estuaries 315
10.12.5.2 Estuarine Geomorphic and Sedimentary Facies 315
10.12.5.2.1 Tide-dominated estuaries 315
10.12.5.2.2 Wave-dominated estuaries 316
10.12.5.2.3 Mixed wave-tide-dominated estuaries 316
10.12.5.2.4 River-dominated estuaries 316
10.12.6 Estuarine Subenvironments 316
10.12.6.1 Lower Intertidal 317
10.12.6.1.1 Tidal flats 317
10.12.6.1.2 Bedforms 317
10.12.6.2 Upper Intertidal Zone 318
10.12.6.2.1 Unconsolidated shorelines 318
10.12.6.2.2 Cohesive shorelines 319
10.12.6.3 Geomorphic–Biotic Interactions 320
10.12.6.4 Human-Modified Estuarine Systems 321
10.12.6.5 Restoration Practices 322
10.12.7 Future Issues 322
References 323

Abstract

Estuaries are among the most biologically productive and geomorphologically complex environments in the coastal zone.
Estuaries vary considerably in terms of geomorphology, tides, drainage basin and fluvial processes, water chemistry, wave
characteristics, sediment provenance, upland land use and land cover, biodiversity, and degree of human modification. This
chapter presents background information on the definition, classification, and characteristics of estuaries as well as the
physical processes that shape morphology. A review of research is presented, focusing on broad-scale estuarine morphology
and evolution and an examination of contemporary processes and forms in the intertidal zone. The chapter includes a
discussion of current issues in estuarine research, including geomorphic–biotic interactions, human-modified estuaries, and
restoration practices. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of future areas of concern given current attention to
climate variability and sea-level rise. Although the focus is on geomorphic research, there are references to key work within
biology, chemistry, and hydrology.

10.12.1 Introduction
Estuaries are among the most biologically productive and
geomorphologically complex environments in the coastal
Jackson, N.L., 2013. Estuaries. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman,
D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol.
10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 308–327.
zone. Estuaries are unique ecosystems that provide spawning
grounds for many organisms, feeding stops for migratory
birds, and natural filters to maintain water quality. Estuaries
have value to humans for shipping and boating, fishing, rec-
reation, mineral extraction, and release of waste materials.
Estuaries vary considerably in terms of geomorphology, tides,
drainage basin and fluvial processes, water chemistry, wave
characteristics, sediment provenance, upland land use and

308 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00285-2


land cover, biodiversity, and degree of human modification.
Research on estuaries is extensive and the subject of several
textbooks, scholarly monographs, and edited volumes over
the past 20 years (e.g., Nordstrom, 1992; Nordstrom and
Roman, 1996; Perillo, 1995a; Dyer, 1997; Pye and Allen,
2000; Fitzgerald and Knight, 2005; Hardisty, 2007). The
research on estuaries can be broadly categorized into three
areas: physical studies related to mixing and circulation
(Dyer, 1997; Uncles, 2002), biological studies on species
and habitats (Little, 2000), and geomorphological studies
on morphodynamics and evolution (Pye and Allen, 2000;
Heap et al., 2004; Fitzgerald and Knight, 2005; Anderson
and Rodriguez, 2008). Although estuaries constitute a sig-
nificant portion of the world’s coast, the published research
focuses largely on only a small subset of systems in Africa
(e.g., Mgeni), Asia (e.g., Pearl and Yangtzee), Australia
(e.g., Batesman, Murray, and Swan), Europe (e.g., Mersey,
Severn, and Siene), North America (e.g., Chesapeake,
Columbia River, Delaware, Narragansett, Puget Sound, San
Francisco, and St. Lawrence), and South America (e.g., Bahia
Blance and Rio de la Plata). Much of the research is based on
empirical studies of individual estuaries and includes regional
comparisons of estuarine systems and classifications of types
of estuaries. Recent advances in instrumentation have led
to better quantification and modeling of these systems
(Fitzgerald and Knight, 2005).
This chapter presents a review of research on broad-scale
estuarine morphology and evolution and an examination
of contemporary processes and forms in the intertidal zone.
The chapter concludes with a discussion of current issues in
estuarine research and future areas of concern given current
attention to climate variability and sea-level rise. Although the
focus is on geomorphic research, there are references to key
work within biology, chemistry, and hydrology.
10.12.2 Definition and Distribution
The word ‘estuary’ is a derivation of the latin word aestus,
meaning ‘of the tide’. Estuaries are generally considered areas
where saltwater from the ocean mixes with freshwater from
land drainage; but there are numerous definitions for the term
(Perillo, 1995b) reflecting the complex physical, geomorpho-
logical, and biological processes present. Among the earliest
definitions is that of Pritchard (1952), who defined an estuary
as ‘‘a semi-enclosed coastal body of water having a free con-
nection with the open sea and containing a measurable
quantity of sea water.’’ This definition was later modified by
Cameron and Pritchard (1963) to ‘‘a semi-enclosed coastal
body of water having a free connection with the open sea and
within which sea-water is measurably diluted with fresh water
derived from land drainage.’’ As Pritchard (1967a) explained,
the definition is based on the physical processes of circulation,
salinity, and density. Estuaries are commonly identified as one
of four types based on vertical stratification and mixing: highly
stratified, fjords, partially mixed, and well mixed. These pro-
cesses define not only the physical and biological attributes of
an estuary but also the geomorphology of the estuary insofar
as basin geometry influences circulation and salinity. The cir-
culation patterns common to estuaries are controlled by the
Estuaries 309
lateral boundaries of the basin and the connection to the sea
that establishes the density gradients that drive circulation
(Dyer, 1997).
The definition of an estuary, based on Cameron and
Pritchard (1963), is the most frequently cited among geo-
morphologists (Kench, 1999) and includes four types of
estuaries that meet the criteria: drowned river valleys, fjords,
bar-built estuaries, and tectonically controlled estuaries. Re-
searchers have found the need to develop a more universal
definition to include basins with different geomorphic attri-
butes from those common to the temperate regions of the
world that informed the definition of Cameron and Pritchard
(1963). The multidisciplinary dialog (Day, 1981; Kjerfve,
1994; Elliott and McLusky, 2002; Tagliapietra et al., 2009;
Potter et al., 2010) has expanded the geomorphic range
of what constitutes an estuary to include intermittently
open water bodies (Day, 1981), rivers flowing into nontidal
water bodies (Herdendorf, 1990), and lagoon environments
(Kjerfve, 1994). In policy circles, countries have developed
independent, and at times, scientifically conflicting definitions
for the term estuary. For example, in Europe the term ‘transi-
tional waters’ is used to provide an overarching term for im-
plementation of policy directives (McLusky and Elliott, 2007),
and in the USA the ‘estuary type’ areas of the Great Lakes are
included in the regulatory definition of the National Estuary
Program (United States Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA)). A universally acceptable definition has yet to sur-
face and it is likely that the discussion will continue. In this
chapter, estuary will include systems as defined by Cameron
and Pritchard (1963) but will also provide discussion on
systems that are not ‘classical’ estuaries, such as lagoons. The
intent is to present the reader with a broad picture of research
and discussion in the field.
The geographic distribution of estuaries is, in part,
influenced by how these systems are defined, but inherited
characteristics of the continental shelf, coastal lithology, tec-
tonic activity, and sea-level fluctuations also influence the lo-
cation of these systems (see Nichols and Biggs, 1985, Figures
2, 3; Perillo, 1995b, Figures 1, 2). The morphology of estuaries
around the world is highly variable and attributed to physical
factors such as climatic variation (tropical, humid, and
temperate), fluvial discharge (seasonal and episodic), wave
energy (locally generated, ocean generated), tidal regime
(micro, meso, and macro), and sediment availability and
characteristics (including textural properties of size and
sorting) from upland and marine sources. For example, in
Australia more than 738 estuaries occur (Bucher and Saenger,
1991) and include drowned river valley and bar-built estuaries
in the south, and delta-front estuaries in the north (Kench,
1999). In North America, the estuaries include both drowned
river valleys and bar-built estuaries along the Atlantic and
Gulf coasts, and also include fjords and tectonically influenced
estuaries on the Pacific coast (Pritchard, 1967a). In South
Africa where most micro-tidal estuaries are incised within
bedrock valleys, the estuaries are predominantly river
dominated or tide dominated (Cooper et al., 1999). In
Denmark, two large estuarine-fjord systems (Limfjord and
Isefjord–Roskilde Fjord) and numerous smaller estuaries (bays
and coves) are located on the 7300 km coastline (Conley
et al., 2000).
310 Estuaries
10.12.2.1 Characteristics and Dimensions
Estuaries are shaped by fluvial, estuarine, and marine pro-
cesses that give rise to a complex array of tidal channels, tidal
flats, marshes, beaches, barriers, and deltas. These processes
can act in concert such as where marine processes close an
inlet by bar formation and fluvial processes later reestablish
the opening to the sea by bar breaching. Sediment occurring
in an estuary is a product of all three processes and can range
from silts and clays to sand and gravel (Guilcher, 1967).
Where an estuary begins and ends is a function of the
physical criteria used (salinity, tidal influence, and origin
of sedimentary facies) but the limits of an estuary fluctuate
over time (Figure 1). Pritchard (1967a) defined the upper and
lower boundary of an estuary based on salinity. The upper
boundary is where salinity is 0.1% and the lower limit is
where salinity is 32%. Dalrymple et al. (1992) employed
geomorphic criteria and defined the upper limit as the facies
boundary between tidal and fluvial influenced sediments. The
lower limit of the estuary is the facies boundary between
marine and estuarine sediments. The seaward boundary may
be delimited by geomorphological features such as a delta at
the mouth of a drowned river valley estuary or a barrier
fronting a bar-built estuary. Hopkinson and Hoffman (1984)
extended the seaward limit beyond the coastal land masses to
the nearshore where seawater is diluted from land drainage.
Estuaries consist of one or more tidal channels and
intertidal flats and a grading of sediment occurs from the
Process gradient
River dominant
Fluvial/tidal sediment
Upper
River and tidal
processes
Estuary
Middle
Mixed river and
marine
Lower
Marine dominant
(waves and tides)
Marine sediment
Ocean
Figure 1 Generalized process and salinity gradients in a typical estuary. Modified from Pritchard, D.W., 1967a. What is an estuary: physical
view point. In: Lauff, G.H. (Ed.), Estuaries, Publication No. 83. AAAS, Washington, DC, pp. 3–5 and Dalrymple, R.W., Zaitlin, B.A., Boyd, R., 1992.
Estuarine facies models: conceptual models and stratigraphic implications. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 62, 1130–1146.
fine-grained sediment in the upper tidal flats to sand-size
sediments in the main tidal channel. The upper sector of the
estuary is generally dominated by fluvial processes and a
small delta may exist at the head of the estuary where de-
position occurs due to a reduction in flow. The sediment
in this region may be composed of coarser material depending
on basin geology. The lower sector of the estuary is
where marine processes (waves and tides) have their greatest
imprint on estuarine morphology. A tide-constructed delta
may be present at the mouth of the estuary, or a wave-con-
structed sand barrier may be present. The middle sector of the
estuary is a mixed regime of fluvial and marine processes, and
bedload sediment is generally the finest in this location. The
presence and extent of these regions vary, depending on type
and stage of evolution of the estuarine system (Dalrymple
et al., 1992).
Many estuaries in the world exhibit similar size and shape
relationships (Dyer, 1997). The most commonly used empir-
ical relationship is that of O’Brien (1931), who proposed that
the cross-sectional area of the entrance of an estuary at mean
tide elevation (A) is a function of the tidal prism (P), so that
A ¼ cPn, where c and n are scale and shape coefficients. A larger
tidal prism will result in greater velocities, increased sediment
transport, and cross-sectional area. Where velocities decrease
below the sediment threshold, there will be no further in-
creases in the cross-sectional area. This relation has been used
to classify estuaries in New Zealand (Hume and Herdendorf,
1993) and the UK (Townend, 2005) and has shown a good fit
Tidal limit Salinity gradient
Freshwater dominant
Head
0.1
Mixed
(fresh- and
Estuary
saltwater)
Mouth
32.0
Saltwater dominant
 Estuaries 311

to estuarine morphology (i.e., drowned river valley, fjord, and them into distinct groups (Kurtz et al., 2006). Estuaries may be
bar-built estuary). classified or described on the basis of numerous criteria
The relative contribution of freshwater and saltwater to an (Table 1) but some of those important to geomorphology
estuary can produce salinities that are lesser or greater than the include physiography and morphology (Pritchard, 1967a;
ocean inputs when losses due to evaporation are considered. Fairbridge, 1980), stage of development and degree of infilling
Positive estuaries are defined by conditions where the resultant (Roy, 1984), tidal range (Hayes, 1975), and morphologic
salinity is less than the salinity of the ocean. Freshwater de- evolution (Dalrymple et al., 1992; Cooper, 1993). Many of the
rived from land drainage, groundwater, or precipitation ex- early classification systems were descriptive rather than func-
ceeds evaporation losses. Negative estuaries are defined by tional and current work has focused on the integration of
conditions where the resultant salinity is greater than the physical, geomorphic, and biological attributes as a basis for
salinity of the ocean. In this case, evaporation losses are greater analysis (Kurtz et al., 2006; Hume et al., 2007). The following
than freshwater inputs (Pritchard, 1952). Estuaries where the section presents an overview of general estuarine morphology
freshwater drainage is in balance with losses from evaporation based on the work of Pritchard (1967a) and Fairbridge (1980).
are referred to as neutral estuaries. Cameron and Pritchard
(1963) classified estuaries based on their salinity structure and
included four types: highly stratified estuaries (salt wedge and
10.12.3.1 Geomorphic Classification
fjord type), partially mixed estuaries, and well-mixed estuaries.
Salinity is important not only to estuarine circulation From a geomorphic standpoint, estuaries can be broadly clas-
but also to biological productivity. Species abundance sified as drowned river valleys and rias, fjords, bar built, and
and diversity decrease with decreasing salinity (Day et al., those formed by faulting or local subsidence (Pritchard, 1967a;
1989), and the relationship between circulation and bio- Fairbridge, 1980) (Figure 2). Drowned river valley estuaries are
logical productivity has been documented for different estu- generally funnel shaped and occur in many locations, including
arine mouth morphologies. the east coast of the USA (e.g., Delaware Bay), England (e.g.,
Thames and Mersey estuaries), France (e.g., Seine), and Aus-
tralia (e.g., Batesman Bay) (Perillo, 1995b). This type of estuary
is the result of rivers eroding deep V-shaped valleys during the
10.12.3 Classification of Estuaries
last glacial period that were subsequently inundated when
melting ice sheets caused a rise in sea level. The planform and
The wide variability of estuaries throughout the world has
cross section of these estuaries are generally triangular or funnel
generated considerable research on methods for classifying
shaped. In systems where sedimentation rates are less than rates
of sea-level rise, the river valley topography is maintained.
Table 1 Selected classification systems for estuaries Rias are drowned valleys that are generally deep, elongated,
and narrow (Castaing and Guilcher, 1995). Rias may not be
Classification Types References estuarine along their entire lengths but are characterized by a
Geomorphology Drowned river Pritchard (1967a) and
narrow zone at the head of the estuary where circulation
valley Fairbridge (1980) produces salinity values lower than the adjacent ocean (Evans
Ria and Prego, 2003). Sedimentation is generally restricted to the
Fjord (Fjard) upper reaches near the headwaters (Healy et al., 1996), and
Bar-built the accommodation space (the area available for infilling to
Faulting or local occur) within the basin may increase with increasing sea-level
subsidence rise leading to upward and outward accretion (Psuty and
Blind Morriera, 2000). Ria-type estuaries occur in New Zealand
Delta-front (Healy et al., 1996), Portugal (Psuty and Morriera, 2000), and
Degree of lnfilling Drowned river Roy (1984) Spain (Castaing and Guilcher, 1995).
valley Fjords are glacially scoured, U-shaped valleys that were
Barrier inundated by a rising sea level (Syvitski and Shaw, 1995).
Saline coastal Fjord-type estuaries occur in the upper latitudes of North
lakes America, Europe, and South America. Most fjords possess a
Evolution Wave-dominated Dalrymple et al. (1992) shallow rock sill near the mouth that forms an estuarine basin.
Tide-dominated and Cooper (1993) The sill may be the result of deposition or basin deepening
Mixed (Woodroffe, 2003). Fjords receive a small proportion of their
River-dominated sediment from marine inputs. Most sedimentation is the result
Tidal range Micro-tidal Hayes (1975)
of glacial and/or fluvial processes but the sediment volume is
Meso-tidal often small relative to the size of the basin.
Macro-tidal Bar-built estuaries have a geologic history similar to that of
drowned river valleys, but recent marine sediment transport
Stratification and Stratified (alongshore or cross-shore) results in creation of a barrier or
salinity structure Partially mixed Cameron and Pritchard
spit across the mouth. The inlet at the mouth is small relative
Mixed (1963), and Pritchard
(1967b)
to the size of the shallow estuary created behind the barrier. In
some cases, the barrier may restrict exchange of water between
312 Estuaries
Head Head
Mouth
Ocean
Ocean
Funnel shaped
Ocean
Ocean
Spit
Longshore
transport
Barrier
island
Bar-built
Figure 2 Geomorphic types of estuaries. Modified from Fairbridge, R.W., 1980. The estuary: its definition and geodynamic cycle. In: Olausson,
E., Cato, I. (Eds.), Chemistry and Biogeochemistry of Estuaries. Wiley, Chichester.
the ocean and estuary except during high tides. This type of
estuary is dominant along the coastal plain of the southeast
United States (Dame et al., 2000) and the Pacific coast (USA).
This type also occurs in Australia (Roy et al., 2001) and Africa
(Anthony et al., 2002).
Some estuaries formed in valleys that were created by tec-
tonic processes, which is the case on the Pacific coast where
the San Andreas fault contributed to the development of San
Francisco and Tomales Bays (Emmett et al., 2000). Bar
building can contribute to estuarine evolution on tectonically
active coasts by helping to enclose ocean bays.
Lagoons are not considered to be estuaries according to
the classic definition of Cameron and Pritchard (1963) but
are considered estuaries by many scientists and managers
(Potter et al., 2010). Lagoons may be considered an end
member of the estuarine continuum, situated between estu-
aries and strandplains and tidal flats (Boyd et al., 1992). They
can occur in micro-, meso-, and macro-tidal environments
(Cooper, 1994a) but not in strongly tidal-dominated areas
(Boyd et al., 1992). They generally form on transgressive
coasts with low-gradient continental shelves and in regions
where the rate of sea-level rise is slow (Cooper, 1994a). La-
goons may possess flood tidal deltas that provide substrate for
subsequent marsh development and a fluvial delta in cases
where a river discharges to the lagoon. Several models have
been developed to describe the evolution of lagoon systems
due to sediment accumulation and sea-level rise (Roy, 1984;
Nichols, 1989; Cooper, 1994a). The stage of a system on the
continuum is influenced by sediment input (fluvial and
marine), characteristics of the basin, and rates of barrier
transgression.
Head
High relief
Sill
Mouth
Mouth
Ocean
Ria Fjord
Ocean
Lagoon Tectonic
10.12.4 Estuarine Morphodynamics: Physical
Factors
Research on estuarine morphodynamics has focused on the
development of models that predict behavior at timescales
that are both long (geologic such as Holocene evolution) and
short (individual events such as tidal cycles and storms) and
spatial scales that are large (estuary) and small (marsh, man-
grove, beach, mudflats, and offshore bars). The forcing func-
tions that create, maintain, or change system behavior at
different temporal and spatial scales include sea-level rise,
episodic floods, seasonal river discharge, and waves generated
over a tidal cycle.
10.12.4.1 Sea Level
Estuaries are geologically young features on the Earth’s surface,
formed in response to sea-level stabilization over the past
6000 years. The vertical and horizontal positions of estuaries
are the result of inherited lithology and fluctuations in sea-
level rise, with sea-level elevation at or above current levels
during interglacial periods and up to 150 m below present
levels during glacial periods. Sea level is the result of changes
in the volume of ocean water due to thermal expansion and
contraction and glacial advance and retreat as well as changes
in the elevation of the Earth’s surface. These processes may
operate in isolation or in concert and their relative influence
changes with both spatial scale and temporal scale. Postglacial,
global sea-level change was strongly influenced by the ex-
change of mass between glacial ice sheets and the ocean. More
recent regional sea-level histories have revealed both a

lowering and rising of sea level from still stand levels
(Edwards, 2007) due to departures in climate and isostatic
changes (Pirazzoli, 1993). Lambeck and Chappell (2001) re-
ported sea-level histories from several locations where the data
have been adjusted to account for tectonic activity. These data,
as well as data reported in Pirazzoli (1993), reveal the effects
of local conditions on sea-level trends across the globe. Falling
sea levels have occurred in areas where former ice sheets
existed (i.e., Hudson Bay, CA) due to isostatic rebound. Areas
located beyond the former ice margins reveal a steep sea-level
rise curve followed by a deceleration in the rate of rise be-
ginning approximately 6000 years BP (i.e., southern England,
Atlantic coast of USA). In locations at considerable distances
from the ice margins (i.e., Australia), sea level reached an
elevation close to the present-day position approximately
6000 years BP with little variation since that time. For ex-
ample, in areas such as northern Australia that have been
relatively stable tectonically, estuaries have experienced similar
sea-level-rise histories (Chappell and Woodroffe, 1994).
Radiocarbon dates indicate that the maximum extent of the ice
sheets during the last glaciation occurred approximately 17
000–18 000 years BP (Woodroffe, 2003). Postglacial, sea-level
rise began soon after this peak in glacial extent.
Estuaries and lagoons are transgressive features (Cattaneo
and Steel, 2003) and they form under conditions where rela-
tive sea-level rise exceeds the rate of sediment infilling (Boyd
et al., 1992). The development of estuaries coincided with sea-
level rise and inundation of coastal lowlands following the last
glacial period and the sea-level still stand that began ap-
proximately 6000 years ago. Deltas and coastal plains on the
outer edge of the present continental shelf were the first to be
inundated during the most recent sea-level rise (Russell,
1967). Estuaries increased in complexity with sea-level rise
and inundation of the tributaries of fluvial valley systems or
narrow resistant bedrock formations.
Pethick (2001) outlined a conceptual model for estuary
transgression as a result of relative sea-level rise based on
the ‘rollover’ model (Allen, 1990). Changes that occur to the
estuary are a result of the redistribution of sediment within the
estuary as well as inputs from the marine environment. The
estuary maintains its position in the tidal and wave energy
frame by a vertical (upward) and horizontal (up-estuary)
movement in response to sea-level rise. An increase in water
depth in the lower estuary results in the propagation of
ocean waves into the estuary and erosion of the upper inter-
tidal sediment that displaces the marsh/tidal flat boundary
inland. This sediment will be deposited landward to the
inner estuary and subsequently redeposited in the upper
intertidal zone. The redistribution results in an increase of
the surface elevation of the marsh and tidal flat in the
new location and transgression of the marsh edge. The salt
marsh/tidal flat boundary of these inner estuarine areas con-
tinues to erode as the fetch length and depth for local wave
generation increase because of the rise in sea level. The mi-
gration rate of the landward marsh boundary is a function of
the upgradient slope and the vertical accretion rate of the
marsh surface.
Accommodation space, or the volumetric area available for
sediment infilling or water volume in an estuary, will influence
estuarine transgression and is a function of relative sea-level
Estuaries 313
changes, freshwater flow, hypsometry, and sediment supply
(Cooper, 1993). Slagle et al. (2006) found evidence of re-
gional erosion, or nondeposition, with intervening periods
of deposition in the Hudson River Estuary (USA) that they
attributed to limited accommodation space. Townend et al.
(2007) found periods of sedimentation and erosion of the
Humber Estuary with export of sediment occurring during
periods when extensive tidal flats were present.
Where fluvial sediment supply is limited or where post-
glacial sea-level rise and isostatic adjustment have increased
the volume of the basin, the accommodation space is in-
creased such as in the case of Laguna Madre, USA (Morton
et al., 2000). In cases where sediment infilling is high, the
estuary will become shallow and the result is a decrease in the
rate of transgression (Woodroffe, 2003). Antecedent morph-
ology of the land that becomes inundated also influences
available accommodation space and estuarine evolution
(Rodriguez et al., 2008; Heap and Nichol, 1997). A flat, pas-
sive margin coastal plain will generate an estuary with a large
volume compared to a steep, active margin coast given similar
increases in sea-level rise (Boyd et al., 1992).
10.12.4.2 Tides
Estuaries are located in micro-, meso-, and macro-tidal en-
vironments, with tidal ranges generally defined by the classi-
fication of Davies (1964) where the micro-tidal range is
o2 m, meso-tidal is 2–4 m, and macro-tidal is 44 m. Plan-
form morphology is an important control on the variation of
tidal range and the magnitude of the tidal currents within the
estuary (Nichols and Biggs, 1985). Convergence of the lateral
boundaries of a funnel-shaped estuary causes the tidal wave to
compress laterally. In the absence of substantial bed friction,
the tidal range will increase. In the presence of substantial
friction, the tidal range will decrease. Thus, the relationship
between convergence and friction controls the amplitude of
the tide within the estuary. In cases where convergence is
greater than friction, the tidal range and the strength of the
tide will increase toward the head of the estuary (hypersyn-
chronous estuaries). Tidal-dominated estuaries are generally
hypersynchronous with stronger tidal velocities in the mid-
estuary and weaker tidal velocities near the head and mouth of
the estuary (Dalrymple and Choi, 2007). In cases where
convergence is less than friction, the tidal range will decrease
throughout the estuary (hypsosynchronous estuaries).
The transition of an estuary to different morphologic
states may be explained, in part, by the relationship of tidal
asymmetry to net sediment transport. An estuary reaches an
equilibrium state when the quantity of sediment transported
during flood tide is balanced by the quantity of sediment
transported during ebb (Dyer, 1997). The conditions that
lead to equilibrium are a function of tidal velocity, the depth
of the channel, and intertidal area of the estuary (Dronkers,
1986). The distortion of the tidal wave and asymmetry that
develops (ebb–flood duration) upon entering the estuary is
the major influence on the net sediment transport direction
in the estuary (Postma, 1967). Under flood-dominated con-
ditions, high-velocity, short-duration flood flows are dom-
inant over low-velocity, long-duration ebb flows. The greater
314 Estuaries
flood-directed bed shear stress, relative to the threshold for
the sediment size, increases the sediment volume in trans-
port, and the direction of net transport will result in de-
position or infilling of the estuary. Friedrichs and Aubrey
(1988), in a study of US estuaries, found that flood domin-
ance was dependent on the ratio of the tidal amplitude (M2)
to the hydraulic depth. Ebb dominance was influenced by the
volume of storage over the intertidal zone, as a proportion of
the carrying capacity of the main channel. Estuaries that are
deep tend to be ebb dominated and estuaries that are shallow
tend to be flood dominated (Wang et al., 2002). Assessing the
phase difference in the M2 (principal semi-diurmal lunar
constituent) and M4 (quarter-diurnal nonlinear harmonic
over-tide of M2) tidal constituents of the macro-tidal Dee
Estuary, Moore et al. (2009) found the estuary to be generally
flood dominant and experiencing sediment infilling which
agreed with long-term historical data. Townend (2005) used
a sample of 188 estuaries in the UK and found the majority
to be flood dominant also due to a high ratio of tidal amp-
litude to hydraulic depth.
The transition to an ebb-dominated system has been at-
tributed to the physical extent of tidal flat development in the
estuary (Friedrichs and Aubrey, 1988; Kang and Jun, 2003).
Brown and Davies (2010) classified the Dyfi Estuary as ebb
dominant based on observations in the main entrance chan-
nel but found the upper estuary to experience flood-asym-
metric flows they attributed to tidal channel and tidal flat
distribution that resulted in net transport in the up-estuary
direction. More accurate determination of whether an estuary
is a source of, or a sink for, sediment requires consideration of
additional factors, such as sediment characteristics, fluvial
processes, estuarine stratification, and sea-level changes.
10.12.4.3 Waves
Waves may be generated within the estuary by local winds or
they may be ocean waves that enter the mouth of the estuary.
In tide-dominated estuaries, characterized by a relatively open
connection to the ocean, waves generated in the ocean are
capable of traveling into the estuary, although the magnitude
of energy is reduced as a result of diffraction and dissipation
caused by shallow water depths and bottom friction. Thus, the
lower estuary, at and near the mouth, is subject to more ocean
wave influence compared to the upper estuary (Dalrymple and
Choi, 2007). Ocean waves and currents can form a spit or sand
bar across the mouth when river flow is weak or episodic
(Cooper, 1993). The formation of the bar may be seasonal
and associated with depositional swell or it may be the result
of longshore sediment transport (Ranansinghe et al., 1999;
Ranansinghe and Pattiaratchi, 2003). The dimensions of the
bar may provide a partial or complete barrier to closure.
Breaching of the bar and reestablishment of the connection
between the estuary and marine environment are dependent
on the strength of river flow or waves and surge.
There is interest in understanding the morphologic re-
sponse to ocean-generated waves entering the mouth of
the estuary. Ocean waves entering an estuary have been
observed in a number of locations, including Delaware,
Chesapeake, and Newport Bay, USA (Ludwick, 1987;
Moory and Osborne, 1992), Lough Foyle, Northern Ireland
(Carter, 1980), Port Stephen Bay, Australia (Vila-Concejo
et al., 2010), and Bay of Plenty, New Zealand (deLange and
Healy, 1990). High-magnitude, low-frequency events can
transport significant quantities of sediment from the ocean to
the estuary such as reported by Vila-Concejo et al. (2010) and
cause erosion to estuarine beaches, but ocean-generated storm
waves can also result in depositional conditions on the fore-
shore (Jackson, 1995).
Interest also exists for understanding the effect of waves
(ocean and locally generated) in estuaries from a biological
standpoint. The horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is con-
sidered a keystone species in Delaware Bay (USA) and spawns
annually on the foreshores of the sandy beaches in the estuary.
Waves generated in the estuary during storms as well as those
entering the mouth of the estuary from the Atlantic Ocean are
capable of suppressing spawning activity. Smith et al. (2002)
found that horseshoe crab spawning was correlated to wave
activity, with greater spawning densities associated with lower
wave heights (o0.12 m).
Vessel wakes can influence sediment suspension in an es-
tuary (Schoellhamer, 1996) and sediment transport on bea-
ches (Curtiss et al., 2009). Schoellhamer (1996) found that
sediment suspended by vessel wakes were more susceptible to
resuspension by tidal currents after deposition compared to
undisturbed sediment. Curtiss et al. (2009) found vessel wakes
contributed to sediment mobilization during nonstorm con-
ditions on a mixed sand and gravel beach in Puget Sound
(USA).
10.12.4.4 River Discharge
Sediment flux from rivers to the coastal ocean is episodic and
has been associated with seasonal (Tamura et al., 2010) and
decadal (Inman and Jenkins, 1999) timescales. Delivery of
sediment from rivers to an estuary is a function of basin
geology (size, relief, and erodibility of sediments), water flow,
and human modifications to the drainage basin (change in
land use/land cover) or the river channel (damming, diver-
sion, and concretization) (Inman and Jenkins, 1999). Drain-
age basins with steep slopes and erodible material create
conditions for rivers to deliver greater quantities of sediment
to the estuary compared to drainage basins with low gradients
and dominated by vegetated uplands. Increased impervious
cover can increase streamflow due to runoff and result in in-
creased streambed erosion, as described by Inman and Jenkins
(1999).
Episodic floods are an important process in estuarine dy-
namics; they may increase the quantity of sediment delivered
to the estuary or result in estuarine scour and sediment export
to the nearshore, thus ‘‘resetting the evolutionary clock’’
(Cooper, 1994b). In a comparison of tide-dominated and
river-dominated micro-tidal estuaries, Cooper (2002) found
that the morphological response to episodic floods was dif-
ferent based on spatial characteristics of erosion, flood mag-
nitude thresholds to initiate morphologic change, and speed
of post-flood sediment reworking.
The episodic nature of river flow may reduce the capacity of
the river to maintain a continuous connection with the sea,
and the low magnitude of sediment discharge limits delta

development (Jennings and Bird, 1967). Many estuarine sys-
tems have intermittent connections to the sea (Roy, 1984;
Cooper, 2001). Closure can be the result of low river discharge
or is the result of marine sediment transport processes that
create a wave-constructed berm (Carter et al., 1992; Elwany
et al., 2003; Weir et al., 2006). These systems are dependent on
periods of high river discharge to flush the inlet and reestab-
lish a connection (Elwany et al., 1998). When the river flow is
highly sporadic, there is a need to rely on human intervention
to artificially open the inlet (Elwany et al., 2003; Weir et al.,
2006; Morris and Turner, 2010).
10.12.5 Morphodynamics and Evolution
In addition to broad-scale, long-term processes of climate
change and sea-level rise that influence rates of discharge and
inundation, wave, tide, and river processes drive estuarine
hydrodynamics and sediment transport and account for
the distribution of marine and fluvial-derived sediment in the
estuary and the morphology of sedimentary deposits. The
morphodynamics of estuaries occur over different timescales
ranging from short-term, episodic weather events that trans-
port sediment, to longer-term changes that occur as a result of
geologic and sea-level history.
10.12.5.1 Sediment Transport in Estuaries
Entrainment, transport, and deposition of sediment in an
estuary are the result of a complex suite of river, tide, and wave
processes operating over different temporal scales (Nichols
and Biggs, 1985). Traditional research on hydrodynamics and
sediment transport in estuaries was focused more on mean
and residual or subtidal flows but current interest is focused
on shorter-term processes such as turbulence and intratidal
flows (Uncles, 2002).
The textural properties of the sediment available to be
entrained and transported is a controlling factor in the like-
lihood that erosion or deposition will occur. Entrainment will
occur when the bed shear stress exceeds the critical value for
the sediment sizes available. Once entrained, the coarser
sediment will be transported via bedload and the finer sedi-
ment will be transported via suspended load. Sediment
transported by river flow may exhibit a bimodal population of
coarse and fine sediment. The coarser fraction will settle to the
bed, whereas the finer fraction will remain in suspension
(Dyer, 1995). The finer fraction may aggregate via flocculation
that will influence the settling velocity and deposition on the
bed.
In meso- and macro-tidal environments, a turbidity max-
imum exists; a zone where suspended sediment concen-
trations are greater than those occurring in either the river or
estuarine flow. The location of the turbidity maximum is a
function of both river and tidal processes. High river discharge
will move the zone seaward, and on shorter timescales the
zone will shift in response to the rise and fall of the tide (Dyer,
1995). The development and maintenance of the turbidity
maximum have been explained by residual circulation in
partially mixed estuaries that returns fine sediment to the
Estuaries 315
upper reaches of the estuary. In macro-tidal estuaries, the
turbidity maximum has been attributed to tidal asymmetries
that increase sediment transport potential toward the head of
the estuary (see Section 10.12.4.2).
10.12.5.2 Estuarine Geomorphic and Sedimentary Facies
Estuaries are generally considered ephemeral features. Their
continued existence requires a balance between relative sea-
level fluctuations (eustatic and isostatic) and sedimentation
from river discharge (Knebel, 1986) and oceanic inputs
(Woodroffe et al., 1993). Periods of progradation occur when
the quantity of sediment deposited from fluvial or marine
processes exceeds the rate of inundation due to sea-level rise.
Progradation may also occur when there is a fall in sea level
with no deposition, and the net result is the development of
tidal flats and strand plains (Boyd et al., 1992). In the first
case, the endpoint is the development of a delta (Dalrymple
et al., 1992) characterized by the lack of a channel meander
pattern and net bedload transport in the seaward direction. In
the second case, the endpoint may be a strandplain or tidal
flat, depending on the ratio of the wave height to the tidal
range. Intermediate states exist between these two endpoints
based on the process regime present.
The type and distribution of morphologic and sedimentary
facies have been used as diagnostics for determining the evo-
lutionary stage of an estuary along the estuary–delta con-
tinuum (Roy, 1984; Dalrymple et al., 1992; Heap et al., 2004).
Conceptual models have identified the relative contribution of
fluvial and marine processes to estuarine morphology and
evolution (see Roy, 1984; Dalrymple et al., 1992; Cooper,
1993) and are based, in part, on regional studies that charac-
terize one estuary or compare multiple estuaries. These studies
include tide-dominated, macro-tidal estuaries (Woodroffe et al.,
1989; Allen, 1990; Dalrymple et al., 1990), tide-dominated,
micro-tidal estuaries (Cooper, 2002), and micro-tidal estuaries
in wave-dominated (Roy, 1984; Anthony et al., 1996) and river-
dominated (Cooper, 1994b) environments.
10.12.5.2.1 Tide-dominated estuaries
Tide-dominated estuaries occur in macro-tidal environments
(tidal range 44 m). They are generally funnel shaped with
wide mouths and high current velocities. Tidal currents are the
dominant process of transport of sediment compared to river
or oceanic processes (Allen, 1990; Dalrymple and Choi,
2007). In tide-dominated estuaries, river flow decreases and
tidal currents increase in the seaward direction (Dalrymple
and Choi, 2007). The middle sector of the estuary (Figure 1)
represents a zone of sediment accumulation with contri-
butions from both fluvial and marine sources (Dalrymple and
Choi, 2007).
Dalrymple et al. (1990) characterized the sedimentary
characteristics of the macro-tidal Cobequid Bay–Salmon River
Estuary, in Canada. The axial sediments are characterized by
the presence of elongate tidal sand bars in the lower sector of
the estuary that trend parallel to the dominant current dir-
ection. Sand flats and braided channels are located in the
middle sector of the estuary and a single channel is located in
the river-dominated head of the estuary. Tidal currents are at a
316 Estuaries
maximum in the inner part of the estuary. Sediments decrease
in size from the mouth to the head. Dominant direction of
sediment transport is landward with accumulation in the
upper sector at the head of the estuary. These characteristics
stand in stark contrast to those that occur in the Kennebec
River Estuary (USA). Fitzgerald et al. (2000) revealed that the
characteristics of the rock-bound, macro-tidal estuary do not
conform to the planform geometry or sedimentary character-
istics described by Dalrymple et al. (1992) and they ascribed
these differences to structural control of the estuary. The es-
tuary is narrow and the bedrock-cut channel results in the lack
of development of extensive intertidal sedimentary deposits
(Fenster and Fitzgerald, 1996). The processes that influence
the morphodynamics of the system are high-magnitude spring
freshets that increase river discharge and deliver sediments to
the lower estuary. A circulation cell is present in the lower
estuary exchanging sediment among the estuary mouth,
nearshore and offshore zones, and adjacent beaches.
10.12.5.2.2 Wave-dominated estuaries
Wave-dominated estuaries generally occur in micro-tidal (tidal
range o2 m) environments and their morphologic evolution
is tied to the changes that occur at the mouth of the estuary
(Roy, 1984). Different types of barrier estuaries occur, based
on the characteristics of the mouth of the estuary. A barrier
estuary can form where sediment transported from adjacent
ocean beaches creates a barrier at the mouth and the magni-
tude of river discharge controls the reopening. Barrier lagoons
and inter-barrier estuaries form on low-relief coastal plains.
Intermittent estuaries consist of basins that are separated from
the ocean for extended periods of time. These estuaries gen-
erally form where river discharge is not competent to maintain
an open channel through the barrier created by wave-induced
transport of beach sediment (Anthony et al., 2002). High
variability in rainfall regimes in some regions is an important
factor in the development of highly saline lagoons. High
waves associated with storms can breach the depositional
barrier at the estuarine mouth and reestablish connection with
the ocean or can occur via river flow during episodic floods.
The complexity of the facies development in this type of
estuary is a function of sediment infilling and barrier devel-
opment. In general, these estuaries have two regions of high
energy: an upper sector near the head, where river processes,
sediments, and bedforms dominate, and a lower sector near
the mouth, where wave and tidal processes and marine sedi-
ments dominate. The middle sector is a location where tidal
currents are reduced, locally generated waves and wind-
induced flows are important, and extensive mudflats and
marshes are present (Roy et al., 2001).
10.12.5.2.3 Mixed wave-tide-dominated estuaries
Mixed wave-tide estuaries (such as those in meso-tidal en-
vironments with a tidal range of 2–4 m) can be found behind
barrier islands and barrier spits (Hayes, 1979). These estuaries
owe much of their morphologic signature to the sediment
characteristics of the barrier that forms the marine boundary.
The estuaries may be classified as intermediate between tide-
dominated and wave-dominated systems (Dalrymple et al.,
1992). Within the estuary are meandering tidal channels,
point bars, and marsh deposits. Transfers of sediment
from the marine environment occur via transport through the
inlets that separate the barriers as well as overwash transfers
during storms. The dominant sand bodies in meso-tidal
estuaries are the deltas (ebb and flood) formed by tidal inlet
processes. The mixed wave-tide estuaries along the northeast
Atlantic of the USA are generally flood dominant and have
flood tidal deltas that are larger than their ebb counterparts.
The result of this sediment accumulation is an extensive
shallow-water zone on the seaward margin of the estuary that
deepens in the direction of the mainland. Sediments near the
inlet are coarse and sediments near the mainland margin are
fine where fluvial processes are dominant (Psuty and Silveira,
2009).
10.12.5.2.4 River-dominated estuaries
Dalrymple et al. (1992) argued that a river-dominated cat-
egory is not required because fluvial dominance is an indicator
of the rate of infilling and not of morphology. Cooper (1993)
presented evidence from the South African coast that river-
dominated, micro-tidal estuaries do not necessarily display the
characteristic downstream facies changes observed in wave-
and tide-dominated estuaries, and the energy level may re-
main similar along the axis of the river valley. River-dominated
estuaries can range from those completely dominated by river
processes (river channels) to those that experience some
marine inputs at the mouth. Marine influence is minimized
due to high fluvial discharge and steep gradients, and these
estuaries do not exhibit coastal progradation. River-dominated
estuaries may be in equilibrium when overall sediment vol-
ume does not change with time (Cooper, 1993) or in dis-
equilibrium when there is a gradual increase in sediment
volume over time (Sondi et al., 1995).
Although there is a growing literature on estuarine
morphologies from a range of environments and qualitative
descriptions of some of the potential morphodynamic path-
ways that could occur, a need still exists for better quantifi-
cation of both processes and responses. Heap et al. (2004)
pointed out that the development of a quantitative model for
estuary to delta transition is hampered by the lack of hard
data on the abundance and distribution of sedimentary facies
for a representative distribution of estuaries. Advances in
instrumentation have enabled collection of high-frequency
process data and achieve finer resolution of sedimentary
deposits over space and through time. These data can also
enable better integration of spatial and temporal scales
of change besides enabling analytical approaches that have
potential for advanced model development (Fitzgerald and
Knight, 2005).
10.12.6 Estuarine Subenvironments
The cross-shore intertidal gradient of estuaries contains a rich
variety of geomorphic assemblages, including tidal flats and
barforms, marshes and mangroves, and sandy barriers and
coastal bluffs. These subenvironments provide an array of
ecosystem functions and services that increase the importance
of understanding their morphodynamics.
 Estuaries 317

10.12.6.1 Lower Intertidal Shore-parallel sand bars occur in micro-, meso-, and
macro-tidal environments. Located in the intertidal zone, they
10.12.6.1.1 Tidal flats
are persistent features (Yamada and Kobayashi, 2007). Off-
Tidal flats may be comprised of predominantly mud or sands
shore losses of sediment from the foreshore to these bars
or they may transition between muds or sands on a seasonal
are rarely compensated by transport back to the foreshore
basis. The spatial variability in sediment composition and
(Nordstrom and Jackson, 1992). In drowned river-valley
morphology of tidal flats is influenced by exposure to wave
estuaries such as Delaware Bay (USA), the bars are of low
activity (Ryan and Cooper, 1998). The cross-shore profile of
amplitude (o0.10 m), extend approximately 0.5 km bayward,
tidal flats is generally characterized by either continuously
and are exposed during low spring tide (Botton et al., 2003).
concave or convex morphology that is controlled by the tidal
Data on vertical erosion and accretion reveal little annual net
range and the wave climate (Whitehouse et al., 2000; Le Hir
change, and response to storms is highly variable where
et al., 2000). Convex hypsometry has been associated with a
multiple sites are compared (Miller et al., 2002). In micro-
large tidal range, long-term accretion, or low waves; concave
tidal environments, the bars can persist as subtidal forms.
hypsometry has been associated with a small tidal range, long-
Dolan and Dean (1985) attributed the formation of subtidal
term erosion, or wave activity (Roberts et al., 2000; Uncles,
sand bars in the micro-tidal Chesapeake Bay (USA) to mul-
2002). Not all estuarine environments have typical tidal flat
tiple waves breaking across the low gradient slope.
morphology. Eliot et al. (2006) described an estuarine beach
Ridge and runnel systems can occur in some estuaries
in the Swan River Estuary, Australia, where the surface of the
(Carling et al., 2009). These bedforms trend parallel to the
fronting terrace extends below mean low tide, but fluctuation
shoreline and have heights of up to 1.5 m and lengths ranging
in exposure and inundation of the terrace is associated with
from 10 to 100 m where observed in estuaries (Carling et al.,
nontidal forcing of water levels in the estuary.
2009). Hydrodynamic and sedimentologic data from the
Mudflats have been classified based on tidal range, slope,
Severn Estuary (UK) demonstrated that the development of
and exposure to wave activity (Dyer et al., 2000). Most current
runnels was associated with fluid erosion and fine sediment
research on mudflats refers to short-term studies of sediment
suspension. The ridges that formed were accretionary units of
transport and morphologic change (Uncles, 2002). The pro-
silt and sand and not residual forms produced from the
cesses that influence sediment transport and location of ero-
noneroded surface incised by runnels (Williams et al., 2008;
sion and deposition are a function of wave activity of tidal
Carling et al., 2009).
currents (cross-shore and longshore) and wind-induced cir-
Transverse bars are attached to the lower foreshore and are
culation (Le Hir et al., 2000). Dewatering of flat sediments at
generally oriented perpendicular to the shoreline or at an
low tide and discharge of tidal creeks can also influence tidal
angle that trends parallel to the dominant wave approach.
flat morphology. In general, tides induce onshore transport of
These barforms occur along micro-tidal, low-energy shorelines
muds, whereas waves and drainage favor offshore transport
of the Gulf of Mexico (USA), the sheltered shoreline of a
(Le Hir et al., 2000).
barrier island on the Atlantic coast (USA), and in the Swan
River Estuary in Western Australia (Bruner and Smosna, 1989;
10.12.6.1.2 Bedforms Nordstrom et al., 1996; Eliot et al., 2006). They can reach
Irregularities in bed elevation can be the result of physical lengths of up to 100 m with amplitudes between 0.2 and
forcing (waves, tides, and wind) as well as dewatering of sur- 0.75 m (Niederoda and Tanner, 1970). In estuaries, the ex-
face sediment due to exposure at low tide, bioturbation, and change of sediment between the foreshore and the transverse
presence of vegetation. The most conspicuous morphological bars is low. Nordstrom et al. (1996) conducted a tracer ex-
features in the lower intertidal zone include both shore- periment and found that cross-shore sediment transport from
parallel and transverse bars (Figure 3). the foreshore to the transverse bars was concentrated within a

(a) (b)

Figure 3 Photographs showing (a) shore-parallel bars in Delaware Bay (USA) and (b) transverse bars on the landward side of a barrier island
in the Gulf of Mexico (USA).
318 Estuaries

short distance offshore from the location of bar attachment to
the foreshore. Our understanding of the processes that give
rise to the development, growth, maintenance, and possible
migration of these forms is rudimentary. The development
of transverse bars has been attributed to many processes,
but within low-wave-energy environments, like estuaries, wave
refraction is the leading driver (Niederoda and Tanner, 1970).
This process explanation was later confirmed by Caballeria
et al. (2002), who developed a nonlinear model to predict the
conditions for formation of both crescentic and transverse
bars in the nearshore. Their model qualitatively matches
the shape and spacing of these bar forms as reported by
field observations in estuaries (Niederoda and Tanner, 1970;
Nordstrom et al., 1996), but a quantitative link still requires
instrumented field measurements on wave processes and
sediment transport.
zones, small-scale variations in submergence rates, effects of
varying amounts of sediment in eroding formations, and
effects of obstacles to longshore sediment transport, such
as headlands, that define drift compartments (Nordstrom,
1992). Differences in the gradient of wave energy between the
low-energy (upper) and high-energy (lower) shorelines in an
estuary and between the high-energy (windward) and low-
energy (leeward) sides of an estuary also contribute to differ-
ences in the types of estuarine shoreline environments and
their dimensions. Marsh is likely to form on alluvium in the
upper reaches of the estuary, on the upwind side of the estuary
or on the downwind side of the estuary in the lee of headlands
that provide protection from breaking waves. Beaches are
likely to form on the downwind side of estuaries, because
there is sufficient energy in the locally generated waves to
erode coastal formations or prevent vegetation from growing
in the intertidal zone.

10.12.6.2 Upper Intertidal Zone

The planform configuration of estuaries is exceedingly com-
plex and the location of intertidal subenvironments varies
over relatively short, alongshore lengthscales (Phillips, 1986).
Estuarine shoreline environments (beaches, marshes, and
mangroves) generally occur in small isolated reaches with
different orientations and with great variability in morph-
ology, vegetation, and rates of erosion. This variability results
from regional differences in fetch and water depth, exposure
to dominant and prevailing winds, variations in subsurface
stratigraphy, irregular topography inherited from drainage
systems, differential erosion of vegetation or clay, peat, and
marsh outcrops on the surface of the subtidal and intertidal
10.12.6.2.1 Unconsolidated shorelines
Beaches in estuaries form a class of low-energy types (Jackson
et al., 2002). Beaches are most common where wave energy
can entrain available sediments (Knebel et al., 1988) and they
may front small, transgressive barriers (Cooper et al., 2007;
Pilkey et al., 2009) or cliff and bluff environments (Jackson
et al., 2002; Shipman, 2008) (Figure 4).
Beaches may be unvegetated or partially vegetated and
composed of sand, gravel, or shell (Nordstrom, 1992). The best
development of beaches occurs where relatively high wave en-
ergies have exposed abundant unconsolidated sand or gravel in
the eroding coastal formations. Adequate source materials
occur where these formations are moraine deposits, submerged

Bluff shoreline

Poorly
sorted
sediments
Ac Sand Reworked
tiv
ef bluff sediment
Wa ores
ve ho
cu r
t te e
rra
ce Gravel

Marsh barrier shoreline

Overwash
platform Dune
Marsh Fo
res
Well-sorted sands ho
re

Low tide
Peat terrace

Figure 4 Types of upper intertidal environments in estuaries. Modified from Jackson, N.L., Nordstrom, K.F., Smith, D.R., 2002.
Geomorphic–biotic interactions on beach foreshores in estuaries. Journal of Coastal Research SI36, 414–424.

glacial streams, coarse-grained fluvial deposits, and sand de-
livered by ocean waves and winds, such as the estuarine
shorelines of spits and barrier islands (Freire et al., 2007).
The textural properties of the sediments that form these beaches
may be predominantly sand (Nordstrom and Jackson, 1993;
Jackson et al., 2005), mixed sand and gravel (Curtiss et al.,
2009), or predominantly gravel (Shipman, 2008).
Beach formation is favored where high ground protrudes
into relatively deep water, where wave refraction and wave en-
ergy loss through dissipation on the bay bottom are minimal
(Nordstrom, 1992). The dominant processes of sediment re-
working on beaches in estuaries are generally driven by locally
generated waves, although refracted and diffracted ocean waves
may be present. Ocean waves that enter the estuary generally
create beaches close to the inlets. Sediment transported into the
estuary by ocean waves may form spits in the lee of headlands
in the estuary. Beaches created by waves generated within es-
tuaries are most common in shoreline re-entrants, where sedi-
ments can accumulate over time. Other beaches occur where
sand is plentiful on the bayside of barriers enclosing the estuary,
particularly on former recurves, subaerial overwash platforms,
and former oceanside dunes (Nordstrom, 1992). Beaches may
form on the bayside of eroding marshes from coarse-grained
sediment removed from the eroding substrate. Beaches may
precede and favor marsh growth by creating spits that form low-
energy environments landward of them. Both processes create a
beach-ridge shoreline that combines features characteristic of
beach shorelines and marsh shorelines. Peat, representing the
substrate of former marsh, is commonly exposed in outcrops
on eroding beaches transgressing marshes. The outcrops are
resistant because of the presence of fine-grained materials that
have been trapped by upward growth of the marsh and by the
binding effect of vegetation (Nordstrom, 1992).
Sandy beaches in estuaries are characterized by a narrow
backshore (o10 m), steep planar foreshore (6–91), and
a broad, relatively flat, bay bottom, low-tide terrace
(Nordstrom, 1992; Fenster et al., 2006; Freire et al., 2009) or
subtidal terrace (Eliot et al., 2006). Reported heights of locally
generated waves range from 0.15 to 0.50 m, with periods of
2–5 s, and they break directly on the foreshore and convert
immediately to swash. The width of the swash zone can be
only 3 m during small storms (Jackson and Nordstrom,
1993). Ocean waves entering estuaries during storms can re-
sult in increased wave periods (45.0 s) and swash runup
widths (up to 9.0 m) (Nordstrom et al., 2006). The low wave
energies on estuarine beaches limit reworking by storm ero-
sion and post-storm deposition. Nordstrom (1992) reported
upper foreshore losses during storms of more than 3.0 m3 m–1
and landward displacement of the foreshore of over 4 m, with
breaking wave heights of 0.4–0.8 m and periods of 3.4–4.5 s.
The cycle of offshore transport to a break-point bar, followed
by post-storm deposition by swash-bar migration that is
common on ocean beaches, is absent (Nordstrom, 1992), and
the bayward extent of sediment exchange is generally o10 m.
Potential for longshore sediment transport occurs because
short-period estuarine waves undergo little refraction and may
break at a relatively sharp angle to the shoreline (Nordstrom
et al., 2003).
Waves, tides, and currents are significant geomorphic
agents on sandy estuarine beaches that account for temporal
Estuaries 319
variation in beach morphology and spatial variation in tex-
tural properties of sediments on the surface and down to the
depth of wave reworking (Rosen, 1980; Sherman et al., 1994;
Malvarez et al., 2001). Storm surge and low-frequency changes
in ocean water level may play an important role in beach
dynamics on micro-tidal environments (Armbruster et al.,
1995; Eliot et al., 2006). Nordstrom and Jackson (1992)
presented a profile change model for estuarine beaches based
on differences in wave characteristics observed on 21 sand
beaches with a tidal range of nearly 2.0 m. Two types of beach
profile response were identified, depending on whether cross-
shore or longshore sediment transport dominated. In both
cases, sediment exchange was limited to a zone between the
upper limit of swash at high water and the break in slope
separating the foreshore from the low tide terrace. On beaches
where cross-shore transport is the dominant process, sediment
exchange between the upper and lower foreshore is accom-
plished by changes in the locally generated wave energy level
due to variations in wind speed. An increase in the wave
height causes erosion of the upper foreshore and deposition
on the lower foreshore, whereas a decrease in wave height
returns sediment to the upper foreshore. Changes in wind
direction and wave angle are responsible for inducing long-
shore sediment transport and may be responsible for parallel
foreshore retreat (and advance) that is not accompanied by a
conspicuous change in slope. Dominance of cross-shore or
longshore processes is a function of shoreline orientation to
the dominant winds and fetch, and the presence of shore-
normal obstacles (such as shore protection structures) that act
as sediment traps.
Aeolian dunes occur in estuaries and may be relict dunes
resulting from aeolian transport from the oceanside, or may be
true estuarine landforms, the result of aeolian sediment trans-
port in the estuary (Nordstrom and Jackson, 1994; Varnell
et al., 2010). Dunes created by aeolian transport in the estuary
occur where beaches are sufficiently wide to provide a viable
sediment source or where the shoreline is stable enough to
allow ample time for slow accretion or to prevent wave erosion
(Nordstrom and Jackson, 1992). Estuarine beaches are narrow,
even at low tide, so substantial source widths for aeolian
transport occur only over a portion of each tidal cycle and only
when the wind blows at an oblique angle to beach orientation
(Nordstrom and Jackson, 1994). Wave energy must be suf-
ficient to prevent colonization of intertidal vegetation, but
erosion cannot be too great for aeolian forms to survive. On-
shore aeolian transport occurring between moderate-intensity
storms may create only a thin aeolian cap on top of the back-
beach or overwash platform.
10.12.6.2.2 Cohesive shorelines
Coastal marshes are valuable as open space, as breeding
grounds and food sources for marine and estuarine animals, as
traps for sediments and nutrients from rivers and runoff, as
natural filters in maintaining water quality, and as buffers to
runoff from uplands (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1993). Marshes
are a conspicuous subenvironment in estuaries and occur pre-
dominantly in temperate climates, whereas mangroves occur in
subtropical and tropical environments (Woodroffe, 2003).
The occurrence of marshes, like beaches, depends on their
environmental setting and mode of origin, defined by factors
320 Estuaries
such as bedrock geology, availability of sediments, and recent
sea-level rise history. Marshes occur in a range of estuarine
basins, including drowned river valleys, bar-built estuaries,
lagoons, and rias (Allen, 2000). Their location in the estuary
can include the upper estuary at the margins of rivers, at the
toe of coastal bluffs, and on the landward side of barrier is-
lands and spits (Wood et al., 1989). The estuaries along the
Atlantic coast of the USA include both drowned river-valley
estuaries to the north and bar-built estuaries to the south.
Drainage basin characteristics (size and land cover) and re-
sultant sediment load are influential to the presence, size, and
substrate characteristics of marshes and submerged vegetation
(Roman et al., 2000). Marshes may develop within small
embayments or at the mouth of stream channels (Knebel
et al., 1988). Sediment in marshes tends to be fine grained but
coarser sediments can occur where fluvial inputs are low and
marine sources are high (Allen, 2000).
Marshes occupy the upper intertidal zone and are affected
by wave action, storm surge, and tidal flows that affect
sediment transport and cycles of erosion and accretion.
The ability for a marsh to maintain its position in the tidal
frame is a function of the elevation of the marsh surface
elevation in relation to sea level. Increase in surface elevation
is the result of accumulation of sediment as well as biomass
production (Reed, 2002), but subsurface processes are
also important contributors to surface elevation changes
(Cahoon, 2006). Marshes in the same estuary can undergo
different levels of vulnerability to increases in sea level. In
Chesapeake Bay (USA), submerged upland marshes on the
eastern shore are characterized by a lack of a well-integrated,
tidal creek network. Tidal creeks that do develop tend to be
ebb dominant, resulting in export of sediment from the
marsh. These marshes are more vulnerable than those that
form in the meanders of the major tributaries and receive
ample sediment inputs from flood events (Stevenson and
Kearney, 1996).
Mangroves are most commonly associated with tropical
climates and are located in broad intertidal areas characterized
by low wave energy and where there is a source of fine-grained
sediment (Woodroffe, 1992). Mangroves exist in a range
of environmental settings, including river-dominated, tide-
dominated, and wave-dominated environments (Thorn,
1982), and their morphology and evolution are influenced
by characteristics of substrate and rates of sedimentation
(Woodroffe, 1992). Tidal flow in mangroves is influenced by
vegetation density, evapotranspiration, and groundwater flow
(Wolanski, 1992). Mangroves generally exhibit a zonation of
vegetation species (Thom et al., 1975), and the type of vege-
tation present is a function of inundation (frequency and
duration), waterlogging of substrate and pore-water potential,
and salinity (Woodroffe, 1992).
10.12.6.3 Geomorphic–Biotic Interactions
Great interest occurs concerning the interactions between geo-
morphology and biology (Black et al., 1998; Naylor, 2005),
particularly in regions where species are threatened. Estuaries
are one of the most ecologically productive environments,
offering habitat for spawning, development of juveniles, and
foraging. Maintaining ecosystem functions and services will
depend on our ability to synthesize multidisciplinary data into
a format that can be used in a management context (Cooper
et al., 1994). The relationship between geomorphic and biotic
processes in estuaries has been examined at several scales to
determine whether there is a link between biological pattern
and estuarine morphology (Dethier and Schoch, 2005). At the
macro-scale, the morphodynamics of the estuary influence
species abundance and diversity. Species are sensitive to tem-
perature and salinity gradients within an estuary, and these
gradients are a function of shape and the connection of the
estuary to the sea (Pritchard, 1967a). In a study of estuaries in
southeastern Australia, Roy et al. (2001) identified four zones
(marine flood-tidal delta, central mud basin, fluvial delta, and
riverine channel/alluvial plain) that are common to these es-
tuaries and ecologically important to estuarine species. The
relative value of these zones is a function of the salinity gra-
dient, the rate of infilling, and the influence of human de-
velopment. They found that bar development at the mouth of
the estuary influenced the ability of species to migrate into the
estuary. The timing of opening and closure of the inlet of an
estuary also have important ecological implications. Whitfield
et al. (2008) found that successful recruitment of certain
species of fish and invertebrates was influenced by the timing
of the opening and closing of the estuarine inlet. The mag-
nitude of breaching and depth of the inlet increased tidal
exchange and salinity in the estuary prior to closure of the
inlet that was beneficial for recruitment but the magnitude of
river flow associated with breaching could also lead to declines
in species in the estuary.
One question that remains is whether estuarine classifi-
cations can be used to indicate biologic function. Edgar et al.
(2000) classified 111 estuaries in Tasmania based on physical
and salinity characteristics (seaward barrier, tidal range, sal-
inity, estuary size, and river runoff) and statistically assessed
their ability to serve as surrogates of biological pattern derived
from invertebrate and fish data. Results revealed that classifi-
cation of estuaries by a combination of salinity and physical
variables was a more successful indicator than using a classic
geomorphologic grouping of the estuaries.
At the micro-scale, fauna alter sedimentary characteristics
by mechanically activating and transporting sediments,
bonding them by chemical secretions, or altering boundary
layer conditions by changing bedform conditions (Rhoads
and Stanley, 1965; Nowell et al., 1981; Jumars and Nowell,
1984; Meadows and Tait, 1989; Fries et al., 1999; Statzner
et al., 2003). The relative roles of physical and faunal processes
differ depending on the amount of wave and current energy,
the grain-size characteristics of sediments, and species type.
Intertidal species can decrease or increase the likelihood for
entrainment of sediment by altering the sediment or bed
properties (Widdows and Brinsley, 2002). Species can stabilize
the bed by enhancing sediment cohesiveness and thus increase
the critical erosion threshold (Andersen, 2001). Species can
increase surface roughness and enhance erosion rates by
bioturbation of the sediment (Wright et al., 1997). In low-
wave-energy environments (such as estuaries), the biological
processes can have an influence on sediment mobilization and
transport of a magnitude comparable to that of waves and
tidal currents alone (Wood and Widdows, 2002; Jackson et al.,

2005). Field investigations and development of models to
predict sediment transport in estuaries need to account for
these interactions (Uncles, 2002).
10.12.6.4 Human-Modified Estuarine Systems
Estuaries have experienced significant morphological and
ecological changes from human modifications that have
eliminated many intertidal environments, impaired water, and
sediment quality, and threatened many of the species that
depend on the estuary for all or part of their life history
(Kennish, 2002). In some regions of the world (e.g., the mid-
Atlantic coast of the US), the imprint of humans has had
serious consequences for other species that occupy the estuary
(Paul, 2001) but there are instances where these species have
adapted to human-induced stresses (Botton et al., 2006). Re-
mote-sensing and geographic information system (GIS) tech-
nologies have provided a platform for assessing estuarine
parameters such as sedimentation rates (Zheng et al., 2010),
morphology (Mason et al., 2010), and integrating data that
can be utilized in a management framework for enhancing
estuarine water quality (Ng et al., 2010).
Humans can affect the geomorphology of estuaries by
changes in land use and land cover of the upland or by
armoring and diking the shore (Figure 5). These activities can
alter sedimentation rates in an estuary relative to those that
would occur under natural conditions. Historical changes in
land use that eliminate forest cover can contribute to sedi-
mentation (Willard et al., 2003), and modification via rec-
lamation and embankment can reduce the intertidal area,
tidal prism, and current velocities, and increase sedimentation
(van der Wal et al., 2002).
The leading methods of shoreline armoring in estuaries are
installing bulkheads and performing beach nourishment.
Despite the prominence of bulkheads on estuarine shorelines,
few process-based studies of their effects have been conducted
(Nordstrom et al., 2009). Many inferences concerning the
physical effects of bulkheads in estuaries are based on other
vertical structures in ocean environments (Kraus, 1988; Kraus
and McDougal, 1996; Miles et al., 1997). Findings from studies
on exposed shorelines reveal that the interaction of waves with
structures results in an increase in wave reflection and
(a)
Figure 5 Photographs of bulkheading for shore protection in (a) Delware Bay and (b) Puget Sound, USA.
Estuaries 321
turbulence, nearshore current velocities, sediment activation,
and longshore sediment transport at the base of the structure
(Kraus, 1988; Plant and Griggs, 1992; Kraus and McDougal,
1996; Miles et al., 1997). Empirical field studies note the for-
mation of scour pits directly in front of shore-parallel structures
after storms (Morton, 1988), causing a lowering of the profile
(Birkemeier et al., 1991), narrowing of the beachface (Hall and
Pilkey, 1991), and slower recovery of the profile after storms
(Nakashima and Mossa, 1991). Support for these findings in
estuaries remains uncertain without further assessment.
Beach nourishment is most generally associated with ex-
posed coasts with intensive levels of development or great
recreational value, but it is also important in estuaries where it
can potentially provide beach habitat as well as shore pro-
tection (Nordstrom, 1992; Shipman, 2001; Jones and Hanna,
2004; Fenster et al., 2006; Andrade et al., 2006). Written
documentation of appropriate volumes, sediment com-
position, and purposes of beach nourishment is lacking for
many operations in estuaries, and few studies assess the effects
of beach nourishment in estuarine environments once the fill
is emplaced (Shipman, 2001; Jackson et al., 2007; Jackson
et al., 2010). Differences in grain-size characteristics introduced
in nourishment operations can result in differences in the form
and mobility of estuarine beaches and their drainage (Nord-
strom, 1992). Estuarine beaches have been nourished with
source material dredged from offshore (Douglass and Weggel,
1987) and adjacent creeks or inlets (Fenster et al., 2006) or
mined from inland sand and gravel quarries (Shipman, 2001).
Use of nonbeach sources can result in departures in sediment
size and sorting from native material. Preexisting surface gravel
will be buried. Gravel is a prominent and ecologically valuable
characteristic of many low-energy beaches (Nordstrom and
Jackson, 1993; Rice, 2006; Ciavola and Castiglione, 2009), so
this loss may be locally important. Most nourishment oper-
ations in estuaries involve placement of fill on the intertidal
foreshore and are designed to build wider backshores and
higher berm elevations to protect against wave erosion and
overwash. Creation of a high berm has the advantage of in-
creasing beach volume without covering the bay bottom. The
restriction in the horizontal and vertical extent of reworking on
estuarine beaches because of the low wave energies implies that
naturalization of fill sediment will be a slow process. The
(b)
322 Estuaries
implications of these changes to the beach are the potential
reduction in ecological value for species that forage, migrate, or
transgress the beach environment (Jackson et al., 2010).
10.12.6.5 Restoration Practices
Restoration activities to enhance or create habitat are now
widespread in many estuaries but the success of these projects
over the long-term requires a better understanding of the
linkages between physical, geomorphological, and biological
processes. Habitat is defined as ‘‘the kind or range of en-
vironments in which a species/population/life history stage
can live’’ (McCoy and Bell, 1991). Structurally, coastal habitat
is made of sediment and vegetation reworked by the com-
bined effects of waves, tides, wind, and currents. The use of
estuarine habitat by species is spatially and temporally vari-
able due to cross-shore and alongshore gradients in wave
energy, salinity, temperature, and oxygen. Thus, the geographic
location of optimal habitat for a population or species can
vary from year to year. The question for many managers and
restorationists is whether optimum habitat for a particular
species is available in the proper location as physical and
chemical changes shift (Peterson, 2003) and as humans ma-
nipulate the environment. In areas where geomorphic systems
are stressed by high erosion rates or human alteration, res-
toration activities have attempted to create new habitat or
enhance existing degraded habitat.
In estuaries, restoration is most generally associated with the
rehabilitation of degraded marsh systems (Teal and Weinstein,
2002; Wolters et al., 2005) and numerous case studies have
documented the success and failure of restoration sites to track
toward target states (Zedler and Callaway, 1999). A growing
number of instances are known where beach environments are
being restored to enhance habitat (Figure 6; Jackson et al.,
2007). Beach nourishment is employed in estuaries primarily
for shore protection but great interest exists from federal, state,
and private agencies to use beach nourishment projects to en-
hance habitat while protecting human development. Beach
nourishment is likely to preserve habitat value better than
bulkheading, but nourishment has the potential to decrease
(a)
Figure 6 Photographs of use of beach nourishment to restore ecosystem functions on human modified shorelines in (a) Delware Bay and (b)
Puget Sound, USA.
habitat value as well as enhance it, depending on morphology
(Jackson et al., 2010) and sediment characteristics (Rice, 2006)
of the nourished beach. The possibility of decreasing habitat
value is of particular concern, because the application of
nourishment will be more widespread in the future.
Managed realignment, the landward movement of flood-
defense structures to increase intertidal area, is a growing
practice in Europe. Projects have focused on the re-establish-
ment of tidal flats and marsh environments, but assessment of
these types of projects from models and field data reveals
the problems of re-establishing tidal exchange, replacing lost
habitat and high project costs relative to recovery of ecosystem
functions and services (Elliott et al., 2007; French, 2008;
Hughes et al., 2009).
10.12.7 Future Issues
How estuaries respond to projected estimates of sea-level rise,
including associated changes to habitat assemblages (sandy
beaches, benthic areas, and marsh systems), is uncertain
(Fitzgerald et al., 2008; Ganju and Schoellhamer, 2010). In-
creases in storms, coastal flooding, and water temperatures
will change the form and function of estuaries in the future.
Sediment availability and the geomorphic type of the estuary
have been identified as important controls on the morpho-
dynamics of the estuary system in response to these changes
(Reeve and Karunarathna, 2009). If sediment influx to the
system is continuous, the estuary will likely maintain its
morphology. If sediment influx is restricted, morphologies will
be reduced or eliminated. Potential impacts based on future
climate-change scenarios in Chesapeake Bay (USA) include
increased flooding and the elimination of marshes (Najar et al.,
2010). Where intertidal zones are modified or eliminated by
human alterations, the anticipated response of an estuarine
transgression is prevented (Townend and Pethick, 2002).
Construction of hard protection structures along the shoreline
in response to sea-level rise will prevent the migration of the
marsh inland and also sequester sediment that will be needed
to maintain both marsh and beach systems.
(b)

The effects of human alteration on geomorphology and
habitat assemblages over short time frames and the influence
on estuarine evolution over long time frames have been es-
tablished in the literature. A need exists to move from short-
and long-term temporal scales toward decade and kilometer
scales that will assist in solving near-term morphologic
problems associated with managing estuarine environments
(Uncles, 2002). For example, in some backbarrier environ-
ments the reduction in inlet breaching and overwash during
storms that occurs as a result of current management of ocean
beaches, in turn, reduces the transfer of sediment to the
estuary from ocean sources. The restriction in sediment
availability alters the sediment budget of the estuarine
shoreline contributing to marsh loss and beach erosion
(Nordstrom et al., 2009). The alteration, loss, or fragmen-
tation of habitat, whether the result of natural or human
processes, can impact resource exchange and ecological func-
tion in estuaries (Cloern, 2007). Developing policies or
restoration plans based on future change scenarios will
require better understanding of these geomorphic–biotic
interactions in estuaries (Pethick, 1993) and the role of
human actions through cross-disciplinary, collaborative re-
search initiatives.
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Biographical Sketch

Nancy Jackson is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science at New Jersey Institute
of Technology. Her research focuses on coastal processes on beaches and dunes in estuarine and ocean en-
vironments. She held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in environmental science at the Polytechnic in Turin in
2005. She is an associate editor of Estuaries and Coasts. She received her bachelor’s degree from Clark University,
her master’s degree from Antioch New England Graduate School, and her doctorate from Rutgers University.
 10.13 Coral Systems
PS Kench, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.13.1 Introduction 329

10.13.2 Reef Systems and Geomorphic Complexity 330
10.13.2.1 The Importance of Ecological Processes for Geomorphic Development 330
10.13.2.2 An Eco-Morphodynamic Framework for Coral Reef Development 333
10.13.2.3 Reef Landforms and the Importance of the Carbonate Sediment Factory 335
10.13.3 The Distribution and Evolution of Coral Reefs 337
10.13.4 Geomorphic Development of Holocene Coral Reefs 338
10.13.4.1 The Internal Anatomy of Reef Framework 339
10.13.4.2 Styles of Reef Growth 341
10.13.4.3 Reef Growth and Sea-Level Dynamics 343
10.13.5 Rates of Reef Growth 343
10.13.6 Developments in Geomorphology of Sedimentary Landforms 344
10.13.7 Lagoon Sedimentation and Geomorphic Development of Reefs 347
10.13.8 Reef Island Morphology and Evolution 348
10.13.8.1 Long-Term Controls on Reef Island Evolution 350
10.13.8.2 The Relationship between Sea-Level Change, Reef Growth, and Island Formation 350
10.13.8.3 Recognition of the Importance of Sediment Supply on Island Building 351
10.13.8.4 Process Controls on Island Development 352
10.13.8.5 Reef Island Morphodynamics 354
10.13.9 Summary and Conclusions 355
References 356

Glossary Eco-morphodynamics The interaction and co-adjustment

Atolls Annular mid-ocean reefs that enclose a central
lagoon. The reef rim may support reefs islands and may also
be dissected by deep or shallow passages.
Barrier reef Coral reefs separated from continental
shorelines or high islands by a lagoon.
Beachrock Lithified unconsolidated calcium carbonate
sediments in the intertidal zone of tropical and subtropical
beaches. Beachrock mirrors the disposition of the
unconsolidated beach including the beach slope and
stratigraphy.
Bioerosion The destruction and removal of consolidated
carbonate material (e.g., coral or reef framework) by the
direct action of organisms.
Biolithic Cemented rock composed of the skeletal
remains of calcareous organisms.
Cay sandstone Cemented rock beneath the surface of a
reef island. Cay sandstone forms from the cementation of
unconsolidated carbonate sediments.
Coral reef A three-dimensional structure comprising a
living veneer of corals growing on, or forming, a wave-
resistant feature, and its associated sediments. Coral reefs
are substantially built by skeletons of successive generations
of corals and other calcareous-producing reef biota.
of coral reef structure, morphology, and physical
hydrodynamic and ecological processes that is mediated by
the production, transfer, and deposition of calcium
carbonate.
Fringing reefs Reefs that develop close to continental
shorelines or high islands. These reefs are generally shore-
attached, but back-reef areas can be marginally submerged.
High-energy window A period of higher wave energy
conditions across submerged reefs that was caused by reef
growth lagging sea level during the Holocene marine
transgression.
Island oscillation index A parameter derived to describe
differences in the susceptibility of morphological change of
beaches around reef island shorelines.
Reef energy window index A parameter used to establish
the relative activity of wave energy on reef flat surfaces that
is able to perform geomorphic work.
Reef islands Morphologically coherent wave-built
accumulations of carbonate sediment, derived from the
surrounding reef flat, deposited on or adjacent to reef
surfaces. Reef islands are subaerial deposits that can become
vegetated. They are classified based on sediment texture and
vegetative cover.

Kench, P.S., 2013. Coral systems. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Sherman,
D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol.
10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 328–359.

328 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00288-8

 Coral Systems 329

Abstract

Coral reefs are globally unique landforms formed in the tropical ocean from the interaction between ecological and
physical processes. Reefs are also among the most valuable ecosystems on the Earth, although they are threatened by an
intensifying range of stresses that include anthropogenic activities and global climate change. This chapter examines
developments in the scientific understanding of the formation and geomorphic dynamics of coral reefs and reef-associated
landforms. Reef science has its foundations in descriptive accounts of the form and distribution of coral reefs, driving
considerations of the evolution of reef systems. With the assistance of developments in field-sampling techniques, in-
strumentation, and analytical techniques, an increased recognition has occurred of the geomorphic complexity of reef
systems, and the process controls on reef landform development and change, which operate at a range of spatial and
temporal scales. These process controls are explored using an ecomorphodynamic framework to examine the ocean-basin
scale controls on the distribution and evolution of coral reefs; the importance of the carbonate factory in reef geomorphic
development; new insights into the controls on the formation and fabric of reef structure at millennial timescales; and the
process controls on the formation of sedimentary landforms and their temporal dynamics. The chapter also highlights key
areas for ongoing research that include carbonate budget dynamics that modulate geomorphic development, improved
resolution of local and regional-scale patterns of reef landform development, and process controls on the morphodynamics
of reef landforms. Such knowledge is fundamental to better resolve the future trajectories of reef landforms in response to
global climatic change.

10.13.1 Introduction
Coral reef geomorphology is the study of the distribution,
morphology, and processes that control the formation and
morphological change of coral reefs and reef-associated
landforms. The science of coral reefs had its inception in the
earliest modern voyages of discovery to the tropical oceans.
Navigators (e.g., Cook) and naturalists (e.g., von Chamisso,
Banks, and Darwin) in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies provided the first accounts of the extent, distribution,
and shape of coral reefs. These observations spawned the great
‘coral reef problem’ which sought to explain the structure
and distribution of reef systems and which dominated much
scientific debate for more than a century. Although coral reef
geomorphology had its inception in the nineteenth century, it
was only during the early stages of the twentieth century, with
increased scientific inquiry to resolve the coral reef problem,
that a clearly defined discipline emerged. With the assistance
of developments in field sampling, instrumentation, and
analytical techniques, the past 100 years have seen a significant
advance in recognition of the geomorphic complexities of reef
systems and understanding of the process controls on devel-
opment of reef landforms.
The tropical coral ecosystems that produce reef landforms
cover an estimated 284 000–300 000 km2 of the Earth’s sur-
face (Spalding et al., 2001). Although relatively modest in
area compared with other geomorphic systems, coral reefs are
considered among the most valuable on the Earth, providing
goods and services in excess of US$375 billion per annum to
millions of people (Best and Bornbusch, 2005). The ecological
value of reefs is well recognized as they are zones of high
biological diversity and habitat to 25% of known marine
species (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Reef sys-
tems are also important nurseries for commercial fisheries,
sources of nutrition, and income for coastal communities
(Burke et al., 2011). Less well recognized is the geomorphic
value provided by reefs as a consequence of the ecosystem
services they provide. Coral reefs provide the physical foun-
dation of a number of mid-ocean atoll nations (e.g., Kiribati,
Tuvalu, Maldives, and Marshall Islands). In addition to pro-
viding habitat, reef structure regulates oceanographic processes
that in turn control reef and lagoon circulation and wave en-
ergy levels that impact coastlines.
Coral reef landforms are unique as they are formed from
the interaction between the ecological processes that are re-
sponsible for the growth of coral and other carbonate pro-
ducers, and the physical processes such as waves, currents,
and sea-level change that modulate ecological processes and
redistribute carbonate material within reef systems. The study
of coral reef geomorphology aims to understand how these
process interactions vary across a range of timescales and
control the morphological development of whole reef struc-
tures and reef-associated landforms.
Global assessments indicate that reefs are subject to an
intensifying range of threats that include anthropogenic im-
pacts such as overfishing, coastal development, and pollution
(Hughes et al., 2003; Burke et al., 2011). Changes in global
climate exert further stresses on reef systems. In particular,
increased ocean temperatures, changes in ocean water chem-
istry (acidification), increased storminess and sea-level change
all threaten the health and structural integrity of reef systems
(Hughes et al., 2003; Buddemeier et al., 2004; Burke et al.,
2011). Reef monitoring programs indicate that 20% of the
world’s coral reefs have been lost with a further 25% heavily
degraded and at risk of imminent collapse (Wilkinson, 2004).
Approximately 75% of global reefs are considered threatened
(Burke et al., 2011). Coral reef landforms are at risk from the
same range of stressors including changes in sea-surface tem-
perature, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and anthropogenic
activities (Parry et al., 2007; Smithers et al., 2007). Many
projections expect reef landforms to become physically
unstable. In extreme cases, the citizens of small atoll nations
are expected to become environmental refugees (Connell,
1999). However, projections of the geomorphic response of
reef landforms to environmental change have been primarily
based on assumptions that the short-term ecological con-
dition of reefs is the primary control on geomorphic change.
From a geomorphological viewpoint, assertions of drown-
ing islands and observations of the ecological deterioration
of coral reefs can be placed in a longer-term context of reef
evolution and landform change. The geomorphic examination
of reef landforms spans event to millennial timescales and,
330 Coral Systems
therefore, provides a powerful vehicle to examine how short-
term ecological transitions propagate through the geomorphic
system to produce and modify reef landforms. Consequently,
reef geomorphology is uniquely positioned to contribute to
contemporary scientific debates concerning the future trajec-
tories and persistence of coral reef systems (Hopley et al., 2007).
This chapter presents a review and synthesis of con-
temporary understanding of the controls on the formation
and change of coral reef landforms. The chapter begins with a
brief overview of the diversity in reef landforms, ranging from
macro-scale reef structures to meso- and micro-scale features
of reef surfaces and sedimentary landforms, as a basis to
consider developments in geomorphic understanding of reef
systems. The evolution and change of these landforms are
placed within a morphodynamic framework that reflects the
interaction of biological and physical processes at a range
of temporal scales. Reef landforms are primarily composed of
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and the dynamics of the car-
bonate factory and its importance in landform behavior are
outlined. The remainder of the chapter focuses on the main
geomorphic units of reef systems, highlighting major advances
and contemporary research questions in understanding the
formation and dynamics of coral reef structure and sedi-
mentary landforms.
Historically, an imbalance in the distribution of geomor-
phologic research on coral reefs has been weighted toward the
evolution and structure of coral reefs. The chapter examines
the state of knowledge and recent developments in under-
standing reef evolution. Through this increased attention to
reef structure, geomorphologists have begun to document and
explore the process controls on the surficial geomorphic fea-
tures of reef systems. This aspect of reef geomorphology has
historically received less attention; however, in recent decades,
it has increased in prominence due to advances in research
instrumentation and pragmatic demands to understand geo-
morphic processes to support management of reef landforms.
This chapter does not intend to provide reviews of the history
of reef development on a region-by-region basis (e.g., Hopley
et al., 2007 and Hutchings et al., 2008 for the Great Barrier
Reef and Riegl and Dodge, 2008 for the USA). Furthermore,
although a topic of interest, the chapter does not focus on the
expected impacts of global climate change on reef geo-
morphology (see recent review by Kench et al., 2009a).
Instead, the chapter examines recent developments in geo-
morphologic understanding of reef structure, surficial sedi-
mentary deposits on reef surfaces (e.g., reef islands), and
contemporary processes that control geomorphic change in
reef systems.
10.13.2 Reef Systems and Geomorphic Complexity
Coral reef systems possess a diverse range of geomorphic
features. This diversity in landform units has evolved in re-
sponse to different processes that operate at a range of
space and timescales. The different geomorphic units also
show varying levels of persistence in the geological record.
A primary division of geomorphic features can be made
between coral reefs and reef sedimentary landforms. Coral
reefs are three-dimensional structures consisting of veneers
of living coral and reef-associated organisms that overlie
sequences of previously deposited calcium carbonate separ-
ated by solutional unconformities (Figure 1). These structures
evolve over geological (millennial) timescales. Geomorphic
classifications of reefs are typically based on the size and
shape of reefs and their proximity to continental landmasses
(Table 1; Stoddart, 1969a; Ladd, 1977; Figure 2). Atolls,
fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and reef platforms comprise the
primary reef types. However, a diverse range of secondary reef
features have also been described, but are smaller in size and
are associated with the major reef morphologies (Table 1).
As geomorphic units, coral reefs range in area from less
than 1 km2, in the case of smaller patch reefs, to more than
100 km2 in extent. Networks of reefs can form barrier com-
plexes up to 2400 km in length, such as the Great Barrier Reef,
which is the largest biological construction on the Earth.
Beneath this macro-scale classification of reef types, geo-
morphologists have recognized a suite of features on reefs
that range from the macro- to micro-scale (Table 2, Figures 1
and 2). Each reef possesses distinct morphological zones
developed in response to processes associated with unique
combinations of water depth and relative exposure to incident
hydrodynamic energy (e.g., forereef and reef flat). These major
reef zones are also host to a range of smaller geomorphic
units that can be attributed to net reef development (e.g., spur
and grooves) or the transport and redeposition of detrital
sediment (Table 2, Figure 1).
Reef sedimentary landforms are surficial accumulations of
unconsolidated sediment deposited by wave and current pro-
cesses on, or adjacent to, a coral reef structure that includes
sand aprons, reef islands, and beaches (Table 2, Figure 1). On
geological timescales, they represent ephemeral stores of detrital
material in the carbonate sediment budget. These deposits are
important at the human timescale because as mentioned pre-
viously, they form the foundation of a number of mid-ocean
atoll nations. Sedimentary units within reef systems may also be
subject to lithification processes (e.g., formation of beachrock,
cay sandstone, Stoddart and Steers, 1977) which afford these
units greater persistence on reef platforms.
10.13.2.1 The Importance of Ecological Processes for
Geomorphic Development
The geomorphic products of coral reefs are unique in that
they are composed almost exclusively of CaCO3 produced
primarily through ecological processes. The primary sources
of reef carbonate are the skeletons of corals and other
reef-dwelling organisms that precipitate calcium carbonate
(e.g., crustose coralline algae, foraminifera, calcareous algae,
and mollusks). The provenance of these organisms is intra-
basinal, with the production and deposition of sediment
occurring within or adjacent to the reef platform.
Key constructional components of coral reefs are herma-
typic corals, which can contribute to the structural framework
of coral reefs. Hermatypic corals are characterized by a sym-
biotic relationship between a coral animal and single-celled
algae, zooxanthellae, which live in coral tissue. This relation-
ship enables corals to secrete a rigid skeleton of calcium car-
bonate through a process known as calcification, a biologically
mediated mechanism by which calcium (Ca2 þ ) and carbonate
 Coral Systems 331

Coral reef

Reef island
Reef crest Reef flat Sand Patch reef Algal
apron (b)
rim
msl
Fore
reef Lagoon

Holocene reef Pleistocene reef

(a)

Cay sandstone/ Vegetated island core

Phosphate rock
Beachrock Shingle
Mobile beach rampart
Bassett
Conglomerate edge
msl platform Reef
crest

Sand apron
Coral reef flat
(b)

Figure 1 Schematic depiction of coral reef geomorphic units. (a) Cross-section of an atoll showing reef structure and major subunits of the reef
platform typical of many reef settings. (b) Sedimentary landform units typically found on or adjacent to coral reefs.

Table 1 Major reef types and physical characteristics

Reef type Description Location Dimension/scale

Primary reef types

Atolls Annular reef rim enclosing a lagoon a. Oceanic 100–101 km diameter
b. Continental shelves, barrier lagoons 101–103 km2 area
Barrier reef Linear reefs separated from land by a lagoon Continental shelves or platforms or high islands 101–103 km long
Fringing reef Reefs attached to shoreline without lagoon Continental and island shorelines 101–101 km long
Table/platform reef Isolated intertidal reefs without lagoon a. Oceanic 101–101 km diameter
b. Continental shelves, barrier lagoons
Secondary reef types
Faro Ring-shaped reef with lagoon Atoll lagoons or barrier lagoons 101–101 km diameter
Knoll Isolated mounds covered by living coral Atoll and barrier lagoons 103–101 km diameter
Patch reef Small sea- level reefs Submarine shelves or lagoons 101–101 km diameter
Ribbon reef Long, narrow, sinuous reef Section of barrier or atoll reef system 101–101 km long
Bank reef Linear or semi-circular reef Continental shelf or barrier lagoon 101 km long

Source: Reproduced from Ladd, H.S., 1977. Types of coral reefs and their distribution. In: Jones, O.A., Endean, R. (Eds.), Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Geology 2. Academic
Press, New York, NY, vol. iv, pp. 1–17.

(CO32–) ions derived from supersaturated seawater are con-
verted to CaCO3 (Kinzie and Buddemeier, 1996).
Geographically, coral reefs and carbonate sediment-
producing systems occur in shallow tropical and subtropical
marine settings between the latitudinal limits of 28o N and
28o S (Figure 3). These broad latitudinal limits and the
complex distribution of reefs within this region are controlled
by variations in a number of key environmental parameters
(Kleypas et al., 1999). The sea-surface temperatures within
which corals thrive ranges from 17 to 34 1C. Coral growth is
limited when sea-surface temperatures lie outside this range
for considerable periods of time. Consequently, corals are
absent along the eastern margins of Africa and South America
where cool water upwelling prevails. Due to their reliance
on photosynthesis, reef-building corals are constrained to the
shallow photic zone (the depth of water at which surface light
levels are reduced to 1%). The depth of the photic zone varies
considerably from 490 m in nonturbid waters to 5 m in
highly turbid environments. Salinity is a further limit on coral
growth. Although corals can endure a large range in salinity
(23–42 ppt), reefs are generally absent from river mouths that
have characteristically low salinity levels and high sediment
yields. Variations in the nutrient load of reef waters can also
regulate coral growth. Corals thrive in low-nutrient waters, but
high-nutrient levels can severely inhibit coral production
(Perry and Larcombe, 2003).
332 Coral Systems

Fringing reef Fringing reef

(a) (b)

Barrier and fringing reef Barrier reef

(c) (d)

Atoll Atoll

(e) (f)

Reef platform Reef platform

(g) (h)

Figure 2 Examples of coral reef structural types. Fringing reefs (a, b) which are shore attached; barrier reefs (c, d) where reefs are detached
from coastline and separated by a shallow or deep lagoon; atolls (e, f) where annular reefs enclose a lagoon; and isolated mid-oceanic reef
platforms (g, h).
 Coral Systems 333

Table 2 Summary of macro- and meso-scale structural and sedimentary geomorphic features of coral reef platforms

Macro-scale morphological Structural subunits Unconsolidated sedimentary units Lithified sedimentary units
components of reef platform

Forereef: Spur and grooves Talus slopes –

Off-reef sand chutes
Reef crest: Algal ridge – –
Reef flat: Sub-tidal flat Sand sheets Conglomerate platform
Iintertidal flat Gravel sheets Basset edges
Iintertidal channels Shingle ridges Phosphate rock
Sub-tidal swash bars Cay sandstone
Intertidal sand bars Beachrock
Supratidal islands
Mobile beaches
Backreef: Reef flat Sand aprons –
Lagoon: Knolls, patch reefs Sand aprons –
lagoon infill
Deep reef channel: – Sand chutes –

60° E 120° E 180° 120° W 60° W 0°

60° N 60° N

Mean winter 15 °C
sst isotherm

40° N 40° N

20° N 20° N

0° 0°

20° S 20° S

40° S 40° S

Coral reef areas Cool currents 2000 4000

0
Zone of mean 20 °C winter SST isotherm Warm currents
km
60° S 60° S
Figure 3 Distribution of coral reefs in the tropical seas. Note boundaries of ocean water temperature limits.

10.13.2.2 An Eco-Morphodynamic Framework for Coral
Reef Development
The geomorphic development of a reef and its associated sedi-
mentary structures depend upon the growth of corals and other
calcifying organisms. However, reducing the relationship to one
driven by carbonate production oversimplifies such develop-
ment, which depends upon a range of additional ecological,
chemical, and physical processes that cycle carbonate sediment
within and through reef systems. Some of these processes can
aid the construction of reef landforms, some convert framework
to detrital carbonate sediment and others can remove reef
framework. The set of constructive processes include carbonate
production by secondary framework builders (e.g., crustose
coralline algae) and benthic organisms (foraminifera, bryo-
zoans, calcareous algae, and mollusks) and precipitation of
cements that bind and stabilize sediments (Scoffin, 1992).
Destructive processes include bioerosion, the action of organ-
isms in destroying reef framework through mechanical boring,
etching and chemical dissolution (Perry and Hepburn, 2008),
and physical processes, whereby waves mechanically break the
skeletal structure of carbonate material (Scoffin, 1993).
Reef scientists have long recognized the fact that the de-
velopment of coral reef systems reflects a dynamic balance
334 Coral Systems
between constructive and destructive processes (e.g., Darwin,
1842; Scoffin, 1992; Perry and Hepburn, 2008). Initially, the
recognition of these dynamics underpinned explanations of
the presence and gross structure of coral reefs. The by-products
of reef growth and destruction (detrital sediment) can also
lead to landform construction and change. For example, reef
islands rely on production and transfer of carbonate sediment
from an adjacent reef platform, although they have typically
been regarded as losses to the reef sediment budget (Scoffin
et al., 1980; Hubbard et al., 1990; Kleypas et al., 2001). Over
the past century, an expansion of research to describe and
account for other morphological features on, and adjacent to,
coral reef structures has recognized that the balance of con-
structive and destructive processes on reefs operates at a range
of space and timescales. Variability in that balance (e.g., in
extent, rates, duration, and timing) produces the diversity of
macro- to micro-scale geomorphic units within reef systems
(Tables 1 and 2, Figure 1).
Physical processes that mechanically erode, transport, and
deposit calcium carbonate are of paramount importance in
controlling the distribution, structure, and morphology of
reefs and sedimentary landforms (Scoffin et al., 1980). Once a
reef is constructed, feedbacks exist that modify micro-
environments, process interactions, and the distribution of
ecological communities and morphological products. The
term ‘eco-morphodynamics’ was recently introduced as a
conceptual framework to provide more detailed exploration of
the complex relationships that exist between ecological and
physical processes and reef geomorphology (Kench, 2011a,
Figure 4).
Eco-morphodynamics is an extension of the morphody-
namic concept that has been widely used by geomorphologists
to account for the co-adjustment of landforms and processes in
coastal environments (Wright and Thom, 1977; Cowell and
Thom, 1994). Morphodynamics encompasses hydrodynamic
processes (waves and currents) and their interaction with the
coast that drives morphological adjustment via the movement
of sediment. Whereas hydrodynamic processes respond in-
stantaneously to morphology, a temporal lag occurs in the
morphological response to hydrodynamic forcing as time is
required for sediment transfers to occur. Sediment can therefore
be considered to be a time-dependent coupling mechanism.
Unique to coral reef systems, the sediment reservoir is
produced solely by ecological processes that produce calcium
carbonate. Furthermore, different coral reef settings (locations;
geomorphic zones) vary greatly in the rates at which they
produce calcium carbonate (Kinsey, 1983). Consequently, the
carbonate sediment factory is a highly space- and time-
dependent coupling mechanism. This time dependency
emerges not only from the temporal lags in redistribution of
material but also from the time frames associated with or-
ganism growth, mortality, and conversion to detrital sediment
(Perry et al., 2008). The influence of such temporal lags on
morphological change in reef systems is poorly understood.
The structure and function of the eco-morphodynamic
framework of a coral reef system (Figure 4) highlight a
number of key characteristics of importance to the co-adjust-
ment of physical processes, reef ecological communities, and
geomorphic products. First, the cycling of calcium carbonate is
of fundamental importance for supplying the building blocks
(skeletal sands and gravels) for landform construction. Sec-
ond, alterations in boundary controls will force change in
coral reef system state (ecological, physical, and geological
characteristics). Such changes in boundary conditions can
occur as a consequence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Ex-
trinsic factors include changes in the atmosphere–ocean sys-
tem such as sea-level rise, increases in ocean temperatures, and
ocean chemistry variations, and have the potential to funda-
mentally alter the cycling of carbonate in reefs (Hoegh-
Guldberg, 1999; Kleypas et al., 2001; Buddemeier et al., 2004;
Kench et al., 2009a). Increased water temperatures have
caused widespread damage to living coral communities, where
high temperatures promote a stress response in which the
symbiotic algae are expelled from coral skeletons causing coral
bleaching. Ocean acidification may also compromise the
structural integrity and rate of calcification of skeletal organ-
isms, reducing the availability of carbonate material in reef
systems. Changes in intrinsic factors (e.g., physical and eco-
logical processes) can also force dynamic change in reef sys-
tems. These intrinsic linkages are themselves impacted by
anthropogenic activities such as overexploitation of physical
and biological resources and coastal construction (Brown and
Dunne, 1988; Jackson et al., 2001; Sheppard et al., 2005).
Third, the magnitude, mode, and timescales of geomorphic
change (responsiveness) in the system are likely to vary con-
siderably between different components of a reef system. For
example, formation of coral reef platforms is modulated by
sea-level oscillations at millennial timescales (Kennedy and
Woodroffe, 2002; Montaggioni, 2005). By contrast, shoreline
dynamics of reef islands occur at event to decadal timescales in
response to alterations in wave energy input (Maragos et al.,
1973; Flood, 1986; Kench and Brander, 2006a). Fourth,
feedbacks exist that can be temporally specific or cascade
across timescales. Both provide a degree of self-organization to
geomorphic development. For instance, at millennial time-
scales, sea-level change controls the patterning of reef growth.
In turn, the reef structure modulates wave and current pro-
cesses (Gourlay, 1988; Kench and Brander, 2006b) that govern
the structure of ecological communities (Chappell, 1980;
Done, 1982), reef morphology (Yamano et al., 2003), sedi-
mentation processes, and short-term morphological develop-
ment of reef-associated landforms (Sheppard et al., 2005).
Fifth, feedbacks are nonlinear with significant time lags
existing for changes to propagate through the geomorphic
system. For instance, ecological transitions may occur in re-
sponse to short-term bleaching episodes, anthropogenic stress,
or biological disease (Liddell and Ohlhorst, 1993; Eakin,
1996). However, depending on the magnitude of change in
the ecological system (e.g., the severity and spatial extent of
coral mortality and the rate of recolonization by corals) the
carbonate factory may take decades to alter its sediment
budget status (Perry et al., 2008). Ultimately, depending on
the magnitude and temporal scale of ecological change (per-
sistence or ephemeral transition) alterations in the carbonate
budget may, or may not, propagate through the system to yield
detectable changes in the geomorphic system at decadal to
centennial time frames (Kench et al., 2009a). Currently, these
system sensitivities, thresholds, temporal lags, feedbacks, and
timescales of relevance to reef geomorphic development and
change are inadequately resolved.
 Coral Systems 335

Extrinsic factors Intrinsic factors

Coral reef system

Physical Biological
processes Processes

Sea-level
Reef ecology
change
Community
structure
Water
Atmospheric properties
forcing temperature Calcification
salinity Primary
chemistry Holocene
Secondary
Coastal reef growth
processes
Gross
water level
carbonate
waves
production
currents Reef platform
Ocean
development
forcing

Carbonate cycling

Mechanical and

Cemented in reef
bio-destruction

framework
Anthropogenic Detrital sediment
reservoir
forcing

Sediment transport

Reef Sand Reef Off reef

islands aprons flat export

Postdepositional processes
- Biological/Chemical

Figure 4 Structure and function of the eco-morphodynamic model for the coral reef system. The model shows co-adjustment of biological and
physical processes, and coral reef morphology and reef sedimentary landforms that operate at a range of timescales. Gray-shaded boxes and
dark arrows highlight linkages between the contemporary eco-morphodynamic system at event to centennial scales, which are embedded in the
broader morphodynamic system that controls coral reef development at centennial to millennial scales. Reproduced with permission from Figure
7.2 in Kench, P.S., Perry, C.T., Spencer, T., 2009a. Coral reefs. In: Slaymaker, O., Spencer, T., Embleton-Hamann, C. (Eds.), Geomorphology and
Global Environmental Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 180–213.

10.13.2.3 Reef Landforms and the Importance of the
Carbonate Sediment Factory
The dynamics of carbonate sediment production and cycling
is fundamental to understanding the geomorphic development
of reef landforms. A carbonate budget approach provides
a mechanism to evaluate the balance of constructive and
destructive processes in landform development. Pioneering
studies in the 1970s adopted hydrochemical techniques
(based on changes in water chemistry) to identify gross
productivity rates of reef assemblages (Davies and Kinsey,
1977; Smith and Kinsey, 1976; Smith and Harrison, 1977).
Results highlighted marked differences in calcification rates
between ecological and morphological sections of a reef
platform ranging from 4.0 kg m2 yr1 on shallow forereefs
to 0.8 kg m2 yr1 for shallow backreef lagoon environments
(Smith and Kinsey, 1976). However, these studies identified
gross productivity and ignored processes of destruction
and sediment redistribution. By contrast, census-based ap-
proaches, which combine surveys of species presence and
abundance with growth rates, afford the opportunity to
determine the relative contributions of different carbonate
336 Coral Systems
producers to total reef productivity, as well as opportunities
for detailed spatial comparisons between carbonate contri-
butions and sediment composition, and between patterns
of framework versus direct sediment production at sub-reef
scales (Stearn and Scoffin, 1977; Harney and Fletcher, 2003).
For example, Hart and Kench (2007) showed that reef flat
productivity ranged from 3.9 kg m2 yr1 in coral-dominated
zones to 0.065 kg m2 yr1 in zones dominated by benthic
secondary producers (foraminifera and mollusks).
In general, there have been few attempts to construct
carbonate budgets in reef systems. Notable exceptions include
those from Barbados (4.48 kg CaCO3 m2 yr1; Scoffin
et al., 1980), Jamaica (1.1 kg CaCO3 m2 yr1; Land, 1979),
St. Croix (0.91 kg CaCO3 m2 yr1; Hubbard et al., 1990),
Hawaii (0.89 kg CaCO3 m2 yr1; Harney and Fletcher, 2003),
and Indonesia (ranging from 11.68 to  7.6 kg CaCO3 m2
yr1; Edinger et al., 2000). Invariably, these budget studies
have focused on net platform accretion, whereas the gener-
ation of detrital sediment and its fate in controlling sedi-
mentary landform accumulation has largely been ignored
(see Harney and Fletcher, 2003 and Hart and Kench, 2007).
This lack of knowledge is anomalous, given the importance
of carbonate sediment production, transport, and deposition
to the construction of reef landforms, and is considered a
major research gap in coral reef geomorphology (Kench et al.,
2009a).
Using a modeling approach, Kleypas et al. (2001) high-
lighted a range of conceptual end members in the spectrum
of reef development states that are dependent on variations in
rates of carbonate production, sediment import and export,
and carbonate cycling. Production-dominated reefs occur
where CaCO3 production exceeds rates of carbonate degrad-
ation and yields a positive budget, a state that has been
common on many reefs through the Holocene. Import-
dominated reefs contain a high proportion of material
derived from outside the reefs, which in some cases may
be terrigenous in origin (Smithers and Larcombe, 2003).
Export-dominated reefs may have not only high primary car-
bonate production rates but also high rates of carbonate
removal, typically due to physical processes. The result may
be low net accumulation rates. Reefs of this type highlight the
disparities that that may exist between the ecological func-
tioning of a reef and its geomorphic performance (Kleypas
et al., 2001). Bioerosion-dominated reefs exhibit negative
budgets, with carbonate production being exceeded by either
direct biological substrate degradation and/or the conversion
of framework to sediment that is subsequently exported
(Benzoni et al., 2003; Riegl and Piller, 2000). The different
states proposed by Kleypas et al. (2001) suggest that changes
in relative dominance of individual processes may alter the
budgetary status of a reef and, therefore, its geomorphic
development.
Based on the end-member states of Kleypas et al. (2001),
Perry et al. (2008) developed a conceptual model of reef
production status that reflects the relative importance of pri-
mary (coral) and secondary (calcareous encruster) carbonate
production, and bioerosion processes in forcing transitions in
net budgetary status of reefs (Figure 5). Model simulations
were undertaken using the well-known ecological phase-shift
concept (Done, 1992) where disturbance may shift the
ecological condition of a reef from one of coral dominance
(and inferred positive carbonate budget state) through a series
of intermediate stages to one dominated by algae (and in-
ferred negative carbonate budget). The model simulations
were constructed using existing records of change in reef
ecological condition and budget status. Simulations showed
that the relative importance of carbonate-producing and cyc-
ling processes is transitional over time and space within reefs.
Importantly, the model indicates that ecological transitions
may be only temporary and that shifts in ecological condition
do not necessarily impose a direct and linear negative impact
on the net carbonate budget state of a reef. Uva Island, off
the Pacific coast of Panama, provides an instructive example of
the impact of changes in ecological state on reef carbonate
production. The reefs of Uva Island underwent a 50% re-
duction in live coral cover as a consequence of increased water
temperatures during the 1982/83 El Niño. The shift in eco-
logical state of the reef was exacerbated by an increase in
bioerosion by grazing echinoids which resulted in a change in
budgetary status of the reef from a positive (0.34 kg m2 yr1)
to negative (–0.19 kg m2 yr1) condition (Eakin, 1996).
However, it is also possible that loss of coral cover may not
lead to a change to negative budget status. For example,
Mallela and Perry (2007) showed that despite major reduction
in coral cover over the past 25 years at reefs close to Discovery
Bay, Jamaica, the reefs maintain a positive carbonate budget
state (B1.2 kg m2 yr1) due to a coincident reduction in
bioerosion processes.
The transitions between ecological states of reefs and their
effect on carbonate budget have revealed significant impli-
cations for geomorphic development and change of reef
landforms. First, the geomorphic response of landforms is
dependent on the magnitude and direction of change in the
carbonate budget. For example, although a positive budget
state may promote reef development, a shift to negative
budget status may promote the loss of three-dimensional
structure of reef platforms (Edinger et al., 2000; Lewis, 2002).
Second, the trajectories of morphological change in reef
landforms may differ depending on whether changes in the
carbonate budget have a major influence on the reef frame-
work or sediment supply. The move to negative budget state
when accompanied by increased bioerosion (e.g., Eakin,
1996), or acid dissolution as a result of ocean acidification,
may promote loss of reef structure. However, increases in
the generation of detrital sediment may be beneficial for
the construction of sedimentary landforms. Consequently,
impacts on reef structure and sedimentary landforms may be
coupled, but out of phase. These examples show that changes
in the ecological condition of reefs, as measured by short-term
observations of coral cover, do not necessarily impose a linear
change in the carbonate production system and geomorphic
response. Third, whether short-term oscillations in ecological
condition influence the carbonate budget state and propagate
through to the geomorphic system is likely to be dependent
on the residence time of a system in a specific budgetary
regime. Fourth, temporal shifts in budgetary status of a reef
system are likely to control positive and negative phases of
geomorphic change of reef landforms. Fifth, the carbonate
budget approach, as advocated by Perry et al. (2008), clearly
demonstrates the ability of geomorphology to integrate
 Coral Systems 337

Primary CaCO3 production

(coral)
Physical breakdown/
transport of framework
constituents
Sediment import D
for incorporation
into reef framework A2
Net accretion
Intermediate disturbance
or Sediment export off-reef
shifts in background and/or for
environmental conditions reef sedimentary
E A landform construction
Stasis

Major disturbances
Recolonization by corals

B
Recolonization Net erosion D
by corals
Continued
A1 disturbance Biological breakdown and
Major C transport of framework
disturbance constituents

Secondary CaCO3 production Bioerosion

(coralline algae and other calcareous encrusters) (grazing fish, echinoids, endolithic sponges,
bivalves, worms, and microborers)
Figure 5 Conceptual model showing temporal transitions in reef production status controlled by the relative importance of primary (coral) and
secondary (calcareous encruster) carbonate production, and carbonate breakdown to sediment by bioerosion. Letters A–C represent different
carbonate budget states that may be driven by ecological changes in growth rates or bioerosion intensity. Also note D is the generation of
detrital sediment available for landform construction. Reproduced from Figure 4 in Perry, C.T., Spencer, T., Kench, P.S., 2008. Carbonate budgets
and reef production states: a geomorphic perspective on the ecological phase-shift concept. Coral Reefs 27, 853–866, with permission from
Springer.

ecological dynamics into medium-term understanding of
geomorphic change on reefs on the order of 101–103 years,
the timescale of relevance to addressing questions of the
future geomorphic condition of reef landforms. Sixth, and
consequently, the carbonate budget approach provides an
additional index of reef health that can assess the effects of
short-term variations in ecological condition on the carbonate
budget. Lastly, it should be highlighted that few studies exist
that examine the carbonate budget state of the world’s reef
systems. This is an area for fertile research to build a more
robust understanding of carbonate budget dynamics and their
impact on reef geomorphology.
10.13.3 The Distribution and Evolution of Coral
Reefs
The heart of the ‘coral reef problem’ was the search for a co-
herent explanation for the global distribution and evolution of
coral reefs. Extensive geomorphological (mapping) data sets on
the apparent simplicity and recurring pattern of Pacific Ocean
atolls were initially synthesized by Lyell (1832) in the Principles
of Geology. However, Charles Darwin provided the first inte-
grated process model of the formation of coral reef structure
(Darwin, 1842). Recognizing that reef-building corals thrive in
the shallow photic zone, Darwin proposed subsidence of vol-
canic substrate as the most likely mechanism that produces vast
sequences of reefal limestone in mid-ocean basins. Darwin’s
model provides a genetic sequence of oceanic reef types that
evolve as a central volcanic island subsides beneath the sea
(Figures 6 and 2). These reef types include fringing reefs that
adjoin and surround a volcanic high island, barrier reefs with a
well-developed lagoon between the reef edge and much re-
duced volcanic island, and atolls characterized by an annular
reef rim enclosing a central lagoon and where the volcanic cone
has subsided beneath the sea surface (Figure 6).
The coral reef problem was a geomorphological problem
and dominated coral reef research for more than a century.
Protagonists hotly debated Darwin’s subsidence model and
two competing theories emerged. Daly’s glacial control theory
proposed that oscillations in sea level through the Pleistocene
allowed marine beveled platforms to evolve during sea-level
lowstands, thus providing the substrate for further coral growth
during sea-level highstands (Daly, 1910, 1915). By contrast,
Hoffmeister and Ladd (1944) proposed the antecedent plat-
form theory in which any shallow submarine bank or bench
could provide the substrate for coral reef development. Ul-
timately, this debate was only resolved following a series of
scientific advances that provided a comprehensive modern
explanation for the structure and distribution of coral reefs.
Confirmation of the subsidence theory was sought from
a series of deep drilling programs in the central Pacific
(Figure 7). The first attempts were undertaken on Funafuti
Atoll in Tuvalu (central Pacific) in the years 1896–98 where
338 Coral Systems
Fringing reef Barrier reef
Reef flat Reef flat
Sea level
Coral
reef Coral
Volcanic reef
substrate
Volcanic
substrate
(a) (b)
Figure 6 Darwinian sequence of coral reef development accounting for the formation of fringing (a), barrier (b), and atoll (c) reefs. Note the
model reflects gradual subsidence of a volcanic core and maintenance of reef growth near sea level. See Figure 2 for examples of each reef type.
drilling reached a maximum depth of 340 m and terminated
in limestone rock (David and Sweet, 1904). Coring exped-
itions were undertaken in the Great Barrier Reef in the 1920s
and showed much thinner limestone sequences overlying a
range of substrates including terrigenous sediments (Richards,
1938). However, final confirmation of Darwin’s model fol-
lowed deep drilling in the Marshall Islands in 1951. Two core
holes from Eniwetok atoll penetrated over 1200 m of reef
limestones and reached basaltic rocks at depths of 1287 and
1411 m (Ladd et al., 1953). Analysis of core material revealed all
the limestones were produced by shallow-water carbonate
producers, thus confirming the slow subsidence of the volcanic
basement. Rates of subsidence of the volcanic basement were
estimated at 0.025 mm yr1 (Stoddart, 1973). Drilling sub-
sequently occurred in Mururoa Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago,
where volcanic basement was attained at 415 and 438 m and
at Midway Atoll, Hawaiian Islands, where basalts were en-
countered at 157 and 384 m (reviewed in Spencer et al., 2008).
The development of plate tectonic theory also provided the
framework to account for the regional distribution of reef
systems. The movement and thermodynamics of ocean plates,
which migrate away from mid-ocean spreading centers, cool
and subside, and the behavior of hot spots at intraplate
locations, provide a large-scale geophysical explanation for
Darwinian subsidence and modern explanations for the evo-
lution of reef morphologies, and the orientation and age
structure of island archipelagos, which typically increase in
age with distance from the hot spot or spreading axis (Scott
and Rotondo, 1983; Figure 8).
10.13.4 Geomorphic Development of Holocene Coral
Reefs
The contemporary geomorphology of coral reefs is controlled
by a number of other factors that influence reef development at
shorter timescales than subsidence. The effects of fluctuations
in sea level must be superimposed onto the geophysical tem-
plate of subsidence and plate tectonics. Contemporary coral
reefs have occupied the accommodation space between sea
level and the underlying substrate. During sea-level lowstands,
coral substrate is denuded, which lowers the platform surface.
As sea level rises and inundates the denuded surface, reef
Atoll
Lagoon Reef flat
Coral
reef Lagoon
Volcanic
substrate
(c)
growth can resume. Vertical reef growth continues until it
reaches sea level, the vertical growth limit of reefs. Multiple
sea-level oscillations throughout the Tertiary and Quaternary
have produced alternating periods of subaerial erosion during
lowstands and reef growth during sea-level highstands. Con-
sequently, modern reefs reflect growth in response to the most
recent marine transgression during the Holocene and form a
relatively thin veneer over older reef limestones (Figure 1).
Therefore, although Darwin’s model and plate tectonics
provide a robust theory for the structural development of
atolls that subside at rates on the order of 102 mm yr1, the
surface morphology of modern reefs is controlled by sea level
which modulates reef growth at rates on the order of
101 mm yr1 (up to three orders of magnitude greater than
subsidence rates).
A major goal of reef geomorphologists over the past four
decades has been to understand the growth and controls on
development of coral reefs. In particular, research has focused
on resolving the regional differences in the patterning of reef
growth as a function of the relationship between Holocene sea-
level change and depth of the antecedent platform. Further-
more, differences in the rate and styles of reef growth have been
of considerable interest, particularly in light of possible trajec-
tories of geomorphic response of reefs to global climate change
(for recent reviews see Kennedy and Woodroffe, 2002; Mon-
taggioni, 2005; Hopley et al., 2007; Macintyre, 2007). This body
of research has largely been attributed to the advent of the
portable drilling system (Macintyre, 1975) which has allowed
shallow coring of the Holocene and upper Pleistocene reef se-
quences. To date, there have been on the order of 1000 reef
cores retrieved from the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Caribbean reef
regions via a range of coring methods (Montaggioni, 2005;
Hopley et al., 2007). This relatively large number of cores belies
spatial aggregation of studies and there are still large areas where
few reef cores have been derived (e.g., central Indian Ocean).
Most drilling programs have been characterized by a focus on
seaward to leeward core transects with a dominance of cores
from reef flat environments, and comparatively few cores from
forereef and lagoonal settings. Detailed analysis and synthesis of
the biolithic composition of cores have revealed new insights
into the fabric and growth modes of modern reefs. Furthermore,
radiometric dating of core materials has provided a chrono-
logical framework to examine the rates of reef growth.
 Coral Systems 339

Funafuti

Bikini
Great
barrier reef Eniwetok Midway Mururoa
1926 1937 1960 1896−99 1951−52 1947 1960s 1964−65
0

183 173
(S) 193
(M) 223 (D-E)
(H)

340
391
(K-1B)
500 461
(C)
504
(R)
578 577
(W) (D-W)
Depth (m)

779

Reef limestone

1000 Reef limestone

with quartz sand
Marine sands

Dolomitic limestone

Carbonaceous clay
and limestone
Volcanic clay and
conglomerate
1287
(E1) Basalt

1411
1500 (F1)
Figure 7 Deep drilling records from locations in Pacific atolls and the Great Barrier Reef. Reproduced from Stoddart, D.R., 1973. Coral reefs:
the last two million years. Geography 58, 313–323.

10.13.4.1 The Internal Anatomy of Reef Framework
In the mid- to late twentieth century, the perception of the
fabric of coral reefs was one in which they were principally
composed of interlocking coral skeletons, in growth position,
that created a rigid, wave-resistant framework (e.g., Low-
enstam, 1950; Newell et al., 1953) and which provided the
structural stability of a reef (Hubbard et al., 2008). This per-
ception was largely based on extrapolation of observations of
coral reef assemblages on the surface of modern reefs and,
consequently, it was assumed that biological construction was
the primary process in reef framework development. However,
detailed analysis of reef cores reveals that detrital rubble,
sand and void space can comprise up to 70% of the volume of
reef framework (Macintyre and Glynn, 1976; Hubbard et al.,
2001). Such findings question the role of in situ coral in
reef framework development and highlight the fact that
bioerosion, transportation, encrustation, and cementation
are equally important in reef construction as calcification
(Hubbard et al., 2008).
Detailed analysis of the composition and changes in bio-
lithic assemblages comprising reef cores has identified seven
distinct types of reef framework and three detrital facies
(summarized in Table 3; Montaggioni, 2005). Collectively,
340 Coral Systems
Zone 4 Zone 3
Subduction in Reef coral growth ceases
Kamchatka trench in cold water
Atolls carried under to
form guyots
canic chain
54° N, 163° E pe of peaks in vol
Relative slo
Midway
Suiko
Sea level seamount
Kamchatka
Pacific litho
n
ctio
du
sub
Figure 8 Representation of the major factors controlling the geological formation and age structure of mid-ocean archipelagoes. Figure shows
the development sequence of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain. Reproduced from Figure 5 in Scott, G.A.J., Rotondo, G.M., 1983. A model
to explain the differences between Pacific plate island atoll types. Coral Reefs 1, 139–150, with permission from Springer.
analysis of these facies reveals important insights into the
nature of reef framework. First, the proportion of coral that
comprises framework varies considerably from more than
60% in some robust-branching assemblages to less than 20%
in low-energy settings. Second, reworking of coral and ce-
mentation of detrital sediment by coralline algae is a con-
spicuous feature of reef fabric. Third, some frameworks do not
rely on coral skeletons, but are dominated by other calcareous
producers such as coralline algae. Fourth, as noted above,
detrital material can dominate the volume of reef framework.
Fifth, detrital assemblages can be differentiated by the grade of
sediment.
The framework facies possess distinct assemblages of car-
bonate-based organisms that reflect differences in the inter-
play between environmental controls and the balance
of destructive and constructive processes. In particular, the
framework facies have been related to hydrodynamic energy
and provide insights on the environmental setting (and
paleoecological setting) in which assemblages contribute to
reef development (Table 3). For example, the relative pro-
portion of in situ coral and detrital sediment is related to
hydrodynamic energy. In cyclone-affected systems, reef mar-
gins comprise secondary framework, which reflects redeposi-
tion and algal encrustation of transported corals and can
occupy more than 60% of the reef volume (Hubbard et al.,
1998). In exposed (nonstorm) energy settings, in situ coral
may play a more significant role in framework development
comprising 40–50% of reef volume (Hubbard et al., 1998;
2001). Framework in low-energy settings commonly com-
prises piles of detrital material containing only isolated corals
(Davies and Hopley, 1983).
As reef structure/facies reflect variations in the environ-
mental setting under which reef development occurs, transi-
tions in facies through cores have provided insights into the
Zone 2 Zone 1
Fringing reefs Subaerial erosion
become atolls and fringing reefs
19° N, 155° E
Hawaii
Gardner Kauai
pinnacles
atoll
East
pacific
rise
spheric plate
Melting
anomaly
Asthenosphere
temporal development of reef morphology. The interactions
between substrate depth and wave energy, which over the long
term have been modulated by sea-level variations, have gov-
erned changes in reef ecological communities and, therefore,
the fabric, growth potential, and morphology of reefs. Three
major associations of reef-building facies have been identified
that can contribute to the construction of reef margins
(Figure 9):
1. Uniform sequences of framework-building facies that re-
flect constant environmental conditions during reef devel-
opment. Such homogeneous facies development is typical
of sheltered reef crest to reef flat zones as seen in the
fringing reef of Fantome Island, Great Barrier Reef (John-
son and Risk, 1987; Figure 9(a)).
2. The stacking of two distinct framework facies. This se-
quence is characterized by a basal unit of lower-energy
coral communities, which is overlain by a shallower
higher-energy coral or coral/algal assemblage. Typically,
the lower unit comprises domal facies of poritid/faviid,
arborescent, or tabular acroporid frameworks (Table 3)
reflecting development at depths less than 10 m. The upper
facies are characterized by robust-branching growth forms
encrusted by coralline algae (e.g., Koror barrier reef,
Figure 9(b)) reflecting a shift to shallower and higher-
energy environmental conditions as reefs reach their ver-
tical growth limit. These stacked facies are characteristic of
exposed to semi-exposed open reef systems (barrier reefs
and atolls) such as Mururoa in the Pacific Ocean and
Mayotte in the Indian Ocean (Montaggioni, 2005).
3. Alternating sequences of shallow higher-energy and deeper
lower-energy frameworks (Montaggioni, 2005) as ex-
emplified by the 20-m-thick sequence at Pointe-Au-Sable
Reef, Mauritius (Figure 9(c)).
 Coral Systems 341

Table 3 Summary of major reef facies based on analysis of Indo-Pacific drill cores

Reef facies Key facies characteristics Dominant species Environmental setting

Reef framework facies

1. Coralline algae facies
2. Robust-branching
coral facies
3. Domal coral facies
(two subfacies)
4. Tabular-branching
coral facies
5. Arborescent coral
facies
6. Foliaceous coral facies
7. Encrusting coral
facies
Detrital facies
8. Skeletal rubble facies
9. Carbonate sand facies
10. Carbonate mud facies
Coralline algae laminated crusts binding Hydrolithon, Neogonioli- High energy windward reef crest
coral or coral rubble up to 2.0 m thick. thon, Mesophyllum,
Lithophyllum spp.
Open interlocking framework of thick Acropora and Pocillopora High energy shallow forereef and outer
branching, wave-resistant corals, spp. Subordinate domal reef flat (0–6 m depth)
encrusted by coralline algae. Framework corals, e.g. Porites and
cavities filled with gravel/sand. Goniastrea spp.
3a. Dense dome-shaped corals separated Porites, Faviid, Goniastrea 3a. Moderate energy reef slopes 10–15 m
by coralline algae and debris of spp. depth
branching coral.
3b. Scattered coral heads entombed in a 3b. As above but more sheltered
porous matrix of calcareous sand and environments
silt.
Open loose or rigid structural framework Acropora hyacinthus Moderate wave energy semi-exposed/
of tabular coral entombed in porous sheltered upper and mid-forereefs, reef
matrix of gravels, sands, and silts. Plate- flats, and backreef slopes, 2–15 m depth
shaped corals associated with a variety
of branching forms.
Framework of upright thin branching Acropora gr. Muricata Sheltered settings 0–20 m
corals with thin coralline algal crusts Acropora gr. Divaricata Modern inner reef flats and backreef
over coral clasts and sediment. Cavities Pocillopora compressa slopes
contain calcareous sand.
Loose bifacial fronds from ‘leaf’ Pavona Pavona, Pachyseris, Sheltered backreef habitats
spp. and flat platy and whorled coral Montipora, Turbinaria Turbid environments 0–15 m depth
colonies. Coral can be ‘grain-supported’ spp.
by fine sands and muds.
Encrusting corals on reef crests and Wide range of coral species Low energy and turbid reef settings,
forereef slopes. Framework support in encrusting growth 0–420-m depth
consists of encrusting foraminifera, red mode
algae, and serpulids.
Unconsolidated poorly sorted angular to Branching acroporids, Intertidal to sub-tidal storm-deposited
round gravel of corals, bivalves and poritids and pocilloporids gravel sheets on reef flats and backreef
coralline algae. Has calcareous sand
matrix. Present in most reefs.
Bioclastic sand. Present in all cores and Scleractinian corals, Reflect localized sediment production on
volumetrically can be a major coralline algae, mollusks, reefs
component of reef material (10–80%). benthic foraminifera,
green algae
Fine-grained, carbonate dominated Fine grained remains of a Lower-energy depositional environments.
sediment (o63 mm). Present in cores wide range of skeletal Proportion of mud increases with depth
from a range of reef zones. Can be constituents.
lithified or unconsolidated.

Summarized from Montaggioni, L.F., 2005. History of Indo-Pacific coral reef systems since the last glaciation: development patterns and controlling factors. Earth Science Reviews
71, 1–75.

Collectively, these data show that reefs are able to alter their
reef-building assemblages in response to changing environmental
conditions (water depth and wave energy). The phase lag for
establishment of reef-building communities, and transitions from
one reef assemblage to another, combined with inherent differ-
ences in the potential growth rate of differing facies types has
controlled the style of vertical and lateral reef growth. This ul-
timately controls the geomorphic characteristics of modern reefs.
10.13.4.2 Styles of Reef Growth
Ultimately, temporal and spatial transitions of reef facies, where
aggregated to the reef platform scale, control the mode and
morphology of reef development. The growth modes of reefs
are strongly modulated by sea-level dynamics. In general, two
dominant growth types respond to sea-level change: vertical
development in response to increased water depth over reefs
as sea level rises and lateral progradation as reefs reach their
vertical growth limit or fill their accommodation space.
Initially, three styles of reef accretion were identified that
included keep-up, catch-up, and give-up reefs (Figure 10;
Neumann and Macintyre, 1985). Keep-up reefs track sea level
as it rises, maintaining a reef crest at sea level; catch-up reefs
initially lag behind sea-level rise but, through rapid vertical
growth, reach sea level as its rise slows or stabilizes; and give-
up reefs find themselves in rapidly increasing water depths
342 Coral Systems

FR Fringing reef flat

msl

5m 100 m

(a)

FR Reef crest Fringing reef flat

msl
5m

100 m
(b)

Fore reef Reef crest Backreef

msl
5m

100 m
(c)

Tabular Domal Arborescent Terrigenous

Basement branching coral coral sand and mud
coral

Holocene Robust Foliaceous Isochrons

Rubble
reef branching coral coral (Cal Ka B.P.)
Figure 9 Examples of the three major facies anatomy patterns for the construction of reef margins. (a) Fantome Island, fringing reef flat, Great
Barrier Reef showing uniform facies (Johnson and Risk, 1987). (b) Koror barrier reef, Palau showing an example of a dual stacked facies
(Kayanne et al., 2002). (c) Pointe-Au-Sable reef, Mauritius showing a three facies assemblage (Montaggioni and Faure, 1997).

and they shut down as failed reefs. The differences in reef of this classification (Blanchon and Blakeway, 2003), the three
facies transitions outlined above provide some understanding growth modes have been largely accepted. Recently, this tri-
of the environmental changes influencing patterns of vertical partite classification has been extended to incorporate alter-
reef development. Despite some debate over the robustness nate development responses of reef backstepping, where sites
 Coral Systems 343

Time 1
f Emergent
2
mid-Holocene
highstand f
e
d e
mid-Holocene Prograded
stability
c
2
d Keep-up
1
Depth − elevation

b 2
c
1 Catch-up

Sea level
2
b 1 Backstepped

a 2
a
1 Drowned
(give-up)

Figure 10 Modes of reef growth in response to sea-level change. Reproduced with permission from Figure 5.11 in Woodroffe, C.D., 2002.
Coasts: Form, Process and Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 211 pp.

of reef growth are abandoned on sloping shelves and rees-
tablished at new locations; lateral accretion of the reef front
once reefs achieve their vertical growth limit; and reef flat
die-off following relative sea-level fall and reef emergence
(Figure 10; Woodroffe, 2002).
Consideration of reef growth has typically focused on pat-
terns and rates of vertical accumulation. However, geomorph-
ologists treat reefs as three-dimensional structures and lateral
development is an essential consideration for understanding the
geomorphic development of reefs. Although vertical accumu-
lation of reefs is the dominant response to increasing sea level,
once reefs fill the vertical accommodation space continued
vertical growth is constrained by sea level and the dominant axis
of reef development shifts to lateral progradation. This mode is
typical of reefs under sea-level still-stand conditions. Reef flat
development is controlled by both the duration that a reef has
been sea level constrained and the lateral accommodation
space, which is, in turn, controlled by substrate gradient.
10.13.4.3 Reef Growth and Sea-Level Dynamics
Differences in Holocene sea-level dynamics between reef
regions have modulated reef growth and the morphology of
modern reefs and reef flats. In the Indo-Pacific, sea level first
reached the present level approximately 6000 years ago, rose
to 1.0 m above the present level in the mid-Holocene before
falling to the present level (Figure 11). This pattern has
imparted a number of characteristics on reef growth
and morphology. Reef growth response to sea-level rise was
dominated by keep-up or catch-up growth in the early
to mid-Holocene, until reefs filled the accommodation space.
Indo-Pacific reefs have been at sea level for at least 1000 and as
many as 6000 years. This period has been dominated by lat-
eral reef growth, resulting in broad reef flat surfaces. Reef flats
have also become emergent following sea-level fall. By con-
trast, in the Caribbean, sea level has continued to rise
throughout the Holocene, although the rate of rise has de-
creased over the past 5000 years. In response, Caribbean reefs
have undergone catch-up in the early Holocene and maintain
a keep-up growth mode (Toscano and Macintyre, 2003).
Records of the nature of postglacial sea-level rise also reveal
that the increase in sea level of 125 m during the Holocene
was not uniform. Rather, sea-level change occurred in three
rapid pulses, separated by periods of relative stability. For
example, Meltwater Pulse 1A lasted 500 years (14.2–13.8 ka)
and was associated with a 15-m increase in sea level at rates
up to 40–50 mm yr1. Reefs were subject to periods in
which accommodation space opened rapidly, which may have
forced shifts in coral assemblages, and exerted pressure on
reef growth performance. This event has been implicated in
the turn-off and give-up of reefs in some regions (e.g., Hawaii,
Webster et al., 2004) and backstepping of reefs around
Barbados (Figure 10; Toscano and Macintyre, 2003).
10.13.5 Rates of Reef Growth
From a geomorphological perspective, the growth of a coral
reef reflects the net processes of biological construction,
bioerosion, mechanical and chemical deposition (e.g., detrital
344 Coral Systems

Years ka before present Years ka before present

0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
4 4
Mid-Holocene highstand
2 Emergent reef 2
Present msl Present msl
0 0
Algal crusts Microbialite reefs
Lateral reef growth
2 wide sediment 2 Shallow
Robust head
covered reef flats reef flats with
and encrusting Keep-up Reefs
4 post 5 ka 4 vertical accretion
corals
continuing and
Rubble as prograding algal reefs
6 reef approaches
6
Elevation relative to sea level

wave base
8 8 Acropora cerpalmata
Catch-up dominated
Fragile branching Reefs
10 framework 10

Indo-p
High accretion
12 rate 12 Catch-up
Reefs

acific
14 14 Rapid growing

Car
Acropora cervicornis

sea le
16 16

ibbe
dominated

an s
18 vel en 18
Formation of basal

ea l
rubble zone
velope

20 20 Basal rubble zone

eve
close to sea level

le
22 22

nve
Inundation of Pleistocene surface 8.5−9.0 ka Inundation of Pleistocene surface 8.0−9.0 ka
24 24

lop
e
26 Pleistocene reef/substrate 26 Pleistocene reef/substrate

28 28

(a) (b)

Figure 11 Contrasting sea-level curves and reef growth responses from the Indo-Pacific (a) and Caribbean (b).

sediment and cementation), and mechanical and chemical variations in reef growth exist within individual reef systems
erosion (transport and solution). These processes can be according to ecological zones and energy exposure. For in-
highly variable at short timescales and between reefs. How- stance, in the barrier reefs of Tahiti (Montaggioni, 1988) and
ever, the processes are integrated across the geomorphic Palau (Kayanne et al., 2002) windward, outer-reef margins
timescale (decades to millennia) and radiometric dating were characterized by keep-up reef growth at rates of ap-
of coral cores has allowed net, long-term rates of coral reef proximately 6 mm yr1, whereas leeward reef growth followed
growth to be determined (Figure 12). Data show significant a catch-up mode at rates of 3–4 mm yr1. Temporal variations
variability in reef growth between regions and between dif- in reef growth rate have also been identified as a result of shifts
ferent framework types. between catch-up and keep-up growth modes, and globally
Rates of vertical growth of reef framework range from 1 to reefs have exhibited a reduction in growth rate as they ap-
30 mm yr1 (modal rate of 6–7 mm yr1, Montaggioni, 2005; proach their vertical growth limit (Montaggioni, 2005; Hopley
Hopley et al., 2007). Fastest rates of growth were found in et al., 2007).
highly porous frameworks of tabular and branching corals, There have been comparatively few studies of rates of
whereas the lowest rates occurred in foliose and encrusting lateral reef growth. In Indo-Pacific reefs, rates of lateral
corals and coralline algal reefs. Detrital-dominated reefs exhibit reef accretion range from 15 to 84 mm yr1 (modal rate
vertical accretion rates that range from 0.2 to 40 mm yr1. of 50 mm yr1) for reefs in semi-exposed to sheltered settings.
These can be divided into three groups that reflect different The fastest rates of lateral progradation occur in high-energy
hydrodynamic energy regimes. Lower modal rates of accretion reef margins and range from 24 to 300 mm yr1 (modal
of 1–3 mm yr1 occur in low-energy lagoonal settings with rate of 90 mm yr1, Yamano, et al. 2003; Montaggioni,
mud-dominated materials. Rates of detrital reef accumulation 2005).
on the order of 4–8 mm yr1 characterize sand and rubble
facies on moderate energy reef flat and backreef settings. The
fastest detrital rates of framework accumulation (410 mm 10.13.6 Developments in Geomorphology of
yr1) occur in storm settings where sand and gravel sheets are Sedimentary Landforms
able to be deposited episodically (Montaggioni, 2005).
Examination of net rates of reef development masks spatial The generation of detrital sediment on reef platforms and its
and temporal variations in reef growth behavior. Spatial transfer by wave and current processes are critical for the
 Coral Systems 345

Fringing/Barrier reefs

Indo-Pacific atolls

North Great Barrier Reef

Central Great Barrier Reef

Southern Great Barrier Reef

Belize Barrier Reef

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Rate of vertical reef growth (mm a−1)
Figure 12 Range of vertical reef growth rates through the Holocene for different reef provinces. Reproduced with permission from Figure 7.8 in
Kench, P.S., Perry, C.T., Spencer, T., 2009a. Coral reefs. In: Slaymaker, O., Spencer, T., Embleton-Hamann, C. (Eds.), Geomorphology and Global
Environmental Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 180–213.

formation, maintenance, and ongoing development of a suite
of geomorphic features in reef systems (Figure 1). As outlined
above, the primary sources of detrital material in reef systems
are the skeletons of corals and other organisms or plants that
induce CaCO3 deposition. In addition to ecological processes,
chemical precipitation can be important in the production of
carbonate material (e.g., ooids) on some reefs, whereas ter-
restrial inputs can also impact locally in the sediment systems
of fringing and barrier reefs.
The dominance of ecological processes in generating sedi-
ment on coral reefs imparts a number of unique characteristics
to reef sediment systems. First, the provenance of sediment
producers is intrabasinal, with sediment production, trans-
port, and deposition occurring either on, or in close proximity
to, reef platforms with minimal transport distances (Scoffin,
1992; Tucker and Wright, 1990; Kench, 1998a). Second,
sediment may be produced on a continual basis, although the
extent of this is poorly resolved.
The production of bioclastic sediment depends on a
complex set of processes that include calcification by calcar-
eous organisms and its conversion to the sediment reservoir.
Calcification is mediated by organism-specific metabolism
and varies significantly between species and between primary
framework builders (coral and coralline algae) and secondary
producers (foraminifera and mollusks). The contribution of
secondary benthic organisms to the sediment reservoir is
largely a function of organism growth rate, fecundity, and
turnover as skeletons contribute directly to the sediment res-
ervoir upon death. However, conversion of primary frame-
work to detrital sediment depends on a complex set of
additional processes that include mechanical and biological
breakdown of substrates (Scoffin, 1992; Madin, 2005). Thus,
the relationship between calcification and sediment gener-
ation is not linear, with time lags for the decay of reef
framework that may span 101–103 years.
The eco-morphodynamic framework (Figure 4) indicates
that carbonate sediment is cycled within reef systems and re-
tained in a number of distinct zones. Some detrital sediment
may be exported off the reef platform, down the forereef,
along sand chutes, or through the flushing of fine material
from reefs in suspension (Hine et al., 1981; Hubbard et al.,
1990; Hughes, 1999). These off-reef sediment fluxes are net
losses to the reef calcium carbonate budget and make no
contribution to geomorphic development of the reef platform
surface. However, these exported sediments can make a major
contribution to sedimentation processes surrounding reef
platforms. For example, Ryan et al. (2001) showed that the
accretionary prism generated by off-reef sediment transport
from Wistari Reef, in the Great Barrier Reef, equaled the vol-
ume of sediment contained in the reef platform during the
Holocene.
Sediment retained on reef platforms can be reincorporated
and cemented into reef framework, contributing to the long-
term development of reef morphology (discussed earlier,
Hubbard et al., 1990; Perry et al., 2008). Alternatively, material
can be transferred to central- or backreef zones where
depositional landforms such as rubble ridges, gravel sheets,
reef islands, or coastal plains can accumulate (Maragos et al.,
1973; Stoddart and Steers, 1977; Hopley, 1982; Calhoun and
Fletcher, 1996; Woodroffe et al., 1999; Figures 2 and 13).
These landforms form in the intertidal to subaerial zones
and act as medium-term stores of sediment within the reef
platform system. Transport of sediment to backreef lagoons
promotes sub-tidal deposition of material and contributes to
lagoon infill. Lagoons act as long-term sinks of sediment
(Macintyre et al., 1987; Kench, 1998b; Purdy and Gischler,
2005).
At the intra-reef platform scale, subtle variations in pro-
cesses produce a suite of reef sedimentary landform units that
can be differentiated based on the location of sediments
relative to the reef surface, reef type, presence of noncarbonate
substrate, and elevation of landforms with respect to sea level.
In fringing reef settings, detrital carbonate deposition typically
occurs toward the leeward edge of reefs at the interface be-
tween the reef and terrestrial environment. Subaerial coastal
plains, beaches, spits, and barriers form through progradation
of sediment across the backreef zones (Figures 2(a) and
2(b)). In these settings, terrigenous sediments delivered to the
coast mix with biogenic sediments and contribute to landform
development. By contrast, in barrier reefs, lagoons separate
the reef structure and noncarbonate shoreline. Sediment
generated from reefs can actively contribute to lagoon infill
346 Coral Systems

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Conglomerate
Beachrock

(g) (h)

Figure 13 Reef islands and common geomorphic units of reef islands. (a) Linear islands on the Majuro Atoll reef rim, Marshall Islands. (b)
Isolated reef platform island, Lady Elliot Island, Great Barrier Reef. Low-lying reef islands in Tuvalu (c) and the Maldives (d). (e) Beach composed
of medium sand, Maldives. (f) Beach composed of coarse coral rubble, Tuvalu. (g) Beachrock (cemented beach sands) lining the shoreline of a
Maldivian reef island. (h) Conglomerate platform (cemented storm rubble sheet) outcropping at the shoreline of Funafara Island, Funafuti Atoll,
Tuvalu.
 Coral Systems 347

and the formation of subaerial deposits depends on transport
of sediment to backreef or central reef locations. Land build-
ing in barrier reef environments may also occur through
transport of sediment from reefs into lagoons and its sub-
sequent reworking and deposition at the shoreline where
mixing with terrigenous sediments also contributes to
landform accumulation (Figures 2(b) and 2(c)). In atoll en-
vironments or isolated platform reefs, sediments can accu-
mulate directly on the reef surface or over lagoon sediments,
forming reef islands (Figures 2(e) and 2(f); Figures
13(a)–13(d)).
From a geomorphic perspective, the development of reef
sedimentary landforms is controlled by a number of boundary
conditions. First is the sea level and its modulation of
coral platform development, which is implicated as a critical
control on the stability of sedimentary landforms. Second is
the accommodation space that defines the available volume
for sediment deposition as controlled by substrate gradient,
elevation, and sea level (Cowell and Thom, 1994). The upper
limit of land building is controlled by processes of storm
wave runup, which are modulated by relative sea level. For
reef islands, the lower boundary defining accommodation
space is governed by reef margin and reef flat elevation and
lagoon depth. Third is the energy exposure and reef top
hydrodynamics, which in coral reef settings are modulated
by the relationship between reef elevation, sea level, and
incident ocean swell. Fourth is the sediment supply that is
controlled by reef productivity and processes of sediment
generation.
In contrast to the geomorphic development of reef plat-
forms, knowledge of the evolution and morphodynamics
of reef sedimentary landforms is not well developed. The
following sections present a review and synthesis of the con-
temporary understanding of the controls on the formation
and ongoing change of reef sedimentary landforms. For the
purposes of this discussion, sedimentary landforms are div-
ided into sub-tidal deposits that contribute to lagoon infill
and subaerial deposits that comprise reef islands and coastal
plains (Kench et al., 2009a).
10.13.7 Lagoon Sedimentation and Geomorphic
Development of Reefs
Early observations of lagoon sediment bodies focused on the
examination of surficial facies patterns based on differences in
texture and constituents (e.g., Cloud, 1952; Illing, 1954;
McKee et al., 1959). The imperative for these descriptive
studies was the recognition that ancient reefs and bioherms
were important sites of oil reservoirs and that surficial deposits
in modern reefs provide analogs for interpreting ancient de-
posits. Analyses of lagoon sediment facies focused on the
environmental controls on deposit formation as a function
of hydrodynamic energy, depth, and ecological zonation
(e.g., Flood and Scoffin, 1978; Gabrie and Montaggioni,
1982; Scoffin and Tudhope, 1985; Wardlaw et al., 1992).
These studies showed that sediment contributing to lagoons
comprised both autochthonous contributions, from in situ
production, and allochthonous contributions of sediment
from the adjacent reef platform (Scoffin, 1992).
Knowledge of the rates and processes of lagoon infill are
based on a limited number of studies that have combined
analysis of surface and subsurface sediments, from vibracores,
with radiometric dating of sediment sequences to establish
a chronology of sedimentation (summarized in Table 4).
Collectively, such studies indicate that differences in the
provenance of sediment contributing to lagoons and temporal
changes in relative importance of autochthonous and alloch-
thonous sediments modulate geomorphic development of
reef systems. Such transitions in the dominant sediment
sources for lagoons have been correlated with Holocene
development of reef platforms.
Rates of autochthonous production in lagoons are slow
(B0.6 mm yr1; Gischler, 2003; Table 4). Therefore, as sea
level rose during the Holocene, rates of lagoonal sedimen-
tation were not able to keep pace, increasing the accom-
modation space in lagoons. Once reefs reached sea level, the
filling of lagoons by detrital carbonate from reef flats became
one of the major constructional processes, and sedimentation
rates increased rapidly (Marshall and Davies, 1982; Tudhope,

Table 4 Summary of lagoon characteristics, Holocene sediment thicknesses, and sedimentation rates for representative reef platform and atoll
lagoons

Location Lagoon area (km2) Maximum lagoon Maximum Holocene Mean sedimentation rate
depth (m) sediment thickness (m) (mm yr1)

Atlantic-Caribbean
Glovers Reef 194 18 6–7 0.46
Lighthouse Reef 112 8 6–7 0.53
Turneffe Islands 225 8 6–7 0.82
North Sound 90 6 3 0.85
Abaco Bight 2750 7 2 0.24
Bermuda 290 20 2–3 0.32
Pacific Ocean
Enewetak Atoll 980 62 10 1.25
One Tree Reef, Great Barrier Reef 10 10 9–10 1.25
Davies Reef 18 25 7.5 3.4
Indian Ocean
Mayotte 1500 80 6 0.35
Cocos (keeling) Islands 120 20 18 0.28
348 Coral Systems
1989). This transition is considered to reflect the fact that
during vertical reef growth, carbonate sediment is retained in
the reef framework. However, once reefs attain sea level, excess
carbonate is shed from the reef system (Tudhope, 1989). The
resultant progradational sand aprons that invade lagoons are
widespread features of reef systems (Purdy and Gischler,
2005). Only a limited number of studies have undertaken
detailed examination of the sedimentary characteristics and
progradation of sand aprons that promote lagoon infill
(Macintyre et al., 1987; Tudhope, 1989; Smithers et al., 1993;
Kench, 1998b). For example, in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands,
Indian Ocean, sand aprons have been described as episodic-
ally encroaching into the lagoon at rates of 1.0 m yr1 and this
equates to vertical accumulation rates of 0.5–1.0 mm yr1,
compared to deep leeward sections of islands which have
rates of 0.25–0.5 mm over the past 2000 years (Smithers et al.,
1993). Studies of the sand aprons also showed that once
vertical accumulation had filled the accommodation space,
the sand flats act as sediment bypass zones for continued
lagoon sedimentation (Kench, 1998b).
From a geomorphic perspective, lagoon sedimentation is
an important process in reef platform development. Complete
lagoon infill is seen as a specific stage in the sequential de-
velopment of reef platforms, in which the lagoons are initially
treated as empty buckets that gradually fill with sediment shed
from the surrounding reef together with in situ lagoonal pro-
duction (Schlager, 1993; Purdy and Gischler, 2005). The infill
of lagoons at current sea level is clearly a possible outcome for
some reefs and this sequence has been used to predict the
development of planar reef surfaces (Tudhope, 1989; Hopley
et al., 2007).
However, whether an individual reef reaches this filled
condition depends upon a range of factors that include the
following: the length of time reefs have been at sea level in the
Holocene; the comparative rates of detrital sediment pro-
duction in the lagoon and surrounding reef rim; the accom-
modation volume (lagoon width and depth); and efficiency of
processes to transport sediment to lagoons. Many lagoons
require 103–104 years to fill under current rates of sedimen-
tation and it is likely that complete infill will not occur as
sea-level oscillations are expected to interrupt a particular
sequence (Purdy and Gischler, 2005).
10.13.8 Reef Island Morphology and Evolution
Reef islands are conspicuous geomorphic features located
on or adjacent to reef surfaces that can support vegetation
complexes and human habitation (Figure 13). Islands are
accumulations of detrital sediment (sand and gravel) de-
posited by waves and currents that rarely reach more than 5 m
above sea level. As geomorphic entities, they are medium-term
stores (103 yr) of sediment in the reef carbonate sediment
budget.
The geomorphic characteristics and origin of reef islands
have been the subject of significant scientific interest for more
than a century. Initial studies of reef islands were descriptive
and highlighted the large diversity in island types that included
unvegetated sand or shingle cays, vegetated sand or shingle
islands, mixed sand and shingle islands (motu), mangrove
islands, complex multiple islands, and low wooded islands
(e.g., David and Sweet, 1904 in Funafuti atoll; Umbgrove, 1947
in the East Indies; Spender, 1930; Steers, 1937; and later
Stoddart et al., 1978 in the Great Barrier Reef; Steers and
Lofthouse, 1940 in Jamaica; and Stoddart, 1965 in Belize;
Table 5). Detailed geomorphic observations identified signifi-
cant variations in the geomorphic and sedimentary character-
istics of islands. Such observations identified a large range of
planform shapes and topographic features of islands; signifi-
cant differences in the grade and composition of island sedi-
ments (e.g., fine sands to coarse boulders) that were related to
relative energy exposure; a suite of lithified island sediments
that can occur on islands (e.g., beachrock, cay sandstone, and
phosphate rock); and differences in vegetation complexes as-
sociated with islands (Figure 13; for detailed reviews see
Stoddart and Steers, 1977; Hopley et al., 2007). These early
observations also identified variations in island characteristics
between reef settings. For example, shingle or coarse rubble
islands typically occur in high-energy (exposed) settings and
are generally higher in elevation than other island types. By
contrast, sand islands are located in lower-energy or sheltered-
energy settings and commonly possess lower elevations.
The physical properties of islands have been used to de-
velop classification schemes (Spender, 1930; Fairbridge, 1950;
Stoddart and Steers, 1977). Four principle criteria have been
employed to classify island types: the location and number of
islands on reef platforms, reflecting exposure to energy; island
shape and morphological complexity; the caliber of sediments
(sand, gravel, or mixed); and the presence, extent, and type of
vegetative cover (Hopley et al., 2007, Table 5). A further major
division in islands is apparent between those formed centrally
on isolated reef platforms or infilled planar reefs and those
that form on the peripheral reefs of atolls and barrier reefs
(Figures 13(a) and 13(b)).
Based on morphological differences, early attempts were
made to place islands in an evolutionary sequence. However,
as recognized by Stoddart (1965) it appears more likely that
islands form evolutionary end members controlled by site-
specific interactions in energy exposure, sediment caliber, and
substrate configuration. Such recognition of the importance
of processes in island development has shifted the focus of
geomorphic inquiry of reef islands over the past 30 years from
simplistic evolutionary accounts to understand the controls on
island formation and morphodynamics. The imperative for
this research has been heightened in recent decades by con-
cern over the future stability of reef islands. The combination
of low elevation, small areal extent, and reliance on locally
generated reef sediments makes reef sedimentary landforms
particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and
sea-level rise. In extreme cases, total loss of reef islands will
undermine the physical foundation of atoll nations such as
Tuvalu and the Maldives (Dickinson, 1999; Barnett and Adger,
2003; Kahn et al., 2002). In response to these concerns, the
major goals of contemporary geomorphic inquiry into reef
islands are to identify the major boundary controls on island
formation, understand the factors promoting the onset of is-
land building, establish the age and chronology of island
development and change, identify the modes of geomorphic
development of reef islands, and evaluate the dynamics of
island landforms.
Table 5 Summary of major reef island types, morphological properties, and relative geomorphic stability

Island type Morphology Vegetation Geomorphic features Setting Stability

Solitary islands
Intertidal shingle
deposits
Sand cays
Shingle cays Subaerial deposits of coral shingle
Mixed sand and
shingle cays (Motu)
Mangrove islands
Multiple islands
Low wooded islands
Linear–oblate Unvegetated Small and ephemeral Leeward lower-energy settings Very unstable
Form linear shingle ramparts, parallel to Unvegetated Shingle ramparts can become cemented Windward higher energy reef settings Stable
reef edge and form bassett edges.
Subaerial accumulations of calcareous a. Unvegetated Concentric parallel sand ridges. Leeward planar reefs in moderate to low Unstable
sand Distinctive swash ridges and central energy settings
depressions.
b. Vegetated when Concentric ridges, seaward high swash Leeward planar reefs in moderate to low Stable core
island core ridges and central depression. energy settings Mobile beaches
becomes stable Beachrock common on shorelines.
a. Unvegetated Recurved spits, partial cementation, Small reefs and or higher energy Variable
beachrock and conglomerate. settings
b. Vegetated when Commonly form linear ramparts. Can Windward margins of atolls or centrally Stable
shingle becomes become cemented. Prominent on exposed reef platforms.
stable seaward ridges.
Composite islands shingle seaward ridges Vegetated Linear to oblate in plan. Basin surface Exposed peripheral rim of atolls, or reef Stable
and leeward sand ridges morphology, prominent ridges. backed by lagoon
Beachrock prevalent. Conglomerate
common.
Mangroves colonize surface of reef Vegetated with Cay has sand ridges. Mangrove traps Sheltered locations, planar reefs with Unstable in storms
platforms. Reefs may also have mangrove fine sediments. Terrigenous micro- to mesotidal range
windward sand ridges sediments may be present.
Two or more discrete islands types on the Vegetated and Commonly windward shingle cay and Larger platforms that enable deposition As for other island types
same reef platform nonvegetated leeward sand cay. Other features as of two geomorphic units
for sand and shingle islands.
Consist of: Vegetated. Each island Develop on small reef platforms with Small reef platforms in moderate to low Stable shingle island.
unit has unique infilled lagoons. Can occupy large energy settings Less stable sand cay
a. Windward shingle islands formed by
vegetation proportions of the reef top. Possess
ramparts characteristics all features of all shingle and sand
b. Leeward sand cay

Coral Systems
islands. Basset edges, ramparts.
c. Central platform occupied by mangrove

Source: From Stoddart, D.R., Steers, J.A., 1977. The nature and origin of coral reef islands. In: Jones, O.A., Endean, R. (Eds.), Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Vol. IV: Geology 2. Academic Press, New York, NY, pp. 59–105; Hopley, D., Smithers,
S.G., Parnell, K.E., 2007. The Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef: Development, Diversity and Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; Kench, P.S., 2011b. Low wooded Islands. In: Hopley, D. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs.
Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 639–644; McLean, R.F., 2011. Atoll Islands (Motu). In: Hopley, D., (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 47–50, and Smithers, S.G., Hopley, D., 2011. Coral cay classification and evolution. In:
Hopley, D. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 237–253.

349
350 Coral Systems

10.13.8.1 Long-Term Controls on Reef Island Evolution
Given the susceptibility of islands to environmental change,
there have been remarkably few studies that have attempted to
resolve the precise nature of the controls on, and chronology
of, island formation. A limited number of detailed investi-
gations have been undertaken that have combined topo-
graphic surveys with subsurface investigations of island
sediments and radiometric dating to provide a temporal
framework for the onset and accumulation of islands (Table 6,
Figure 14). Radiometric ages on island sediments indicate that
the reef islands began forming in the mid- to late Holocene.
However, studies have identified differing models of island
formation, which provide critical insights into the controls
and styles of island evolution (Figure 14).
10.13.8.2 The Relationship between Sea-Level Change,
Reef Growth, and Island Formation
Sea level and its affect on reef growth have been implicated as
a primary control on the formation and future change of reef
islands. Conventional theory adopted a sequential model of
island evolution in which sea-level stabilization, complet-
ion of vertical reef growth, and reef flat development at sea
level were necessary preconditions for island formation
(Figure 14(a)). Evidence in support of this linear model is
apparent from examples in the Pacific and eastern Indian
Oceans, where sea level has been at or slightly higher than the
present sea level for the past 6000 years. In this setting, vertical
reef growth was rapidly constrained and lateral reef accretion
became the dominant growth mode resulting in construction
of broad reef flats. These reef flats later became emergent as a
consequence of late Holocene sea-level fall and they provided
the foundation for sediment accumulation and island build-
ing in the mid- to late Holocene (Figure 14(a)). Radiometric
dating from a number of studies supports this model as the
age of island materials postdates vertical reef growth and reef
flat development in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Woodroffe
et al., 1999), Kiribati (Woodroffe and Morrison, 2001), and
Tuvalu (McLean and Hosking, 1991), although regionally the
timing of island formation differs as a result of contrasting reef
growth histories. Further examination of island evolution
shows that island building in the Pacific occurred following
late Holocene sea-level fall. This apparent synchronization
of changing sea level and land building has led to the assertion
that sea-level fall was a trigger for island accumulation
(Stoddart, 1969b; Schofield, 1977; Dickinson, 1999).
The implication from this model is that sea level rise will
force morphological instability as water depths over reefs
increase.
However, regional differences in the pattern of late Holo-
cene sea-level dynamics and reef growth responses have pro-
vided contrasting boundary conditions for the onset and
accumulation of landforms. Evidence from the central Indian
Ocean provides an alternative sequence of island formation
(Figure 14(b)). Construction of detailed chronostratigraphic
sequences across three reef platform islands in the Maldives
indicates that the islands there formed during the mid-
Holocene (5000 year BP), across submerged reefs and infilled
shallow lagoons, prior to reefs achieving their vertical growth
limit (Figure 14(b), Kench et al., 2005). Dating evidence
suggests that these islands formed very rapidly in a 1500-year
window during a period when water depth over reefs was
greater than the present. Following island formation, the outer
reef margins continued to grow vertically and shut down the
hydrodynamic process regime affecting island shorelines. This
closing of the energy regime on reefs has contributed to the
relative stability of the islands for the past 3500 years (Kench
et al., 2005). This model is likely to have similarities to the
Caribbean where landforms have developed under continual
rising sea level throughout the late Holocene (Toscano
and Macintyre, 2003; Figures 11(b) and 14(b)). Recent re-
construction of the sea-level history in the Maldives identified
a mid-Holocene sea-level highstand of at least 0.5 m above the
present level 3500–2000 years ago (Kench et al., 2009b). This
period of highstand postdates reef island formation and is

Table 6 Summary of existing studies of the chronology of reef island evolution

Location Reef type Island No C14 Maximum Minimum age Reference

type dates age (yBP) (yBP)

Pacific Ocean
Makin atoll, Kiribati Oceanic RP VSI 16 2690 410 Woodroffe and Morrison (2001)
Fongafale atoll, Tuvalu Atoll rim Motu 20 2000 1000 McLean and Hosking (1991)
Malamala Island, Nadi Bay, Fiji Barrier RP VSC 8 1942 752 McKoy et al. (2010)
Navini Island, Nadi Bay, Fiji Barrier RP VSC 6 2458 374 McKoy et al. (2010)
Unvegetated cays, Nadi Bay, Fiji Barrier RP USC 3 956 332 McKoy et al. (2010)
Warraber Island, Torres Strait RP VSC 35 5770 740 Woodroffe et al. (2007)
Lady Elliot Island, GBR Barrier RP VSI 64 3200 Present Chivas et al. (1986)
Multiple cays, northern GBR Barrier RP VSC/I 18 4380 2190 Polach et al. (1978)
Indian Ocean
Cocos (Keeling) Islds Atoll rim Motu 45 4280 420 Woodroffe et al. (1999)
Udoodhoo Island, Maldives Atoll RP VSC 4 4050 940 Ali (2000)
Mendhoo Island, Maldives Atoll RP VSC 3 3070 920 Ali (2000)
Dhakandhoo Island, Maldives Atoll RP VSC 8 5125 4325 Kench et al. (2005)
Hulhudhoo Island, Maldives Atoll RP VSC 11 5168 3736 Kench et al. (2005)
Thiladhoo Island, Maldives Atoll RP VSC 9 5402 1518 Kench et al. (2005)
 Coral Systems 351

6000 yBP 6000 yBP

Sea level
Sea level

3500 yBP 4500 yBP

Energy
window

2000 yBP 3000 yBP

Present 1500 yBP

(a) (b)

Pleistocene reef Holocene reef Lagoon infill Island sediments

Direction of reef growth Direction of sea level movement

Figure 14 Contrasting models of the formation of reef islands on coral reefs. (a) Aggregate Pacific Reef platform model. (b) Central Indian
Ocean model after Kench et al. (2005). Note differing relationships between sea level and reef elevation at time of island formation. Large and
thin arrows signify direction of sea-level change and reef growth, respectively.

evidence that reef islands can withstand higher sea levels of
the magnitude projected for the near future.
Collectively, the handful of studies from different regions
provides critical insights on the role of sea level and reef growth
in controlling island formation. First, island formation has
occurred under differing sea-level-change histories including
rising sea level. Second, sea-level fall is not a necessary pre-
condition for island building. Third, reef flat formation at sea
level is not a necessary pre-cursor for island formation. Fourth,
island formation can occur in the latter stages of reef platform
development as it approaches its vertical growth limit. Fifth,
geological analogs exist that indicate reef islands can physically
adjust to increased sea level on the order of 0.5 m.
10.13.8.3 Recognition of the Importance of Sediment
Supply on Island Building
Reef island building requires the supply of sediment to fill the
accommodation space. Although island building was initiated
in the mid- to late Holocene (Table 6), evidence suggests that
the subsequent accumulation history may follow different
patterns. As noted above, Maldivian reef islands appear to
have formed in a narrow 1500-year window in the mid-
Holocene and effectively ceased building 3500 years ago
(Kench et al., 2005). By contrast, on Warraber Island in the
Torres Strait, island formation has occurred incrementally over
the past 3000–5000 years in response to continued supply of
sediment (Woodroffe et al., 2007). Furthermore, in storm-
dominated settings island development has occurred through
episodic deposition of storm-generated rubble (Maragos
et al., 1973; Bayliss-Smith, 1988; Hayne and Chappell, 2001).
Variations in accumulation history of reef islands (and
other sedimentary landforms) may be explained through
temporal variations in sediment supply during the Holocene
and recognition that the relationship between reef carbonate
productivity and sediment generation is nonlinear. Variations
in sediment supply are, therefore, likely to reflect temporal
alterations in the balance between reef growth and product-
ivity. For example, onset of island building in the mid-
Holocene may coincide with reefs either reaching sea level or
352 Coral Systems
reaching wave base and releasing a pulse of excess sediment
(Table 6; Woodroffe et al., 1999; Harney et al., 2000;
Woodroffe, 2003). Pulses of sediment generation also oc-
curred as a result of reef flat emergence (Figure 14(a)). Such
sea-level-forced transitions in reef flat ecology are likely to
have altered the dominant skeletal components available for
land building from sediments generated from frame builders
(coral and coralline algae) to those derived from benthic
sediment producers (e.g., foraminifera and calcareous green
algae). For instance, on Green Island, Great Barrier Reef, an
ecological shift to a foraminifera-dominant reef flat following
sea-level stabilization is credited with triggering island for-
mation (Yamano et al., 2000). Similar reliance for island
building on a narrow range of skeletal constituents has been
identified by Woodroffe and Morrison (2001) in Makin Island,
Kiribati. The reliance of some landforms on a select number of
skeletal constituents also suggests that sediment availability
through the late Holocene is also likely to have been influ-
enced by biological perturbations (e.g., mass death events of
secondary producers) that release pulses of sediment to the
reef system, which control episodes of land development.
Current analogs suggest that landforms that are reliant on a
narrow range of constituents, and those landforms that have
ceased building and have no apparent significant influx of
sediment (i.e., are relict deposits), will be most susceptible to
future morphological change in response to changes in sedi-
ment supply and altered boundary processes.
It is commonly assumed that the reef carbonate factory
produces a quasi-continual supply of sediment. However,
studies suggest that the supply and composition of sediments
available for land building can vary temporally in response
to changes in reef growth/reef ecology (Yamano et al., 2000;
Woodroffe, 2003) and these in turn influence the accumu-
lation of coastal deposits. Furthermore, scientific understand-
ing of the processes that turn on and turn off sediment supply
as it relates to the construction of landforms is poor and is an
urgent priority for research. Preliminary modeling studies
suggest that changes in sediment supply, through alterations
in either sediment generation or littoral budgets, may be
more important than sea level in affecting the stability of reef
landforms (Kench and Cowell, 2003; Woodroffe, 2003).
10.13.8.4 Process Controls on Island Development
Gross differences in energy exposure have been recognized as a
critical factor in the location, morphology, and sedimentary
character of reef islands. Initial conceptual understanding
treated energy as a relative measure with regard to exposed
versus sheltered settings, and windward versus leeward
locations. In recent decades, the development of instru-
mentation with the ability to record high-frequency meas-
urements of waves and currents has significantly advanced
understanding of the hydrodynamic forcing on island for-
mation and change.
The interaction of ocean swell with coral reefs modulates
oceanographic, ecological, and geological processes in coral
reef systems (see Hamner and Wolanski, 1988; Nakamori
et al., 1992; Roberts et al., 1992; Hearn et al., 2001; Wolanski,
2001). Wave interaction with coral reef platforms is recognized
as the principal process mechanism activating geomorphic
process on reefs and controlling the formation of reef islands
(Stoddart and Steers, 1977; Gourlay, 1988, 2011a). The geo-
morphic importance of wave–reef interactions is manifest in
two ways. First, reefs act as a filter to wave energy controlling
energy available for geomorphic work. Second, the planform
configuration of reefs both refracts and diffracts wave energy
and controls the nodal location of sediment deposition on
reef surfaces (Gourlay, 2011a; Figure 15(a)).
The filtering of wave energy is achieved through the inter-
action of waves with reef structure, which is modulated
by water depth across the reef surface. Numerous studies
have documented reductions in wave energy of up to 97%
as incident waves are transformed and break at the reef edge
(e.g., Roberts et al., 1977; Lee and Black, 1978; Roberts and
Suhayda, 1983). Residual energy leaks onto reef surfaces and
is available to influence island development. This transmis-
sion of wave energy onto reef surfaces is greatest at higher
water stages (Roberts et al., 1977; Brander et al., 2004). Recent
studies of wave and current processes on reef platforms have
shown the importance of reef width and relative water
depth across reefs in controlling the delivery of wave energy to
island shorelines (Brander et al., 2004; Lowe et al., 2005;
Kench and Brander, 2006b; Kench et al., 2009a). The reef
energy window index was proposed to capture the influence of
these physical properties on the level of geomorphic activity of
reef surfaces (Kench and Brander, 2006b). In general, wave
energy (and geomorphic work) on reefs and island shorelines
increases as relative water depth (h) increases and reef
width becomes narrower. By contrast, the magnitude of wave
energy diminishes with increasing reef width, as friction dis-
sipates wave energy. The net effect of cross-reef energy re-
duction is a reduction of ability to activate the sediment
transport system.
The geomorphic importance of water depth control on
wave height across reef platforms is evident at instantaneous
through to geological timeframes. At instantaneous timescales,
tidal variations modulate the magnitude of wave energy
that propagates onto reef surfaces. At geological timescales, the
relationship between sea level and reef growth modulates the
ability of waves to interact with the reef surface and controls
the gross magnitude of wave energy propagating over reefs.
During the mid-Holocene, reefs in catch-up growth mode
were not sea-level-constrained and water depth over reefs was
greater than the present, allowing higher ocean wave energy to
propagate onto reefs (Figure 14). As reefs caught up with sea
level, this energy window closed. This period in the develop-
ment of reefs has been characterized as the mid-Holocene
high energy window and has been implicated as an important
phase of construction of a range of sedimentary landforms
in the Great Barrier Reef (Hopley, 1984) and Maldivian reef
islands (Kench et al., 2005).
Wave breaking at the reef edge and at island shorelines also
induces wave setup (super-elevation of the still water level)
and may produce setup gradients that control currents on
reefs, and island shorelines (Figure 15(c); Gourlay and Coll-
eter, 2005; Jago et al., 2007; Gourlay, 2011b, 2011c). The
magnitude and pattern of currents are therefore controlled by
the incident-wave field and have been shown to be sensitive
to changes in incident-wave characteristics. For example, in the
 Coral Systems 353

Wave setup Ocean Atoll reef platform Lagoon

generated flows Island

Wave setup

Wave approach
Shingle generated flows
bank

Wave approach
Sand cay
Wave
diffraction

es

Wave approach
av
w
ed
mr
fo
e-
R

Wave refraction Wave refraction

at reef edge at reef edge Re-formed waves
(a) (b)

Breakpoint Wave setup Nodal point of

100 gradient Decay depositioon
and se in ocean w
% wave energy

dimen a n
t trans ve energy goo
por t c
apacit y i n la rgy
a e
y Dec ave en
w
Setup-driven reef current
Msl
0
Set down Reef Reef flat
Ocean crest Island deposition occurs where wave Lagoon
energy and capacityof flow to carry
sediment declines. Islands build toward reef
edge and ridges become higher controlled by
level of wave energy and shoreline runup

(c)

Figure 15 Conceptual models of wave interaction with reef platforms, resultant current gradients, and controls on island building. (a) Isolated
reef platforms where wave energy can refract around the platform. (b) Wave interaction with linear atoll reef rim. (c) Idealized ocean to lagoon
cross section showing the decay in wave energy and generation of wave setup-driven currents across reefs. Note that processes are presented
assuming there is no island. The decay in wave energy and current energy reduces the capacity to transport sediment providing an envelope for
the accumulation of sediments at nodal points on reefs (islands). As islands build toward reef edge they accrete vertically in response to
increased wave energy and runup processes.

Maldives, seasonal variations in wind direction are known to
promote reversals in reef platform wave-induced current pat-
terns, which in turn modulates shoreline change (Kench and
Brander, 2006a; Kench et al., 2009c, 2009d).
Observations of nearshore hydrodynamics have also
shown that reef platform shape can impart significant control
on hydrodynamics of reef surfaces (Figure 15). On small reef
platforms it is possible that incident swell is able to refract
completely around the reef edge and control depositional
nodes on reefs (Gourlay, 1988, 2011a; Figure 15(a)). Under
such circumstances, field measurements have shown that
greater energy levels can occur on leeward shorelines (Jago
et al., 2007; Samosorn and Woodroffe, 2008; Kench et al.,
2009a). As both wave and current energy decline from the reef
edge across reef platforms, the intersection of energy gradients
across small platforms provides the critical nodal point for
sediment accumulation (Figure 15(c)). As islands build
and prograde across reef surfaces, shorelines are placed in
increasingly energetic conditions. Consequently, shoreline
runup processes are more energetic and this mechanism
allows seaward ridges to build higher with respect to sea level.
This energy–sedimentation relationship provides a process
explanation for the basin morphology of island surfaces and
the progressive increase in the seaward island margin closer to
the reef edge.
On large atolls with linear rims, the refraction of waves
around reef platforms and islands is prevented by the reef
structure (Figure 15(b)). In these settings, wave energy,
current and sediment-transport gradients are unidirectional
from the reef edge to lagoon (e.g., Kench, 1998b; Kench and
McLean, 2004). Consequently, the limit of sediment accu-
mulation is controlled by the competency of flow to transport
sediment of varied grain size. Under such process conditions,
islands can grow through seaward deposition across reefs and
the seaward margin increases in height (Figure 15(c)). In large
atolls, localized lagoon-generated wave energy can influence
the shoreline of islands, although this energy gradient is
typically lower in magnitude and promotes the formation
of lower-elevation lagoon ridges (Kench et al., 2006a;
Figure 15(c)).
354 Coral Systems

10.13.8.5 Reef Island Morphodynamics
Reef islands are dynamic landforms that are in continual ad-
justment to changes in the process regime forced by alterations
in climate, oceanographic boundary conditions, and sediment
supply. These boundary conditions force morphological
change at a range of temporal scales. Evidence that reef islands
are dynamic landforms has long been recognized by geo-
morphologists (Verstappen, 1954; Stoddart, 1965; Hopley,
1978). Typical morphological adjustments observed include
shoreline erosion, accretion, sediment washover, shoreline
realignment, and island migration. However, the issue of is-
land stability and change has recently emerged as a topic of
international interest in the context of global climate change.
Consequently, there has been an increase in studies examining
the physical responses of islands to changing environmental
conditions.
Extreme events (cyclones and tsunami) can impart both
erosional and constructional responses on reef islands. Bay-
liss-Smith (1988) proposed one of the earliest morphody-
namic models in which the mode of change was dependent
upon variations in the interplay between the caliber of island
sediments (gravel or sand) and the frequency and intensity of
storms (Figure 16). Islands in reef environments with low
storm frequency are generally composed of sand-size material
(sand cays), which are susceptible to erosion during extreme
Storm intensity
wave events. For instance, Hurricane Hattie caused mass
destruction of some reef islands in the Belize Barrier Reef
(Stoddart, 1963). In storm-dominated reef settings, islands
are commonly composed of coarse rubble on their exposed
reef margins, whereas islands on leeward reefs are typically
composed of sand.
Storm events are able to erode large volumes of material
from living coral communities on the forereef, and deposit
this sediment on the reef surface and on islands (Scoffin,
1993). For example, Hurricane Bebe in 1972 deposited
1.4 106 m3 of storm rubble on the windward reef flat of
Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu (Maragos et al., 1973). Subsequent re-
working of this storm rubble onto island shorelines increased
island area by approximately 10% (Baines and McLean, 1976).
Sequential deposition of storm rubble banks is clearly a
mechanism of island formation as demonstrated at Lady Elliot
Island, Great Barrier Reef (Chivas et al., 1986; Hayne and
Chappell, 2001). Recent tsunami events also provide analogs
of the impact of extreme wave inundation on reef islands.
The first quantitative observations of tsunami impacts were
undertaken in the Maldives where detailed mapping of island
morphology and sediments before and after the Indian Ocean
tsunami (2004) identified both erosion scarping of island
shorelines and vertical building of islands through washover
of beach sediments to island surfaces (Kench et al., 2006b,
2008).

0 Time (yrs) 100

(a)

Gravel shoreline
Island volume

Sand shoreline

0 Time (yrs) 100

(b)

Figure 16 Conceptual model of reef island morphodynamics in response to storm events. (a) Conceptual storm frequency and intensity. (b)
Morphological response of sand cays and shingle islands. Gray line in (b) depicts short-term shoreline dynamics. Reproduced with permission
from Figure 7.13 in Kench, P.S., Perry, C.T., Spencer, T., 2009a. Coral reefs. In: Slaymaker, O., Spencer,T., Embleton-Hamann, C. (Eds.),
Geomorphology and Global Environmental Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 180–213.

At seasonal timescales, oscillations in wind and wave cli-
mate have been correlated with predictable changes in island
shorelines. For example, Kench and Brander (2006a) exam-
ined the morphological sensitivity of 13 islands in the
Maldives to predictable changes in monsoon conditions
(Kench et al., 2006a). Results showed large (up to 53 m of
beach change) and rapid excursions of beach material
around island shorelines in response to monsoonally forced
changes in nearshore circulation. However, at the annual
scale, seasonal oscillations in morphology were balanced.
The magnitude of seasonal morphological change and sensi-
tivity of islands to change were found to vary between islands
as a function of reef platform shape, which controls wave
refraction patterns. Kench and Brander (2006a) proposed
the island oscillation index to predict the sensitivity of islands
to changes in wave climate. Analysis showed that circular is-
lands were most sensitive to changes in incident-wave
processes.
At interannual to decadal timescales, changes in wind re-
gime (e.g., El-Nino Southern Oscillation variations) and their
impact on reef processes (waves, currents, and sediment
transport) have been implicated in the physical adjustment
of islands on reef surfaces (Verstappen, 1954; Flood, 1986;
Aston, 1995; Solomon and Forbes, 1999; Dawson and
Smithers, 2010). Most recently, Webb and Kench (2010)
examined inter-decadal changes in the planform character-
istics of atoll islands in the central Pacific. The timescale of
analysis corresponded to a period of recorded sea-level rise of
2 mm yr1. Results showed that all islands had undergone
morphological change, although the style and magnitude
of change varied. Forty-three percent of islands increased in
area on reef platforms surfaces; another 42% showed little
net change; and 15% of islands contracted in area. The net
changes masked larger gross morphological adjustments in
islands. In particular, shoreline erosion and lateral extension
of islands were common. Collectively, these adjustments in-
dicated migration of islands on reef platforms toward the
lagoon. Such findings are consistent with those of Stoddart
(1963), who attributed lagoon migration of islands in the
Belize Barrier Reef to rising sea level.
10.13.9 Summary and Conclusions
The depth of understanding of the complexity and controls on
coral reef geomorphology has increased significantly over the
last century. Early investigations laid a descriptive foundation
of the form and distribution of coral reefs and sought coherent
explanations to account for the presence of reef systems at the
ocean-basin scale. Shifts in scale of analysis to the individual
reef unit, and to a focus on process controls at short time-
scales, aided by developments in field methods and analytical
techniques, allowed new understanding of the geomorphic of
reef systems to emerge (Spencer et al., 2008). This complexity
is expressed in the diversity of landforms recognized on reef
systems, which span, for example, entire reef platforms at the
macro-scale, sedimentary landform units at the meso-scale to
cemented beach rock at the micro-scale. Most significant
has been the recognition of the heterogeneity in the patterns
Coral Systems 355
and rates of landform development both within and between
reef regions.
Whereas the theory of plate tectonics and deep drilling of
reef systems led to the ultimate explanation for the enduring
problem of coral reef structure and distribution, a set of
higher-frequency boundary controls govern the formation
of contemporary reef landforms. Sea-level change, accom-
modation space, carbonate cycling (that control framework
production, generation of detrital sediment, and cemen-
tation), and prevailing process regimes are now recognized as
the primary factors that influence the formation, mode of
development, and contemporary dynamics of reef landforms.
Eco-morphodynamics provides a powerful framework to
examine the co-adjustment of these physical and ecological
processes in reef systems. This framework has been con-
structed and validated through field investigations and pro-
vides critical insights into the geomorphic development of reef
landforms (Figure 3). First, the relative importance of con-
trolling factors varies across a range of temporal and spatial
scales. For example, although sea level is a critical factor in
modulating reef growth at centennial time frames, it is of
subordinate importance in controlling shoreline dynamics of
reef islands, which are controlled by a contemporary process
regime. Regional differences in sea-level change also control
spatial variations in of reef development (Figures 10 and 11).
Second, the magnitude, mode, and timescales of geomorphic
change (responsiveness) in reef landforms vary considerably
between different components of a reef system (e.g., reef
structure vs. island beaches). Third, the eco-morphodynamic
model identifies feedbacks that can be temporally specific,
or cascade across timescales and geomorphic components
of a reef system, providing self-organization to landform
development (e.g., sea level, reef growth, and process charac-
teristics). Fourth, feedbacks may also be nonlinear, with sig-
nificant time lags for changes to propagate through the
geomorphic system (e.g., ecological transitions and their im-
pact on the geomorphic system). Although such relationships
are becoming better understood, system sensitivities, thresh-
olds, temporal lags, feedbacks, and timescales of relevance to
reef geomorphic development and change are poorly resolved
and are an important priority for research.
The recognition that coral reef landform development
spans event to millennial timescales indicates that geo-
morphology is uniquely placed to contribute to global dis-
cussions on the trajectory of reef landforms in response to
global environmental change. In particular, geomorphology is
able to evaluate the role of short-term ecological transitions in
the context of the spatial and temporal dynamics of the geo-
morphic system. In this regard, assumptions of simple linear
responses that suggest that reef ecological decline always
produces losses in reef structure and reef landforms must be
challenged in the context of the effects on carbonate cycling;
the extent and duration of ecological decline; the time lag for
any impact on the carbonate factory to propagate through the
geomorphic system; recognition of which landforms may be
affected; and the mode and magnitude of response of land-
forms (see Hopley et al., 2007; Kench et al., 2009a for recent
syntheses).
Although our understanding of reef geomorphological
systems has improved markedly, a number of significant gaps
356 Coral Systems
in knowledge remain. From a geomorphic perspective, the
following are areas of high priority:
1. Gaps exist in understanding reef development and landform change
at the regional scale. For example, there has been comparatively
little geomorphic research on the geomorphology of reefs in
the central Indian Ocean (Laccadives, Maldives, and Chagos
archipelagos) or the reef systems of the southwest Pacific.
Studies from such reef regions are likely to broaden under-
standing of the range of development modes and refine
understanding of the critical boundary controls on coral
reef landform development. Such studies are also likely to
enhance understanding of the marginality and sensitivities
of reefs to environmental change.
2. Carbonate production and cycling. Although carbonate pro-
duction processes are broadly understood, contemporary
analyses of carbonate production and sediment generation
rates are lacking. This gap is anomalous, given the critical
importance of carbonate material to reef landform con-
struction, and possible sensitivity to ocean acidification.
Such knowledge is critical to constructing and evaluating
carbonate budgets as a means to understand dynamics of
reefs and sedimentary landforms, and to model the effects
of climate change.
3. The formation and dynamics of reef sedimentary landforms. To
date, there has been only a handful of detailed studies of
the onset and accumulation of reef islands and post-
depositional alteration of these deposits. These studies
represent a narrow range of climatic/process regimes and
sea-level histories. Improved understanding of these sedi-
mentary landform dynamics must emerge from studies
drawn from a wider range of field settings and case studies.
4. Process dynamics of reef platforms. At event to decadal time-
scales, hydrodynamic and sediment-transport processes
control ecological zonation and the morphodynamics
of sedimentary landforms. Improved resolution of the
mechanisms that drive reef top processes, the resultant
three-dimensional flows and sediment fluxes, and the mor-
phological responses are fundamental to develop a more
rigorous theoretical basis for landform dynamics and to
support development of geomorphic models of landform
change that can underpin practical coastal management
strategies.
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 Coral Systems 359

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Biographical Sketch

Paul Kench is associate professor in the School of Environment at The University of Auckland, New Zealand. He
obtained his PhD from the University of New South Wales in Australia where he studied the hydrodynamics and
sediment-transport processes in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean. He has held academic posts at the
University of Melbourne, Australia, and the University of Waikato, New Zealand. As a coastal geomorphologist,
his principal field of research interest is coral reef geomorphology. He has active research interests in reef island
formation and the process controls on reef island change and has current projects underway in the Maldives,
Tuvalu, and Marshall Islands.
 10.14 Mangrove Systems
T Spencer and I Möller, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, UK
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.14.1 Introduction 361

10.14.1.1 Geomorphology and Mangrove Morphodynamics 362
10.14.2 Large-Scale Controls on Mangroves 363
10.14.2.1 Global Distribution 363
10.14.2.2 Geological Controls on Mangrove Distributions 364
10.14.2.3 Mangrove Forest Development and Long-Term Sea-Level Change 365
10.14.3 Regional Scale Dynamics of Mangrove Forests 366
10.14.3.1 Introduction 366
10.14.3.2 Microtidal, Deltaic Settings 367
10.14.3.3 Meso- to Macrotidal, Deltaic–Estuarine Settings 368
10.14.3.4 Open Coasts 368
10.14.3.5 Carbonate Settings 368
10.14.4 Local-Scale Dynamics 368
10.14.4.1 Water Movement in Mangroves 369
10.14.4.2 Wave Dissipation in Mangroves 372
10.14.4.3 Sedimentation Processes in Mangroves 373
10.14.4.3.1 Timescales of sedimentation 373
10.24.4.3.2 Inorganic surface sedimentation 374
10.14.4.4 Organic Near-Surface Sedimentation 376
10.14.4.5 Subsurface Processes and Surface-Elevation Change 377
10.14.5 Regional, Event-Based Dynamics 378
10.14.5.1 Mangrove Surface-Elevation Change, Hurricanes, and Cyclones 379
10.14.5.2 Mangroves and Tsunamis 381
10.14.6 Mangroves and Global Environmental Change 382
10.14.7 Concluding Remarks: Geomorphology and Mangroves in the Twentieth Century 383
References 386

Glossary Ecological services The benefits that particular

Clementsian successional model Highly influential
deterministic model of vegetation change that which
dominated plant ecology in the early twentieth century.
Associated with Frederic Clements (1874–1945), who
argued that successional sequences of communities (seres),
following environmental disturbance, were highly
predictable and culminated in a climatically determined
stable climax state in which vegetation is best suited to local
conditions.
Cyanobacteria Photosynthesizing bacteria (single cell
or colonial species) that are common in almost
any environment on the Earth and play a significant
role in the Earth’s total photosynthetic activity. In
mangrove ecosystems, their presence is particularly
important in fixing nitrogen as part of the microbial
communities that, as filamentous mats, also act to stabilize
the soil surface.
ecosystems provide through their existence to their
surroundings, both in their immediate vicinity and globally
(e.g., through the ecosystem’s modification of atmospheric
composition). Although such services benefit all living
organisms, the benefit of ecological services to humans has
become increasingly recognized over recent years and is
commonly categorized into ‘regulatory’ (e.g., climate
regulation via carbon sequestration), ‘provisioning’ (e.g.,
agricultural produce), ‘supporting’ (e.g., soil formation),
and ‘cultural’ (e.g., spiritual, aesthetic) services.
Effective length scale A parameter that is a function of the
projected area of all mangrove vegetation elements (A) and
the volume of the vegetation (VM) within a total volume of
flow (V ( ¼ water depth (H)  surface area)). It is calculated
as (V  VM)/A and has been shown to be related to the drag
induced by the vegetation under particular flow speeds, that
is, to the flow retardation properties of the vegetation.

Spencer, T., Möller, I., 2013. Mangrove systems. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in
Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press,
San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 360–391.

360 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00290-6

 Mangrove Systems 361

Gap-phase dynamics in mangrove forest Canopy gap
creation, following disturbances that range in scale from
individual treefalls to large, extensive canopy gaps created
by storms, hurricanes, or lightning strikes, sets in train a
complex process of mangrove forest succession and
regrowth, generally referred to as gap-phase dynamics. At
any one point in time the mangrove forest shows a mosaic
of canopy structures, with different forest patches of varying
planform and at differing phases of recovery following gap
creation.
Hypersalinity A situation in which the salinity of coastal
or estuarine waters in a given setting exceeds usual marine
salinities (30–35 ppt). This situation can arise in hot
climates, when freshwater input is less than losses occurring
through evaporation and (where salinity exceeds around
90 ppt) can put excessive stress on mangroves, resulting in
stunted growth.
Outwelling hypothesis The notion that highly productive
tidal coastal wetlands (including mangroves) act as net
exporters of nutrients and organic matter to adjacent waters.
The idea is generally associated with the studies of EP
Odum (1913–2002) on US east coast wetlands in the
1960s, but has been much debated since then, with
subsequent research highlighting the difficulty of
establishing nutrient budgets in coastal wetland
environments, their seasonal and event-related variability,
and their dependency on both tidal hydrodynamics and
wetland elevation, size, and coastal setting.
Physiographic ecology Associated with the early
twentieth century Chicago School of ecology, and
particularly Henry C Cowles (1869–1939). Used in a
mangrove context, particularly by BG Thom, to stress the
interactions between forest hydrology, sedimentation,
subsidence, vegetation colonization, and mangrove peat
development in deltaic environments and explain the shifts
in mangrove location and the impact upon the topographic
changes accompanying the delta cycle of distributary
inception, growth, and decay.
Pneumatophores Rubbery, semirigid aerial roots covered
in pores, or lenticels, which promote the direct exchange of
oxygen between the atmosphere and internal plant tissues
and thus allow respiration in environments where soils are
waterlogged. These ‘breathing straws’ are common in some
species of mangrove (such as the black mangrove Avicennia
germinans), with radiating root networks protruding upward
through the soil surface.
Tidal subsidy model Based on EP Odum’s (1913–2002)
observation of the positive correlation between tidal
range and salt marsh standing crop, this model argues
that tidal power subsidies the functions of nutrient flux,
recycling, waste management, and oxygen supply to root
systems and microbial communities in coastal ecosystems,
allowing plants to divert more converted solar energy
(photosyntates) to vegetative productivity. Only at the
extremes of tidal range do tidally driven stresses exceed the
subsidy effect. In the 1980s, these ideas were extended to
accretionary processes in coastal wetlands to suggest a
similar positive correlation between tidal range and the
ability of wetland surface accretion to keep pace with sea-
level rise.

Abstract

Geomorphological landforms and processes underpin the valuable ecological functions and ecosystem services performed
by river-dominated, tide-dominated, and interior mangrove forest systems. At the local scale, mangrove system morpho-
dynamics are characterized by complex interactions between tidal channel flows and shallow-flooded vegetated surfaces,
with wave energy dissipation across mangrove margins. Surface-elevation change in mangroves reflects the balance between
surface sedimentation processes and subsurface processes and, exceptionally, responses to hurricane and tsunami impacts.
Geomorphology has a role to play in assessments of mangrove status under anthropogenic pressures and in providing
insights into trajectories for effective mangrove rehabilitation and restoration.

10.14.1 Introduction
Mangroves are plants (mostly tree species) that show a series
of physiological, morphological, and life history adaptations
to the difficulties of both establishment in mobile substrates
subject to current flows and wave activity, and subsequent
survival over a wide range of salinities (0–90%) in water-
logged, anoxic sediments. These remarkable adaptations in-
clude prop, ‘knee,’ and buttress roots, oxygen-capturing
pneumatophores, salt exclusion and secretion mechanisms,
and viviparous seedlings (Figure 1; e.g., Lugo and Snedaker,
1974; Tomlinson, 1986; Saenger, 2002). In addition, highly
evolved plant–soil–microbe relations allow the efficient use of
nutrients, rapidly cycled between trees and large belowground
reservoirs (Alongi, 2005, 2008). As forests, they can densely
vegetate the upper intertidal areas of tropical coastlines, typi-
cally at levels from just below mean sea level to ca. 2 m above
this level (Ellison, 2009).
In recent decades, mangroves have been seen to provide a
wide range of ecological services (although not all these per-
ceived benefits have been rigorously tested and proven ac-
cording to Manson et al., 2005). Thus it has been claimed that
mangroves: (1) provide important nursery grounds for juvenile
fish and shellfish; (2) through the outwelling of nutrients, crit-
ically support estuarine, and nearshore productivity (Boto and
Robertson, 1990; Twilley et al., 1996); (3) protect against coastal
flooding and erosion (Gedan et al., 2011); (4) act as nutrient
and pollutant filters; and (5) play a key role in global biogeo-
chemical cycling through the sequestration of carbon (Twilley
et al., 1992; Bouillon et al., 2008). The mangrove ecosystem
362 Mangrove Systems
Figure 1 (left) Rhizophora mucronata and (right) Avicennia officinalis, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore Island. Photo by T. Spencer.
demonstrates an important set of feedback relationships be-
tween biological activity, landform evolution, and water flows.
These relationships have important implications for mangrove
clearance, timber extraction patterns from mangrove forests, and
rules for the replanting and restoration of mangrove (Mazda
et al., 2005). Planting of dense thickets of mangrove may meet
coastal protection needs but equally influence exchanges of
water, sediments, and nutrients that maintain system health and
vigor (Sanford, 2009). These exchanges depend on the inter-
action of wave and tidal hydrodynamics, surface elevations, and
the characteristics of the vegetation canopy.
In spite of the recognition of these critical roles and
interrelationships, degradation and loss of mangrove eco-
systems over the past three decades has been intense and
appears to be increasing (Valiela et al., 2001; McFadden et al.,
2007). The immediate concern, therefore, is to determine what
benefits are lost as sizeable areas of wetland are converted to
other uses as a result of coastal development and population
growth (Barbier et al., 2008a). These issues were brought into
sharp relief by the impact of the Asian tsunami in December
2004 where it was widely claimed that the presence of man-
groves significantly reduced loss of life and property behind
them; we return to these issues, which have become highly
politicized (see Section 10.14.5.2). We note here, however,
that one result of this controversy has been that coastal sci-
entists have identified a need for ‘‘ ‘detangling the effect’
of the physical and vegetative properties that determine
whether mangrovesyare effective coastal barriers against
periodic, economically damaging storm events’’ (Barbier et al.,
2008b). A research agenda has been proposed to provide an
‘‘in-depth investigation of the protection function of various
mangrove formations and coast-geomorphological settings,
various root types and various species compositions’’ (Koe-
dam and Dahdouh-Gerbas, 2008; and see also Cochard et al.,
2008).
10.14.1.1 Geomorphology and Mangrove Morphodynamics
The particular focus of this chapter is a belief in the need
to appreciate the geomorphological landforms and processes
that underpin the ecological functions and values identified
above. The exact nature of these linkages has been contested,
even though the relevant fluxes are all controlled by tidal
exchange and freshwater flows. As Woodroffe (1992) has re-
marked, biologists typically see mangrove ecosystems as out-
welling systems and highly productive ‘sources’ of organic
matter, whereas the geological view sees mangrove forests as
efficient sediment ‘sinks,’ capable of building substantial
thicknesses of coastal sediments. These two positions can be
reconciled by seeing them as two coordinates within the range
of interlinked space and timescales that characterize mangrove
system dynamics.
This hierarchy of space and timescales has been recognized
by several authors. Thus Thom (1984) identified three com-
ponents – ‘background’ geophysical, geomorphic, and
biologic – within mangrove systems, with the second com-
ponent being divided into three spatial scales, from general
character of sedimentation, through dominance of particular
processes, to the sublandform scale of microtopography. These
ideas were taken up by Semeniuk (1985) who distinguished
between the large-scale ‘occurrence’; the medium-scale ‘com-
position’; and the small-scale ‘zonation’ of mangrove com-
munities on the coast of NW Australia. Similarly, Twilley and
Rivera-Monroy (2009) provided the hierarchical sequence of
global distribution, geomorphologic type, ecological type, and
habitat unit (Figure 2).
Finally, Woodroffe (2002) identified a range of timescales,
from seconds to millions of years, over which physical factors
and biological processes operate on mangrove shorelines
(Figure 3). Thus, for example, ecological changes occur on
timescales of minutes to days for physiological functions,
months to years for tree growth and replacement, and decades
to centuries for large-scale changes in forest community
structure (Alongi, 2008).
These ideas all represent different perspectives on the
broader conceptual framework of coastal morphodynamics:
the mutual coadjustment of coastal form and process. Such
approaches have been very effectively applied to coastal geo-
morphology (e.g., Cowell and Thom, 1994), not least in
identifying the critical time and space scales – variously des-
ignated ‘historical,’ ‘engineering,’ ‘planning,’ and ‘societal’ – for
 Mangrove Systems 363

Global distribution:
Temperature

25° N

25° S
Oceanic Geomorphologic type:
Islands Environmental settings
Delta

km 2
Ecological type:
Hydrology and
Basin
Lagoon Estuary topography
Scrub

r
rio
te
In

2
km
to
ha
ge
in
Fr

Riverine Fringe

Habitat units:

ha
Mangroves
and soil

Resource gradients

Regulator gradients

Hydroperiod gradients

Figure 2 Hierarchical classification system to describe patterns of mangrove structure and function based on global, geomorphological
(regional), and ecological (local) factors. Reproduced from Twilley, R.R., Rivera-Monroy, V.H., 2009. Ecogeomorphic models of nutrient
biogeochemistry for mangrove wetlands. In: Perillo, G.M.E., Wolanski, E., Cahoon, D.R., Brinson, M.M. (Eds.), Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated
Ecosystem Approach. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 641–683.

human responses to global environmental change. Such
models have recently been extended to better understand the
medium-term dynamics of coral reef geomorphic systems
(Perry et al., 2008) and are here applied to mangrove systems
(Figure 4). This chapter is structured around key observations
and issues that occur at these different, yet interlinked, space
and timescales.
10.14.2 Large-Scale Controls on Mangroves
10.14.2.1 Global Distribution
Considerable variability exists in the estimated global coverage
of mangrove ecosystems (Ruiz-Luna et al., 2008). Reports
of the size of mangrove areas range from as small as
100 103 km2 (Bunt, 1992) to as large as 240 103 km2
(Twilley et al., 1992). A commonly quoted figure is that of
181 103 km2 (Spalding et al., 1997), although this team has
recently revised their total downward to 152 103 km2
(Spalding et al., 2010). This is comparable to the 2003 FAO
estimate of 147 103 km2 (Wilkie and Fortuna, 2003).
More than 50 species of mangrove exist. Diversity is
greatest in the Indo-Pacific biogeographic province, with a
second center of diversity broadly comparable in the Atlantic
province (Figure 5). This pattern is widely regarded as being
determined over evolutionary timescales by patterns of con-
tinental coalescence and fragmentation, driven by long-term
plate tectonic processes (Duke et al., 1998). Such processes
may also explain what appear to be the extended latitudinal
extent of populations, possibly relict, of Avicennia subspecies
on the coasts of Southeastern Australia and the North Island,
New Zealand (Saintilan et al., 2009).
Equatorial mangrove communities can support a dry
weight biomass of up to 300–500 tons ha1 and rates of net
primary production can be very similar to those of tropical
364 Mangrove Systems

Physical
Tectonism
Eustatic sea level
Ocean circulation
Steric sea level
Channel migration
Floods and storms
Waterbody mixing
Tides
(a)

Biological Evolution
Mangrove life history
Salt marsh plants
Competition
Epidemic diseases
Propagule viability
Organism interactions
Microorganisms

Seconds 102 104 106 108 1010 1012 1014

Years 100 102 104 106 108

(b) Time
Figure 3 Timescales over which (a) physical factors and (b) biological processes operate on mangrove shorelines. Reproduced with permission
from Figure 8.22 in Woodroffe, C.D., 2002. Coasts: Form, Process, and Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

rainforest (Clough, 1992; Alongi, 2002). There are strong
latitudinal gradients away from the Equator in mangrove
biomass and litterfall (Saenger and Snedaker, 1993) and in net
primary productivity (Alongi, 2009). Most contemporary
latitudinal limits to mangrove establishment appear to be
largely determined by temperature. Mangroves are restricted to
coastlines where the mean air temperature of the coldest
month exceeds 20 1C and the seasonal range is less than 10 1C,
definitions that correlate with the sea-surface temperature
20 1C isotherm and susceptibility to episodes of frost (Saenger
et al., 1997; Woodroffe and Grindrod, 1991; Saintilan et al.,
2009). Avicennia appears to be more tolerant of low tem-
peratures than Rhizophora or Laguncularia (Markley et al.,
1982). In the northern Gulf of Mexico, there is a fluctuating
interplay between the presence of mangrove and salt marsh
vegetation. Mild winters favor the colonization of A. germinans
whereas sequences of winter freezes result in mangrove mor-
tality and expansion of the cordgrass Spartina alterniflora
(Stevens et al., 2006). Conversely, drought periods appear to
promote die-back in Spartina although allowing the spread of
Avicennia (McKee et al., 2004). The northernmost mangroves
on the east coast of the Americas occur in Bermuda (321 180 N)
as a result of the influence of the Gulf Stream and the absence
of freezing temperatures. Ellison (2009) argued that the
presence of cold western boundary currents restricts latitudinal
extension on west coasts compared to east coasts. Differences
in species diversity also occur. Thus the drier west coast of
Australia supports four species of mangrove compared to
20 species at the same latitude on the wetter east coast
(Duke et al., 1998). Rainfall also plays an important role in
determining mangrove distributions. This is partly because
low precipitation and high evaporation rates lead to hyper-
salinity (and the replacement of mangrove communities by
unvegetated salt flats; e.g. as seen in Senegal in the 1980s
(Diop et al., 1997)) and partly because the combination of
temperature and moisture determines soil mineralogy,
which itself influences mangrove colonization and growth.
Most (90%) of the world’s mangroves occur in the humid
tropics (precipitation/potential evapotranspiration (P/Etp)
40.75). Mangroves rarely occur in subhumid climates (P/Etp
0.50–0.70), are uncommon on semiarid coasts, and are rare
on arid coasts, only occurring where some winter rain occurs
(Blasco, 1984).
10.14.2.2 Geological Controls on Mangrove Distributions
These climatic controls provide necessary, but not sufficient,
controls on the distribution of mangroves. This potential
for establishment is only translated into occupation if
suitable substrates and accommodation space are available,
generally controlled at this scale by plate tectonic setting.
Inman and Nordstrom (1971) distinguished between collision
(or active) coasts that are characterized by rocky, steep margins
 Mangrove Systems 365

Geological

Mangrove
Millennia response to
Geomorphic sea-level and
oceanographic
Centuries Changing changes
sediment supply

Creek
Decades Ecological
Temporal scale

development

Extreme
Surface elevation
Years events
change

Vegetation
Seasons
growth and
establishment
Days Tides
Sediment transport
Hours Waves

Instantaneous
Seconds
0.01 0.1 1.0 10
Spatial scale (km)
Tree
scale Within-forest
scale Geomorphic
scale
Figure 4 Time–space hierarchy of processes operating within mangrove forest environments. Adapted from timeframes and spatial scales
identified in coastal geomorphology (e.g., Cowell and Thom, 1994; Perry et al., 2008).

Mangrove

Diversity
Low High

Figure 5 Global distribution of mangroves (modified from Veron, 1995). Scale of diversity ranges from 0 to 10 species (low); 10–50 species
(medium); and 450 species (high). Adapted with permission from Figure 1.7 in Slaymaker, O., Spencer, T., Embleton-Hamann, C. (Eds.), 2009.
Geomorphology and Global Environmental Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

landward of narrow continental shelves, and trailing-edge (or
passive) coasts that are low-gradient sedimentary coasts, as-
sociated with major river systems and generally supporting
major delta complexes, and fronted by wide continental
shelves. These contrasts are particularly well developed in
South and Central America; the extensive coastal wetlands of
the Guineas, SW Atlantic coast (discussed in Section
10.14.3.4), can be contrasted with the more restricted areas of
mangrove forest associated with the coastal margins of the
Pacific coast (West, 1977). However, active tectonics can de-
liver large sediment loads to tropical and subtropical coasts
and build deltaic plains that are then colonized by mangroves,
as exemplified by the island arc coasts of SE Asia. Finally, it
must be recognized that mangrove distributions have been
severely modified by anthropogenic removal in many parts of
the world (Spalding et al., 2010).
10.14.2.3 Mangrove Forest Development and Long-Term
Sea-Level Change
In many locations, contemporary mangrove systems form
a surface veneer over deep sequences of mangrove peats
of Holocene age. These settings reflect the coincidence of
366 Mangrove Systems
relatively stable sea levels over the past 7000 years with
the presence of near-horizontal, near-sea-level surfaces
(Woodroffe and Davies, 2009). Mangrove systems on low-
gradient continental shelves probably tracked the lateral
movement of the shoreline with postglacial sea-level rise
(which may have been over hundreds of kilometers in some
locations, such as the Sunda and Sahul Shelf regions of
Australasia). By contrast, mangroves on steep-sided oceanic
atolls were most likely drowned by the rapid rates of sea-level
rise at ca. 8 ka BP and only recolonized by mangroves with the
establishment of reef top islands at 3–4 ka BP (Woodroffe and
Grindrod, 1991). The details of the presence/absence and
positioning of mangroves, and their long-term (thousand
year) development, are likely to have been strongly influenced
by regional variations in the nature of Holocene sea-level
change, and the reflection of these changes in shifts in the
position of not only Mean Sea Level (MSL) but also the
Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) (Woodroffe, 2002). In par-
ticular, Woodroffe (1992) has drawn attention to the funda-
mental difference between Western Atlantic/Caribbean Sea
and Indo-Pacific Holocene sea-level histories. In the case of
the former, sea-level rise has taken place at a decelerating rate
over the last 6000 years and only reached its present level in
the last 1000 years (Toscano and Macintyre, 2003). In the
latter case, sea level reached its present level at ca. 6 ka BP and
then remained at this level, or fell back from a slightly higher
level between ca. 5 and 2 ka BP, to the present (Montaggioni,
2005). In tropical estuaries, mangrove forests initially mi-
grated vertically and up-estuary as former river valleys were
flooded in the early stages of the postglacial transgression.
Following sea level stabilization in the period sometime after
6 ka BP, estuarine embayments began to infill with sediments
and associated mangrove communities. Woodroffe (1992)
identified three models of infill. Model 1 is a progradational
model, where an initial mangrove fringe is replaced by a more
seaward mangrove belt backed by higher, nonmangrove es-
tuarine plains. Model 2 is a ‘big swamp’ model, characterized
by the rapid development of extensive mangrove forest in a
short time period (6.8–5.3 ka BP in northern Australia
(Woodroffe et al., 1985)). This phase was followed by the
evolution of a funnel-shaped tidal river into a sinuous, me-
andering channel with mangrove replacement by, depending
on climate, peat swamp forest, or temperate wetlands, or
unvegetated forest sabkas (Woodroffe, 1993). In Model 3, the
barrier estuary/mud basin setting, mangroves colonize pro-
tected shores behind estuarine barriers, and fringe infilling
mudbasins as estuarine embayments evolve toward channel-
ized systems that send high river discharges directly to the
coast (Woodroffe, 1992). In all of these cases, and in the case
of mangrove swamp development in carbonate settings (e.g.,
Ten Thousand Islands, SW Florida (Parkinson, 1989)), it is
clear that major changes in mangrove position and extent can
be triggered by quite small changes in the rate of sea-level
change. Furthermore, even at the same rates of sea-level
change, changes in sediment supply can switch a mangrove
system from shoreline progradation to shoreline retreat. Such
changes may be anthropogenically driven. Thus in southern
Thailand, the damming of major rivers appears to have ag-
gravated the rate of mangrove loss and coastal erosion
(Thampanya et al., 2006). The next section now looks in more
detail at these regional scale dynamics and the types of man-
grove systems associated with them.
10.14.3 Regional Scale Dynamics of Mangrove
Forests
10.14.3.1 Introduction
The large-scale expressions of mangrove extent determined by
continental-scale structural geology and Holocene sea-level
history are translated downward into finer-scale patterning
related to regional geomorphological setting (Figure 2). Tra-
ditionally, explanations of mangrove ecology have been
underpinned by a Clementsian model of plant community
succession. At a point in space, such an approach incorporates
the idea that each plant community actively ‘prepares the
ground’ for the next stage in development, ultimately leading
to a nonmangrove, perhaps tropical rainforest ‘climax’ com-
munity. With model application to regions where active
sedimentation leads to the seaward progradation of the
shoreline, this temporal sequence should be seen at a point in
time, through a pattern of shore-parallel zones of vegetation
types. There are clearly instances where high sediment supply
and a gentle offshore gradient facilitate rapid shoreline pro-
gradation, and where a succession of mangrove types occur.
The classic location most often quoted is the west coast of
Malaysia (Watson, 1928; Carter, 1959), but similar patterns of
mangrove progression over extending mud flats have been
reported from Thailand (Panapitukkul et al., 1998). However,
another major successional example, Davis’ (1940) model of
mangrove community transitions for the Florida mangroves,
has been shown to be only locally applicable and in-
appropriately applied to a partially transgressive, rather than
a simply regressive, shoreline (Woodroffe, 1992). Finally,
Semeniuk (1980) has demonstrated that zoned mangrove
shorelines in King Sound, Western Australia, are characteristic
of a retreating coast, undergoing sheet erosion, cliff erosion,
and tidal creek extension. It is now clear, therefore, that the
successional model forms only one of a series of mangrove
response models. Furthermore, and fundamentally, it seems
more appropriate to see mangroves as responding opportun-
istically to the presence of surfaces at appropriate elevations
and with substrate characteristics conducive to mangrove
colonization and community development. In deltaic en-
vironments, the classic example of this approach comes from
the ‘physiographic ecology’ of BG Thom (Zimmerman and
Thom, 1982). This model explained the patterning of man-
grove communities in Tabasco, Mexico, as a response to
the changing distribution of active and abandoned deltaic
distributary channels. In carbonate settings, Woodroffe (1982)
has shown how mangrove communities on Grand Cayman,
West Indies, have been controlled by an underlying karstic
basement. Furthermore, Stoddart (1980) has demonstrated
how the expansion of a mangrove parkland on platform reef
surfaces on the northern Great Barrier Reef has been triggered
by the development, following cyclones, of protective
reef-marginal coral-rubble ramparts. The implications of
such studies, therefore, are that mangroves respond oppor-
tunistically to geomorphological change rather than actively
 Mangrove Systems 367

determining that change. Furthermore, the resulting spatial Interior

patterning of mangrove communities is unlikely to show
a banded zonation but rather a more complex mosaic of
mangrove types, driven by rapidly fluctuating physiochemical Sink
conditions, and quite subtle variations in surface-elevation
and substrate characteristics. In such a mosaic, individual Hammock
species can recur at more than one elevation (Bunt, 1996).
Importantly, these different geomorphic settings can be Scrub
married to a complementary classification scheme that stresses
Basin
system function. Woodroffe (1992) proposed three end Riverine Overwash
members (Figure 6(a)) based on the dominant controlling
physical processes: river-dominated; tide-dominated; and in-
terior mangrove forests, mapping onto this ternary diagram
Strongly Bidirectional
the six neotropical mangrove types identified by Lugo and outwelling Fringe flux
others (Lugo et al., 1976; Cintrón et al., 1986). Ewel, Twilley,
and co-workers subsequently recast this approach using the River Tide
dominated dominated
terms riverine (for river-dominated), fringe (tide-dominated),
(a)
and basin (interior) mangrove forests (Figure 6(b)).
They further divided the riverine forests into those char- Basin
acteristic of muddy, deltaic coasts, of typically near fully-
marine salinity, and estuarine systems, typified by a range
of fluvial and marine sediment inputs and corresponding
salinity values. Mangrove forests on carbonate coasts do not fit
easily into any of these classifications. They are perhaps best Flooding Flooding
viewed as an extreme example of tide-dominated systems, frequency frequency
from river from tides
with no freshwater input (Twilley and Rivera-Monroy, 2009).
Woodroffe (1992) also identified mangrove forests associated
with drowned bedrock valleys outside of this scheme.
It has been argued (Twilley, 1995) that substantial differ-
ences exist in hydrology, nutrient cycling, and ecological
productivity between the three major functional groups. Thus,
echoing the ‘tidal subsidy’ model of EP Odum (1980), and
ideas developed for the ecological (Reed, 1995) and sedi-
Riverine Fringe
mentary (Stevenson et al., 1986) performance of tidal marsh Salinity of floodwaters
systems, greater flow rates along the gradient riverine – fringe – (b)
basin mangrove are likely to be matched by increasing prod- Figure 6 (a) Relationships among three functional types of
uctivity. This is because of the increased supply of nutrients mangrove forests (river-dominated, tide-dominated, and interior
and mineral sediments, the lower accumulation of toxic sub- sites), dominant physical processes (in italics), and six types of
stances in porewater, and the greater aeration of the soil matrix neotropical forest types (after Woodroffe, 1992); (b) three functional
along this gradient (Ewel et al., 1998). These effects become types and process gradients. Reproduced from Ewel, K.C., Twilley,
more important with increasing drainage basin size. According R.R., Ong, J.E., 1998. Different kinds of mangrove forest provides
different goods and services. Global Ecology and Biogeography
to Duarte et al. (1998, p. 277), in The Philippines and
Letters 7, 83–94, with permission from Wiley.
southern Thailand, ‘‘most (460%) of the variance in man-
grove growth rate across systems could be accounted for by
differences in the nutrient concentration of the leaves, which
was in turn related to the interstitial nutrient concentration
10.14.3.2 Microtidal, Deltaic Settings
and the silt plus clay content of the sediments [and] sediments
at the mouths of large rivers had high silt, clay, and nutrient In microtidal, fluvially dominated deltas, freshwater plants
contents, thus allowing the development of nutrient-sufficient, dominate where river water discharges into lagoons or onto
fast-growing R. [Rhizophora] apiculata seedlings. The growth of the continental slope; mangrove forest is restricted to the areas
R. apiculata seedlings increased significantly when the plants of higher salinity associated with abandoned distributaries
grew adjacent to rivers draining areas 410 km2.’’ and coastal lagoons. In the southern Gulf of Mexico deltas of
Examples from the various ‘end members’ are discussed Tabasco and Campeche, Mexico, Avicennia mangrove forest
in more detail below, although it must be recognized that in occurs on low levees and mudflats, Rhizophora is found on
reality individual mangrove forests sit within a continuum of stable lagoon shores and along old, deteriorating distribu-
geomorphic types. Thus, for example, mangrove commonly taries, and tall forests of Avicennia/Rhizophora/Laguncularia fill
colonizes the fringes of tropical coastal lagoons, settings formed the interdistributary bays (Thom, 1967). As mineral sediment
by the interaction of fluvial sediment supply with wave-driven inputs cease in the abandoned delta, peats develop as sub-
sediment redistribution (e.g., Niger delta, West Africa (Allen, sidence becomes all-pervasive and increasing salinities favor
1965)). the inland spread of mangrove ecosystems. The sequence is
368 Mangrove Systems
brought to a halt when freshwater flows reoccupy the site in a
process known as ‘delta switching.’ As in the case of salt
marshes (Reed, 2002), there is thus a dynamic of mangrove
establishment, growth/expansion, and replacement by non-
mangrove systems. In the well-documented Mississippi Delta
plain, this linked geomorphic and ecological cycle lasts ca.
500 years (Thom, 1967).
10.14.3.3 Meso- to Macrotidal, Deltaic–Estuarine Settings
Mangrove forests are extensive in deltas where high sediment
loads combine with mesotidal (42 m) ranges. Locations in-
clude the Meghna deltaic plain of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–
Meghna delta, Bay of Bengal (Umitsu, 1997); the abandoned
distributaries of the tide-dominated Mahakam River delta,
Borneo (Allen et al., 1979); and the tide-dominated western
Sundarbans, Bay of Bengal (Ellison et al., 2000). Mangrove
forests are also strongly associated with the tidal channel
margins, tidal flats, and linear shoals that characterize tropical
estuarine coasts. Examples include the Ord River (Thom
et al., 1975) and Darwin Harbour (Semeniuk, 1985), N
Australia, and the Klang River, western Malaysia (Coleman
et al., 1970).
One of the most extensive mangrove areas in the world,
covering 43350 km2, characterizes the Gulf of Papua, on the
southeastern margin of the island of New Guinea. Here,
3.84 108 tons a1 of sediment are supplied to a broad con-
tinental shelf, principally by the Fly, Kikori, and Purari Rivers.
These river flows interact with tidally driven currents in excess
of 1 m s1 (tidal range: 2.4–5.1 m; Dalrymple et al., 2003). In
the period 1973–2000, the seaward margins of R. apiculata
mangrove islands experienced erosional retreat of 200 m,
creek bank environments extended by 100–200 m and there
was accretionary infill, colonized by Sonneratia lanceolata and
Avicennia marina, over distances of 500 m between islands.
Vertical accretion rates varied from 1.3 to 7.2 cm a1, with the
greatest mean rates (4.4 cm a1) being at mid-intertidal ele-
vations. Accretion rates were lower in the lower intertidal zone
(where sediments were eroded by tidal currents) and in the
upper intertidal zone (where inundation was less frequent)
(Walsh and Nittrouer, 2004).
10.14.3.4 Open Coasts
Mangroves can become established on open coasts, even in
environments of relatively high tidal and wave energy, if
mudbanks are present to dissipate incident wave energy
(Perry, 2007). The 1600 km long coastline of the Guianas
(French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana), NE South America,
is the longest mud shoreline on the Earth, supplied and
sustained by the silt/clay load of the Amazon River
(1200 106 tons a1; Meade et al., 1985). About 20% of
this load is deflected northwestward alongshore toward the
Orinoco delta, Venezuela (Eisma et al., 1991). Some 40% of
this sediment supply is stored in the form of some 20–25,
10–40 km long, shoreface-attached and largely subtidal
mudbanks that lie subparallel to the coast (Allison et al.,
2000). Driven by the tradewinds, particularly between
January and April, these mudbanks migrate westward at rates
of ca. 1.5 km a1. Individual mudbanks are separated by
10–40 km wide interbank areas, the bank–interbank wave-
length representing a ca. 30 year cyclicity in sediment supply
(Allison et al., 2000). Where a section of coastline is pro-
tected from wave attack by a mudbank, rapid sediment ac-
cumulation occurs as fluid muds are advected onshore,
associated with deposition rates of 8–26 106 tons a1, and
seaward progradation rates up to hundreds of meters per year
(Allison and Lee, 2004). These surfaces are rapidly colonized
and stabilized by mangroves (Figure 7). The upper intertidal
fringe is colonized by a mangrove ecosystem dominated by A.
germinans, associated in the pioneer settlement phase above
mean high water neaps with Laguncularia racemosa. Rhizophora
mangle and Rhizophora racemosa characterize associated estu-
arine environments and the mixed mangrove forest behind
the Avicennia zone (Plaziat and Augustinus, 2004), with the
detailed patterning of these vegetation communities deter-
mined by growth development and self-thinning processes
and by forest gap creation and tree regeneration (Fromard
et al., 2004). With continued mudbank migration, however,
these areas become subjected to wave erosion and rapid
shoreline retreat (Figure 7). This process removes
6–23 106 tons a1 of sediment and its mangrove cover, a
process that continues until the arrival of the next mudbank
system (Allison and Lee, 2004).
10.14.3.5 Carbonate Settings
Mangroves also occur where the terrestrial supply of silici-
clastic sediments is low or nonexistent and is replaced by the
in situ supply of carbonate sediments and/or the accumulation
of local mangrove peat deposits. Mangrove development in
such settings is discussed in more detail below (see Section
10.14.4.4). Thom (1984) identified three carbonate settings:
carbonate platform (such as the mangrove forests of the
Bahamas, western Atlantic Ocean); sand-shingle barrier; and
Quaternary reef top (Figure 8). In addition, Ellison (2009)
documented settings of inland mangroves, isolated from the
sea. These generally occur in areas of hypersalinity and growth
forms are stunted as a result (e.g., Barbuda, West Indies:
Stoddart et al., 1973). Such mangroves are commonly sus-
tained in limestone karst terrain by subterranean conduit
connections to saltwater (e.g., Bermuda: Thomas, 1993;
Tuvalu: Woodroffe, 1987) or represent relict communities
stranded by Late Quaternary sea-level falls (e.g., Christmas
Island, Indian Ocean: Woodroffe, 1988).
10.14.4 Local-Scale Dynamics
At the habitat unit scale, three types of gradient intersect.
These are gradients of: (1) resources (including nutrient
availability (particularly of phosphorous), light levels, and
accommodation space); (2) regulators (e.g., salinity, pH);
and (3) hydroperiod (the combination of the frequency,
depth, and duration of inundation). Together they determine
patterns of soil geochemistry (Clark et al., 1998) and
mangrove productivity (Chen and Twilley, 1998; Twilley
and Rivera-Monroy, 2009). These biogeochemical processes
 Mangrove Systems 369

Interbank
Coastal
plain
face
Erosional Sur

Older bank muds

Leading edge Coastal setup level

Coastal
MHW plain
Fluid mud reservoir MLW

Older bank muds

Soft mud

Maximum progradation Mangroves

Coastal
plain

Older bank muds

Consolidating bank mud

Trailing edge to interbank

Coastal
plain
accretion
Net mudbank

Older bank muds

Figure 7 Mangroves and mudbanks, coast of French Guiana. (a) Eroded interbank surface is replaced by (b) leading edge mudbank deposition
in the subtidal zone with fluid mud delivered to the upper intertidal zone during periods of coastal wave setup. (c) Seaward progradation is
accompanied by mangrove stabilization but ceases offshore with passage of the mudbank. (d) Wave attack resumes and partially removes
sedimentary wedge, indicating net seaward growth with each mudbank–interbank cycle. Reproduced from Allison, M.A., Lee, M.T., 2004.
Sediment exchange between Amazon mudbanks and shore-fringing mangroves in French Guiana. Marine Geology 208, 169–190.

interface, in turn, with physical processes of sediment supply,
subsidence, and autocompaction. Thus, for example, experi-
mental burial of mangrove seedlings in Southern Thailand
showed differences in seedling survivorship, height, and an-
nual internode production between three common mangrove
species with variations in burial depth (Thampanya et al.,
2002b).
In theory, it should be possible to construct budgetary
models to define the performance of mangrove forests under
the various combinations of biogeochemical and physical
process regimes identified above. However, considerable
complexity is introduced into such calculations by the inter-
actions between tidal and fluvial hydrodynamics, fine sedi-
ment transport and sedimentation, and organic soil
formation. Furthermore, given the volumes of water and
sediment involved, even small errors in flux calculations can
propagate into large changes in budgetary status. An alter-
native way forward is to assess system performance through
characterization by a key ‘system state’ variable. Studies in tidal
wetlands in general have established such a variable to be
surface elevation (French, 2006). Knowledge of spatial vari-
ations in surface-elevation change can give insight into the
controlling processes at work. Furthermore, elevation change
has significance in determining different degrees of mangrove
system vulnerability to current and near-future sea-level
rise. As well as biological processes, surface-elevation change
is directly linked to the movement of water over the wetland
surface, continuously delivering, depositing, or removing
material from the mangrove system.
10.14.4.1 Water Movement in Mangroves
The flow of water plays an extremely important role in the
transport of nutrients and sediment through, into, and out
of the mangrove system (see, e.g., Van Santen et al, 2007;
370 Mangrove Systems

QUEENSLAND Shingle ramparts (steep inner sides

GREAT BARRIER REEF 15 50 numbered from interior outwards
North East
Point Upper edge of steep outer coral slope
LOW ISLES New north-east Shingle tongues of former Outer Rampart
R15 R1–R16
Lat. 16°23′ S. Long.145°34′ E. breastwork transposed from Key map of Stephenson, et al
R16
Based on a Survey by M.A. Spender 1929 20 Migrations of Shingle 1928−1945
34 23 4 Colonisation by
with modifications by F.W.Moorhouse 1934 New Shingle breastworks
Coral Heads (Pinnacles) young rhizophora
and by R.W.Fairbridge and C.Teichert 1945 (steepsided rampart No. 4)
28
Non-sharply defined boundaries
20 3
Scale of feet R14 Site of “Outer Rampart”
100 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 15 2 Rampart No. 3 in 1928
Depths in feet Anchorage

Tripneus
Vegetation areas
Porites R13 Site of Outer Rampart
10 Pond Gap D after cyclone of 1934
ct

t es
R12 Beach rock
t ra

Sp
Beach rock temporarily

it
12 exposed by 1934 cyclone

r
de
Light house 5
ul R11
Bo
Sand-cay Rhizophora
Temporary Sand-spits developed Mean sea level
during northerly gales of winter. 12′ Avicennia
R10
Greatly reduced during period Low water level
Sand Bruguiera
of S.E. Trade Winds. R9
bar Sa Young colonisation
nd
ba R8 Deep Pools (2−3 ft.
r
below reef-flat level)
ct

Sand Flat
at
ra

o Mangrove
rt

M
n
de

tre it
ul

es Sp R7
Bo

Open 3
W Swamp New eastern breastwork
2
at
ina

‘glade’
Mo
ter

South-West Thalamita Flat

Green Ant
le
As

dd

Point Island R6
Sand
Mi

Gap A Sand R5
12
27 Moat O New Gap
pe
43 Fungia n
60 B ‘g
3 p la
Ga de 3
R4

Lo
’

ng
Ac

15 3

to
rop

ng
New south-east
re

ue
35 2
o

M Mangrove breastwork
o 4 R3
Deepening of Gaps B and C by storms
at

Park
between 1934–45 has led to partial R2
pC
lowering of moat level and consequent Ga Incipient breastwork 1934
restriction of coral growth therein. Colonisation. of inner edge
15 of rampart No. 2 by
10–20 year old
rhizophora
South East Pr
ev
3` ai
3 Moat Apex lin
g
5
63 R1 10 W
20 in
50 d
10
Ram Flat

Colonisation of inner edge of rampart No. 3

N 2 rt

45
pa
f-

by 1−5 year old rhizophora

Maa

Shingle rampet Living coral

Ree

Ft cemented coral
10
No 3 pavement
heads H.W.L. 62
H.S.L.
5 Ft.
0
Datum 0
5 5 Isolated Avicennia only
Green Ant Island with
10 10 growing on 2nd rampart Cross Section of Rampart System
Bore to 14 feet below datum; after
grass & terrestrial vegetation on east side of Low Isles
20 20 & partly engulfed by
(shore line at lower springs)

18′′ of cemented coral debris, found Bruguiena 1945

Area of most vigorous advancing shingle
Intersection of datum

30 nothing but soft grey mud Maximum measured 30 (vertical scale exaggerated five times)
seaeard slope 41 (1:1:1) coral growth Avicennia
40 40 4th rampart
Sandhill H.W.L
50 50 10 Ft (inearly stage) 10Ft.

5 1st rampart 3rd rampart H.S.L 5

60 60 2nd rampart Datum
North-South Cross Section Traces of earlier 0
Mangrove swamp shingle Eroded Shelf, cemented
70 of Shingle Ramparts to Seaward 70
Trough with Rhizophora shingle & coral matl
80 (vertical scale exaggerated five times 80 Offshore slope
pitted & eaten as by
100 200 Feet 300 400 500 with living corals
chemical action
500 400 300 200 100 0 Feet 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 and coral heads

Figure 8 ‘Mangrove swamp’ and ‘mangrove park’ associated with carbonate reef platform at Low Isles, northern Great Barrier Reef. Reproduced
from Fairbridge, R.W., Teichert, C., 1948. The Low Isles of the Great Barrier Reef: a new analysis. Geographical Journal 111, 67–88, with
permission from Wiley.

Woodroffe, 2002). In SW Thailand, exposure to water move- creek (often41 m s1) exceed those over the swamp surface
ment is an important determinant of differences in success of by an order of magnitude, leading to water surface slopes as
seedling establishment between common mangrove species high as 1 m per 1000 m distance on the ebb tide (as water is
(Thampanya et al., 2002a). Water flows thus act as a critical being held back over the intertidal surfaces while subsiding in
control on mangrove establishment, succession, and resilience the creeks themselves) (Wolanski et al., 1992). Such water
in the face of anthropogenic and natural stresses on the surface slopes vary with vegetation type and setting. Fringing
system, although Woodroffe’s (1985a, b) studies at Tuff type mangroves, such as the Kandelia candel swamp of the Tong
Crater, New Zealand, have shown that the relationship be- King Delta, Vietnam, cause noticeably less flow asymmetry
tween flow measurements and budget estimates is complex than mangroves characterized by dense prop root and pneu-
and much uncertainty still surrounds the exact nature of matophore layers, such as Rhizophora and Bruguiera (Mazda
this linkage. Water movement in mangroves on local to et al., 1997a, 2005). Generally, ebb peak velocities in the latter
regional and instantaneous (seconds–hours) to ecological exceed flood peak velocities by 20–50%, thereby maintaining
(hours–years) scales (see Figure 4) is forced by meteoro- the channel morphology and resulting in the potential for net
logical, tidal, and climatic factors. exports of sediments and nutrients (Figure 9).
Tidal flows can act as a key control on mangrove hydro- The high friction over the mangrove forests is caused by a
dynamics, but their relative importance depends on tidal set- combination of bed friction and drag forces associated with
ting (e.g., tidal range, proximity of mangrove to tidal inlet the vegetation (Mazda et al., 1997b, 2005, Furukawa et al.,
mouth). The increased flow resistance over the mangrove 1997; Wu et al., 2001), as well as turbulent motions through
forest surface relative to the creeks means that velocities in the the narrow gaps between vegetation elements (eddy viscosity)

t2
t1
Tidal
creek
Figure 9 Tidal asymmetry in mangrove creek and adjacent mangrove surface area, schematically illustrating the water surface at ebb (time t1)
and flood (time t2); water flow is held back over the high-friction surfaces, causing a higher water surface over the vegetated regions at a given
time after tidal high water (t2) compared to the same time before high water (t1). Reproduced with permission from Wolanski, E., Mazda, Y.,
Ridd, P., 1992. Mangrove hydrodynamics. In: Robertson, A.I., Alongi, D.M. (Eds.), Tropical Mangrove Ecosystems. American Geophysical Union,
Washington, DC, pp. 43–62.
(Furukawa et al., 1997; Mazda et al., 2005). It has been argued
that the combined hydraulic friction can be summarized by
Manning’s coefficient (n). Within mangroves, ‘n’ has been re-
ported to range from 0.1 to 0.4, exceeding its value in the
creeks by an order of magnitude (Wolanski et al., 1992).
Mazda et al. (1997b, 2005) described how the Reynolds
number (Re) of the flow (related to its turbulence) can be
related to frictional forces caused by drag if certain properties
of the vegetation are known. In particular, they related the
‘effective length scale’ (LE) of vegetation to drag empirically,
via measurements of flow velocity reduction through man-
groves (where LE is the ratio of the proportion of vegetation
within a volume of water to the surface area of that vegetation
projected into the flow direction). Importantly, the complex
vertical structure of mangrove trees means that LE varies with
water depth (e.g., from 1.0 in o0.5 m depth to 0.15–0.25 in
o0.1 m depth in the case of Rhizophora and Bruguiera (Mazda
et al., 1997b)). This leads to significant variations in Reynolds
number (turbulence) and in frictional drag with depth.
The flow asymmetry introduced by such high frictional
drag over the vegetated surfaces has, however, also been shown
to cause a range of secondary flow features. These features
hold significance for the transport and dispersion of nutrients
and sediments within mangrove swamps. By means of nu-
merical model experiments, Mazda et al. (1999) showed that
the retention of water over high-friction surfaces adjacent to a
creek can lead to dispersion both seaward and landward
within creeks. The degree of this dispersion is determined
largely by the timing of the tidal flow and the drag coefficient
that characterizes the vegetated creek margins. The greatest
dispersion occurs in high and low drag conditions when the
time taken for water that has left the creek at the flooding cycle
to return to the creek on the ebb is longer and shorter re-
spectively than water that remained in the creek throughout
the tidal cycle. Others have reported the existence of flow
vortices on creek margins and recognize the importance of the
commonly highly sinuous nature of creek systems (Wolanski
and Ridd, 1986; Wolanski et al., 1992). Cross-sectional vari-
ations in flow velocities within creeks have been reported
(Ong et al., 1994).
At the smaller, mangrove surface scale, tidal flow velocities
vary markedly due to the presence of complex trunk/root
Mangrove Systems 371
Water level in creek
t1 t2
Time
matrices. Field measurements in Rhizophora sp./Bruguiera
gymnorhiza mangroves in Australia have shown that flow pat-
terns at this centimeter–meter scale can be extremely complex.
Although fast jets of flow can form through small gaps be-
tween roots and trunks (several orders of magnitude greater
than mean flow speed), eddies and stagnation regions may
form around and behind individual stems or zones of dense
vegetation cover (Figure 10; Furukawa et al., 1997). The
model experiment by Furukawa et al. (1997) also indicates
that the degree to which such features form depends on the
overall tidal current velocity: a higher modeled current velocity
scenario (0.2 m s1) led to a greater number of stagnation
regions behind roots than a lower current velocity scenario
(0.05 m s1).
In estuarine settings, the influence of tidal flows on man-
grove hydrodynamics must be seen alongside that of fluvial
(freshwater) inputs. In the Segara Anakan lagoon, Central
Java, for example, high sedimentation rates, associated entirely
with river flow, have led to a significant reduction in lagoon
area over the last century (from 6440 ha in 1903 to 930 ha in
2004) (Holtermann et al., 2009). Often these inputs are
highly seasonal. In the subtropical, microtidal and mangrove-
fringed Richmond River, north east Australia, almost all the
annual suspended load is fluvially derived; 90% of this fluvial
sediment is transported into the estuary over a time period in
the wet season accounting for less than 5% of the year
(Hossain and Eyre, 2002). Seasonal variations in temperature,
atmospheric pressure, and wind conditions can have as sig-
nificant an effect on the balance between fresh and salt water
input into mangrove fringed estuaries as variations in pre-
cipitation. Wolanski et al. (1992) pointed out that a zone of
maximum salinity may form in the upper estuary, when eva-
potranspiration rates are high and freshwater inputs decrease
to a minimum during the dry season. This zone of maximum
salinity may, however, form mid-estuary if tidal variation is
low, leading to an isolation of the inner estuary from the outer
estuary by a zone of highly saline water. It can take a con-
siderable time for this zone of high salinity to be flushed out
of estuaries after freshwater flow resumes. Conditions of
hypersalinity may also result in areas of mangrove that are at
elevations high enough to prevent frequent flushing by tidal
flows, forming salt flats. These are commonly seasonally
372 Mangrove Systems
10 cm s–1
20 cm
(a)
Rock
(b)
Figure 10 Flow modeling results showing localized jets and eddies through mangrove root. Reproduced from Furukawa, K., Wolanski, E.,
Mueller, H., 1997. Currents and sediment transport in mangrove forests. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 44, 301–310.
exposed when meteorological conditions cause tides to be
suppressed. When these areas do become inundated, they act
as important exporters of salt, silicate, and orthophosphate
(Wolanski et al., 1992).
10.14.4.2 Wave Dissipation in Mangroves
Wetlands (both freshwater and coastal) have been recognized
for several decades as reducing damage due to flooding and
severe storms (Gedan et al., 2011) with direct economic
and societal benefits arising from this function (see, e.g.,
Woodward and Wui, 2001). For mangroves, much of the wave
energy dissipation literature relates to extreme water levels and
the attenuation of extreme long period (10–60 min) tsunami
waves (see Section 10.14.5.2), rather than more frequent
storm and cyclone impacts, although a growing body of lit-
erature now exists on the modeling and measurement of
waves within different types of mangrove forests (see, e.g.,
Mazda et al., 1997a; Massel et al., 1999; Mazda et al., 2006;
Quartel et al., 2007; Vo-Luong and Massel, 2008).
The degree to which waves are dissipated within mangrove
vegetation varies widely between studies. Quartel et al. (2007)
reported a wave height reduction within a Kandelia candel
mangrove forest in the Red River delta, Vietnam, to exceed that
over an unvegetated mudflat by a factor of 5–7.5. Others have
reported a wave energy reduction of 50% over a 150 m distance
in a Rhizophora forest (Brinkman et al., 1997) and over a 100 m
Trunk
Root
distance in a Sonneratia forest (Mazda et al., 2006). For short
period (2–3 s) storm waves in the Can Gio mangrove biosphere
reserve, South Vietnam, 35% of incident wave energy is typi-
cally dissipated, but this rises to 100% within 40–50 m of the
seaward forest edge (Vo-Luong and Massel, 2008). The vari-
ability of results in these field studies highlights that the effect
of mangrove vegetation on wind waves is complex, vegetation
species (Figure 11), and density dependent, and thus particu-
larly difficult to represent in numerical models.
Waves are attenuated by wave breaking in the reduced
water depth within the mangrove forest and by drag and in-
ertial forces around mangrove roots, stems, and, in sufficiently
deep water, the tree canopy. Wave energy dissipation due
to wave breaking is largely a function of wave parameters
(wave height, length, and period) and water depth (i.e., the
morphology of the intertidal zone) and can be numerically
approximated if these parameters are known. Wave energy
dissipation by mangrove roots, trunks, and canopy is related
to the drag and inertial forces introduced by the presence of
the physical obstructions to water flow. The key difficulty in
achieving accurate modeling of wave dissipation by man-
groves is thus the representation of the complexity of the
mangrove root, trunk, and canopy structure in hydrodynamic
models. Although progress has been made recently with dy-
namic models able to represent varying trunk/root densities
within the mangrove forest, vegetation remains represented in
the form of vertical cylinders. Trunks are represented as cy-
linders that protrude through the water column and roots

1.2
0.8
Wave height (m)
0.4
0
elevation (m)
−0.2
Substrate
−0.4
−0.6
−0.8
0 200
(a)
Figure 11 Swell waves penetrating mangrove, Gulf of Tonkin coast, Vietnam. Decrease in amplitude with distance into the mangrove is a function of
tidal height and mangrove species present. Reproduced from Wolanski, E., Brinson, M.M., Cahoon, D.R., Perillo, G.M.E., 2009. Coastal wetlands: a
synthesis. In: Perillo, G.M.E., Wolanski, E., Cahoon, D.R., Brinson, M.M. (Eds.), Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach. Elsevier,
Amsterdam, pp. 1–61.
represented as cylinders that do not (Mazda et al., 2005;
Vo-Luong and Massel, 2008). The representation of the vary-
ing densities of these vertical cylinders has also proved prob-
lematic. Vo-Luong and Massel’s (2008) model of wave
dissipation through the Nang Hai mangrove forest in southern
Vietnam, for example, significantly underpredicted wave
heights within the mangrove vegetation when trunk/root
densities determined from the sampling of 2 m2 quadrats were
used within the model. Only when the modeled densities
were reduced to half of those determined by field sampling
did a good fit result between the model and field data. Quartel
et al. (2007) established a relationship between the drag force
and a measure of the area of vegetation projected into the
horizontal wave motion, with the latter derived from meas-
urements of trunk height, trunk width, foliage height, and
foliage width. For relatively shorter (salt marsh) vegetation,
approximations of the projected area of vegetation obstructing
wave-induced flow have been derived from vertical photo-
graphs of vegetation against a background fixed at a certain
distance from the camera, behind a strip of vegetation of
known width (Möller, 2006). Although such approaches are
clearly not feasible for the quantification of the projected area
of mangrove trees, the availability of ground-based laser
scanning, in combination with airborne remote sensing
(Knight et al., 2009), may offer scope for a more accurate
quantification of vegetation-induced drag forces in future
models and merits further investigation.
Mangrove Systems 373
No vegetation, high tide
Kandelia
mangroves,
high tide
Sonneratia
mangroves,
high tide
400 600 800 1000
Distance (m)
Field measurements of complete wave spectra within
mangrove forests, however, also show that the effect of
drag acts unevenly on the different components of the
wave spectrum. Long-period (low-frequency) waves are pref-
erentially attenuated, whereas short-period (high-frequency)
components become enhanced as waves progress through the
mangrove forest (Vo-Luong and Massel, 2006). The quantifi-
cation of this frequency-dependent drag and its accurate rep-
resentation within numerical models clearly provides an
additional challenge that may not be as readily overcome.
Existing studies have thus highlighted the complexity of
vegetation-specific influences on wave propagation. A general
agreement exists on the nonlinearity of this process (with
the most rapid attenuation of wave energy at the mangrove
margin). This places great emphasis on the particular biogeo-
morphological configuration of an individual mangrove forest
when its protective role is to be assessed (Gedan et al., 2011).
10.14.4.3 Sedimentation Processes in Mangroves
10.14.4.3.1 Timescales of sedimentation
The development of vertical sequences of sediments in man-
grove forests has been studied over a number of different
timescales; the millennial development of mangrove en-
vironments has been described earlier. At the decadal to cen-
tennial scale, dating of mangrove cores using the radioisotopes
137
Cs and 210Pb has been used to establish shorter term
374 Mangrove Systems
Table 1 Long-term vertical accretion rates (mm a  1) based on
settings
Site and mangrove setting Method
210
Rookery Bay, FL, USA Pb
Fringe
Exposed overwash island
Sheltered overwash island
210
Rookery Bay, FL, USA Pb
Basin mangrove
210
Terminos lagoon, Campeche, Mexico Pb
Fringe
Basin
137
Terminos lagoon, Campeche, Mexico Ca
Fringe
Basin
210
Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janiero, Brazil Pb
Fringe
210
Red River delta, Vietnam Pb
Riverine
histories (Table 1). All these dating techniques provide a
general pattern of long-term response of mangrove forests to
external forcing factors, but the error terms inherent within
radiometric dating and the physical process of compaction
and the biological processes of bioturbation inevitably result
in a smoothed record of mangrove vertical growth at a limited
number of core locations per site. The dataset of short-term
sedimentation rates (o1 to o10 years) within mangrove
stands is presented in Table 2. Measurements using pins, rods,
or stakes have been problematic (Woodroffe, 1992). The
measuring device itself may interfere with the sediment de-
position process, to the extent of encouraging at-a-point scour
(Spenceley, 1982), and results show high at-a-site variability.
Furthermore, it can be difficult to interpret the exact meaning
of measurements of near-surface accretion over marker hori-
zons of iron filings (Chapman and Ronaldson, 1958), brick-
dust (Bird, 1971), or feldspar (Cahoon and Turner, 1989).
These difficulties reflect a wider set of issues that relate to the
comprehensive assessment of the ability of mangrove forest
surfaces to build vertically and how these accretion rates
compare to local or regional rates of relative sea-level rise.
It is only in recent years that a standardized methodology
at sufficient levels of accuracy has been developed for re-
cording elevation changes in coastal wetlands that result from
the integrated effects of water flow, sedimentation/erosion,
and biological activity. This methodology involves the near-
synchronous, high-precision (1–2 mm) measurements of
surface-elevation change, using an instrument known as
Surface-Elevation Table (SET), alongside vertical accretion rate
measurements above some form of near-surface marker hori-
zon (MH) (Cahoon et al., 1999) (Figure 12). The SET-MH
methodology allows comparisons to be made across man-
grove sites and, when considered alongside records of regional
sea-level change, can be used to establish some large-scale
patterns of mangrove vulnerability to near-future global en-
vironmental change (Cahoon et al., 2006). Importantly, the
210
Pb and 137
Ca dating of mangrove cores from different mangrove geomorphic
Accretion rate (mm a  1) Reference
Cahoon and Lynch (1997)
0.8
1.4
1.6
Lynch et al. (1989)
2.3
Lynch et al. (1989)
2.9–4.4
1.0–1.3
Lynch et al. (1989)
3.3–5.4
0.7–1.0
Smoak and Patchineelam (1999)
1.2
Van Santen et al. (2007)
1.8–2.4
use of paired observations shows that surface-elevation change
(E) and near-surface accretion (A) are not the same quantity
(Table 2). Surface-elevation change can be influenced by a
series of processes, both at (or near) the surface and below-
ground (Figure 13). Processes that decrease soil volume (such
as sediment compaction, organic matter decomposition, and
soil shrinkage following drainage) mean that surface-elevation
change will be less than recorded near-surface accretion (i.e.,
EoA); Cahoon et al. (1995a) termed this effect ‘shallow
subsidence’ (SS; to distinguish it from deep, long-term
geological subsidence). This process is clearly common in
many mangrove systems, where small increments of surface-
elevation gain, or indeed, relatively large falls in surface
elevation, are accompanied by relatively high rates of
near-surface accretion. Alternatively, processes that increase
soil volume (such as soil swelling related to water storage)
may increase surface elevation at rates greater than that seen
from accretion measurements (i.e., E4A), giving rise to sur-
face expansion or ‘negative shallow subsidence’ (Table 2).
A key distinction can be established between allochthon-
ous systems characterized by the accumulation of externally
derived mineral sediments and autochthonous systems in
which in situ plant productivity is the critical factor driving
elevation change (French, 2006). Where sedimentation rates
have been established across a range of neotropical mangrove
sites (Lynch et al., 1989), autochthonous organic sediment
inputs appear similar at all sites but, not surprisingly, alloch-
thonous mineral sediment inputs have been shown to
be highly variable in importance, being most important at
riverine sites. Within individual sites, these different sediment
sources are likely to be associated with differing spatial pat-
terns of sedimentation.
10.24.4.3.2 Inorganic surface sedimentation
In salt marsh systems, inorganic surface sedimentation over
individual tidal cycles has been shown to be strongly
 Mangrove Systems 375

Table 2 Summary of published studies using Surface-Elevation Table (SET) to measure surface-elevation change (mm a  1) and marker
horizons (MH) to measure surface accretion (mm a  1) in mangrove forests. Negative values of subsurface change (mm a  1) indicate ‘shallow
subsidence’ and positive values record surface expansion. See the text for further details and discussion. Measurements (mm a  1) taken using
pins or stakes are recorded in this table under surface-elevation change but in reality probably conflate surface-elevation change and surface
accretion

Site and geomorphic setting Surface elevation Surface accretion Subsurface Reference
change (mm a  1) (mm a  1) change (mm a  1)

Rookery Bay, Florida, USA Cahoon and Lynch (1997)

Fringe 1.4–3.5 7.2–7.8  4.3–(  5.8)
Basin 3.7 6 ns
Exposed overwash island 2.5 6.3  3.8
Sheltered overwash island 0.6 4.4  3.8
Shark River, Everglades, Florida, Whelan et al. (2005, 2009)
USA
Riverine (4 m datum) 0.9 6.6  5.7
Riverine (4 m datum) 5.6 6.5  0.9
Riverine (4 m datum) 11.3 11.5  0.2
posthurricane
Riverine (6 m datum) 3.6 6.6  3.0
Riverine (6 m datum) 1.4 6.5  5.1
Riverine (6 m datum) 6.2 11.5  5.2
posthurricane

Twin Cays, Belize McKee et al. (2007)

Fringe 4.1 1.6 2.4
Transition  1.1 2  3.1
Interior  3.7 0.7  4.4
Guanaja and Roatan, Bay Cahoon et al. (2003)
Islands, Honduras
Island fringe (high storm 9.9 14  4.1
impact)
Island fringe (medium storm 4.8 2 2.8
impact)
Island fringe (low storm 4.8 2 2.8
impact)
Island basin (high storm  9.5 2  11.0
impact)
Island basin (medium storm  9.2 2  11.0
impact)
Island basin (low storm 4.8 2 2.8
impact)
Sydney Harbour, New South Rogers et al. (2005)
Wales, Australia
Control site 7.2 17.6 –10.4
Southeast Australia Rogers et al. (2006)
Ukerebagh Island 2.4 2.2 0.2
Kooragang Island 2 4.7  2.7
Homebush Bay 5.6 4.6 1.1
Minnamurra River 0.6 6.6  6.1
Cararma Inlet  0.8 3  3.8
Currambene Creek 0.3 0.7  0.4
French Island  2.1 9.5  11.6
Kooweerup 0 7.2  7.2
Quail Island  2.6 6.8  9.4
Rhyll 0.9 5.1  4.2
Yaringa, Victoria, Australia Bird (1971), Bird and Barson (1977)
seaward n/a 1.0–1.6 n/a
center n/a 8 n/a
landward n/a 2.3 n/a
Cairns Bay, Queensland, 5.0–10.0 n/a n/a Bird and Barson (1977)
Australia pins
(Continued )
376 Mangrove Systems

Table 2 Continued

Site and geomorphic setting Surface elevation Surface accretion Subsurface Reference
change (mm a  1) (mm a  1) change (mm a  1)

Magnetic Island, Queensland,  6.5–0.1 n/a n/a Spenceley (1982)

Australia pins

Auckland, New Zealand Pollen n/a 1.7 n/a Chapman and Ronaldson (1958)
Island
Kaitaia n/a 1.7 n/a
Auckland, New Zealand stakes 7 (16) n/a n/a Young and Harvey (1996)
Kosrae and Pohnpei, Micronesia Krauss et al. (2010)
Island fringe  1.1 8.6  9.7
Island fringe  1.3 n/a n/a
Island riverine 1.8 13  11.2
Island riverine 0.5 n/a n/a
Island interior 0.8 9  8.2
Island interior 1.6 n/a n/a
Island backswamp 0.9 20.8  19.9
Island backswamp  1.8 n/a n/a
Tutuila, American Samoa, SW Gilman et al. (2007)
Pacific Ocean
Fringe (stake measurements)  0.6 n/a n/a
Basin (stake measurements)  2.2 n/a n/a
Sherbro Bay, Sierra Leone pins 1.1–3.0 n/a n/a Anthony (2004)

dependent on the distance from the source channel (French
et al., 1995; Reed et al., 1999). Notwithstanding the dif-
ficulties of sediment trapping on unconsolidated substrates,
studies over single tidal cycles in mangrove forests have shown
similar short-term patterns (Furukawa and Wolanski, 1996).
At annual and greater timescales, however, studies in tempe-
rate salt marshes have shown that the primary control on in-
organic sedimentation patterns shifts to surface elevation as
this controls the number of inundations over interannual time
periods (French and Spencer, 1993). We know of no similar
studies that have integrated short-term and longer term pat-
terns of inorganic sedimentation in mangrove systems. Nor
are we aware of any studies that have explicitly compared the
space–time dynamics of inorganic versus organic sedimen-
tation in mangrove environments.
10.14.4.4 Organic Near-Surface Sedimentation
Although organic matter accumulation and the processes
controlling it have been widely recognized and well studied at
some mangrove sites (e.g., organic carbon transport reported
at Middle Creek, Cairns, Australia, by Furukawa et al. (1997)),
little empirical information exists that directly links biotic
processes to vertical accretion and surface-elevation change. In
a carefully designed experiment in fringe, riverine, and interior
mangrove forests on the island of Pohnpei, Micronesia, Krauss
et al. (2003) showed that there are significant differences in
vertical sediment accretion under different functional root
types (Table 3), with species of the genus Rhizophora being
particularly efficient in promoting accretion. However, rates
of average surface-elevation change in these forests, at
1.3 mm a1, were almost an order of magnitude lower than
accretion rates, showed no clear temporal pattern of pro-
gressive surface-elevation increase, and could not be differen-
tiated by functional root type. Thus, for example, the
significantly higher accretion rates under Rhizophora did not
translate into significantly higher elevation change compared
to other mangrove species, suggesting that other processes as
well as sediment trapping are at work in these forests.
These processes include the accumulation of decaying or-
ganic matter, such as leaf litter and/or the formation of living
benthic mats (e.g., microbial, algal, root), which not only
contribute to vertical accretion but also influence the resist-
ance of the deposit to compaction or erosion (Cahoon et al.,
2006). The accumulation of litter itself varies, depending on
aboveground production, consumption by detritivores, mi-
crobial decomposition, and tidal flushing (McKee and Faul-
kner, 2000; Middleton and McKee, 2001). It is clear that such
forest floor dynamics vary over time and over space. In SW
Florida, basin mangrove forests are characterized by low sur-
face water exchange, saturated soil, and litter layers, and slow
decomposition rates. In such settings, thick litter layers build
up over time and surface accretion rates and litter standing
stocks are strongly positively correlated. Conversely, in
neighboring fringe forests subject to tidal exchange, no clear
relationship is found between accumulated litter and vertical
accretion (Figure 14(a); Cahoon et al., 2006).
Benthic mats composed of either filamentous algae, roots
of emergent plants, microbial communities, or a combination
of these may form on the soil surface of coastal wetlands. For
example, turf algae may form thick, living mats in Rhizophora
forests in the Caribbean region. Benthic mats can also be
formed from the growth of microbial communities consisting
 Mangrove Systems 377

Marker
Surface-Elevation
Horizon
Table (SET)

Vertical accretion Surface root

Marker Horizon zone

Zone of Elevation
shallow Peat
change
subsidence

(~1.6 meters deep)

Basement

Figure 12 Surface-Elevation Table (SET) and Marker Horizon (MH) experimental design, showing capture of surface and subsurface processes.
Note also pin deployment. Modified from Cahoon, D.R., Lynch, J.C., 1997. Vertical accretion and shallow subsidence in a mangrove forest of
southwestern Florida, USA. Mangroves and Salt Marshes 1, 173–186, with permission from Springer.

of cyanobacteria, diatoms, and other microorganisms (Joye
and Lee, 2004). Rates of vertical mat growth, determined on
screens (1 mm mesh) pinned to the soil surface, in a man-
grove forest in Belize varied from 1 mm a1 along the shore-
line (turf algal mats) to 6 mm a1 in interior dwarf mangrove
stands (microbial mats). Slow-growing mats composed of
filamentous algae and mangrove roots have high shear
strength, whereas microbial mats have almost no shearing
resistance (Figure 14(b); Cahoon et al., 2006).
10.14.4.5 Subsurface Processes and Surface-Elevation
Change
The understanding of surface dynamics is further complicated
by the relations between surface and subsurface processes. This
appears partly due to the relations between surface and
belowground biogeochemical processes. In Belize, for example,
McKee et al. (2007) have shown that the formation and deg-
radation of mangrove roots contributes more to organic matter
accumulation and surface-elevation change than total litter fall;
there was a significant correlation between elevation change
and root production with the root contribution to vertical ex-
pansion being up to 3 mm a1, a potentially substantial con-
tribution to surface-elevation change in some locations
(Cahoon et al., 2006). This is because root organic matter decay
rates are much slower than the decay rates of the surface litter
layer (Middleton and McKee, 2001; Poret et al., 2007). Similarly
in carbonate settings in south Florida, belowground peat pro-
duction appears the primary control on near-surface accretion
(Lynch et al., 1989; Parkinson et al., 1994).
Many of the processes that control surface-elevation change
appear to take place at a depth below typical rooting zones.
This is due to the role of subsurface hydrology in influencing
378 Mangrove Systems

Rising sea level

Plant Tidal
Elevation Sediments
processes flooding
Vertical
accretion

Soil
volume

Compaction/
Subsidence Groundwater
decomposition

Figure 13 Complexity of surface and subsurface processes in coastal wetlands. Note controls on elevation, vertical accretion from both tidal flooding
and plant processes, and role of processes below the root zone (modified with permission from Cahoon, D.R., Day, Jr. J.W., Reed, D.J., 1999. The
influence of surface and shallow subsurface soil processes on wetland elevation: a synthesis. Current Topics in Biogeochemistry 3, 72–88). Note:
arrows indicate direct forcing–response relationships between variables in the system and thus, taken together, highlight the importance of feedbacks
(e.g., increased surface elevation reduces tidal flooding frequency and inundation, which then reduces external (tidally supplied) sediment input).

Table 3 Vertical accretion rates (mm a  1) in species-specific
mangrove root types and on bare soil, mangrove forests of the
Enipoas River Basin, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Root functional type/ Mangrove Vertical accretion rate
bare soil control species mm a  1 (7SE)
Prop root Rhizophora spp. 11.0 (2.9)
Pneumatophore Sonneratia alba 7.2 (1.1)
‘Knee’ root Bruguiera 9.3 (1.2)
gymnorrhiza
Bare soil 9.4 (2.6)
wetland elevations. Such effects are not trivial. Cahoon et al.
(2011) showed that changes in water storage can lead to rapid
and large short-term impacts on marsh elevation that are as
much as five times greater than the long-term elevation trend.
Water is stored in mangrove soils both through saturation,
where gases are displaced from pore spaces by water (a process
thus limited to sediments above the permanent water table),
and by dilation. The latter is associated with changes in the
bulk volume of the sediment and can occur throughout the
sediment column (Nuttle et al., 1990). This second storage
mechanism has the potential to change the position of the
mangrove forest floor. Elevations fall when mangrove deposits
are compressed under loading and when soils shrink upon
desiccation (Whelan et al., 2005). Conversely, as water is in-
corporated into sediments below the water table, dilation
(e.g., swelling clays) takes place and surface-elevation rises.
These changes take place across a number of different time-
scales. Diurnal variations of up to 3 mm d1 in surface ele-
vations are driven by variations in evapotranspiration rate
(Paquette et al., 2004; Perez et al., 2003). Weekly to seasonal
changes in surface elevation result from changes in ground-
water levels. Smith and Cahoon (2003) showed that changes
in groundwater level explained 40% of the variation in sur-
face-elevation change in mangrove forests along the Shark
River in the Everglades National Park, FL, USA, with surface
elevations being greatest during the wet season. Finally, at
interannual timescales, Rogers and Saintilan (2008) have
shown how, in southeast Australia, the pattern of surface-
elevation change can be related to El Niño-Southern Oscil-
lation (ENSO) episodes. A negative Southern Oscillation
Index (SOI), indicating a dominance of warm phase El Niño
conditions and reduced rainfall, can be correlated with de-
creases in mangrove surface elevation across most sites. Re-
peated drought cycles associated with ENSO dynamics have
also been shown to affect the structure and function of man-
grove forests in Micronesia (Drexler and Ewel, 2001).
Droughts have also been correlated with decreases in surface
elevation in marshes in east Texas (10–15 mm: Perez and
Cahoon, 2004) and south Louisiana, USA. (20 mm: Perez
et al., 2003). The mechanisms that link surface-elevation
change and groundwater fluctuations are not, as yet, known
but probably relate to variations in the subsurface processes of
root production, root mortality, and decomposition.
10.14.5 Regional, Event-Based Dynamics
The hydrological and sedimentological processes described
above essentially represent high-frequency and low-magnitude
events that with their interactions and feedbacks, produce
‘normal’ and largely predictable patterns of geomorphic system
response. However, many (but not all) mangrove forests are
also impacted by low-frequency, high-magnitude events that
 Mangrove Systems 379

12 sides of the ocean basins (Gray, 1968) – hurricanes and tro-

pical cyclones are important agents of ecological and geo-
morphic change in mangrove forests (Jimenez et al., 1985).
Vertical accretion (mm y−1)

10 Hurricanes impact mangroves directly through defoliation,

branch breakage, uprooting, and tree subsidence, and in-
directly, through changes in tidal and freshwater flushing and
8
sediment supply. As mangrove trees are relatively long-lived in
comparison to the time interval between storms, they retain in
6 their vegetation structure a record of past storm impacts.
Compared to other tropical forest types, rates of hurricane-
related mortality are significantly higher in mangrove forests
4
(Baldwin et al., 2001). However, the interaction between
mangrove forests and storm impacts is complex.
2 First, there is the unpredictability that comes from the
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 storms themselves (Mallin and Corbett, 2006). Individual
Litter standing stock (g m−2) storm tracks are generally narrow (o30 km) and thus the
(a) chance of a particular location being hit in any one hurricane
Basin Fringe
season is low. Along an individual storm track, strong inter-
9 0.5 actions between track orientation, regional bathymetry, and
nearshore hydrodynamics can cause different impacts from
8 Soil shear strength (kg cm−3) storms with the same meteorological characteristics. Thus, for
Vertical accretion (mm y−1)

0.4 example, the south to north track of Hurricane Donna (1960)

7
produced a 4-m storm surge in the Middle Florida Keys as
6 0.3 water was driven north across Florida Bay; by comparison, the
east to west track of the similar strength Hurricane Betsy
5
(1965) across the Bay resulted in a lower storm surge at Key
4 0.2 Largo (Perkins and Enos, 1968). Hurricanes with slow forward
speeds result in prolonged coastal wave attack and beach
3 scouring that is manifest for hours to days in advance of the
0.1
wind stress. These systems can be large in extent and accom-
2
panied by high rainfall and extensive coastal flooding. Soil
1 0 erosion and river bank collapse in coastal catchments from
such events can deliver massive quantities of sediments and
Filamentous algae & roots Microbial
nutrients to coastal wetlands, although, conversely, flushing of
(b) Soil strength Vertical accretion hypersaline marshes by storm-driven freshwater can en-
Figure 14 (a) Relationship between vertical accretion (mm a  1) and courage renewed root growth and surface-elevation gains as a
litter standing stock (g m  3) in basin and fringe mangrove forests, result (Cahoon et al., 1996). By comparison, compact, fast
SW Florida, USA; (b) vertical accretion (mm a  1) and soil shear moving, and intense hurricanes (such as Hurricane Andrew
strength characteristics (kg cm  3) of (i) mats composed of (August 1992; category 5)) generate little wave scour but ra-
filamentous algae and mangrove roots and (ii) microbial mats, Belize ther brief but extremely strong unidirectional currents and
mangrove forest. Reproduced from Cahoon, D.R., Hensel, P.F., onshore surges, particularly where enhanced by wave shoaling
Spencer, T., Reed, D.J., McKee, K.L., Saintilan, N., 2006. Coastal or funneled through narrow passes between islands or into
wetland vulnerability to relative sea level rise: wetland elevation estuaries. Such storms leave beaches and coastal barriers
trends and process controls. In: Verhoeven, T.A., Beltan, B., Bobbink,
relatively intact but do great damage to subtidal seagrass
R., Whigham, D.F. (Eds.), Wetlands and Natural Resource
Management (Ecological Studies 190). Springer-Verlag, Berlin,
meadows and mangrove forests (Figure 15; Tedesco et al.,
pp. 271–292, with permission from Springer. 1995; Smith et al., 1994). Finally, hurricanes that combine
large spatial extent, periods of severe wind gusts and complex
exert acute, less predictable impacts. These take the form of storm tracks with multiple landfalls result in extensive, cata-
short-lived but extreme increases in windspeeds, precipitation, strophic mangrove damage. One such storm was Hurricane
wave action (tsunami), and water level (storm surges). These Wilma (October 2005; category 5) that destroyed ca. 1250 ha
disturbances are important geomorphologically in that they of mangroves in Florida alone (Smith et al., 2009).
can affect large areas (although with high variability of impact Second, there are nonlinear relationships between storm
within that area), may serve as triggers to ongoing change, and intensity, storm type, and vegetation/geomorphic damage.
cause thresholds to be crossed into other system states. Along with lightning strikes and frost (Smith et al., 1994;
Sherman et al., 2000), hurricanes are the major generators
of gaps in mangrove canopy cover. Whereas hurricanes
10.14.5.1 Mangrove Surface-Elevation Change,
with typical windspeeds of 120–150 km h1 result in a
Hurricanes, and Cyclones
patchwork of impacted and nonimpacted areas, severe storms,
In the storm belts of the tropics – those regions between about with windspeeds in excess of 200 km h1, may overcome
51 and 201 north and south of the Equator on the western the structural resistance of the mangrove forest as a whole,
380 Mangrove Systems
Figure 15 Mangrove forest damage (bottom panel) associated with
Hurricane Wilma (October 2005), SW Florida. The associated 45.0 m
storm surge destroyed the Lostmans River Ranger Station (center
right, top panel, photographed in September 1998), probably
established in the 1920s and which had survived the passage of the
‘Labor Day’ Storm (1935), Hurricane Donna (1960), and the front and
rear eye-walls of Hurricane Andrew (1992). Courtesy of United States
Geological Survey, photographs by Thomas J Smith III.
reducing the canopy wholesale, creating environments
unconducive to plant re-establishment, and producing a
hiatus in mangrove forest cover lasting for up to 50 years
(Figure 15). These patterns can be seen across individual
storm paths. Thus, for example, the passage of Hurricane
Charley (August 2004; category 4) over the mangrove forests
fringing the Gulf coast of Florida resulted in a loss of canopy
of ca. 75% at distances 4 km from the eyewall, reducing to a
loss of 25% at 18 km distance (Milbrandt et al., 2006).
Damage levels also appear related to forest structure, with
larger trees more likely to suffer stem breakage or toppling in
the path of a hurricane (Roth, 1992; McCoy et al., 1996).
Conversely, Milbrandt et al. (2006) and Smith et al. (1994)
showed mortality rates of 20% and 10% respectively for
mangrove trees with breast height diameters of less than 5 cm
impacted by Hurricanes Charley and Andrew. Unlike most
terrestrial ecosystems, mangrove forests are not characterized
by a persistent seed bank that allows rapid seedling recruit-
ment following disturbance. Recovery depends on vegetative
growth of neighboring plants, colonization by new seedlings
(which relies on the delivery of new propagules and their
trapping by woody debris (Krauss et al., 2005)), and/or the
growth of established seedlings. Mangrove forests in southwest
Florida that fell within the passage of the eyewall of Hurricane
Andrew showed classic, large gap-phase dynamics in the period
1995–2005, with enhanced recruitment rates being followed
by greater than expected mortality rates on canopy closure.
Outside this zone, forests showed a steady rise in recruitment,
paralleled by rising, but lower, mortality rates (Ward et al.,
2006). Similar long-term assessments of mangrove recovery in
Belize (Piou et al., 2006) and modeling exercises (Twilley et al.,
1998) all show that the vegetation that survives a storm impact
plays a key role in determining the subsequent course of forest
recovery postdisturbance. In the case of Rhizophora, which has
little ability to regenerate from fallen roots or coppice from
broken trunks, the presence of a high density of surviving
seedlings becomes critical; where there are few remaining
seedlings, forest replacement by Avicennia and Laguncularia,
which can coppice, is likely (Tomlinson, 1986; Proffitt et al.,
2006). Tree densities decline with increasing mangrove forest
age; forests become less dense, but individual trees become
larger, due to self-thinning (e.g., Malaysia: Putz and Chan,
1986; Puerto Rico: Jimenez et al., 1985).
Third, hurricanes are generally only the trigger for ongoing
biogeomorphological response. In the Florida Keys, storm-
damaged mangroves were still dying more than 2 years after
Hurricane Donna (Craighead and Gilbert, 1962), and Smith
et al. (1994) estimated that delayed mortality added 50% to
initial mangrove mortality rates following Hurricane Andrew.
Over longer timescales, there are important interactions be-
tween ecosystem and landform recovery rates, the intervals
between storms and landscape change. Thus, for example,
Lugo et al. (1976) have argued that forest structure in Carib-
bean mangroves is determined by a 20–24 year cycle of hur-
ricane activity.
Hurricane storm surges cause large-scale redistributions of
sediments, with erosion, deposition, compaction, and dis-
ruption of vegetated surfaces (Cahoon et al., 2003; Cahoon,
2006). Experimental studies have shown that sudden add-
itions of sediment can lead to increased mangrove seedling
mortality (Terrados et al., 1997). Paling et al. (2008) assessed
the large-scale loss of mangrove cover at Exmouth Gulf,
northwestern Australia, following Cyclone Vance (March
1999) as being primarily due to sediment deposition and
smothering, even though this violent cyclone was accom-
panied by wind gusts of up to 280 km h1 and a 3.6-m storm
surge. At the local scale, the uprooting of mangrove trees
produces a hummocky microtopography with a local relief of
1–2 m (Smith et al., 1994). However, the complexities in
ecological response described above are mirrored by geo-
morphic responses that go beyond patterns of sediment re-
distribution. Clearly storm-related scour reduces surface
elevations. However, storm-related sediment deposition is not
simply a matter of adding a new layer of sediment on an
existing surface. Thus Hurricane Wilma (October 2005; cat-
egory 5) deposited a 77 mm layer of sediment in the man-
grove forest at Shark River, Florida, but the surface-elevation
gain was less than 50 mm, suggesting compaction (Cahoon,
2006; Whelan et al., 2009). Tidal flooding of as little as 10 cm
depth has been shown to be capable of deforming a salt marsh
surface by compression, with lateral movement resulting in

20
15
10
Elevation (mm)
5
−5
−10
−15
−20
M J J A S O N D
2000
Low impact
Medium impact
High impact
Figure 16 Cumulative surface-elevation change (mm) of ground surfaces in basin mangrove forest, Bay Islands, Honduras, over the period May
2000 to August 2001. The regression lines for medium and high impact appear as a single line as they are so similar. All relationships are
significant at p r 0.001. Reproduced from Cahoon, D.R., Hensel, P.R., Rybczyk, J., McKee, K.L., Proffitt, E.E., Perez, B.C., 2003. Mass tree
mortality leads to mangrove peat collapse at Bay Islands, Honduras after Hurricane Mitch. Journal of Ecology 91, 1093–1105, with permission
from Wiley.
localized subsidence and uplift (Nuttle et al., 1990). Not
surprisingly, therefore, storm surges and hurricane-associated
flooding have been shown to deform salt marsh surfaces and it
seems likely that similar processes operate within mangrove
forests. The storm surge from Hurricane Andrew compressed
the surface of a rapidly deteriorating salt marsh in Louisiana
by 33 mm (Cahoon et al., 1995b) and the deformed marsh
surface had not rebounded 8 years later (Rybczyk and
Cahoon, 2002). In North Carolina, the surface of a salt marsh
with 60% soil organic matter content was compressed by
5–6 mm after each of two storms to strike the marsh in con-
secutive years. The deformed surface rebounded 410 mm the
following year, only to be compressed 20 mm by another
storm (Cahoon, 2006). Clearly these rates of surface-elevation
change are similar to or greater than the rates of change oc-
curring under ‘normal’ rates of annual sedimentation and
accretion.
Furthermore, in systems where organic matter accumu-
lation is the key process whereby surface elevation changes,
storm impacts can cause the cessation of surface inputs
through defoliation and lack of subsequent litterfall. Hurri-
canes can trigger mangrove peat collapse, whereby tree mor-
tality leads to the decomposition of dead root material, and
compaction takes place in the absence of continued root
growth. Wanless and co-workers (reported in Cahoon, 2006)
recorded 20–30 mm a1 of surface-elevation loss over a 2 year
period after Hurricane Andrew in southwest Florida and
Cahoon et al. (2003) measured 9–10 mm a1 falls in a
1.5–3 year period after Hurricane Mitch (October/November
1998; category 5) stalled close to the islands of Guanja and
Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras. Two days of winds in excess
of 220 km h1 resulted in almost complete (97%) mortality of
Mangrove Systems 381
J F M A M J J A
2001
4.8 mm year−1
−9.2 mm year−1
−9.5 mm year−1
basin mangrove forest communities dominated by R. mangle
with A. germinans (Figure 16). Modeling suggests that peat
collapse at these sites will continue for a further 8 years, at an
elevation fall of 7 mm a1.
10.14.5.2 Mangroves and Tsunamis
The Asian Tsunami of 26 December 2004 was the most
catastrophic such event in recent history, killing more than
230 000 people in the near field and a further 70 000 in the
Indian Ocean far field. Plots of sea surface height changes
from satellite altimeter passes over the passage of the tsunami
indicate a trough-to-crest wave height of 1 m, a wavelength of
430 km, a wave period of 37 s, and a wave velocity of
200 m s1. Run-up elevations (height above MSL at the limit
of tsunami wave penetration inland) were 1.5–7 m in the
Nicobar/Andaman Islands, up to 10 m in Thailand and ap-
proached 50 m above MSL near the earthquake epicenter in
Sumatra (Spencer, 2007). Alongi (2008) has summarized
impacts on mangrove forests along some of the affected In-
dian Ocean margin and shown mangrove damage and mor-
tality as being, in general, relatively modest. However, such a
statistic hides great regional variability in damage levels and
nature of impact. Thus in the South Andaman Islands,
30–80% of Rhizophora spp. died due to continuous inun-
dation but A. marina and Sonneratia alba, at higher intertidal
levels, were not affected. In Middle Andaman, damage was
minimal to all species whereas in North Andaman, the
Rhizophora belt was uplifted by the earthquake above the level
of HAT, with the result that the mangroves will be replaced by
terrestrial vegetation (Dam Roy and Krishnan, 2005).
382 Mangrove Systems
In a rapid environmental assessment published within
2 months of the tsunami, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) concluded that ‘‘Healthy coastal eco-
systems protected people and property. Anecdotal evidence
and satellite photography before and after the tsunami event
seem to corroborate claims that coral reefs, mangrove forests
and other coastal vegetation, as well as peat swamps provided
protection from the impacts of the tsunami’’ (UNEP, 2005);
and see also site-specific reports from Cuddalore, India
(Danielsen et al., 2005), and southern Sri Lanka (Dahdouh-
Guebas et al., 2005). However, a follow-up UNEP-sponsored
study found vegetation to have no effect on tsunami inun-
dation characteristics at over 50 sites in the Indian Ocean re-
gion (Chatenoux and Peduzzi, 2007). Nevertheless, the simple
assumption that mangroves always provide tsunami pro-
tection remains persistent. Thus, it has been argued that the
destructive power of Cyclone Nargis, a category 4 cyclone that
struck the Irrawaddy deltaic coast of Burma in May 2008, was
exacerbated by the removal of mangrove forest in the region
(FAO, 2008; IUCN, 2008). Considerable resources have
been allocated through international agencies to vegetation
planting of ‘bioshields’ on developing country coasts (e.g.,
Mukherjee et al., 2009) against a backdrop of criticism that
this has diverted resources away from the development of
better tsunami preparedness programs, including early warn-
ing systems (e.g., Baird et al., 2009).
As Feagin et al. (2010) have pointed out, the difficulty with
the studies which underpin these statements is that they are
generally based upon untestable anecdotal evidence and post
hoc observational studies which assume causation. In many
cases, the impact of tsunami waves has been assessed through
the mathematical modeling of the passage of wind waves
through mangrove vegetation and/or within a laboratory
flume. However, as Alongi (2008) notes, the wavelength/wave
height/velocity characteristics of tsunami waves are quite dif-
ferent from short period storm waves; here the oft-quoted
mis-description of a tsunami as a ‘tidal wave’ is actually ap-
propriate. The duration of flooding and its spatial extent means
that the application of the results of wave attenuation at high
frequencies (seconds to minutes) across tidal wetlands is not
appropriate, particularly given the fact that most tsunami-
related fatalities have been shown to be from drowning and
debris impacts on rising water levels (interestingly, Synolakis
and Kong (2006) have described tsunami waves as a form of
‘debris flood’). Furthermore, much of this debate has used re-
motely sensed data to link changes in vegetation cover and
damage levels (e.g., Asian tsunami: Iverson and Prasad, 2007;
Kathiresan and Rajendran, 2005; Orissa super cyclone: Das and
Vincent, 2009; Vincent and Das, 2009). Such approaches fail to
register the finer variation in species composition and tree
density that often control tsunami impacts (Dahdouh-Guebas
and Koedam, 2006). They also fail to acknowledge the role of
other, covarying controls on tsunami impact, including ba-
thymetry and coastline shape (Kerr and Baird, 2007; Baird and
Kerr, 2008; Cochard et al., 2008). In particular, elevation and
distance from the sea are strongly water-level dependent. Thus,
for a particularly contentious study of the beneficial, or
otherwise, effects of a mangrove ‘bioshield’ on the coast of
Tamil Nadu, southern India (Kathiresan and Rajendran, 2005;
Kerr et al., 2006), re-analysis has shown that mortality
300
Maximum flow pressure (N m−1)
250
200
150
100
50
0
0 1000 2000 3000
−1
Tree density (No. ha )
Figure 17 Model simulation by Hiraishi and Harada (2003) of the
decline in maximum flow pressure (N m  1) of a tsunami with
increasing mangrove tree density (individuals ha  1). Reproduced
from Alongi, D.M., 2008. Mangrove forests: resilience, protection
from tsunamis, and responses to global climate change. Estuarine,
Coastal and Shelf Science 76, 1–13.
associated with the 2004 tsunami was strongly related to ele-
vation, with property loss being more a function of the distance
from the coast. There is, however, something of a ‘mangrove
effect’ in that the number of casualties with elevation, and
wealth loss with distance, declines faster behind mangroves
(Vermaat and Thampanya, 2006, 2007; but see also Cochard
et al., 2008 on data issues behind this re-analysis). Modeling by
Hiraishi and Harada (2003), validated by reference to the tsu-
nami that severely damaged the north coast of Papua New
Guinea in 1998, has suggested a 90% reduction in maximum
tsunami flow pressure for a 100 m wide forest belt planted at a
density of 3000 trees ha1 (Figure 17). Furthermore, Tanaka
et al. (2007) differentiate tsunami impact according to six dif-
ferent characteristic mangrove vegetation classes, suggesting
that, of the mangrove species covered in the study, the most
effective is R. apiculata. Valuable though these studies are, it is
clear that ‘‘the pertinent question is how much protection can
be expected from a particular vegetation type given a tsunami of
a particular height at the coast’’ (Kerr et al., 2006, p. 540). If the
magnitude of the event is exceptional, then the presence or
absence of mangrove vegetation is likely to be, at best, neg-
ligible whereas at lower levels of impact, vegetation belts may
play a role in mediating the impact of tsunami waves. Thus, for
example, numerical modeling by Yanagisawa et al. (2009)
showed that a Rhizophora forest with a density of 0.2 trees m2, a
stem diameter of 15 cm, and a width of 400 m can reduce the
tsunami inundation depth by 30% when the incident wave has
a 3.0 m inundation depth and a wave period at the shoreline of
30 min. However, 50% of this mangrove forest is destroyed by a
tsunami of 4.5 m inundation depth, and the majority of the
forest is lost under an inundation depth in excess of 6 m.
10.14.6 Mangroves and Global Environmental
Change
There are many potential impacts on mangroves from global
environmental change (tabulated in Alongi, 2008). Most

debate, however, has focused on the likely response of man-
groves and mangrove forests to accelerated near-future sea-
level rise. Such studies are underpinned by both the record of
mangrove responses to Holocene sea-level rise (described
earlier in this chapter) and greenhouse experimentation. Thus
Ellison and Farnsworth (1997) showed growth rate reductions
of 10–20% in transplanted R. mangle seedlings under an in-
undation regime simulating expected water levels in the
Caribbean Sea in 50–100 years time compared to the present.
They argued that increased inundation depths will more than
offset any enhanced growth rates expected from the ‘fertiliza-
tion effect’ of raised atmospheric CO2 concentrations (if in-
deed this takes place in mangroves (Snedaker and Araujo,
1998)). However, these experiments were with a single species.
In mesocosm experiments, He et al. (2007) found that
flooding tolerance in five species should follow the sequence
(from most to least tolerant) A. marina4Aegiceras cornicula-
tum4Rhizophora stylosa4Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, suggesting the
possibility of whole-forest changes in composition with sea-
level rise.
Ellison and Stoddart (1991) argued that low island man-
groves, dominated by autochthonous inputs, can only keep
up with a rate of sea-level rise of 1.2 mm a1, although
mangroves of high islands and continental coastlines, which
receive both authochthonous and allochthonous inputs of
sediment, can keep pace with a relative sea-level rise of
4.5 mm a1. Other work, however, shows that mangroves
have persisted for 7000–8000 years on some Caribbean
islands and kept up with sea-level rise rates of up to 5 mm a1
(Snedaker et al., 1994; Toscano and Macintyre, 2003; McKee
et al., 2007). In the estuarine mangroves of South Alligator
River, Northern Territory, Australia, between 8 and 6 ka BP,
mangrove vegetation communities kept pace with a 1-m sea-
level rise, or an average vertical accretion rate of 6 mm a1
(Woodroffe, 1990). Furthermore, in the neighboring Mary
River catchment, mangroves developed between 6.5 and
4.0 ka BP at local rates of sea-level rise of up to 10 mm a1
(Mulrennan and Woodroffe, 1998a). Although there is debate
as to where the threshold to mangrove survival may lie, such
arguments are characterized by imagining a single mangrove
response, that of areal loss, to a single factor, that of sea-level
rise. In reality, however, mangrove responses are likely to be
much more varied and probably differentiated by geomorphic
setting (Bacon, 1994).
First, it is clear from the stratigraphic record that the most
common reaction of mangrove communities to sea-level rise
forcing is migration to higher, more landward locations if
movement is not constrained by either natural barriers or
anthropogenic sea defenses (Ellison, 1993, 2005). Recent
mangrove incursion into more landward salt marsh has been
well documented in the Australian States of Queensland, New
South Wales, and Victoria. It has proved difficult, however, to
ascertain the reasons for these patterns of encroachment.
There has been some suggestion that increased rainfall favors
mangrove over salt marsh in this region, but the correlation
is not a strong one. As yet, a strong relationship between
the rates of incursion and changing rates of regional sea-level
rise has not been established (Saintilan et al., 2009). Else-
where, in the northern Gulf of Mexico and Florida, there is
clearer evidence that mangrove persistence and expansion is
Mangrove Systems 383
strongly controlled by temperature. Thus a run of recent mild
winters has allowed mangrove expansion at 291 N in Florida
(Stevens et al., 2006). The possibility remains that the prime
controls on patterns of mangrove expansion and retreat
relate to nonclimatic factors, such as anthropogenic impacts
on wetland hydrology, propagule availability and dispersal,
changes in nutrient availability, and biotic (plant–plant and
plant–animal) interactions.
Second, increased rates of saltwater intrusion may promote
the replacement of freshwater vegetation with mangrove
communities. This dynamic has been well documented for the
period since the 1950s in the tidal estuaries of the Alligator
River (Winn et al., 2006) and Mary River (Mulrennan and
Woodroffe, 1998b), and Pilbura region (Semeniuk, 1983),
northern Australia. Changes include the expansion and ex-
tension of tidal creek networks, new patterns of subsurface
hydrology, loss of extensive freshwater vegetation, including
Melaleuca forests, and mangrove and saline tidal flat en-
croachment. Changes in tidal prism associated with sea-level
rise can explain changes in tidal creek geometry and rates of
saltwater intrusion, but it has not been possible to establish a
clear linkage to changing rates of sea-level rise in northern
Australia (Mulrennan and Woodroffe, 1998b). Rather, tidal
creek expansion seems to have been due to a combination of
drier than usual monsoons, changes in cyclone magnitude
and frequency, unusually high ocean water levels and the
impact of uncontrolled feral buffalo populations (Winn et al.,
2006; Knighton et al., 1991).
Third, global environmental change is likely to lead to
changes in growth rates and productivity of different man-
grove species, including the replacement of environmentally
sensitive species by those possessing greater climatic tolerance.
Some interactions are likely to be highly complex: thus
increased air and water temperatures may encourage the
polarward expansion of mangroves while at the same time
changing tropical storm magnitudes and frequencies, with
implications for changing forest canopy structure and the es-
tablishment of mangrove propagules. Unlike the way in
which it is possible to infer near-future mangrove distributions
with sea-level rise from established relationships between
water level limits and mangrove extent (e.g., Queensland,
Australia: Wolanski et al., 1992; Bermuda: Ellison, 1993), it is
a much stiffer challenge to model the range of non-sea-level
controls discussed above in the context of large-scale climate
change models (Spencer et al., 2009). Furthermore, such
modeling attempts will need to recognize that the systems
under study may already be severely stressed by anthropogenic
pressures and impacts.
10.14.7 Concluding Remarks: Geomorphology and
Mangroves in the Twentieth Century
Understanding of the linkages between the geomorphology,
ecology, and hydrodynamic process environment in man-
groves has advanced rapidly over the past two decades, but has
raised a series of key questions regarding the future natural
and anthropogenic impacts on mangrove systems. One key
question is that of mangrove system resilience to the various
system-external forcing factors, both those that are gradual,
384 Mangrove Systems
near-linear in nature (such as sea-level rise), and those that are
episodic, nonlinear in character (e.g., storms, tsunamis). An
equally important question is how these two groupings
themselves interact to alter mangrove trajectories. The ten-
dency for ecosystems to be subject to regime shifts, whether
externally driven or controlled through internal feedbacks, is
well recognized (for an excellent review of this topic see
Andersen et al., 2008) and described theoretically within bi-
furcation theory (see, e.g., Strogatz, 1994). What is clear from
the growing body of field studies on mangrove forests, some
of which are described in this chapter, is that geomorpho-
logical processes in these systems are anything but linear, even
when forced in a near-linear fashion. At all flow energies, for
example, the movement of water is influenced by the topo-
graphy and surface characteristics of the mangrove forest itself
(Furukawa and Wolanski, 1996; Mazda et al., 2005; Quartel
et al., 2007); at certain specific flow energies, however, this
movement itself can be expected to affect the topography
(through erosion and sediment transport), and the surface
characteristics (e.g., vegetation establishment) in what may be
termed a morpho-eco-dynamic feedback (see, ,e.g., the dis-
cussion on wave-induced erosion by Vo-Luong and Massel
(2008) or the discussion on seed dispersion by Mazda et al.
(1999)). It is now possible to quantify the topography and
surface characteristics of mangrove forests (and thus the key
control on water flow through them) at a high spatial reso-
lution (largely due to modern surveying techniques such as
total station, dGPS systems, as well as LiDAR remote sensing
(Knight et al., 2009)). The fact that the flow-forcing factors
themselves, however, are highly variable in time and space,
and largely unpredictable, means that the establishment of a
linkage between flow observations or models at instantaneous
to ecological scales and those at geomorphological scales
remains a key challenge (Wolanski et al., 1992; Woodroffe,
2002; Bryce et al., 2003).
The nonlinear response of mangrove system functioning to
external forcing is well illustrated by reference to storm wave
and tsunami wave dissipation. Although mangroves clearly
fulfill a protective function, their growth and persistence in
particular locations is also affected by the presence of waves
and, if wave energy exceeds particular thresholds, this may
prohibit mangrove growth or cause erosion and mangrove
forest loss (as is, e.g., the case on the fringes of the forests of
Nang Hai in southern Vietnam (Vo-Luong and Massel, 2008)).
Once critical energy thresholds are exceeded, any wave energy
not dissipated by the presence of mangrove trunks and roots is
thus likely to impact the mangrove forest through enhanced
erosion, sediment transport, and deposition, if not damage to
the mangrove vegetation itself. Evidence gathered during the
Asian tsunami in 2004 suggests that mature mangrove forests
are relatively resistant to tsunami wave damage, with only a
small percentage of forests damaged or lost in this extreme
event (Alongi, 2008), but quantification of precisely where the
ecological thresholds to high-energy storm damage lie is still
lacking (Gedan et al., 2011).
Although mangroves are vulnerable to hurricane and tsu-
nami impacts, and to long-term changes in sea level and cli-
mate, it is human populations that have the most profound
impacts on mangrove forest survival and vitality. Of the
world’s mangrove cover, ca. 75% occurs in developing
countries where national programs for their protection are
least well developed (Saenger et al., 1983). Dodd and Ong
(2008) estimated that the coastal populations of nation states
with mangroves will rise by 50%, from 1.8 billion to 2.7 bil-
lion in the period between 2000 and 2025. This demographic
will be imposed upon mangrove systems already suffering
significant long-term declines in extent. FAO (Wilkie and
Fortuna 2003) data for 1980, 1990, and 2000 suggest that
global mangrove area declined by 26%, from 198 000 km2 to
146 500 km2, over the period 1980 to 2000, a deforestation
rate of 1.1% per year. Dodd and Ong (2008) extrapolated this
rate forward to suggest a global mangrove area of 111 108 km2
by 2025, a loss of 24% on the 2000 area, and 44% of the
coverage in 1980. However, these global figures mask regional
disparities – African percentage losses have been much less
than Asian percentage losses for example – and time–specific
losses in particular countries (e.g., 26 400 km2 (1980) to
11 500 km2 (1990), a 56% reduction, in Brazil). Human
pressures include direct conversion to urban use for industry,
port development, and housing; conversion for aquaculture;
timber extraction; and modification of hydrology and pol-
lution (particularly oil pollution, nutrients associated with
agricultural intensification, and heavy metals contamination).
Furthermore, these impacts vary according to the type of
mangrove system under pressure, giving added value to
the classificatory scheme introduced at the start of this
chapter (Figure 18).
Over the last decade there have been considerable efforts at
mangrove rehabilitation and restoration (Field, 1998, 1999).
The importance of geomorphic setting for understanding
mangrove form and function underpins the arguments made
in this chapter. Thus conservation efforts should not simply
focus on planting more mangroves but should think about the
landscape settings into which mangroves might be introduced
for long-term sustainability. For example, Feagin et al. (2010)
have shown that over 60% of the tsunami-vulnerable sections
of the Sri Lankan coastline do not have appropriate environ-
mental settings for mangrove colonization and development.
It follows that the controls on successful mangrove establish-
ment must be site specific and that restoration efforts must
move away from the idea of trying to replicate a ‘reference site’
in an inappropriate physical setting. Can geomorphology help
identify the design rules needed for successful mangrove
rehabilitation and restoration?
Figure 19 picks up on the suggested use of a ‘system state
variable’ (such as surface elevation (French, 2006)) that may
be seen as a representative measure of ‘system health’ or ‘state
of evolution’ (although it must be recognized that the defin-
ition of these terms is far from clear and likely to be influenced
by particular drivers for mangrove restoration). Assuming that
it is possible to define such a ‘system state’ variable, the status
of the mangrove system can be measured against the con-
ditions within which that system exists. It has become clear,
for example, that climatic and geological controls are key in
determining the global distribution of mangroves, but that
these conditions only translate to mangrove growth in areas
where a wide range of secondary (but necessary) conditions
are met (e.g., sufficient sediment and nutrient availability).
Only when conditions become favorable for mangrove es-
tablishment can trajectory ‘A’ be followed. This pathway passes
 Mangrove Systems 385

Threat from
agriculture and
aquaculture,
hypersalinity

Increasing Increasing
river-flooding Basin mangroves tidal-flooding
frequency frequency

Threat from
Threat from sea-level rise,
hydrological coastal erosion,
changes, reduced storm damage,
freshwater flows, human population/
saltwater intrusion tourism

Riverine mangroves Fringe mangroves

river-dominated Increasing tide-dominated
salinity
Figure 18 Sources of major environmental degradation related to functional classes of mangrove as defined by Woodroffe (1992) and Ewel
et al. (1998). Reproduced with permission from Figure 12.3 in Dodd, R.S., Ong, J.E., 2008. Future of mangrove ecosystems to 2025. In: Polunin,
N.V.C. (Ed.), Aquatic Ecosystems: Trends and Global prospects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

B
‘Good’

D F C
‘System state’

G
F*
D* Intrinsic A*
biogeomorphological threshold

H A
‘Poor’

‘Unfavorable’ ‘Favorable’
Environmental conditions
Figure 19 Conceptual diagram illustrating the relationship between environmental conditions and mangrove system state below (light-gray
shading) and above (dark-gray shading): an intrinsic biogeomorphological threshold (for explanation, see the text).

a point (A) where biogeomorphological feedbacks become
significant (some ‘intrinsic biogeomorphological threshold’
is crossed) but system functioning continues to improve,
above and beyond the influence of the gradually continuing
improvement in external conditions. This improvement con-
tinues up to a point (B) where inbuilt dynamics (e.g., the self-
thinning processes through forest gap creation, as described by
Fromard et al. (2004), or the periodic recurrence of storms of
medium magnitude) causes the system to oscillate around this
optimum ‘dynamic equilibrium’ state (B–C–B in Figure 19).
Should environmental conditions deteriorate again gradually,
trajectory ‘D’ will take over. A degree of inbuilt ‘resilience’ will
cause the system state to degrade less rapidly than the en-
vironmental conditions. However, when the intrinsic thresh-
old is reached (D), complete loss of the mangrove system will
become inevitable (D–E). The discussion of storm and
386 Mangrove Systems
tsunami impacts, and the impact of anthropogenic disturb-
ance in this chapter has shown that, in addition to a gradual
change in environmental conditions (such as sea-level rise),
the mangrove ‘system state’ can be altered almost instant-
aneously. This situation can be represented by the trajectories
‘F’ and ‘F’ in Figure 19. A rapid reduction in ‘system state’
without an accompanying degradation in environmental
conditions (trajectory ‘F’) may allow a return of the mangrove
system to its previous state (pathway F–G–B). However, a
sudden reduction in ‘system state’ which crosses the intrinsic
biogeomorphological threshold (D) is unlikely to lead to
recovery (trajectory F–H–E). Under such circumstances, tra-
jectory ‘A’ can only be reinstated through an improvement in
environmental conditions or by an increase in ‘system state’
that raises the system above the intrinsic biogeomorphological
threshold, through appropriate human intervention (i.e., the
system is perturbed ‘upward’ to at least position ‘A’).
The challenge is now to populate such a conceptual dia-
gram with mangrove systems where system ‘health’ and ‘stage
of evolution’ can be defined, and thus identify those mangrove
systems that are at particular risk from system collapse. It is
recognized, of course, that such exercises must sit within
broader coastal management strategies for mangrove forests
that discourage settlement and infrastructure in highly vul-
nerable coastal settings (Dahdouh-Guebas and Koedam,
2006), promote meaningful education on coastal risks and
provide effective emergency response measures to extreme
events (Osti et al., 2008).
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 Mangrove Systems 391

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Tom Spencer (MA, PhD Cantab) is Reader, Coastal Ecology and Geomorphology, University of Cambridge;
Director, Cambridge Coastal Research Unit; and Fellow Tutor, Graduate Admissions and Fellows’ Wine Steward,
Magdalene College, Cambridge. After studies in the Department of Geography at Cambridge, Tom lectured for
10 years at the University of Manchester, UK before returning to Cambridge in 1990. He is author (with HA Viles)
of Coastal Problems: Geomorphology, Ecology and Society at the Coast and (with O Slaymaker) Physical Geography and
Global Environmental Change. In 2004, he was awarded the Royal Geographical Society of London’s Murchison
Award ‘in recognition of a body of publications on coastal geomorphology.’ Research interests include (1)
hydrodynamics, sedimentation, and ecosystem function in tidal wetlands (mangroves and salt marshes); (2)
mapping of tropical shallow marine environments using remote sensing; (3) global environmental change in
wetland and coral reef environments; and (4) scientifically informed inputs to shoreline management. Field
studies have been undertaken in the hot and wet Caribbean Sea, western Indian Ocean and South-Central Pacific
Ocean, and in the cool and wet back-barrier and estuarine environments of the southern margins of the
North Sea.

Dr. Iris Möller (BA Oxon, MPhil, PhD Cantab) is College Lecturer in Physical Geography at Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge, and Deputy Director of the Cambridge Coastal Research Unit, Department of Geography. As a coastal
geomorphologist, she pioneered field studies on the sea defense value of NW European coastal wetlands in the
mid-1990s and maintains a particular focus on empirical research into biophysical interactions in coastal wet-
lands. Her research has implications for the assessment of the sustainability of coastal wetlands under scenarios of
environmental change (e.g., changes in wave climate and sea level). In addition to her interests in the interactions
between wetland surface hydrodynamics, geomorphology, and ecology, her research has involved the long-term
(1–10 years) modeling of intertidal geomorphological change, and the use of innovative techniques for com-
municating scientific understanding to nonspecialists. She has cosupervised six PhD students and one research
assistant over the past 12 years and has collaborated with colleagues in universities and research institutes across
the United States and northwest Europe. Her research has been published in over 19 high-impact peer-reviewed
papers, four book chapters, and numerous conference proceedings and project reports.
 10.15 Developed Coasts
KF Nordstrom, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.15.1 Introduction 392

10.15.2 The Impact of Humans through Time 393
10.15.3 Altering Landforms to Suit Human Needs 394
10.15.3.1 Altering Landforms through Use 395
10.15.3.2 Reshaping Landforms 396
10.15.3.3 Altering Landform Mobility 397
10.15.3.4 Changing Conditions due to Activities Outside the Coastal Zone 398
10.15.4 Nourishing Beaches 398
10.15.4.1 Designs and Locations 398
10.15.4.2 Considerations for Transport Alongshore 399
10.15.5 Building Dunes 399
10.15.5.1 Nourishing Dunes 400
10.15.5.2 Building Dunes by Natural Processes on Nourished Beaches 400
10.15.5.3 Building Dunes Using Sand Fences 401
10.15.5.4 Building Dunes Using Vegetation 401
10.15.6 Effects of Structures 401
10.15.6.1 Protection Structures 402
10.15.6.2 Structures for Boating and Navigation 403
10.15.6.3 Recreation Structures on the Beach 403
10.15.6.4 Buildings 404
10.15.6.5 Support Infrastructure 404
10.15.7 Characteristics of Human-Altered Landforms 404
10.15.7.1 Location 404
10.15.7.2 Dimensions 405
10.15.7.3 Orientation 405
10.15.7.4 Topographic Variability 405
10.15.7.5 Sediment Characteristics 405
10.15.7.6 Mobility 406
10.15.8 Distinguishing Natural from Human-Created Landforms 406
10.15.9 Cyclic Change versus Progressive Change 406
10.15.10 Maintaining or Restoring Natural Processes, Structure, and Functions 407
10.15.10.1 Determining Appropriate Levels of Dynamism 407
10.15.10.2 Altering or Removing Shore-Protection Structures 407
10.15.10.3 Introducing Compatible Management Options at the Local Level 408
10.15.11 Dune-Management Options in Spatially Restricted Environments 408
10.15.12 Prognosis 410
References 411

Abstract

Humans play an increasingly important role in coastal evolution. Landforms are being directly eliminated, trampled,
reshaped, mobilized, and stabilized, or affected indirectly by human actions. Buildings and support infrastructure can
directly alter processes and patterns of deposition and can influence landforms indirectly as a result of human attempts to
maintain use of or protect them. Not all human actions are destructive to landforms. Beaches can be restored through
nourishment operations, and dunes can be rebuilt, aided by sand fences and vegetation plantings. Restrictions in space and
ongoing human attempts to modify landforms will make them different from their natural counterparts, but many of their
natural and human-use values can be retained by careful management. Compromise solutions will be required to ac-
commodate nature while retaining recreational and protective values of landforms in restricted space. Many research
opportunities are available for geomorphologists working on human altered coasts, but the temporal and spatial scales of
their investigations may be more restricted, whereas the number of variables they address may be increased.

Nordstrom, K.F., 2013. Developed coasts. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief),

Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San
Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 392–416.

392 Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00292-X


10.15.1 Introduction
Humans have been altering landforms for millennia, and the
imprints of these alterations are everywhere. The significance of
humans as agents of landscape evolution has been acknow-
ledged for some time (Marsh, 1885), but most coastal geo-
morphologists have been reluctant to study human-altered
landforms except to address specific problems in an applied
management context. Many of these applied studies have been
directed toward stabilizing landforms and often mimic the way
an engineer would approach the problems and solutions.
Geomorphologists have not studied human-altered landforms
at a level of detail that corresponds to study of natural land-
forms (Nordstrom, 2000). Some investigators may be deterred
by the problem of isolating cause and effect in complex de-
veloped systems; some may have been trained to look at
landscape evolution at greater timescales than occur under
developed conditions; some may have little interest in land-
forms that do not evolve solely by natural processes; others may
be concerned that their results would lack universal applic-
ability (Nordstrom, 1994). Many human modifications to the
coastal landscape appear to be unique when evaluated on an
individual basis, but they can be seen as generic modifications
when viewed on a global scale. The purpose of this chapter is to
review the many and varied human modifications to coastal
landforms, assess the degree to which these landforms resemble
natural landforms, and identify how geomorphologists can
help restore some of their natural values. Attention is confined
to beaches and dunes on exposed coasts. Landforms in estu-
aries, coastal cliffs and bluffs, coral islands and other types of
coastal landforms are treated in other chapters in this volume.
10.15.2 The Impact of Humans through Time
Humans have had greater and lesser impact on landforms
through time, although there is a long-term trend from the
small scale, incidental, or accidental actions that occurred
millennia ago to the more direct and widespread modifi-
cations resulting from increases in population pressures, in-
come levels, leisure time, and technological advances
(Nordstrom, 2000). Overgrazing and deforestation of drain-
age basins, which increased sediment delivery to the coast,
were likely the earliest causes of major human-induced
changes (Walker, 1985; Postma, 1989). These activities in
dune fields led to dune destabilization (Corona et al., 1988;
Sherman and Nordstrom, 1994), which, in turn, led to actions
at national scales to stabilize the dunes. Human influence on
European coasts increased in several countries between AD
1100 and 1300 when dikes became common (Doody, 1996).
A more pronounced increase in human impact began about
two centuries ago, when steam power enabled large modifi-
cations to the landscape (Marsh, 1885), and increased further
with development of the internal combustion engine. Power
machinery facilitated opening and closing of inlets and con-
struction of jetties and channel-dredging projects. Large-scale
shore protection projects became common in the past 100
years with availability of heavy machinery and more favorable
benefit–cost ratios associated with large-scale development.
Major changes in coastal sediment budgets occurred in the
Developed Coasts 393
twentieth century due to reduction in river sediment supply
due to upstream dams and mining of sediment from river
beds, reducing the amount of sediment delivered to the coast
and reversing accretional trends that formerly occurred due to
overgrazing and deforestation (Nordstrom, 2000).
Tourism and development of seaside resorts increased in
the second half of the nineteenth century with improvements
in transportation and increases in expendable incomes. Mass
tourism occurred after World War II, when automobile access
extended the zone of development beyond centers of mass
transit; and construction and use of second homes increased
environmental degradation and exposure to coastal hazards
(Cencini and Varani, 1989; Fischer et al., 1995). Creation of
global economies made human alterations for tourism an
international phenomenon. Many remote locations that were
spared development in the past are undergoing current de-
velopment pressure (Wong, 1993). Coastal development
undergoes periods of boom and bust (Cooper and McKenna,
2009), but there is no reason to expect that the pace and scale
of coastal development will decrease on a global basis in the
future. Coastal resources and coastal tourism support eco-
nomic and social development programs, and international
tourism is now an important and rapid growth industry in
developed and developing countries alike (Houston, 1996).
Beach erosion, combined with human attempts to occupy
positions as close to the shore as possible, is restricting the
space within which natural processes can operate to create and
shape coastal landforms and habitats (Figure 1). The effects of
global warming and sea-level rise will restrict the space even
more. Retreat from the coast would resolve problems of ero-
sion and provide space for new landforms and habitats to
become reestablished. Retreat is being successfully imple-
mented in places on low-energy coasts (Warren et al., 2002;
Garbutt et al., 2006), but it appears unlikely on exposed
coasts, except in sparsely developed areas because of invest-
ment levels and inertia (Titus, 1990; Kriesel et al., 2004;
Nordstrom and Mauriello, 2001).
Problems associated with the conversion of coastal land-
scapes to accommodate human uses include loss of topo-
graphical variability (Nordstrom, 2000), loss of natural habitat
and biological diversity (Defeo et al., 2009), fragmentation of
Figure 1 Narrow backshore and foredune at Surfside Beach, South
Carolina, USA, where buildings have been built close to the active
beach.
394 Developed Coasts

landscapes, threats to endangered species, reduction in seed
sources, loss of original esthetic and recreational values, and
loss of the natural heritage or image of the coast that affects the
ability of stakeholders to make informed decisions on en-
vironmental issues (Télez-Duarte, 1993; Nordstrom et al.,
2000). Frequently encountered scenarios of change include
conversion of a naturally functioning beach–dune system
(Figure 2, time 1) to a cultural landscape by grading dunes to
construct houses, lawns, and gardens and raking beaches to
create a litter-free recreation platform (Figure 2, time 2). If
dunes are included in management plans, they are primarily
considered shore-protection structures. With continued ero-
sion, shore parallel walls are often built as a final defense
(Figure 2, time 3).
Conversion of the shore seems inexorable, but human
dominance need not eliminate beaches and dunes (Figure 2,
time 4, Figure 3), if human effort can be used to restore
landforms, for example, through beach nourishment. En-
vironmentally friendly methods can be found to manage
beaches and dunes, even in intensively developed areas
(Nordstrom, 2000, 2008). Subsequent sections identify the
ways by which human actions affect the characteristics of
coastal landforms and the ways that human actions can be
directed toward compatible uses.
10.15.3 Altering Landforms to Suit Human Needs
Alterations to coastal landforms (Table 1) may be intentional
(where the previous landform is eliminated to accommodate a
new use) or unintentional (where changes to the sediment
budget or vegetation characteristics change patterns of

Full
environmental
gradient
Time 1: Natural beach/dune Trees
(Beach and dune interact as dynamic system) Grasses Shrubs
Pioneer
vegetation Foredune
Former overwash
Natural beach habitat
Incipient platform
(temporary)
dunes

Dune eliminated
to facilitate construction
Time 2: Eroded, developed beach Low, linear
(Dune is valued primarily as protection structure) dune dike
Fence Road
Raked eroded beach
Lawn grass and exotics

Time 3: Eroded, developed beach

(Houses rebuilt to larger sizes; Seawall
narrow beach leads to structural protection) Narrow raked Parking Road
beach

Time 4: Potential for restoration Diverse

on nourished beach plants
Hummocky
(Widened beach is resource base; Pioneer dune
species Parking Road
dune functions naturally)
Buried Natural
Widened unraked beach seawall landscaping

Figure 2 Conceptual diagram of conversion of the shore from a naturally functioning system to a human artifact (times 1–3). Time 4 represents
only the now rare case of restoring landforms and habitats where they were eliminated on an eroding coast.
 Developed Coasts 395

Table 1 Ways that landforms are altered to suit human needs

Eliminating for alternative uses

Facilitating construction of transportation routes, buildings,
and infrastructure
Converting to noncoastal uses (agriculture, landfills, and golf
courses)
Mining for construction aggregate and minerals

Altering through use

Pedestrian trampling and vehicle use for access or direct recreation
Harvesting
Planting forests
Grazing
Waste disposal
From day use tourist activities
From beach cleaning
From commercial (mining) activities
Extraction and recharge
Figure 3 Avalon, New Jersey, USA, showing how some of the
Drinking water
elements of the form and habitat of a natural dune exist on an
Oil and gas
intensively developed coast. The presence and health of the dune
Watering gardens and waste water disposal
reflect a proactive approach by the municipality to incorporate dunes
Military
into a comprehensive shore-protection plan.
Active uses (bombing and maneuvers)
Structures
Cemeteries
deposition and erosion). Landforms are eliminated by con- Inscribing graffiti and carving caves
structing buildings, lawns, roads, railroads, and parking lots,
and by mining them for construction aggregate, minerals, Reshaping
substrate for crops, and surface cover for landfills. Alter- Increasing levels of protection
natively, the landforms may survive but be altered through use Bulldozing dunes
Breaching barriers to control flooding
or reshaped, stabilized, mobilized, or influenced by actions in
Dredging inlet channels to cause deposition
adjacent lands. There is little reason to repeat the litany of Preventing or alleviating hazards
human actions that totally eliminate landforms (see Nord- Creating barriers to sand inundation
strom, 2000). Alterations described in this section represent Grading cliffs to prevent slope failures
changes to the characteristics of landforms that survive, albeit Enhancing recreational use
in altered form. Creation of new landforms and increases in Widening beaches for recreation platforms
their dimensions through beach and dune nourishment are Creating platforms for cabanas and pavilions
assessed in subsequent sections, as are management strategies Clearing the beach of litter
designed to overcome detrimental alterations. Eliminating obstacles to access
Providing or retaining views of the sea
Maintaining navigation channels
10.15.3.1 Altering Landforms through Use Enhancing environmental values
Creating more naturalistic landscapes
Major alterations are caused by pedestrian trampling and Altering environments for wildlife
vehicle use, harvesting, disposing of waste, extraction and
Altering landform mobility
recharge of water and minerals, and military use. Observations
Introducing new sediments into beach and dune
of alteration to soil characteristics and vegetation through Closing, stabilizing, or creating inlets
pedestrian trampling or off-road vehicles are well represented Relocating channels or altering cycles
in the literature (e.g., Mather and Ritchie, 1977; Eastwood and Placing barriers to trap sand
Carter, 1981; Wiedemann, 1984; Anders and Leatherman, Stabilizing dunes
1987; Carlson and Godfrey, 1989; Guilcher and Hallégouët, Planting vegetation
1991; Sanjaume and Pardo, 1992; Andersen, 1995a, 1995b). Armoring surfaces
Trampling by humans and animals can create paths, inhibit Remobilizing dunes
formation of incipient dunes, reduce the height of established Altering natural vegetation
Controlling density (mowing, grazing, and fires)
dunes, erode the surface, compact the soil, change the bulk
Planting species to increase diversity
density, organic matter, and moisture content of soil, reduce
Introducing exotics
the cover and height of vegetation, decrease production of
biomass, reduce the number of flowering species, cause dis- Altering external conditions
appearance of vulnerable species, introduce weeds and Damming streams
exotic plants, interfere in the natural succession, cause loss Mining streams
Introducing pollutants
of biodiversity, and disrupt fauna (Chapman, 1989; Andersen,
1995a). Light trampling can actually be beneficial by helping Source: Modified from Nordstrom, K.F., 2000. Beaches and Dunes of Developed
to retain an open vegetation cover that may be desirable Coasts. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
396 Developed Coasts
for some areas (Andersen, 1995a), but effective monitoring
and control of activities are required for the optimum
effect.
Vehicles used on beaches and dunes can reduce popu-
lations of fauna, destroy vegetation, and eliminate nutrients
(Anders and Leatherman, 1987; Godfrey and Godfrey, 1981;
Moss and McPhee, 2006; Foster-Smith et al., 2007). Much of
the life on the beach is concentrated in and around the or-
ganic drift lines (wrack lines) that are often driven upon
(Godfrey and Godfrey, 1981). Even low-level vehicle impacts
can severely damage dune vegetation (Anders and Leather-
man, 1987), but rapid recovery of vegetation is possible after
termination of vehicle impacts (Godfrey and Godfrey, 1981;
Anders and Leatherman, 1987).
Removing wood, seaweed, and plants from beaches and
dunes alters microhabitat, changes rates of aeolian transport,
and changes susceptibility of landforms to erosion. Where
these activities are associated with harvesting in traditional
economies, the effect may be slight, but removing beach litter
(wrack), addressed in a later section, is of vastly greater sig-
nificance because it is such a widespread phenomenon.
Aforestation can protect crops from sea winds (Cencini and
Varani, 1989), stabilize dunes, and establish a forest industry,
but it can create ecological problems including loss of flora
and fauna, changes to soil characteristics, lowering of the
water table, and seeding into adjacent unforested areas
(Sturgess, 1992; Janssen, 1995). Aforestation with exotic spe-
cies is now considered undesirable. Attempts are being made
to restore more open dune habitat that has greater conser-
vation value (Sturgess, 1992), but many artificially forested
dunes remain.
Grazing by introduced hoofed fauna and rabbits has
changed the morphology and habitat value of dunes in many
areas. Evaluations of grazing are presented in Doody (1985),
Corona et al. (1988), Boorman (1989), Doody (1989),
Westhoff (1989), van Dijk (1992), and Kooijman and de
Haan (1995). Grazing can increase availability of light on the
ground and decrease stock of organic matter and nutrients due
to a decreased input of litter and accelerated rates of de-
composition (Kooijman and de Haan, 1995). Indirect effects
of grazing (trampling, burrowing, or rubbing) may also be
critical locally (Mather and Ritchie, 1977; Angus and Elliott,
1992). Moderate grazing by livestock and rabbits may stimu-
late diversity of vegetation, but the intensity and the location
of grazing are important, and grazing must be carefully
monitored (Boorman, 1989).
The disposal of waste material on a beach may be viewed
as beneficial or detrimental, depending on whether the ma-
terials are biologically compatible or can be reworked to re-
semble natural landforms. Mine waste has been placed on the
beach for disposal or for nourishment (Bourman, 1990;
Paskoff and Petiot, 1990; Nordstrom et al., 2004). Disposal
operations that make use of at least some sediment similar to
that found on local beaches or dunes may be beneficial, but
the material must be attractive to users and compatible with
beach fauna to have recreational and ecological value (Nord-
strom et al., 2004; Nordstrom, 2008).
Extraction of oil and gas or groundwater (for drinking,
agricultural, or industrial use) can lead to subsidence, local
increases in sea-level rise, and increased rates of beach loss
(Inman et al., 1991; Flick, 1993; Nicholls and Leatherman,
1996). The impact of subsidence usually is highly regional
(Postma, 1989), but it can greatly exceed local rates of sea-
level rise. Groundwater extraction, recharge, and drainage can
have undesirable effects on dune systems (van der Meulen and
Jungerius, 1989; Angus and Elliott, 1992; Geelen et al., 1995).
Of special significance is the threat to wet dune slacks (Geelen
et al., 1995).
Watering exotic vegetation on lawns, gardens, and golf
courses requires greater volumes of water than would other-
wise occur and can weaken cliff materials and contribute to
mass wasting (Kuhn and Shepard, 1980; Griggs et al., 1991).
Concentration of surface runoff leads to acceleration of ero-
sion rates in gullies (Griggs et al., 1991; Griggs, 1994).
Military use of beaches and dunes and coastal cliffs in-
cludes active uses and passive effects of buildings and support
infrastructure (Mather and Ritchie, 1977; Doody, 1989; Guil-
cher and Hallégouët, 1991). Military activities may be con-
sumptive at specific sites, but they can prevent urbanization or
agricultural uses around them, providing opportunistic con-
servation areas (Doody, 1989).
Many other local or small-scale uses of beaches and dunes
alter the characteristics of landforms (e.g., creating ‘sand art’,
throwing stones on gravel beaches, inscribing graffiti, and
excavating caves), but assessments of these uses are rare be-
cause the results appear inconsequential to landform develop-
ment (Nordstrom, 2000). Like many of the more widespread
alterations to landforms, these activities reveal a lack of
appreciation of their natural and intrinsic values.
10.15.3.2 Reshaping Landforms
Reshaping landforms by grading (bulldozing and scraping) of
beaches and dunes by earth-moving equipment is done to:
(1) build dunes; (2) remove sediment from facilities inun-
dated by wave overwash or wind drift; (3) enhance beach
recreation; and (4) enhance environmental quality. Mechan-
ical reshaping (grading) to increase levels of shore protection
is common but is controversial in terms of its benefits to or
adverse impacts upon geomorphic systems. Grading for pro-
tection normally involves removing sediment from low on
the beach and placing it in a high protective dune dike.
Grading works best where it mimics natural recovery without
causing a dramatic alteration of sediment budgets or land-
forms and can be beneficial when conducted at a slow pace
over long periods and where the borrow zone is low on the
beach and inundated frequently so sediment can be replaced
by swash action (McNinch and Wells, 1992). Grading appears
less effective where space is restricted and the scraped
sediment is placed seaward of the dune where it can be
readily mobilized and moved downdrift (Kratzmann and
Hapke, 2012).
Reshaping may occur to remove sand washed onto roads,
blown into coastal properties, or blown under wooden struc-
tures where it can cause timber rot (Bush, 1991; Sherman and
Nordstrom, 1994; Nordstrom, 2000). Blowouts have been
mechanically smoothed to prevent wind erosion (Angus and
Elliott, 1992; Nordstrom and Arens, 1998). Dunes that have
been scarped as a result of wave erosion may be reshaped to

create access ramps and reduce the hazard of slope failure
(Nordstrom and Arens, 1998).
Beaches and dunes are frequently reshaped to enhance
recreation by creating flat beaches for use as recreation plat-
forms, building platforms for beach structures, eliminating
barriers to beach access, and providing views of the sea
(Cencini and Varani, 1989; Nordstrom and Arens, 1998;
Nordstrom, 2000). Grading beaches and dunes to lower levels
can increase the likelihood for delivery of sediment inland by
waves or winds. Many of the other ways that landforms are
altered to enhance beach recreation are unreported because
they are conducted using equipment available within muni-
cipalities and require no permits or documentation for
approval for outside funding.
The call for clean beaches for recreation has resulted in
many local raking operations (Figure 4), often using mech-
anized equipment. Raking eliminates microtopography, loos-
ens the surface by breaking up surface crusts (salt and algae),
breaks up shells or gravel, disturbs eggs in the beach, and
eliminates vegetation and litter, resulting in a beach with an
unnatural appearance and little natural resource value
(McLachlan, 1985; Hotten, 1988; Doody, 1989; Nordstrom
et al., 2000; Dugan et al., 2003). Removal of wrack increases
the susceptibility of the beach to erosion (De Falco et al.,
2008); changes rates and locations of aeolian transport and
deposition (Dugan and Hubbard, 2010); and prevents for-
mation of incipient dunes on the backshore that could grow
into naturally evolving foredunes. The raked sediment and
biogenic materials from the wrack can be placed in the fore-
dune to increase its volume and provide nutrients to aid
vegetation growth (Williams and Feagin, 2010), but the shape
and subsequent evolution of the beach and dunes will differ
from natural landforms.
Landforms may be reshaped to enhance environmental
quality by creating environments that encourage breeding
of shore birds (Randall and Doody, 1995), by breaching
barriers to maintain salinities in lagoons (Orford et al., 1988)
or promote runs of fish into coastal ponds (Tiffney and
Andrews, 1989), and by breaching foredunes to create new
blowouts and tidally flooded overwash areas (van Bohemen,
1996).
Figure 4 Raked beach, seawall, and promenade in Andalusia, Spain.
Developed Coasts 397
10.15.3.3 Altering Landform Mobility
New inlets that open during storms may be sealed (Sorensen
and Schmeltz, 1982), and old inlets may be closed to make
new inlets more efficient (Møller, 1990). Closure of inlets can
eliminate ebb currents; cause net erosion of the delta front;
create longshore bars at the former ebb delta; smoothen relic
tidal shoals; and cause sedimentation of former channels
(Louters et al., 1991). The elimination of inlet-related cycles of
sedimentation on adjacent shorelines makes changes there
more predictable and landforms more stable.
Inlets may be stabilized to maintain predictable navigation
channels or shoreline positions. Stabilization usually involves
use of structures, such as jetties (addressed later), or dredging
conducted to maintain depths. The location of dominant inlet
channels can be changed to intentionally alter the adjacent
shoreline (Kana, 1989). Cutting of artificial inlets is common
in some regions (Wiegel, 1992; Bodge, 1994; Browder et al.,
1996), as is modification of inlet channels that periodically
open and close due to seasonal differences in wave activity or
runoff. These actions alter timing of the natural cycles of
opening and closure rather than create a new inlet where it
would not have occurred under natural conditions (Nord-
strom, 2000).
Dunes may be artificially created and stabilized to prevent
sand drift and inundation of human facilities, provide a
predictable barrier against wave overwash and flooding, and a
barrier to salt spray that can help maintain species richness.
The number and scale of dune-building operations is vast and
is treated in a later section. Decreasing and increasing the
mobility of existing dunes is discussed in this section.
Stabilizing dunes is a common practice with a long and
well-documented history (Marsh, 1885; Klijn, 1990). The
conversion of dunes to more stable features is more wide-
spread than is commonly perceived and even occurs in sea-
shore parks managed for conservation by local and state
governments and national seashores (Godfrey and Godfrey,
1973; Gares and Nordstrom, 1988). Most large-scale stabil-
ization projects use sand fences and vegetation plantings, but
brush, straw, or even non-biodegradable materials may be
introduced (Angus and Elliott, 1992). One of the principal
means of modifying the morphology and mobility of land-
forms by changing vegetation is through the accidental or
intentional introduction of exotics. These are generally good at
stabilizing dunes. Exotics can also form monospecific stands
of vegetation, outcompete native species, decrease biodiversity
and authenticity of vegetation, interfere with successional
processes, create an undesirable landscape appearance, and
reduce the value of land for conservation and recreation, all of
which have led to attempts to remove them (Cooper, 1958;
Chapman, 1989; Andersen, 1995b; Avis, 1995; Wooton et al.,
2005).
Dunes may be remobilized (destabilized) by plowing,
mowing, spraying, burning, pulling, and cutting plants to
change sediment budgets, stimulate growth conditions for
desired species, or reinstate natural processes or appearance
(Klomp, 1989; Anderson and Romeril, 1992; Arens and
Wiersma, 1994; van der Wal, 1996; van Boxel et al., 1997).
Mobility may also be favored to bury cultural features that are
too expensive to remove (Sanjaume, 1988; Sanjaume and
398 Developed Coasts
Pardo, 1992). Remobilizing dunes rather than stabilizing
them is an action that would seem to appeal to geomorph-
ologists, but there have been few demands for more mobile
landforms.
10.15.3.4 Changing Conditions due to Activities Outside
the Coastal Zone
Actions taken outside the boundaries of beaches and dunes can
have great impact on landforms. Examples include: (1) re-
ducing sediment supply to coasts by constructing dams
(Innocenti and Pranzini, 1993; Sherman et al., 2002; Slagel and
Griggs, 2008; Jabaloy-Sánchez et al., 2010) and mining rivers
(Postma, 1989; Komar, 2010); (2) altering plant succession in
dunes (and eventually the dynamics and morphology of the
landform) by changing nutrient levels or acidity from pollution
in precipitation (Westhoff, 1989; van Boxel et al., 1997); (3)
increasing water pollution, thereby degrading reefs and in-
creasing erosion rates on beaches landward of them (Thieler
and Danforth, 1994); and (4) changing basin area and tidal
prism due to land reclamation and channel closures that can
lead to alterations in inlet channels, ebb-tide deltas, and size
and position of barrier islands (FitzGerald et al., 1984; Nie-
meyer, 1994; Eitner, 1996). These external drivers are not
evaluated here, but they must be considered in integrated
programs for management of beach and dune resources.
10.15.4 Nourishing Beaches
Beach-nourishment operations are increasing in number and
scale, and nourishment is now the principal means of shore
protection in many countries (Swart, 1991; Davison et al.,
1992; Hamm et al., 2002). There is no lack of experience with
beach-nourishment projects, and many publications exist
(reviewed in Nordstrom, 2000, 2008). The most-often cited
rationale for beach nourishment is protecting human facilities
from wave attack, but other uses include: (1) designing and
creating new beaches to fulfill a specific human use; (2)
eliminating detrimental effects of shore-protection structures
by burying them; (3) providing protection to seawalls and
dunes; (4) protecting natural areas; (5) widening the beach to
accommodate new construction; (6) counteracting the effects
of sea-level rise; and (7) determining or enhancing the repu-
tation of resorts. Distinctly different viewpoints on the value
of beach nourishment exist, especially regarding cost-
effectiveness and impacts on biota. Reviews of alternative
viewpoints on the cost-effectiveness of beach nourishment are
provided by Houston (1991), Pilkey (1992), and Camfield
(1993). Biological impacts are reviewed in Speybroek et al.
(2006). Methods of assessing potential impacts in borrow
areas are evaluated in Drucker et al. (2004) and González
et al. (2010).
10.15.4.1 Designs and Locations
The width of a nourished beach is generally a compromise
between the amount of sediment required and the money
available. The result is commonly a narrower beach than the
optimum, but overly wide beaches may be created in locations
close to opportunistic sources, such as dredged channels, or
where the fill is designated as a stockpile or feeder beach.
Sources of fill may change through time due to depletion,
changing perceptions of environmental values, changes in
technology, or availability of opportunistic sources. Fill ma-
terials can include sand from offshore (including inlets),
backbays, transgressing dunes, and inland sites (including
desert, glacial, and stream deposits). Gravel from quarries is
being increasingly used to nourish gravel and sand beaches
alike. Considerations for biota argue for matching the native
material as closely as possible (Nelson, 1993; National Re-
search Council, 1995), but finding desired sediment charac-
teristics in readily available borrow areas is often difficult.
Gravel beaches may be nourished with sand because it is easily
mined and transported by pipe. Where gravel is available and
cheaper than sand, it may be used to nourish sandy beaches
(Cammelli et al., 2006). Gravel beaches are more stable than
sand beaches due to larger particles that are less easily en-
trained and rough surfaces that dissipate wave energies (Carter
and Orford, 1984). The greater space between particles in-
creases percolation of water, leading to greater transport cap-
acity on the wave uprush than backwash, enhancing
deposition on the upper beach (Everts et al., 2002; Austin and
Masselink, 2006). This deposition creates higher, steeper
foreshores on gravel beaches and more conspicuous micro-
topography, including storm berms and cusps. Uprush during
storms increases the elevation of the berm crest (Lorang,
2002), and the height and steep slope of the foreshore above
mean sea level provides protection against runup from future
storms. Coarse gravel (cobbles and boulders) is less likely to
move than sand or pebbles, increasing stability of shoreline
position and retention of fill materials (Everts et al., 2002;
Komar et al., 2003), but choice of fill material should not be
based solely on considerations for shore protection. Fill ma-
terials may be selected for esthetic and environmental values
(Anthony, 1994; Löffler and Coosen, 1995; Bodge and Olsen,
1992), and there is an increasing literature on use of fill for
these other purposes (Nordstrom, 2008).
Frequency of nourishment affects the likelihood that cer-
tain types of landforms will be created, their size and ability to
survive and evolve, and the periodicity of cycles of growth and
destruction. Creation of landforms lost due to prior human
action may only be possible with large-scale nourishment
operations that create a wide platform for natural processes to
occur. Thereafter, maintenance nourishment will be required
to maintain these new environments, but major perturbations
should be minimized, arguing for small operations conducted
at frequent intervals (Nordstrom, 2000).
Figure 5 identifies the zones where artificial nourishment
is usually applied to the beach and dune. Smith and Jackson
(1990) identified the engineering requirements and the
physical, social, and political impacts of placement in many of
these different locations. Nourishment of the upper beach
places sand close to the coastal facilities that require pro-
tection, and thus has been the most common past practice.
Sand is normally transported to the nourishment area by
pipeline as a sand and water slurry or (in small-scale oper-
ations) by dump trucks. The deposited material is usually re-
worked by bulldozers to the design profile. The result of

Nearshore
Bar
Stable berm
Gully
fill
Upper beach
Subaqueous nourishment
nourishment
Figure 5 Common locations for nourishment of beach and dune. Modified from van de Graaff, J., Niemeyer, H.D., Overeem, J., 1991. Beach
nourishment, philosophy and coastal protection policy. Coastal Engineering 16, 3–22, and Nordstrom, K.F., 2000. Beaches and Dunes of
Developed Coasts. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
subaerial nourishment is commonly a widened, overly high
upper beach with a shape and composition out of equilibrium
with natural processes. Maintaining nourished beaches solely
for shore protection or recreation enhances the disequilibrium
between wave and wind processes and landforms.
Nourishment of the upper beach can alter conditions for
aeolian transport and dune development by: (1) increasing
source width for entrainment of sediments; (2) changing
grain-size characteristics that affect the likelihood of entrain-
ment and transport; (3) changing moisture conditions due to
creation of a higher surface; (4) changing the shape of the
beach or dune profile; and (5) changing the likelihood of
marine erosion of the foredune (van der Wal, 1998). The great
initial width of most nourished beaches and the presence
of fine material lead to increased transport by wind soon after
placement (van der Wal, 1998), but removal of the fine sedi-
ment can leave a surface of coarser shell or gravel that resists
further transport (Psuty and Moreira, 1992; van der Wal, 1998;
Jackson et al., 2010). The reworking of the seaward portion
of the fill by waves and the landward portion of the fill by
aeolian transport results in greater cross-shore variability in
sediment grain-size characteristics than on natural beaches in
an area (van der Wal, 1998; Jackson et al., 2010).
Subaqueous nourishment using offshore sediment sources
can cost considerably less than nourishment of the subaerial
beach, but more sediment would be required to result in the
same volume of sand on the upper beach (Mulder et al.,
1994). Nourishment of the nearshore may occur by spraying
the fill in shallow water as a soil and water slurry or dumping
the fill from shallow-draft barges (van Oorschot and van
Raalte, 1991). This technique can maintain the nearshore
profile, reduce the likelihood of erosion of the beach and
dunes landward of it, and put the sediment where sediment
placed on the upper beach would have gone anyway (van de
Graaff et al., 1991; Mulder et al., 1994). Losses through time
are not visible and esthetics are not spoiled by exotic material
on the backshore (van de Graaff et al., 1991).
Sediments may be placed in active zones offshore as ridges
(bars), isolated depressions, and linear gullies to create a new
topography or placed on existing landforms to enhance
their size (Kroon et al., 1994; Mulder et al., 1994). Sediment
may also be placed in deeper water, where it is not expected
to be moved, creating berms that can enhance fisheries, block
Developed Coasts 399
Top Secondary
Front Back dune
Dune
Upper beach
Dune nourishment
offshore sediment losses, reduce wave energies, form foun-
dations for offshore structures, and serve as stockpiles for later
re-handling (Hands and Allison, 1991; Hands and Resio, 1994).
The many ways that beach fill can be placed in the coastal
environment create numerous options for rejuvenation of
landforms. Geomorphologists can become more involved in
design of projects to make full use of sediment resources.
These sediments are becoming scarce through time as the
ready sources are exhausted.
10.15.4.2 Considerations for Transport Alongshore
Much of the sand that moves out of a fill area can benefit
adjacent areas (Beachler and Mann, 1996), and some fills may
be designed as feeder locations. Most nourishment operations
that account for longshore transport involve sediment bypass-
ing or backpassing. Bypass operations artificially transfer sedi-
ment to make up for human actions or structures (such as
jetties) that interfere with natural transfers and may use mobile
dredges, fixed pumps with moveable dredges, and fixed and
moveable jet pumps (Wiegel, 1994; National Research Council,
1995). Guidelines for design and evaluation of these and other
systems are included in USACOE (US Army Corps of Engineers)
(1991), but implications for landform changes are lacking.
Backpassing projects reverse the direction of net sediment
transport and frequently involve beach scraping using equip-
ment available at the municipal level (Nordstrom et al., 2002).
Large-scale backpassing requires a major investment and has
the greatest likelihood of implementation, if designed as a
component of a beach nourishment operation. Sand dredged
from accreted spits at both ends of a barrier island (Kana et al.,
1991) can be considered both a bypassing and backpassing
operation. Backpassing of fill could reduce the need for lo-
cating and using new borrow sites, and it is likely that more
backpassing operations will be conducted in the future as
sediment supplies become exhausted and as nourishment
operations are better designed to approximate natural sedi-
ment budgets in drift cells (Nordstrom, 2000).
10.15.5 Building Dunes
Under natural conditions, sand dunes are an integral com-
ponent of sandy shore systems and freely exchange sediment
400 Developed Coasts
with the beach by aeolian transport and wave uprush. Sedi-
ment eroded from the dune by storm waves is replaced by
delivery of sand from the beach during strong onshore winds.
Dunes provide natural barriers against overwash, flooding,
wind stress, sediment transport, and salt spray during small
storms, which help maintain species richness in landward
habitats. Variations in topography within dunes result in local
differences in exposure to coastal processes, creating a variety
of microhabitats.
Dunes in human-altered areas differ from natural dunes,
depending on the way they are built, the way they are man-
aged after construction, the way the beach is managed, the
types of human structures present, and the amount of space
available for formation and migration (Jackson and Nord-
strom, 2011). If dunes are built up to provide protection, they
are generally linear and have a predictable crest height, and
they may be created by processes other than aeolian transport.
Where human infrastructure has encroached on the beach, the
rebuilt dune is commonly farther seaward than a natural dune
and is lower, narrower, and has less variability in topography,
vegetation, and mobility (Nordstrom, 2000). Alternatively,
dunes rebuilt where they have been eliminated are increased
in size consistent with the amount of space available. Dunes
may be reconstructed to characteristics similar to preexisting
ones after they are modified by mining (van Aarde et al., 2004;
Lubke et al., 1996), excavation for pipelines (Ritchie and
Gimingham, 1989), or removal of pollutants.
Dunes can be constructed or enhanced by: (1) nourishing
them directly and using bulldozers to reshape them; (2)
allowing natural aeolian processes to occur; (3) installing sand
fences; or (4) planting vegetation. Artificial dunes are often
built to unnatural shapes, resembling earthen dikes (Feagin,
2005; Nordstrom et al., 2007), but actions can be taken to
make these dunes appear and function more naturally.
10.15.5.1 Nourishing Dunes
The time frame for building dunes can be greatly constricted
by depositing fill and reshaping it using earthmoving equip-
ment (Figure 6). Dune nourishment is more common than is
generally perceived, especially if the definition is extended to
building dunes by scraping beaches or bulldozing overwash
sediments.
Fill may be placed to create dunes where they did not exist
or placed on the front, top, and back of existing foredunes
(Figure 5) (van Bohemen and Meesters, 1992). Placement of
fill on the back of a dune is appropriate where: (1) the pro-
tective value must be increased; (2) land use behind the dune
does not conflict; and (3) the fill is not contaminated with salt
(van de Graaff et al., 1991); or (4) artificial migration of
the beach/dune system is desired. Creation or nourishment
of a secondary dune may be appropriate where a more
stable landform is required for flood protection or habitat.
Nourishment of the top of the dune is appropriate where
flood-protection levels must be increased (Matias et al., 2005)
and land use behind the dune prevents nourishment there.
Nourishment of the front of the dune is appropriate where
land use prevents nourishment landward, the preexisting dune
width is not great enough to prevent breaching during storms,
Figure 6 Engineered dune at West Cape May, New Jersey, USA.
or a higher dune is not desirable because of slope instability or
restrictions to access or views of the sea (Nordstrom, 2000).
Dunes built using fill and bulldozers are generally con-
structed to optimize a flood-protection function or are de-
signed for ease of construction or management and are
essentially dikes, commonly with a flat top and planar sides of
consistent slope with little topographic diversity. The grain-
size characteristics, rates of change, and characteristic vege-
tation of dunes built by mechanical placement generally differ
from landforms created by aeolian deposition (Baye, 1990;
van der Wal, 1998; Nordstrom et al., 2002; Matias et al.,
2005), but they can have well-sorted sands that resemble dune
sediments, if suitable borrow areas are used. Dunes created by
bulldozers may eventually evolve to resemble natural dunes in
form and function if they are not repeatedly nourished and
reshaped and if sediment sources are available and capable of
being blown to them (Nordstrom, 2008).
Dunes built for flood protection can provide habitat for
fauna typical of a natural dune environment (Latsoudis,
1996), and actions can be taken to enhance this value, even
during their initial construction. Patchiness of habitats can be
increased by creating an undulating foredune crest, resulting
in local differences in drainage and wind speed, and by cre-
ating a more crenulated backslope, converting the landward
boundary from a line to a zone. This type of contouring would
enhance both the natural function and image of the dunes
(Nordstrom et al., 2007). Altering the contours of nourished
dunes to make them blend in with the adjoining areas and
create naturalistic contours has been suggested by van Bohe-
men and Meesters (1992), but managers frequently take the
opposite approach by smoothing gaps that promote wind
funneling (Ranwell and Boar, 1986). Contouring to enhance
variability recognizes the value of the landform as habitat ra-
ther than solely as a protection structure (Nordstrom, 2008).
Direct placement of sediment can create landforms that depart
dramatically from natural landforms in form and function,
which argues for greater involvement of geomorphologists in
their design and construction.
10.15.5.2 Building Dunes by Natural Processes on
Nourished Beaches
Adequate beach width is needed for incipient dunes to de-
velop into a foredune by natural processes (McLean and

Shen, 2006), and the most natural way of building a dune
where beaches are narrow is by nourishing the beach with
sediments with appropriate characteristics that can be re-
worked by waves and winds (Nordstrom, 2005). The resulting
dune will then have the grain-size characteristics, internal
stratification, topographic variability, surface cover, and root
mass of a natural dune. The extra width of a nourished beach
then provides greater protection to the dune from wave ero-
sion (van der Wal, 1998, 2004) and increases the potential for
a wider cross-shore gradient of physical processes to occur,
allowing for more distinctive habitats, ranging from pioneer
species on the seaward side to woody shrubs and trees farther
landward (Freestone and Nordstrom, 2001).
10.15.5.3 Building Dunes Using Sand Fences
Sand-trapping fences are used to build a dune up or fill gaps in
the crestline of an existing dune. In the process, they alter the
topography in a way that decreases the likelihood of wave
overwash, wind stress, and salt spray and increases the likeli-
hood that species less well-adapted to these stresses will
survive closer to the water.
Fencing materials include canes, tree branches, wooden
slats, plastic, and jute fabric. Sand-accumulation efficiency and
morphologic changes depend on fence porosity, height, in-
clination, scale of openings, shape of openings, wind speed
and direction, sand characteristics, separation distance be-
tween fences, number of fence rows, and placement relative
to existing topography. As a result of so many variables,
no standard method of foredune construction can be directly
applied on all beaches (Hotta et al., 1991), and recommendat-
ions for sand-fence configurations vary (Miller et al., 2001).
Straight alignments parallel to the shore are common and
seem to provide the most economical method of building
protective dunes (CERC, 1984; Miller et al., 2001). Paired
fences and zigzag configurations can create wider dunes with
more undulating crestlines and more gently sloping dune
faces, resulting in a closer approximation to the shapes of
natural dunes (Schwendiman, 1977; Snyder and Pinet, 1981).
Fences may be placed in short, detached sections that are
oriented transverse to the shoreline to provide more efficient
traps to prevailing winds that are not directly onshore (An-
thony et al., 2007). Multiple lifts of fences can create a higher
dune with greater volume than single lifts (CERC, 1984;
Mendelssohn et al., 1991; Miller et al., 2001). Use of fences in
new dune-building operations is commonly a secondary ac-
tion taken after the primary protective dune is created using
bulldozers (Mauriello, 1989; Matias et al., 2005). The lo-
cations of these added fences are critical in determining
whether the surface of the bulldozed landform can evolve to a
more naturally functioning dune (Nordstrom et al., 2009).
Fencing and vegetation plantings can build dunes in a sand-
deficient environment, but inevitably, beach nourishment is
required to maintain a healthy, well-vegetated dune on a
transgressing shore (Mendelssohn et al., 1991).
Sand fences are one of the most important human ad-
justments affecting the morphology and vegetation on sandy
coasts because they are among the few types of structures
permitted seaward of the dune crest in many jurisdictions;
Developed Coasts 401
they are inexpensive and easy to emplace; they are generally
deployed at the highly dynamic boundary between the beach
and dune; and they are commonly deployed in nature con-
servation areas where other human structures are prohibited
(Nordstrom, 2000). The method of emplacement of sand
fences is commonly according to the whim of local managers
(Grafals-Soto and Nordstrom, 2009), despite the existence of
guidelines for their use (e.g., CERC, 1984; Ranwell and Boar,
1986; Hotta et al., 1987, 1991). Densities and numbers of
fence rows can be great in places, and fences can remain as
conspicuous elements and physical boundaries to movement
of fauna. The same types of fences used to trap sand are
characteristically used to control access, unintentionally in-
creasing the impact of fences on aeolian transport and dune
formation, and creating unusual dune shapes. Fences placed
too close to the water are subject to storm-wave erosion during
storms (Ruz and Anthony, 2008). As a result, suggestions have
been made to minimize fence usage once an initial protective
dune has formed (Grafals-Soto and Nordstrom, 2009).
10.15.5.4 Building Dunes Using Vegetation
Many experiments on building or stabilizing dunes using
vegetation were conducted in the 1960s and 1970s and re-
sulted in the production of many guidelines for planting (re-
viewed in Nordstrom, 2008). Government agencies and
departments developed their own guidelines, commonly
based on these reports (e.g., CERC, 1984), and many guide-
lines are now conveniently placed on websites (Nordstrom,
2008).
Planting programs characteristically use a single species.
Other species can colonize restored areas if small populations
are present nearby and if dispersal mechanisms in the form of
wind, water, or animals are effective (Snyder and Boss, 2002;
Grootjans et al., 2004). Stabilizing the sand surface with one
species can ameliorate environmental extremes and facilitate
establishment of other species that are less adapted to stressful
environments (Martı́nez and Garcı́a-Franco, 2004; De Lillis
et al., 2005). Construction of foredunes using vegetation has
rarely involved geomorphologists in the past, but their ex-
pertise could help in identifying the appropriate distance
landward of the waterline for initial planting and anticipating
the way the new dune will evolve.
10.15.6 Effects of Structures
Coastal processes, landforms, and habitats are altered by many
different types of human structures (reviewed in Nordstrom,
2000). The effects of each structure are localized and roughly
proportional to its size, but the cumulative effects of numer-
ous structures can have greater impact, as can human actions
to make use of structures or protect them from coastal haz-
ards. Categories of structures designed for shore protection
include shore-perpendicular- and shore-parallel structures
built onshore, dikes, offshore protection structures, and
pumps and drains. Structures built for boating and navigation
include jetties and marinas. Recreation structures include
piers, promenades, and boardwalks, and small buildings
402 Developed Coasts
placed on the backshore. Buildings include houses, hotels, and
commercial structures. Facilities used as support infrastructure
include roads, and parking lots, and drainage pipes.
10.15.6.1 Protection Structures
Shore-protection structures are generally designed to address
erosion problems related to local deficiency in the sediment
budget. Characteristically, these structures displace the locus of
erosion to adjacent unprotected areas, resulting in a need to
address those secondary erosion problems. Accelerated ero-
sion rates, pronounced breaks in shoreline orientation, and
truncation of the beach profile commonly occur just down-
drift of shore-perpendicular structures (Everts, 1979; Nerses-
sian et al., 1992) and reduced beach widths occur seaward of
shore-parallel structures that have been employed for a long
time (Hall and Pilkey, 1991).
Groins are the most common shore-perpendicular struc-
tures. They are emplaced to maintain the beach updrift of
them and can be used to advantage where: (1) sediment
transport diverges from a nodal region; (2) there is no new
sediment entering the system (such as downdrift of a break-
water or jetty); (3) sedimentation downdrift is undesirable;
(4) the longevity of beach nourishment must be increased; (5)
an entire reach is to be stabilized; and (6) currents are espe-
cially strong at inlets (Kraus et al., 1994). Groins trap sediment
updrift of them, but they also: (1) deprive the beach imme-
diately downdrift of sand; (2) affect wave refraction and
breaking and surf-zone circulation, producing new rip cur-
rents; and (3) redirect sediment offshore to form deposits
downdrift of the tips of the structures, resulting in a more
complex topography (Everts, 1979; Sherman et al., 1990).
Groins are effective as terminal structures and can help hold
beach fill in place or be used in combination with backpassing
operations (National Research Council, 1995). Building per-
meable groins or lowering their profile can reduce downdrift
sediment starvation and rip currents, creating a more linear
shoreline than occurs with impermeable groins (Trampenau
et al., 1996). Submerged groins have been suggested to ac-
complish these goals and make the structures inconspicuous
(Aminti et al., 2004).
Impermeable groins are effective traps for sand blown
along the beach and can form small, generally temporary,
shore-perpendicular dunes on the lower beach and more
permanent dunes at niches formed by the contact between the
structure and the dune or any structure on the landward
portion of the backshore or dune (Jackson and Nordstrom,
2011). The increase in beach width on the updrift sides of
groins provides a wider source of sand for aeolian transport by
onshore oblique winds and can help protect any dunes to
landward from storm–wave erosion (Nersessian et al., 1992).
By contrast, dunes downdrift of groins may be truncated by
erosion or eliminated. Where dunes survive on the downdrift
side, they may be steeper than updrift dunes because of loss of
the seaward portion of the dune by wave erosion (Jackson and
Nordstrom, 2011).
Shore-parallel protection structures built onshore include
bulkheads, seawalls, and revetments. These structures can be
built above mean high water, simplifying the process of
obtaining a construction permit. Bulkheads are vertical re-
taining walls generally built landward of an existing beach and
not intended to provide protection against direct wave attack.
Seawalls and revetments are more massive and built where the
protective effects of the beach have been reduced or elimin-
ated. Revetments have more gentle slopes to dissipate wave
runup. Effects of shore-parallel walls on the beach are re-
viewed by Dean (1986), Kraus (1987, 1988), Kraus and
McDougal (1996), and Shipman et al. (2010). Effects on the
dune are reviewed by Jackson and Nordstrom (2011). Adverse
effects of shore-parallel walls can include: (1) loss of the beach
due to placement of the wall on it; (2) passive erosion (rep-
resenting the narrowing of the profile in front of the structure
as the natural regional shoreline migrates landward); (3) ac-
tive erosion (representing the loss due to intensification of surf
zone processes); (4) truncation or replacement of the dune by
the structure; and (5) interference with aeolian transport
landward of it (Pilkey and Wright, 1988; Jackson and Nord-
strom, 2011). Hydrodynamic and morphologic response of a
beach to a seawall depends on the position of the wall on the
beach profile relative to breaking waves and swash (Kraus,
1988; Weggel, 1988; Plant and Griggs, 1992). Many of the
morphological effects of seawalls on the beach are identified
in Griggs et al. (1991) and Plant and Griggs (1992).
Dikes are linear structures built above high water and are
designed to prevent inundation of inland resources. They may
be of any size and composed of natural or cultural materials.
Most dikes are built far enough landward that they commonly
do not affect coastal processes and are not perceived to be part
of a naturally functioning process system. Dikes designed to
prevent inundation by water need not prevent aeolian trans-
port or prevent dunes from forming on them, and artificial
dunes may be used to cover dikes composed of cultural
materials (Nordstrom and Arens, 1998).
A great variety of structures may be used to mimic natural
headlands to create more stable embayments between them
(Hsu et al., 2010). These structures are generally built parallel
to the shore and may include: (1) artificial headlands that are
constructed at or near the shoreline; (2) detached breakwaters
(emergent and submerged) that are not connected to the
shore; and (3) submerged sills that reduce the rate of offshore
transport, creating a perched beach (Chasten et al., 1994).
There is great variety in design and use of artificial headlands
(Silvester and Hsu, 1993). Many are experimental, and the
distinction between them may be blurred. The crenulated bays
they help create can resemble conditions at small naturally
occurring pocket beaches.
Breakwaters are designed to reduce wave energy reaching
the shoreline by dissipating, reflecting, or diffracting on-
coming waves, thereby enhancing deposition and creating a
beach where uses compatible with low-wave energies may be
implemented (Chasten et al., 1994). Alteration of the energy
of the wave environment landward of these structures may
result in a change in slope, grain size, and temporal variability
of the beach; sheltered beaches are generally steeper, have
coarser and more poorly sorted surface sediments, and
undergo less change in profile. Considerable differences in the
characteristics of beaches landward of breakwaters can occur
depending on location of these structures and the size and
spacing of the individual elements (Bricio et al., 2008).

Sills are generally combined with nourishment operations
to hold fill in place. A sill creates a gently sloping perched
beach that can reduce both offshore sand losses and longshore
transport (Ferrante et al., 1992). Perched beach construction is
facilitated in low-energy environments, but perched beaches
also hold potential in higher energy environments (de Ruig
and Roelse, 1992; de Ruig, 1995). Such beaches may be pre-
ferred over emergent coastal structures where tourism,
esthetics, and ecological considerations are perceived import-
ant (Ferrante et al., 1992).
Reefs are submerged structures designed to control rather
than resist wave activity and are simpler and less expensive to
build than emergent breakwaters and are less susceptible to
damage (Ahrens and Cox, 1990). They may be favored where
a structural solution is desired but visibility from the beach
would interfere with esthetics (Pacini et al., 1997). These
structures hold great promise for future deployment, but there
are unresolved questions about the optimum crest heights and
distances offshore to avoid trapping of water behind the
structure that may contribute to rip currents and increased
longshore current velocities on the lee side, with associated
scour (Browder et al., 1996; Dean et al., 1997).
Structures can be used to alter the hydraulics of flow
through the beach to decrease or increase the likelihood of
sediment entrainment or deposition. Drainage systems can
lower the beach water table and enhance deposition by swash
uprush while diminishing erosion on the backwash, with little
to no impact on the esthetics of the beach (Curtis et al., 1996;
Turner and Leatherman, 1997). Many of these drainage sys-
tems do not function well (Vicinanza et al., 2010), and, like
many other methods of shore protection, result in accretion at
the site to be protected but erosion at some other location
because there is no increase in the regional sediment budget.
Fluidizers, by contrast, increase the pore pressure and liquefy
the sediment substrate (Patterson et al., 1991), making sedi-
ment more susceptible to movement by waves and currents or
by pumping. They are more appropriate for maintaining inlet
channels or removing sediment from borrow areas.
10.15.6.2 Structures for Boating and Navigation
Jetties are designed to constrain and direct the flow of water at
inlets and to provide a barrier to longshore transport to pre-
vent shoaling of the navigation channel. Effects of jetties in-
clude: (1) impoundment of sediment updrift; (2) increase of
erosion rate on the downdrift shoreline; (3) migration of the
preexisting channel (usually toward and parallel to the updrift
jetty); (4) loss of preexisting ebb distributary channels; (5)
erosion of the preexisting ebb delta; (6) transport of sediments
moved by ebb flows to deeper water; and (7) creation of a new
ebb-tidal delta and associated bars farther seaward (Kieslich,
1981; Dean, 1988; Hansen and Knowles, 1988). Changes on
the shorelines near jettied inlets are unidirectional over the
long term, with accretion updrift and erosion downdrift in-
stead of bidirectional (erosion–accretion cycles) as occurs
before jetty construction. Beaches in the inlet throat generally
are removed by tidal scour where parallel jetties are closely
spaced. Where jetties are spaced far apart, beaches in the inlet
throat are not always eliminated but the inlet channel may be
less predictable for navigation (Nordstrom, 1987).
Developed Coasts 403
Shoreline erosion downdrift of jetties is well documented
(Everts, 1979) and can occur at rates so great that topography
can change from dunes to overwash flat, altering vegetation
assemblages (Roman and Nordstrom, 1988). Adverse effects
of sand starvation may be prevented by making provisions for
sediment bypass. Jetties can have a positive effect on for-
mation of dunes by creating wider beaches updrift of them
that increase the likelihood that dunes and dune fields will
form and survive. The accretion zone is likely to attract the
interest of developers; hence, provisions must be in place to
prevent development, if the environment is intended to evolve
naturally (Nordstrom, 2000).
Marinas and port facilities built out from the shore are
common along some coasts (Anthony, 1994, 1997). These
structures act as artificial headlands that break up the orien-
tation of the shoreline, change refraction and diffraction pat-
terns, trap sediment, deflect sediment offshore, and starve
adjacent downdrift beaches (McDowell et al., 1993). Beaches
may be eliminated to create marinas, but new beaches may be
intentionally created adjacent to or within these marinas using
sediment dredged from navigation channels.
10.15.6.3 Recreation Structures on the Beach
The effects of piers depend on length, width, pile diameter,
pile spacing, number of piles per bent, bent spacing, and pile
bracing. Horizontal members can act as barriers to wind flow
and waves and swash during storms. Little field data exist on
the geomorphic effects of pilings and piers, but Weggel and
Sorensen (1991) noticed measurable influence of a pier on
local longshore transport rates and beach planform, and
Miller et al. (1983) showed greater depth, steeper slope, and
greater vertical variation in beach profiles along a pier than in
profiles away from it. They considered the changes similar to
what would occur at a permeable groin.
Seafront promenades (Figure 4) and boardwalks (wooden
promenades on pilings) provide longshore access for pedes-
trians. Their impact on beaches and dunes depends on where
they are placed, how they are constructed, and to what extent
they are kept free of sediment transported to them. Promen-
ades elevated above the backshore surface act as total barriers
to sediment transport and may be protected by seawalls,
which place structural effects farther seaward (Figure 4).
Boardwalks can allow sand to be transported under them by
wave and aeolian processes. The boardwalks themselves need
not be protected by shore-parallel structures, but a bulkhead
or sand fence may be constructed near them to protect ad-
jacent buildings and infrastructure from wave damage or wind
drift. Thus, the passive effects of boardwalks are relatively
benign, but they define the locations of other human actions
that may interfere with sediment transfers.
Many kinds of small structures are placed right on the
beach to enhance recreational beach use, including bath
houses (cabanas), commercial stalls, umbrella stands, chairs
and beach baskets, lifeguard towers and buildings that contain
rescue or first-aid equipment. These structures are generally
considered temporary, but damage from minor storms leads
to complaints by entrepreneurs to provide protection struc-
tures (Fabbri, 1989). Maximization of use of these recreation
404 Developed Coasts
structures may also involve grading operations and calls for
converting them into permanent buildings, resulting in a
geomorphic impact that greatly exceeds that of the initial
structures. Local zones of aeolian accretion and scour are
commonly associated with these structures, but these effects
are temporary. Wave uprush or beach-grooming operations
generally eliminate the topographic changes they introduce.
10.15.6.4 Buildings
The direct effects of buildings have been less well studied than
actions taken to facilitate their construction and subsequent
use or to protect them from coastal hazards (Nordstrom,
2000). Buildings replace the backshore and dune and reduce
the source area for wind-blown sand, and they alter wave
uprush and wind directions and speeds, thereby altering de-
positional patterns (Nordstrom and McCluskey, 1984, 1985).
Buildings can provide barriers to sediment transport and
separate landforms from their sediment sources. They can also
accelerate flows around them and between them, increasing
the likelihood of local scour.
Buildings designed as permanent structures are rarely built
on the active beach, but subsequent erosion may eventually
place them there. Post-storm evaluations of houses on pilings
remaining on the beach indicate that they have little effect on
landform characteristics, whereas houses built on the ground
create obstructions to flow and cause localized zones of
accretion and scour.
A substantial difference can occur in the degree of inter-
ference with wind velocity by houses located at different ele-
vations with respect to the dune crest and in different
configurations (Nordstrom and McCluskey, 1985; Gares,
1990). Different dune shapes can result from the interference
of houses with the wind stream and the direct attempts by
residents to modify the location of sediment deposition using
earthmoving equipment or vertical walls. High-rise structures
can have a more pronounced effect on winds, creating high
speeds near the building and flow separation in the lee, with
reversals in regional wind direction and pronounced upward
flows. These effects may increase rates of aeolian transport and
alter locations of accretion and scour on the beach, if high-rise
buildings are built close to the shoreline (Gundlach and Siah,
1987; Nordstrom and Jackson, 1998).
10.15.6.5 Support Infrastructure
Roads and parking lots with impermeable surfaces provide
pathways for overwash and aeolian transport during large
storms (Hall and Halsey, 1991). They can concentrate runoff
into low places, causing local flooding during heavy rain
events. Typically, overwash deposits on these surfaces are ei-
ther bulldozed to sides of roads or returned to the beach.
Sediment bulldozed to the sides of roads and parking lots
creates either hummocky or linear surfaces that are generally
landscaped according to the tastes of local managers. Some
deposits are left to develop naturally. Aeolian transport across
roads commonly results in a dune that is physically decoupled
from the beach source but is still supplied by it. Roads and
parking lots are characteristically protected against wave
erosion by seawalls and against wind-blown sand by sand
fences or sand barriers (low impermeable structures), greatly
restricting the zone over which aeolian processes can occur.
Although roads and parking lots can allow transfers across
them, the landforms that develop on their margins are rarely
allowed to evolve naturally and characteristically look more
like spoil piles than landforms.
Drainage pipelines and culverts on the beach can change
locations of accretion and erosion, slow littoral drift, and
form traps for accumulation of windblown sand. Water
from storm drains that empty onto the beach can scour the
surface and fluidize the sediments. The effects on the beach
of these structures are poorly known as are the impacts of
modifications of the beach to construct, repair, or enhance
their use. Most are temporary and are removed by storm-wave
uprush.
10.15.7 Characteristics of Human-Altered
Landforms
Human-altered landforms may be evaluated in terms of lo-
cation, dimensions, orientation, topographic variability, sedi-
ment characteristics, mobility, and the degree to which they
form and evolve by natural processes. Identification of the
ways these landforms differ from natural landforms is of
fundamental importance in managing coastal systems, but
geomorphologists have generally been reluctant to engage in
this kind of research.
10.15.7.1 Location
Beach nourishment can extend the beach farther seaward than
it would be under natural conditions and displace the location
of the breakers and surf farther offshore. Jetties and groins may
displace the zone of wave action seaward in the accretion zone
but displace it landward in the sand-starved areas downdrift. In
the long term, construction of human facilities and protection
projects contribute to maintaining beaches within a more re-
stricted zone but farther seaward than they would be under
natural conditions. Artificially created foredunes built for shore
protection are generally closer to the ocean than under natural
conditions because the zone within which they can exist is
restricted by structures landward of them, and seaward growth
is favored because of the installation of sand fences (Gares,
1990). Dunes that are allowed to survive on private properties
landward of the beach commonly are incorporated into the
cultural landscape, thus eliminating what would be a backdune
zone on natural shores (Nordstrom, 2000).
The boundaries of human-altered landforms are inevitably
defined by human values. Thus, spatial differences in land-
form characteristics along the shore may conform to juris-
dictional boundaries reflecting sociopolitical differences
(Mauriello and Halsey, 1987) rather than to geographical
variation in natural processes or sediment budgets. In the
USA, foredunes are often managed as municipal resources and
pronounced differences in dune widths, heights, and numbers
of fence rows can occur at municipal boundaries (Grafals-Soto
and Nordstrom, 2009).

10.15.7.2 Dimensions
Nourished beaches may be built higher than natural beaches
to provide protection against flooding and overwash, although
this practice can have adverse environmental effects (Jackson
et al., 2010). Grading of natural dunes to create a better rec-
reation platform may create a locally higher beach. Raised
platforms constructed on the backshore to accommodate
recreation structures are higher than would be created by
normal wave conditions (Nordstrom and Arens, 1998).
Higher than normal beaches can occur updrift of shore-pro-
tection structures, and lower than normal beaches can occur in
the sand-starved locations downdrift. Grading of beaches to
create wider platforms and raking of beaches to eliminate litter
also can decrease beach elevation.
Dunes tend to be low where residents demand easy access
and views of the water from shorefront homes (Nordstrom
and Mauriello, 2001). Foredunes are highest where safety is
the principal value, government control is strong, and sand
fences and vegetation plantings augment natural trapping
rates. The heights of dunes in many communities in the
USA represent a compromise between recreation and pro-
tection; the bulk of the dune is built to adequate heights to
provide protection against small storms but not interfere with
views, and low points (often at the elevation of the back-
shore) are allowed at intervals alongshore to favor beach
access.
Much of the variation in beach width along developed
shores is now more a function of landscaping and protection
structures on the backshore than differences caused by natural
factors (Kana, 1993). Beaches may be narrower than under
natural conditions due to seaward placement of sand fences
that build the dune onto what was the backshore (Gares,
1990) or because of the prevention of migration of the land-
ward portion of the backshore by human infrastructure
(Anthony, 1997; Nordstrom, 2000). Beach nourishment may
create a wider beach than occurred prior to development in
urban resorts that are nourished frequently or widened to
enhance recreation.
Dunes in developed areas are generally narrow because the
landward extent is restricted by human infrastructure. Wide
dunes exist in developed areas where accretion has occurred
near shore-perpendicular structures (Jackson and Nordstrom,
2011), providing that regulations have prevented new devel-
opment from encroaching.
10.15.7.3 Orientation
Protection structures transform longer, natural beaches into a
new set of smaller drift cells (Byrnes et al., 1993), producing
more breaks in orientation per unit length of shoreline.
Shorelines can become more linear where nourishment op-
erations bury structures, but nourishment operations that are
localized and erosion hot spots on nourished beaches can
create pronounced local breaks in orientation. Dunes in de-
veloped areas are characteristically more linear than natural
dunes because their creation and subsequent management are
simplified as linear features. Foredunes are linear whether they
are created using sand fences, vegetation plantings, or earth-
moving equipment (Nordstrom, 2000).
Developed Coasts 405
10.15.7.4 Topographic Variability
Beaches in human-altered areas generally have less topo-
graphic variability (Figure 4). Nourished beaches are com-
monly constructed with a simple profile shape; recreation
beaches are generally graded flat to facilitate beach access and
use; and beach cleaning eliminates incipient dunes and
prevents extension of existing dunes seaward. Topographic
variability of the beach alongshore may be increased at shore-
perpendicular protection structures as a result of formation of
local zones of accretion and erosion (Nordstrom, 2000).
Dunes generally have less topographic variability than their
natural counterparts where they are formed by sand fences or
earth-moving equipment (Figure 6) because they generally are
designed to a common standard (Nordstrom et al., 2007).
Dunes may have greater topographic variability where they
form by aeolian processes at isolated or shore-perpendicular
structures or where they are created using earth-moving
equipment without subsequent reshaping (Figure 7). Actions
taken by individual residents may create considerable diversity
at the scale of individual lots (10–30 m).
10.15.7.5 Sediment Characteristics
Exotic materials may be introduced to the beach matrix, if
nourishment operations use sources outside the immediate
beach environment. The characteristics of opportunistic
sources can depart dramatically from native sediments
(Sherman and Jones, 1999). Even where sediment is nearly
ideal in textural composition, the method of handling the
borrow material in its transportation to the fill site will affect
its local textural composition (Swart, 1991). Dramatically
different beach materials may be introduced in less traditional
nourishment projects or projects that use the beach as a
way of disposing dredged sediment or creating new land
(Anthony, 1994). Wave reworking of exotic fill sediment
may produce landforms that mimic natural landforms in
their form, but the mineralogy, color, or texture (and thus
their function) may depart dramatically from native materials
(Nordstrom et al., 2004). The portion of the beach that is not
Figure 7 Bulldozed dune with disposal piles of sediment removed
from the beach in cleaning operations at Whale Beach, New Jersey,
USA.
406 Developed Coasts
reworked by waves may diverge even more through time as
aeolian transport creates a surface layer of more resistant
exotic materials (Jackson et al., 2010).
Dunes created by bulldozing, or dumping from trucks, or
beach-cleaning equipment (Figure 7) have poorly defined in-
ternal stratification, and they may contain sediments that are
too coarse or too fine to be aeolian deposits. Sediments from
offshore that are used to build dunes may be shell rich relative
to natural dunes (van Bohemen and Meesters, 1992; van der
Wal, 1998), and may have different leaching characteristics that
affect the flow of water and nutrients (Adriaanse and Choosen,
1991). Formation of lag surfaces on nourished dunes may keep
these locations from retaining sand and allowing marram grass
to grow (van Bohemen and Meesters, 1992). Dunes may have
cores designed to resist erosion or may have formed over shore-
protection structures (Dette and Raudkivi, 1994; Nordstrom
and Arens, 1998; Schreck Reis et al., 2008; Antunes do Carmo
et al., 2010), although they may be capped by sand and
resemble natural dunes on the surface.
10.15.7.6 Mobility
Most direct human action is designed to reduce the long-term
mobility of the beach in the landward direction (to protect
infrastructure) and alongshore (to retain beach volume in
hazard-prone developed areas or to prevent excessive sedi-
mentation downdrift), but mobility can be greatly increased in
the short term by human actions. High rates of mobility can
occur locally as an unwanted byproduct of shore-protection
operations or navigation improvements, although, eventually,
a new equilibrium is achieved and subsequent mobility is
greatly reduced. Mobility associated with beach nourishment
can greatly exceed natural rates, especially where the fill ma-
terials are finer than the native materials (Nordstrom, 2000).
Aeolian transport rates may be greatly increased during
construction phases of building programs, where stabilizing
vegetation is removed (González-Yajimovich and Escofet,
1991). Once dunes are created and shaped according to human
needs, attempts generally are made to protect them in place,
and they become less mobile. The practice of constructing new
protective foredunes well seaward of the previous foredunes, or
the bulkhead line, or boardwalk enhances the mobility of the
landform due to wave erosion. Most restrictions to dune mo-
bility are due to structures, including bulkheads and seawalls
that prevent erosion of dune deposits landward of them and
sand-trapping fences that prevent besanding of buildings and
shore-protection structures and keep dunes from migrating
inland (Gares, 1990; Nordstrom, 2000).
10.15.8 Distinguishing Natural from Human-Created
Landforms
A distinction can be made between landforms created inten-
tionally and those that form unintentionally (opportunistically).
Humans can be considered intrinsic agents in evolution of
landforms created and shaped by them and extrinsic agents in
evolution of landforms that are unintended or allowed to form
without help or hindrance (Nordstrom and Arens, 1998). Bea-
ches created by direct nourishment may be artificial in form and
function if they are maintained as recreation platforms or pro-
tection structures. Nourishing beaches with sediment similar to
native materials and allowing beaches and dunes to evolve on
their own, without raking or emplacing sand fences, can result
in more natural forms.
The most natural dunes occur where human actions are
extrinsic and associated with changes in boundary conditions
(beach nourishment, accretion at structures, and accidental
introduction of exotics) or changes in wind and sediment
paths that affect dune development (jetsam on beach and
structures). Actions that are intentional include changing the
susceptibility of the surface to erosion or deposition by
planting or removing vegetation, trampling, and installing
fences, and by changing the dune volume directly by disposing
litter, bulldozing, or nourishing the dune (Nordstrom and
Arens, 1998). Either natural processes or human actions may
be dominant in the long term. Considerable opportunity
exists for aeolian processes to modify the foredunes after they
are created, even in locations where exotic materials are
dumped (Figure 7). Recognition of the many ways that
human alterations contribute to our conception of a dune and
its value will help in developing more sophisticated models
for foredune evolution in developed areas and help identify
ways to make these landforms more compatible with natural
values (Nordstrom and Arens, 1998; Nordstrom, 2008).
10.15.9 Cyclic Change versus Progressive Change
Beaches and foredunes on a transgressing natural shoreline are
commonly conceived as undergoing a landward shift, with
cycles of destruction and restoration of their equilibrium form
and cross-sectional area as they are displaced inland (Pilkey,
1981). Foredunes on landward-migrating shores may main-
tain their form and dimensions in the long term by continu-
ous migration (Psuty, 1989) or re-achieve their form and
dimensions through breaching by storm waves, followed by
buildup landward of the former crestline (Godfrey et al.,
1979). Scenarios of change for eroding developed coasts that
do not include beach nourishment as a management option
are driven by limitations in sediment availability (Nordstrom,
1994). The ability of landforms to adjust their forms and di-
mensions to major process changes is impaired relative to
natural systems. Storm events on developed shores eventually
convert wide beaches and wide and topographically varied
dunes to truncated forms and convert multiple dune crestlines
to single ridges that decrease in width and eventually are
eliminated as erosion proceeds (Pilkey, 1981; Nordstrom
et al., 1986). Large seawalls without a fronting beach are
considered the final stage of the progression of human alter-
ations to maintain a fixed position on a migrating shoreline in
the absence of a long-term commitment to beach nourish-
ment (Pilkey, 1981). This scenario describes a closed system of
coastal evolution.
Rejuvenation of features characteristic of a natural land-
scape can occur with massive inputs of beach nourishment or
changes in regulations that prohibit or limit construction or
reconstruction of protection structures. These human adjust-
ments reestablish the potential for an open system (cyclic)
scenario of change for developed coasts (Titus, 1990;

Nordstrom, 1994). The reestablishment of the potential for
cyclic change by nourishment is the result of conscious human
decisions and the availability of funding. Thus, whether
natural geomorphic features will re-form through time is
dependent on human values for the resource. Although re-
stored beaches are likely to evolve under natural cycles of wave
action in the short term (at least between nourishment oper-
ations), transfers between the beach and locations farther in-
land may be prevented by human actions. A lack of linkage
between the beach and the remainder of the coast can occur
under both the closed- and open-system scenarios (Nord-
strom, 1994).
10.15.10 Maintaining or Restoring Natural
Processes, Structure, and Functions
Human-modified beaches and dunes can be put back on a
natural trajectory by restoring the sediment, the basic shapes
of landforms, the characteristics of microhabitats, and the
processes of wave and wind reworking. Most efforts taken to
manage landscapes to achieve greater natural values may only
achieve a few restoration goals, and the mobility of landforms
and habitats may be limited by the need to keep projects small
because of cost or spatial constraints, but collectively, these
efforts reveal the ways more comprehensive restoration goals
can be addressed. Key to long-term success of environmental
restoration projects is how much freedom is given to natural
processes (Nordstrom, 2008). This section identifies ways
natural processes can be enhanced by altering or removing
shore-protection structures and introducing compatible
beach-management options that can be exercised on the local
level. These include restricting raking or driving on beaches
and dunes, removing or altering sand-trapping fences, pro-
tecting endangered species, altering growing conditions, con-
trolling exotic species, and allowing time for naturalization to
occur. Differences in the space available for landforms to
evolve on developed shores will require alternative manage-
ment scenarios. Options for spatially restricted locations are
examined in the context of dune management.
10.15.10.1 Determining Appropriate Levels of Dynamism
Much of the problem of managing beaches and dunes as
natural systems within developed areas is that healthy natural
systems are dynamic, but humans want a system that is sta-
bilized to make it safe, maintain property rights, or simplify
management (Nordstrom, 2003). Stability is generally the
major goal in managing dunes for shore protection, and
stable dunes can even be favored by natural resource managers
wishing to protect a specific environmental inventory. It is not
always easy for managers to consider change as a positive
factor in conservation (Doody, 2001), but many scientists and
an increasing number of managers advocate dynamic systems
to allow nature to undergo exchanges of sediment, nutrients,
and biota, follow cycles of accretion, erosion, growth, and
decay, and retain diversity and complexity, resulting in greater
resilience (Garcı́a-Mora et al., 2000; Doody, 2001).
Dynamism is not a problem for fauna adapted to the beach
environment. The ability to survive on beaches is a key feature
Developed Coasts 407
of many shore animals, and interspecific competition is
minimized because few macrofaunal species can tolerate the
harsh conditions (Brown, 1996). Natural foredunes are in-
herently dynamic and fragmented (Garcı́a-Novo et al., 2004),
and portions of them are always in an incipient state. A dune
maintained as a dynamic system can be more resistant to
erosion, cheaper to maintain, have greater natural values, and
be more sustainable than a fixed dune (Garcı́a-Novo et al.,
2004; Heslenfeld et al., 2004; Martı́nez et al., 2004). The op-
timum condition for dune environments may be one where
different sections are evolving at different rates or stages,
providing many alternative environments characterized by
different degrees of sediment movement and ground covers
(Nordstrom, 2008). Designing restoration projects for barrier
islands that allow overwash in some areas and dune building
in other areas (Rosati and Stone, 2009) is one way of achieving
this.
Characteristically, the limit to how much dynamism can be
tolerated is related to the distance to the nearest human in-
frastructure. Where there is insufficient space, human efforts
may be required to control and adapt to change rather than
prevent it or allow it free reign, using a strategy that can be
called ‘controlled dynamism’ (Nordstrom et al., 2007). Con-
trols can be placed on the magnitude of change by providing
protection against some storm effects or some human inputs
(but not all of them) or controlling the location of change by
protecting or abandoning natural habitat or human uses in
some regions but not all.
10.15.10.2 Altering or Removing Shore-Protection
Structures
Small-scale projects have been conducted to remove shore-
protection structures to allow farmland or campsites to
undergo wind and wave reworking (Isermann and Krisch,
1995). Dikes are being relocated landward or breached but
generally in estuarine environments where wave energies are
low and levels of investment are not great (Warren et al., 2002;
Garbutt et al., 2006). Natural breaches in dikes on the open
coast can have a positive effect on biodiversity (van der Veen
et al., 1997), and at least one dike-relocation project is plan-
ned for an open coast (Nordstrom et al., 2007). Dunes, like
dikes, can be mechanically breached or can be allowed to
erode to the point where they are breached by storm waves,
allowing low uplands to flood and change the nature of the
habitat (Arens et al., 2001; Nordstrom et al., 2007).
Building low-profile, shore-protection structures and low-
ering or abandoning existing structures are becoming more
common, with recognition of the need to limit public ex-
penditures for shore protection, provide more compatible
natural habitat, improve esthetics for recreation, or reinstate
sediment transfers across and along the shore (Brampton,
1998; Zelo et al., 2000; Aminti et al., 2004). Groins are
allowed to deteriorate if money for repair or replacement is
lacking, if sediment is needed on adjacent beaches, or if in-
tentional breaching of dunes and dikes landward of them is
desired (Nordstrom et al., 2007). They have been removed in
some locations (McDowell et al., 1993; Beachler and Higgins,
1992), but there is little documentation of the results on
408 Developed Coasts
beach change. Shortening or lowering of groins to allow for
some bypass of sediment is more common than removal and
is better documented (Nersessian et al., 1992; Kraus et al.,
1994). Alternatives for groin design that allow for sediment
bypass while slowing erosion rates are identified in Kraus and
Rankin (2004). Like managed retreat in estuaries, projects to
abandon or reduce levels of protection on the open coast are
considered feasible because: (1) the new natural environments
will have so much value that the project is considered cost-
effective; (2) the human-use environment that will be exposed
to natural processes has so little value under present con-
ditions that protection efforts can be discontinued; and (3)
existing protection structures are insufficient to provide future
protection and would have to be reconstructed anyway
(Nordstrom et al., 2007).
10.15.10.3 Introducing Compatible Management Options
at the Local Level
Restricting beach raking is a crucial environmental action that
is well within the control of local managers. Alternatives to
widespread raking include separating the beach into man-
agement zones with different methods or frequency of clean-
ing; cleaning beaches less frequently; removing cultural litter
and leaving natural litter in place; using nonmechanical re-
moval methods; retaining the uppermost storm wrack line as
the core of an incipient foredune and the most recent wrack
line as a foraging area; establishing no-rake zones alongshore;
and restricting cleaning to months when beaches are inten-
sively used (Nordstrom, 2008).
Where driving on the beach is permitted, restricting vehicle
use to portions of the beach between wrack lines would leave
the most species-rich microhabitats and incipient dunes
intact.
It seems better to have a few well-managed and well-
patrolled high-use vehicle trails than many dispersed low-use
trails; hence, the number of trails and shore-perpendicular
access points should be restricted (Godfrey and Godfrey, 1981;
Priskin, 2003). Driving along the shore is rarely necessary
where paved shore-parallel roads exist landward.
Sand-trapping fences can help construct dunes quickly, but
they prevent the free exchange of sediment and biota across
them and create linear landforms. Nordstrom et al. (2000)
and Grafals-Soto and Nordstrom (2009) suggested using
fences only for creation of the first dune ridge that functions as
the core around which the natural dune evolves. The resulting
dune would have more natural contours, greater topographic
variability, and greater species diversity than the type of dune
dike typically associated with development. Use of sand fences
to create a sacrificial dune seaward of the existing dune is a
common practice that often provides limited benefits, and it is
questionable whether this use of sand fences is more valuable
than using a less expensive symbolic fence that would pre-
vent users from trampling the dune and seaward growth of
vegetation but allow sand to be blown into these areas to
increase dune volume (Grafals-Soto and Nordstrom, 2009).
The same fences used to trap sand are commonly used to
control pedestrian traffic (Matias et al., 2005; Nordstrom et al.,
2000), creating new depositional features that do not mimic
natural landforms in location or orientation. Symbolic fences
that provide cues to visitors but do not interfere with sediment
transport or movement of fauna would be better for control-
ling visitor movement.
Recent initiatives for protecting endangered species by
controlling active human uses reveal great potential for re-
storing naturally functioning beaches and dunes (Nordstrom
et al., 2000; Breton et al., 2000). Suspension of raking, bull-
dozing, and driving on the beach during the bird-nesting
season leads to accumulation of litter in wrack lines, colon-
ization by plants, and growth of incipient dunes that can
evolve into dune fields. Expansion of this concept to pro-
tecting non-endangered species would convert a substantial
portion of the upper beach into a naturally functioning en-
vironment (Nordstrom and Mauriello, 2001).
Altering growing conditions to favor more dynamic dune
surfaces can be subject to resistance, in part because of the
long history of stabilization efforts (Marsh, 1885). A need still
exists for stabilization in the early stages of creating protective
dunes and restoring landforms excavated for mining and
burial of pipelines (Ritchie and Gimingham, 1989; Lubke and
Avis, 1998), but categorical stabilization should be resisted.
Use of exotic vegetation has lost favor with many managers of
public conservation areas. As a result, attempts are being made
to remove it. Examples of difficulties involved are presented in
Lubke (2004) and Wiedemann and Pickart (2004). Exotics are
still generally preferred over native species for landscaping on
private lots on dunes just landward of the beach (Mitteager
et al., 2006); hence, the problem of eradication is not simply
confined to public management areas.
Many actions taken to restore habitats and landscapes that
make use of structures or earth-moving machinery are simply
a way of compressing the time dimension in order to achieve a
target state sooner than would happen by natural processes.
These projects should be considered emergency solutions
only. Following emergency actions, a lower level of human
input may be sufficient to allow landforms to evolve and be-
come sustainable by natural processes alone. A problem oc-
curs in spatially restricted environments where ongoing
human efforts may be the only way to retain diversity of
landforms and habitats.
10.15.11 Dune-Management Options in Spatially
Restricted Environments
On a naturally functioning coast, the transition from pioneer
beach plants to fully mature forests can extend over environ-
mental gradients of hundreds to thousands of meters (McLa-
chlan, 1990). Richness is diminished near the beach, where few
species can tolerate the stresses of sand mobility and salt spray
(Moreno-Casasola, 1986). Pioneer plants most tolerant of salt
spray and sand blasting form embryo dunes on the backshore,
and grasses form foredune ridges (Hesp, 1989). Protection
from salt spray and sand inundation landward of the foredune
favors growth of woody shrubs in the seaward portions and
trees and upland species well landward (Figure 8(a)).
Human actions restrict sediment budgets, eliminate the
landward (in some cases all) dune subenvironments, and re-
strict the space for reworking of the beach and dune by natural
 Developed Coasts 409

Natural gradient Trees

Grasses Shrubs
Contains all microhabitats and species
Microhabitats function naturally Pioneer
Good for shore protection plants
(a)

Dynamic zone
Option enhanced
by nourishment Truncated gradient
Pioneer Grasses
One microhabitat with few species
Microhabitat functions naturally plants
Options restricted
Mobile surface
by erosion (b)

Dynamic zone

Compressed gradient Fences Grasses

Many species
Shrubs
Microhabitat variety Sacrificial
Stable surface
ridge
Human action required
(c)
Dynamic
zone

Expanded gradient Trees

Shrubs
Pioneer Grasses
Relatively species rich
Microhabitat variety plants
Seaward surface mobile Buried
(d) structure
Dynamic zone

Fragmented and decoupled gradient Shrubs

Microhabitat variety, but little space available Grasses
Stable surface landward Pioneer
Habitats isolated plants
(e)
Dynamic
Wave eroded/wind accreted zone
portion of dune

Figure 8 Effect of restrictions in space on dune environments. (a) Natural gradient. (b) Truncated gradient. (c) Compressed gradient.
(d) Expanded gradient. (e) Fragmented and decoupled gradient. Modified from Nordstrom, K.F., 2008. Beach and Dune Restoration. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.

processes. Nourishment can provide space for subenviron-
ments to evolve, but the available cross-shore distance is likely
to be less than a natural dune occupies. Where space is lim-
ited, the dune may be managed to provide a dynamic and
naturally functioning incipient dune microhabitat in a trun-
cated environmental gradient (Figure 8(b)) or a spatially re-
stricted sampler of the species that would occur in a wider
transect of a natural dune. This kind of compressed environ-
mental gradient (Figure 8(c)) must be enhanced by human
efforts to maintain relative stability of the landward portion of
the dune (Freestone and Nordstrom, 2001).
Naturally evolving gradients that are truncated by human
structures on the landward slope (Figure 8(b)) may consist of
only the most dynamic subenvironment of the dune, but that
subenvironment provides habitat for nesting birds, and seed
sources for pioneer species that in turn provide food for fauna
(Nordstrom et al., 2000). A natural but truncated gradient is
an achievable initial attempt at restoration on coasts where
managers now grade and rake the beach to maintain it as a
recreation platform. To make this conversion, stakeholders
must accept natural beaches, with their wrack, vegetation, and
topographic obstacles, as suitable recreation sites (Nordstrom,
2008).
More of the cross-shore sequence of habitats found in
natural areas can be represented in spatially restricted
compressed environments (Figure 8(c)), even if the dis-
tances cannot be representative (Nordstrom et al., 2002; Fea-
gin, 2005); but species typical of the backdune can only exist
close to the beach if growing conditions are enhanced by a
relatively stable surface that is protected from inundation by
sand, water, and salt spray. Artificially maintaining a protect-
ive, sacrificial barrier on the seaward side of the foredune using
410 Developed Coasts
sand fences can provide this protection and achieve greater
species richness for a given space than on truncated gradients.
The compressed gradient provides a more reassuring image of
geomorphic stability than is provided by a truncated gradient,
giving it a utilitarian value that fosters acceptance of dunes
where natural landforms are under-appreciated (Nordstrom,
2008).
Municipal managers who build or maintain dunes usually
can only do that on the publicly owned beach, resulting in a
dune that is small relative to its natural counterpart. Extension
of the dune onto private lots can create an expanded en-
vironmental gradient (Figure 8(d)), but considerable effort
will be required to gain acceptance of natural features by
private landowners and overcome their fears that regulations
on uses of the new dunes on their properties proscribe the
land-use rights they hold (Nordstrom, 2008).
Portions of dune may remain adjacent to buildings on
developed lots (Figure 8(e)), or on lot-sized dune enclaves
that remain as undeveloped areas within development zones.
If the patches of vegetation in developed areas have variety in
size and age, they can contain nearly as many species as
nonfragmented areas (Escofet and Espejel, 1999). These dunes
may be fragmented or decoupled from their source of sand on
the beach, if exchanges of sediments and biota are prevented
by human structures. These dunes are the most unnatural of
all dune types in terms of vegetation and internal character-
istics of the sediment (where shaped mechanically), but the
lack of dynamism on these dunes and their location relatively
far landward make them suitable sites for growth of backdune
species that require time to evolve (Nordstrom and Jackson,
2003).
Some outcomes in Figure 8 are relatively easy to achieve,
whereas others require changes in policy and practice.
Natural gradients require space and now occur only where
environmental or safety regulations specify great setback
distances for new construction. Beach nourishment may be
necessary to create this type of gradient where structures have
encroached on the beach and dune, but maintenance nour-
ishment will be required to allow these environments to
survive in the long term. A truncated gradient is easily
achieved, but the dynamism associated with it is likely to be
perceived as a negative characteristic by local managers. A
compressed gradient, with its species-rich inventory, its
value for shore protection, and its location completely within
the publicly managed part of the shore make this a common
and preferred option in many locations. The cost of main-
taining the dune as a primary barrier against continued
storm-wave attack using sand fences and bulldozing makes
this option relatively expensive, but the value of the dune
for protection of infrastructure justifies the expenditures
(Nordstrom, 2008).
An expanded gradient would require participation by pri-
vate lot owners; hence, each resident would have to be in-
formed about environmentally compatible landscaping.
Fragmented and decoupled gradients represent environ-
mentally degraded states, but they provide the opportunity for
nature to occur where it would not otherwise. These dunes
may be the only vestiges of formerly occurring secondary
dunes, which makes their preservation and enhancement
critical, despite their small size and lack of dynamism.
10.15.12 Prognosis
Developed landforms, left unmanaged, respond to energy
inputs according to the same laws as natural landforms, but
differences occur between the two landform types in terms of
the mechanisms of change, freedom of movement, locations
of sources and sinks for sediment, internal structure, outward
appearance, spatial relationships, and the temporal scales as-
sociated with of cycles of change. The criteria that define a
beach or dune on a human-altered coast vary from place to
place and over time, attesting to the integral role that humans
have in altering both coastal landforms and coastal landform
functions (Nordstrom, 2000). Return to pristine nature may
be an impossible goal considering the increasing pace of
coastal development, but restoration alternatives provide a
way by which many natural values can be regained.
The natural interplay of sediments, landforms, and biota
does not have to be limitless to retain natural functions, but
the amounts of dynamism and complexity that are critical to
maintain long-term viability are difficult to specify. The right
kind of erosional conditions are difficult to plan and predict.
Designs may have to be by trial and error, and adaptive
management may have to be an important component of
projects.
Compromise solutions will be required to accommodate
nature while retaining recreational and protective values of
landforms in restricted space. Geomorphologists may have to
accept a less than perfect definition of what is natural or how a
natural trajectory should be defined. Scientific research has
highlighted the ways developed coasts differ from natural
coasts but has largely ignored the conclusions that natural
landscapes are a myth, that human agency is now a part of the
coastal environment rather than an intrusion within it or an
overlay upon it, and that human-altered landscapes can and
should be evaluated as a generic system (Nordstrom, 1994).
A priority task for geomorphologists will be to determine
reference and target states for developed areas and determine
how the concept of naturalness can be redefined and used as a
standard (Nordstrom, 2003).
Human-altered landforms have not benefited from much
scientific study in the past, presumably because these land-
forms were considered too small, temporary, site specific, or
artificial to be of interest, but these landforms and habitats
take on increased importance when they are ubiquitous or
recurring (Nordstrom, 2000). The large temporal and spatial
scales that generally characterize studies of natural coastal
systems have little relevance in assessing changes that now
confront coastal managers and may be perceived to have little
relevance in developing workable solutions to present-day
problems. Many scientists think that it is the responsibility of
local stakeholders to make dramatic changes in their temporal
and spatial frameworks for managing coastal landforms
(Nordstrom, 2003). It is necessary for geomorphologists to
bridge this relevance gap if they are to make headway in re-
versing the trend toward environmental degradation. Chan-
ging the perceptions and practices of stakeholders to achieve
new objectives for conservation and restoration requires
knowledge of the reasons managers now alter landforms
and habitats, the means they use, the impact of economic
incentives, and the constraints of government regulations.

Table 2 Broad research questions for geomorphologists working on
developed coasts
How do developed coasts evolve?
How do landforms and habitats change due to changes in social and
economic processes?
How are landforms altered to achieve specific human needs?
What are the characteristics of the resulting landforms and the temporal
scales of evolution?
How effective are regulations in preserving landforms and their
associated habitats?
What are the viable alternative approaches to conserving or restoring
landforms?
How can human alterations be made more compatible with natural
processes?
What are the ways by which natural values can be maintained while
accommodating human use?
What are the tradeoffs involved in using static versus dynamic
approaches to management?
What are the research requirements to address the issues above?
Source: Modified from Nordstrom, K.F., 2000. Beaches and Dunes of Developed
Coasts. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
A two-way advisory process is required to allow managers to
educate scientists about the constraints of local politics and
economics and allow them to then devise workable strategies
tailored to these constraints. Humans constitute an increas-
ingly important process in the evolution of landforms, and
study of landforms requires knowledge of their capabilities
and limitations.
This review highlighted only some of the many ways land-
forms are altered by humans and the ways the resulting land-
forms may be studied. Study of human-altered coastal systems
offers many new opportunities for geomorphologists to con-
duct research. The number of avenues for research is too great
to identify here (see Nordstrom, 2000, 2008), but it is possible
to identify some of the basic questions within which individual
projects can be framed (Table 2). The lack of a geomorphic
tradition for the study of human-altered systems places few
constraints on those willing to address their complexity.
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Biographical Sketch

Karl F. Nordstrom is a Professor at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New
Brunswick, NJ, USA. He gained his PhD in Geography from Rutgers University. Prof. Nordstrom conducts research
on the dynamic processes affecting the size, shape, and location of beaches and dunes in ocean and estuarine
environments. These investigations involve assessment of winds, waves, and currents and the effect of these
processes on sediments, landforms, and biota. Models of beach and dune change have been formulated for both
undeveloped and developed coasts. Research has also been directed towards analysis of coastal land use, requiring
assessments of the social implications of changes to beaches and dunes. He has conducted research on strategies
applicable at the national level, such as management requirements for national seashores and Federal Flood
Insurance guidelines. Activities at the state and municipal levels include assessments of the effects of creating or
altering dunes and restoring naturally functioning environments in intensively developed municipalities. His
visiting positions were as follows: Geography Institute, University of Greifswald, Germany, 2006; Department of
Territorial Studies and Planning, Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, 2005; Marine Institute, Universidade do Vale do Itajaı́,
Brazil (Instructor of short course), 2002; Department of Geography, University of Western Australia, 1998; De-
partment of Geography and Soil Science, University of Amsterdam, 1995; Geography Institute, University of Kiel,
Germany, 1990; and Geography Department, University of California, Los Angeles, 1981.
 10.16 Evolution of Coastal Landforms
RA Davis, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, and Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.16.1 Introduction 418

10.16.2 Role of Tectonics in Coastal Evolution 418
10.16.3 Sea Level Influence on Coastal Evolution 420
10.16.3.1 Quaternary Sea-Level Changes 423
10.16.3.2 Late Holocene Conditions 424
10.16.4 Evolution of Coastal Environments 425
10.16.4.1 Fluvial Deltas 425
10.16.4.2 Estuaries 427
10.16.4.3 Barrier Island Systems 429
10.16.4.4 Tidal Inlets 435
10.16.4.5 Tidal Deltas 436
10.16.5 Rocky Coasts 438
10.16.5.1 Leading Edge Rocky Coasts 438
10.16.6 Glaciated Coasts 438
10.16.7 Rocky Carbonate Coasts 440
10.16.8 Case Histories of Coastal Evolution 441
10.16.8.1 Gulf of Mexico Barriers with Emphasis on Texas and Florida 441
10.16.8.2 North Sea Barrier-Inlet Systems 444
10.16.8.3 Mississippi River Delta Area 444
10.16.8.4 Panhandle of Alaska 445
10.16.8.5 Southeastern Australia and Bahamas 446
10.16.9 Summary 446
References 446

Glossary Holocene The most recent designated period of geologic

Accommodation space The space along a coast between
the ocean bed and sea level in which sediment can
accumulate.
Barrier migration As barrier islands are washed over,
there is a conveyor effect causing the barriers to migrate
landward.
Bayhead delta Streams that deposit large amounts of
sediment within an estuary may produce a significant delta
which is called a bayhead delta. Good examples are the
Mobile River in Alabama and the Colorado River in Texas.
Eustatic sea level Sea level position on a global basis.
Eustatic changes in sea level are worldwide.
time, including the present. It is an artificial designation by
paleontologists as 10 000 years to present with all remains
of organisms preserved before that being designated as
fossils.
Progradation Coastal development under slowly rising or
stable sea level tends to add sediment with the shoreline
moving seaward, which is termed progradation.
Retrogradation The landward movement of the shoreline
typically caused by erosion.
Tectonic setting The location of the coastal region on a
crustal plate and the geologic dynamics of that crustal
margin.

Abstract

The coastal systems of the modern globe have evolved over a geologically short time – only about the last ten thousand
years. The main influences on coastal evolution include sea level change, sediment availability, and coastal processes,
predominantly wave climate and tidal conditions. The tectonic setting of the coast is also a significant factor in that it
controls the structural and geomorphic setting. Delta systems develop primarily on trailing edge coasts because of sediment

Davis, R. A., 2013. Evolution of coastal landforms. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in

Chief), Sherman, D.J. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press,
San Diego, CA, vol. 10, Coastal Geomorphology, pp. 417–448.

Treatise on Geomorphology, Volume 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00293-1 417

418 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

supply and a broad shallow shelf. Estuarine and barrier/inlet systems follow a similar pattern with extensive systems on
trailing edge coasts and small ones on leading edge coasts. The rate of sea level rise over the period of the last deglaciation
has been extremely important in coastal evolution. A rapid rise severely limits the time necessary for an extensive coastal
system to develop, whereas a slow rise or stable sea level permits the development of an extensive coastal system, all other
factors being equal.

10.16.1 Introduction 10.16.2 Role of Tectonics in Coastal Evolution

The geomorphology of the present coast has evolved, in
general, over only a few thousand years. Similar coastal
morphologies have also been present at multiple times during
the geologic history of the earth, especially during the Qua-
ternary. Most of the character of the present coast is the result
of the interaction of waves and tides, but there is an important
control of these by sea-level change. The nature and scale of all
of this play out across the tectonic setting of the coastal
environments.
This discussion begins with a consideration of the influ-
ence of tectonics on the world coast. Plate boundaries and
plate motions are very important in influencing coastal pro-
cesses and therefore in the development and nature of coastal
environments. The role of sea-level change and its position
within the tectonic context is also critical to coastal evolution.
Rates, amounts, and directions of various cycles and sub-cycles
of sea level change control coastal development. The other
fundamental variable for coastal evolution is sediment
availability.
Several excellent reviews of coastal geomorphology have
been compiled in recent years. These include Cowell and
Thom (1994) and Woodroffe (2005), among others.
The classic work of Inman and Nordstrom (1971) provides an
excellent global picture of the large-scale tectonic settings for
coastal development. They organized all coasts into three
easily identified categories (Figure 1). Leading edge coasts are
those that are on the leading edge of a moving crustal plate,
whereas trailing edge coasts are on the opposite side of a
moving plate. The third, less widespread category is a marginal
sea coast. Included are oceanic environments bounded by is-
land arcs such as are common in the southwestern Pacific
Ocean.
Leading edge coasts tend to be at or near plate margins
where the continental margin is narrow, has high relief, and is
topographically quite irregular. The classic example of this
type of marginal marine setting is the west continental margin
of North and South America. The continental shelf is narrow,
with numerous fault blocks. Submarine canyons are common
and may extend landward as far as the surf zone. For the most
part, sediment supply to the coast is limited due to the small
drainage systems that characterize these plate margins. Much
of the sediment that reaches the coast is directed down the
submarine canyons. As a result, because of the combination of
the narrow coastal setting and the limited amount of sediment

Arctic Ocean
Greenland

Arctic circle

North Europe
America
Asia

Tropic of Cancer

Pacific Atlantic Pacific

Africa
Ocean Ocean Ocean
Equator
South Indian
America Ocean
Tropic of Capricorn
Australia
Microtidal (<1.0 m)
Lower mesotidal (1.0−2.0 m)
Upper mesotidal (2.0−3.5 m)
Lower macrotidal (3.5−5.0 m)
Upper macrotidal (>5.0 m) Southern Ocean

Figure 1 Global map of coastal types based on tectonic setting. Reproduced from Inman, D.L., Nordstrom, C.E., 1971. On the tectonics and
morphologic classification of coasts. The Journal of Geology 79, 1–21, with permission from University of Chicago Press.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 419

Milankovitch cycles
Eccentricty
Almost elliptical Almost circular
Orbit

(a) Periodicity 96 000 years

Axial tilt
a b

Equ
ato Equ
r ato
Radiation

Radiation
r
24½° 21½°

(b) Periodicity 42 000 years

Precession of the equinoxes

(i) Now
Periodicity c. 21 000 years
23½° winter Summer

Summer
(ii) In c. 5250 years

Equator
Winter
(iii) In c. 10 500 years

Summer Winter

(c)
Figure 2 The three astronomic cycles that influence climate on the earth as recognized by Milankovich.

available, coastal depositional environments are discontinu-
ous and restricted in their extent. Erosional rocky coasts are
widespread.
Trailing edge coasts display marked contrasts to the leading
edge type. These plate margins are generally wide when they are
mature, but they take tens of millions of years to develop.
The width of the continental shelf is a good index of this
maturity. For example, the margins of the Red Sea (Neo-trailing
edge), a very young spreading system, are quite narrow, whereas
the margin on the Atlantic side of the North American plate
is very wide (Amero-trailing edge) due to its age of more than
150 million years. These margins are typically adjacent to wide
coastal plains. This combination allows the development of an
extensive fluvial system to deliver sediment to the coast and
provides a wide, shallow margin where these sediments can
accumulate in various environments.
Marginal sea coasts are, typically, similar in their morph-
ology to the trailing edge coasts. In these settings, the tectonic
activity associated with the plate boundary is hundreds to
thousands of kilometers seaward from the coast. Generally
there is a complex and large fluvial system that supplies
abundant sediment to a broad continental margin. Wave en-
ergy tends to be relatively low because of the fetch-limited
nature of the basin. The South China Sea is an excellent ex-
ample of such a tectonic setting. Actually, although there are
some differences, the Gulf of Mexico is also a marginal sea for
tectonic purposes. Although tectonics plays a critical role in
the overall geologic and geomorphic setting for coastal
420 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

Interglacial Interglacial

Warmer
A
Colder

B
C Inter
Stadial Stadial
stadial
Glacial Glacial

Time interval 200 000 years

Figure 3 Superimposed Milankovich Cycles, showing how they become in phase and out of phase over time.

2
δ18O (%0)

3 9
5 63
21 35
4
78 82 96 100
5 12
6 16

6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6
Age (Ma)
Figure 4 Plot of oxygen isotope ratios as sea level changes over Quaternary time showing the numerous rises and falls of sea level. Modified
from Shakleton, N.J., Berger, M., Peltier, W.R., 1990. An alternative astronomical calibration of the Lower Pleistocene time scale based on ODP
Site 677. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 81, 251–261.

development, the actual evolution of coastal environments is

5e
generally not influenced by tectonic activity, but only by the −2.0 9 0

Glaucioeustasy (m)
7 11
tectonic setting in which it occurs.
−1.0 5a 5c

5b 5d
∂18O

0
10.16.3 Sea Level Influence on Coastal Evolution 3

1.0 8
4 10
Sea level can change globally, regionally, or locally depending
on a variety of factors. For the most part, this discussion of 2.0 2
6 12
−120
coastal evolution as influenced by sea-level change will em-
phasize the global or eustatic scale with modest consideration to 0 100 200 300 400
regional situations. The changes in direction that take place on Years BP (× 1000)
the global scale are the same as those that take place regionally Figure 5 Plot of sea-level changes during the latter part of the
or locally; only the scales and rates of change are different. Quaternary Period. Modified from Shakleton, N.J., Berger, M., Peltier,
Eustatic changes in sea level can only result from changes in W.R., 1990. An alternative astronomical calibration of the Lower
the size of the ocean basins and/or from changes in the volume Pleistocene time scale based on ODP Site 677. Transactions of the
of water in the ocean basin. The primary reason for the former Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 81, 251–261.
is plate tectonics, and the cause of the latter is climate – namely
the development and melting of glacial ice sheets. Over geologic shape of the ocean basins change dramatically. Because plates
time both of these factors have caused many tens to more than move only up to a few centimeters per year and the oceanic
a hundred meters of sea level change in hundreds of thousands ridges change at comparable rates, sea level changes that result
to tens of millions of years (Revelle, 1990; Douglas et al., 2001). from this tectonic activity are large but very slow. Significant
As spreading centers develop and plates move, the size and changes take millions of years.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 421

Present
coastline Sa
bin
et
ren
ch
Trin
Houston ity t
renc
h Houston Houston
Col Braz
ora os tr
do ench
tren
ch

Gua
dalu
oe t
renc
h Gulf of
Gulf of Gulf of
México México
Nuecas trench México
Corpus Christi Corpus Christi Corpus Christi

h
nc
t re Harlingen
nde Harlingen
Harlingen a
o Gr
(a) Ri (b) (c)

Figure 6 Generalized map of the Texas coast during the time of maximum glaciations (a) and subsequent sea level positions (b) to the present
(c). Reproduced from Leblanc, R.J., Hodgson, W.D., 1959. Origin and development of the Texas shoreline. Proceedings of the Second Coastal
Geography Conference, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, pp. 57–101.

95°0′0″W 94°0′0″W 93°0′0″W

30°0′0″N

30°0′0″N
50
km
29°0′0″N

SB 2
29°0′0″N

N Datum: msl (m)

4

−43

95°0′0″W 94°0′0″W 93°0′0″W

Figure 7 Map of fluvial system on continental shelf during time of sea-level lowstand during the Pleistocene Epoch. Courtesy of K.T. Milliken.

By contrast, the volume of water in the ocean basins can to its position in space, and the wobble of the axis, called
change relatively rapidly, over only a few thousand to tens of Milankovich Cycles, enable the development and demise of ice
thousands of years. Climate changes caused by changes in the sheets. These cycles that produce climate change were recog-
obliquity of the earth’s path, the angle of the earth axis relative nized in 1924 by Mulutin Milankovich, a Serbian astronomer.
422 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

91° 90° 89° 88° 87° 86° 85°

30°
Mississippi River Delta

200

29°

10 28°
00

1000

20
00

25 27°
00

3000

26°

3500

0
25°
300
2500 0
200
1500
1000
00
50 35
0

200 24°
N

km
0 20 40 60 80 100

23°
Figure 8 General bathymetric map of the thick sediment fan offshore of the present Mississippi Delta. Reproduced from Bouma, A.H., Coleman,
J.M., Wright-Meyer, A.A., Stelting, C.E., 1985. Mississippi Fan, Gulf of Mexico. In: Bouma, A.H., Normark, W.R., Barnes, N.E. (Eds.), Submarine
Fans and Related Turbidite Systems. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 1434–1450.

The length of each cycle ranges from about 96 000 years to
about 21 000 years (Figure 2). By superimposing these cycles
we can see how they may be in or out of phase and the climatic
consequences of these situations (Figure 3).
Growth of glaciers, ice sheets, and ice caps can cause sea
level to drop from tens to more than 100 m. Such ice bodies
have been present on the earth at various times throughout
Earth history. This discussion focuses on the sea-level changes
that were produced by the formation and melting of ice sheets
during the Quaternary Period, especially the Holocene Epoch.
It is this period during which the coast as we know it evolved.
The Quaternary Period comprises the past 2.5 million years
of geologic time. Climate change was relatively common and
cyclic during this time. As a consequence, there was the de-
velopment and melting of extensive ice sheets that covered
much of the northern hemisphere. These ice sheets, also called
continental glaciers, covered essentially all of Canada and
much of the northern United States, extending as far south as
the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. They also
covered Greenland, northern Europe, and parts of Asia. In the
southern hemisphere, ice covered the southern part of South
America and all of Antarctica.
The increased volume of these ice sheets caused sea level
to drop more than 100 m during some cycles. In addition to
these major changes in sea level there were numerous smaller
rises and falls associated with each large cycle. In the
past, these major cycles in the Quaternary were divided
into four stages based on chronology and land-based stratig-
raphy. In North America they were the glacial stages of
the Nebraskan, Kansan, Illinoisan, and Wisconsinan, from
oldest to youngest. In Europe they were the Gunz, Mindel,
Riss, and Wurm, essentially synchronous to those of North
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 423

S N
Holocene Pleistocene Late Pilocene
Prairie-Beaumont Montgomery Bentley Citronelle
terrace terrace terrace
(MIS 1) (MIS 5-3) (MIS 7)

Gulfport-ingleside
barrier
MSL
Barrier (beach) ridges
Marine and paralic deposits
Alluvial deposits

Figure 9 Schematic topographic profile along rthe northern coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico showing sediment bodies that accumulated
during sea-level highstands during the Pleistocene. Modified from Otvos, E.G., 2005. Numerical chronology of Pleistocene coastal plain
development: extensive aggradation during glacial low sea level. Quaternary International 135, 95–113.

America. During each of these glacial stages, sea level dropped 10

so that the shoreline was near the outer edge of the contin- 0
ental shelf. Melting of the ice during the interglacial stages −10
caused sea level to rise to positions even inland from its pre- −20
−30
sent location.

Sea level (m)

This scheme of glacial and interglacial stages and their as-
sociated changes in sea level was land-based and therefore was
subjected to problems of erosion and incomplete stratigraphy.
In the early 1950s a graduate student, Cesear Emiliani, at the
University of Chicago, developed a scheme for determining
detailed changes in climate and therefore in sea-level change.
He found that the ratio of oxygen isotopes in marine-
precipitated calcium carbonate was a good proxy for climate
change because it is dependent on water temperature
(Emiliani, 1954). Planktonic foraminifera incorporate calcium
carbonate in their shells (tests) and the oxygen in that car-
bonate material is present with isotopic ratios that were pre-
sent in the oceanic water at that time. These foraminiferal tests
accumulate in the sediments of the ocean floor, where they are
preserved in continuous sequences; erosion is not a factor in
this environment.
Many cores of deep-sea sediment that include sediments
deposited during the entire Quaternary Period are available for
study. By plotting the oxygen isotope ratios determined from
planktonic foraminifera against time, it is possible to deter-
mine climate changes that can be formulated into sea level
changes (Figure 4). Note that there are some large-scale cycles,
and there are small-scale ones superimposed on them.
For purposes of this discussion and the development of the
present coastal geomorphology, the emphasis will be on the
past few hundred thousand years only. During this time there
have been multiple cycles of sea-level change, with coastal
evolution taking place during each (Figure 5). For com-
munication purposes, each sea-level high and sea-level low
has been assigned a number. The times of high sea level are
odd numbered and the low times are even numbered. Each of
these cycles is considered as a stage, and some have substages
associated with them. For example, the most recent highstand
of sea level was Stage 5, which has multiple substages. Stage 5e
−40
−50
−60
−70
−80
−90
−100
−110
−120
−130
20 000 15 000 10 000 5000 0
Cal yr BP
Figure 10 Plot of overall sea level rise during glacial melting
showing the irregular pattern of rise and fall. Reproduced from
Balsillie, J.H., Donoghue, J.F., 2011. Northern Gulf of Mesico sea-
level history for the past 20 000 years. In: Buster, N.A., Holmes,
C.W. (Eds.), Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters and Biota: Geology. Texas
A&M University Press, College Station, TX, vol. 3, pp. 53–72.
was the highest (Figure 5), about 3–5 m above present sea
level. With these data in mind, it is possible to understand
how and when coastal systems developed and were strongly
modified during the rise and fall of sea level as the shoreline
moved tens to hundreds of kilometers.
10.16.3.1 Quaternary Sea-Level Changes
Sea level has been much lower than present and also some-
what higher during the numerous glacial and interglacial
stages of the Quaternary Period. During times of extensive ice
sheets, the shoreline has moved seaward, exposing most of the
present continental shelf (Figure 6). As sea level lowered,
fluvial systems extended across this province, producing very
wide coastal plains on the trailing edge and marginal sea
coasts and an extended band of high relief on leading edge
coasts. These fluvial systems were similar to those we see on
424 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

the present coastal plains but generally lacked large deltaic
complexes (Figure 7) because the systems continued to the
edge of the continental shelf. Most of the sediment carried by
these streams was transported to the edge of the shelf and
down the continental slope to form thick, deep-sea fans such
as off the mouth of the Ganges–Brahmaputra and Mississippi
rivers (Figure 8).
The shoreline was quite irregular with embayments that
were associated with the river valleys and protuberances be-
tween them. This type of shoreline was strongly influenced by
tidal activity – tide-dominated in many places. There were
times during the fall of sea level when the climate stabilized
for perhaps centuries (Milliken, 2008). This also stabilized sea
level temporarily and permitted wave-dominated conditions
to prevail. Such conditions produced barrier islands, some of
which are still present below present sea level on the contin-
ental shelf (Locker et al., 2003).
There were also periods during the Pleistocene when glacial
melting was pronounced and sea level rose several meters
above its present position. During these circumstances there
were also times when the movement of the shoreline was very
slow or stable for significant periods. Again, wave-dominated
conditions prevailed and significant volumes of sandy sedi-
ment accumulated along the shoreline of the time, forming
barrier islands. These sandy ridges are preserved above present
sea level on the outer coastal plains in some areas (Figure 9).
Glacial melting began, and about 18 000 years ago sea level
began rising. The average rate of this rise was more than a
Mexico show that sea level slowed markedly at that time but
was still several meters below its present position (Scholl and
Stuiver, 1967; Balsillie and Donoghue, 2011). Abundant data
from this coastal system show another change at about 3000
years before present. There are three interpretations of what
happened next. Some say that sea level reached its present
position at that time; others are of the opinion that it rose
slowly during that time (e.g., Spurgeon et al., 2003), while the
third interpretation is that sea level has moved above and
below the present position about a meter or so during this
period (Fairbridge, 1961).
The bottom line is that rapid sea-level rise definitely
slowed, or perhaps stopped, about 6–7000 years ago. During
the previous 12 000 years when sea level was rising rapidly
most of the coastal morphology was irregular and was strongly
influenced by tidal processes. The shoreline was moving
too fast for wave-dominated processes to control coastal
morphology (Davis and Clifton, 1987). As a consequence,
barrier/inlet systems were absent or quite rudimentary. There
is information that shows small barriers formed during the
short stillstands in sea-level rise (Figure 11). These barriers
were preserved because they were passed over by rapid sea-
level rise (Locker et al., 2003). There was not enough time at
one sea level position for waves to destroy the barriers.
Sediment input

ate
centimeter per year during about the first 11–12 000 years.

Elo
ng
There were many variations in this period of rise; sometimes

ng
Elo

ate
sea level would fall or remain essentially stable for periods of Mississippi
decades to a few centuries (Figure 10). It should be noted that
the commonly used term of Holocene sea-level rise is mis- Fluvial
leading. Holocene time is defined by palaeontologists as dominated
te

10 000 before present, so it begins in the middle of the period

Ra
ba

dia
of rapid sea-level rise. This definition is used to distinguish
Lo

l
fossil and non-fossil remains. Mahakang
Huanghe Song Hong
Tide
10.16.3.2 Late Holocene Conditions Nile Orincco dominated
Mekong Ganges-
Depending upon the location around the world and the par- Wave Brahmapura
te

Em
dominated Ayayaiway
a

ticular investigator, there are differences in what seems to have Fly

sp

Changleng
ba
Cu

happened to sea level about 6–7000 years ago. The post- Copper Amazan
Colorado ye
glacial sea-level curve (Figure 10) shows a distinct slowing of
sea-level rise at that time. In some places, such as Austra- Wave energy Tidal energy
lia, the consensus of opinion is that sea level reached its pre- Figure 12 Delta classification of Galloway (1975) showing the three
sent position at that time. By contrast, data from the Gulf of end members that are produced by a dominant process.
Water depth (meters)

0 Sea level
Thin sand ridges
10 Hardbottom ro Holocene sediment
Miocene
sediment veneer
limestone
20 Deformed
Sinkhole ?
limestone bedrock
30
N9 Siesta key

Figure 11 Seismic profile of inner shelf of the west Florida shelf showing the presence of sand bodies that are probably relic barrier islands.
Reproduced from Locker, S.D., Hine, A.C., Brooks, G.R., 2003. Regional stratigraphic framework linking continental shelf and coastal deposits of
west-central Florida. Marine Geology 200, 351–378.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 425

Pre-late pleistocene (undif.) Delta complex

Red Mississippi Maringouin/
River Late pleistocene (undif.) 1 sale/cypremort
31° N River
Macon ridge channel belt ca. 7.5-5 ka
Atchafalaya Teche
Baton Holocene (undif.) 2
River ca. 5.5−3.5 ka
rouge
3 St. Bernard
Lafayette ca. 4.0−2.0 ka
30° N New Orleans Lafourche
4
ca. 2.5−0.8 ka
3
5 Plaquemine/
Balize
ca. 1.0−0 ka
6
5 Atchafalaya/
29° N 4 6 wax lake/
1 ca. 0.5−0 ka
2
0 50 100 km Glacial-period
valley

93° W 92° W 91° W 90° W 89° W 88° W

Figure 13 Multiple lobes of sediment deposition during the formation of the Holocene Mississippi Delta. Reproduced from Kolb, C.R., Van
Lopik, J.R., 1966. Depositional environments of the Mississippi River deltaic plain. In: Shirley, M.L. (Ed.), Deltas in their geologic framework,
Houston Geological Society, Houston, Texas, p. 22.

Wave-dominated coasts are typically characterized by rocky

Fluvial
platforms with sea stacks, wave-cut terraces, etc., if it is a high- system
relief bedrock-dominated coast such as on leading edge coasts
like those on the west coast of North and South America. Upper
On trailing edge and marginal sea coasts, the dominant delta plain
morphology includes barrier islands and tidal inlets that are
protecting estuaries, or deltas of various types. It is only under ‘Inactive’ delta Su
ba
stable or very slowly rising sea level that such diverse coastal eri
al
geomorphology develops. de
lta

Lower
10.16.4 Evolution of Coastal Environments delta plain
Channel-
mouth bars
Once sea level rise had slowed substantially about 6–7000 (Tidal ridges)
Su
years ago, the coast of the present day began to take shape. ba
q
The general lack of significant sea-level change permitted de ueou Delta front
lta s
coastal processes to mold available sediment into various platform
morphologies. With sea level being essentially constant
Delta front
there are only three primary variables in coastal development: slope
tides, waves, and sediment availability. Climate is a secondary Prodelta
factor in that it can strongly influence wave climate and
sediment availability. Both tides and waves create currents that Figure 14 Schematic map of a typical tide-dominated delta.
are very important in distributing sediments along the coastal Reproduced with permission from Goodbred, S., Saito, Y., 2011.
system. Tide-dominated deltas. In: Davis, R.A., Dalrymple, R.W. (Eds.),
In terms of the geologic history of the earth, our present Principles of Tidal Sedimentology, New York, Springer, pp. 129–149.
coast has developed in an instant: only about seven thousand
years out of 4.5 billion. The extremely young age of the vari- environments are only briefly considered. Excellent dis-
ous coastal environments enables scientists to determine the cussions of those can be found in Scholle and Spearing
detailed chronology of the development of each of them using (1983), Woodroffe (2005), and Dalrymple and James (2010),
various types of radiometric and luminescence dating. or in Chapter 10.14.
The following discussion emphasizes the predominantly
depositional environments of trailing edge and marginal sea
coasts. Although leading edge coasts are widespread, they are
10.16.4.1 Fluvial Deltas
dominated by erosion with limited deposition that occurs
primarily in embayments between headlands. The discussion Rivers are by far the most important source of newly delivered
is also limited to those environments dominated by terrige- sediment to the coast. The amount is dependent on the size of
nous or siliciclastic sediments. Carbonate-dominated coastal the drainage basin, the geology of that basin, the climate
426 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

within the basin, the discharge at the river mouth, and a place
for the sediment to accumulate. Those fluvial systems that
deposit a prograding sediment complex produce a delta. A

SA
river that empties onto a leading edge margin may carry

O
abundant sediment, but without a relatively shallow and
broad shelf, sediments are transported into deep water and a is
anc c
Fr
delta cannot develop.

Ri
Deltas may be large or small, but regardless of that, there N

ver
are typically three general morphologies (Figure 12) that Atlantic
evolve (Galloway, 1975) with a continuum in between each. Ocean
These include fluvial-dominated deltas that display extensive,
0 8 16
finger-like projections across what was the inner continental Uplands
km
shelf. Waves and tides have little or no influence on the Marsh-mangrove
Aeolian dunes
morphology that develops. One of the best examples of this
Beach ridges
type of delta is the Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico coast. It Channel deposits
is important to note that this large delta complex includes not Floodplain

only the present ‘‘active’’ lobe but also several others, none of
which is more than 7000 years old (Figure 13). Frazier (1967)
described 16 lobes that occur within four major lobes plus the
two modern ones. Over time, avulsion has produced changes
in the site of sediment deposition and the development of
these lobes.
Tide-dominated deltas have a geomorphic appearance that
is similar to tide-dominated estuaries except that they typically
extend beyond the adjacent coastline and they contain pro-
grading sediment bodies. Tidal range is generally meso- or
macrotidal (Davies, 1974). The essentially shore-normal tidal
currents dominate the morphology by forming elongate
sediment bodies (Figure 14). Excellent examples include the
Ganges–Brahmaputra, the Yangtze, the Amazon, and the Fly
rivers. In North America, the Colorado River delta that emp-
ties into the Gulf of California is tide-dominated. Each has a
very large sediment discharge except for the Colorado. In the
case of that delta the absence of significant sediment accu-
mulation is due to impoundments and diversions of flow for
irrigation and domestic consumption. This permits tides to
dominate the morphology.
Wave-dominated deltas have generally smooth shorelines
(Figure 15) as a result of the influence of waves and wave-
generated currents. Much of the sediment delivered to the
mouth of the river is transported across or along the inner
shelf and sand tends to dominate the outer portion or delta
front of the delta complex. Good examples include the Sao
Francisco in Brazil (Figure 15(a)), the Nile, the Ebro in Spain,
and the Senegal on the west coast of Africa (Figure 15(b)).
Orientation of wave approach and longshore sediment
transport are major influences in the overall morphology of
these deltas. For example, the Sao Francisco is quite sym-
metrical, indicating an absence of significant longshore sedi-
ment transport, whereas the Senegal shows a dramatic
deflection of the main channel due to net alongshore move-
ment of sediment (Figure 15(b)).
It is important to understand that overall delta morph-
ology and classification produces a very gradual transition
between categories as shown in Galloway’s (1975) diagram. As
conditions, either natural or human-influenced, change there
can also be significant changes in morphology. Wave climate
and tidal range do not change in the short term, that is, over
decades or a century; however, sediment discharge may. This
can take place through climate change and therefore sediment
(a)
Senegal river delta
N
0 50
km
Beach-dune
Dist. mouth bar
(b)
Figure 15 General maps of (a) the Sao Francisco, Brazil, and
(b) the Senegal (Africa) deltas showing the difference in their
overall morphology. Modified from Wright, L.D., 1985. Deltas. In:
Davis, R.A. (Ed.), Coastal Sedimentary Environments. Springer-Verlag,
New York.
change or by various types of human influence. For example,
sediment discharge in the Mississippi River increased greatly
when agricultural development of the midwestern US took
place on a large scale in the few decades at the end of the
nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. The
active lobe of the Mississippi Delta increased greatly over that
short time.
Another human factor is the damming of rivers to prevent
sediment discharge. A good example of this is in the Nile River
system. Construction of the Aswan Dam to provide irrigation
for the southern desert of Egypt impounded huge quantities of
sediment. The result has been absence of sediment discharge
and major erosion on the Nile Delta (Stanley and Warne,
1998). Similar events have taken place on the Mississippi River
beginning in the 1930s with the construction of dozens of
dams along its course.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 427

Pre
sen
t-da
y se
a le
vel

–350 ft

~18 000 years ago

~10 000 years ago

~4500 years ago

Present day

Figure 16 Diagrammatic sequence of the evolution of the estuarine system as sea level rose during the Holocene.

Figure 17 Example of a small estuary on a leading edge coast, New South Wales, Australia.

10.16.4.2 Estuaries freshwater-influenced coastal bay (see Chapter 10.12). These

systems have evolved as fluvial systems, and their wide
The definition of an estuary by Pritchard (1967) is applied mouths were inundated by the Holocene transgression over
to a wide range of geomorphic entities. Basically it is a the past 6–7000 years (Figure 16). As with the case of deltas,
428 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

Dispersal zones and routes Age (cal yr B.P.)

Estuarine Estuarine 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10 000 12 000

Estuary 0
fluvial marine
−2

no data
−4

2
m
m
−6

yr
River

–1
Sea This study − peat
−8

Depth (mbsl)
This study donax sp.
Tornqvist et al.
−10 (2004, 2005, 2006) − peat
Previous studies − peat
−12 Best-fit sea-level curve
Tides
River inflow Waves
−14
Sediment Supply
Fluvial Marine −16

Figure 18 Schematic map of an estuary showing the three −18

prominent sub-divisions of sediment type.
−20
NoGoM Sea-level record
Figure 20 Sea-level curve for post-glacial times showing periods of
stability during which barrier islands could develop. Reproduced from
Milliken, K.T., 2008. A new composite sea level curve for the
northern Gulf of Mexico. Geological Society of America Special Paper
443, 1–11.

tributaries in the lower portion of the drowned fluvial

(a)
(b)
Figure 19 Generaized maps of (a) tide-dominated and (b) wave-
dominated estuaries.
these coastal complexes may take on a range of morphologies
depending on sediment input, tidal energy, and wave climate.
They are common on all coasts in all tectonic settings. The
only major situation where true estuaries are absent is along
desert coasts where fluvial morphologies of the Quaternary
Period have dried up, leaving the coastal bays hypersaline
without any freshwater influence.
The overall coastal geomorphology strongly influences the
scale and shape of estuaries. Leading edge coasts typically have
small estuaries bounded by high relief uplands such as those
present on the Oregon coast of the United States, New South
Wales in Australia (Figure 17), and the fjords of Scandinavia
and Alaska. Coastal plains on trailing edge and marginal sea
coasts typically have large and numerous estuaries. Some of
these are very irregular in shape due to the presence of
system, for example, as occurring with Chesapeake Bay on
the east coast of the US. On the other hand, there are many
estuaries with a single channel emptying into them, such
as most of those occurring along most of the Gulf of
Mexico coast.
Estuaries are complex systems of multiple environments.
They are commonly fringed by wetlands, salt marshes in the
mid- to high latitudes, and mangroves in the low latitudes.
Depending on tidal range, the adjacent substrate can include
intertidal flats which may be extensive. Subtidal estuarine
environments are commonly shallow and low-energy, with
a transition from land-derived sediments to marine-derived
sediments and an intermediate zone of mixed sediments
(Figure 18). Sediment there is of a biogenic origin in situ;
typically dominated by oysters (Nichols and Biggs, 1985).
Some estuaries have substantial sediment accumulating at the
mouth of the river or rivers that serve it (Figure 16). These
accumulations are called bayhead deltas.
Coastal processes have an important influence on the
morphology of estuaries, to the point that they may be
considered as tide-dominated or wave-dominated (Figure 19).
Various classifications of estuaries have been formulated. They
may be based on hydrodynamics, morphology, or sediment
distribution. Tide-dominated estuaries typically have a funnel
shape, commonly with elongate sediment bodies that separate
channels (Dalrymple, 2010). These prevailed as sea level
slowly rose over the past several thousand years. They typically
have high discharge and/or large tidal range. By contrast,
wave-dominated estuaries have some type of wave-generated
sediment body across the mouth, typically a spit or barrier
island. They persist now on microtidal coasts and have
developed while sea level is near or at its present position.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 429

(a)

(b)
Figure 21 Example of a barrier islands formed by upward shoaling of sand through wave action: (a) Three-Rooker Bar, Florida, and (b) on the
Baltic Sea coast of Denmark.

Stage 1
10.16.4.3 Barrier Island Systems

The globe has literally thousands of kilometers of barrier is-

lands in all latitudes and climates (Stutz and Pilkey, 2011).
They occur in a wide range of sizes and shapes, but nearly all Stage 2
are less than about 7000 years old. These barriers occur in all
tectonic settings, but there are differences. Nearly half by
overall length (49%) occur on trailing edge coasts, whereas
24% are on collision coasts and 27% are on marginal sea (a) (b)
coasts (Glaeser, 1978). Of the trailing edge types, 75% are Figure 22 Origin of barrier islands through (a) upward shoaling of
on Amero-trailing edge coasts, 19% on Afro- and 6% on sediment by wave action and (b) drowning of beach ridges from
Neo-trailing edge coasts. rapid rise in sea level.
430 Evolution of Coastal Landforms
Figure 23 Subtle multiple dune ridges on 90-Mile Beach along the Victoria coast of Australia.
Figure 24 Large washover fan on the Texas coast called Cedar Bayou.
Sea-level change is a major factor in the development of
barrier islands. Because waves are the primary process in
forming barriers, and sediment abundance is critical for their
ability to develop, it takes time for the combination of wave
energy and sediments to produce these barrier islands. As sea
level rises over the gently sloping inner continental shelf,
the shoreline is moving landward. If we consider the
last post-glacial sea-level rise, the initial rate averaged
about 1 centimeter per year and it lasted for about the first
12 000 or so years of post-glacial sea-level rise. This rate was
too high for barrier islands to develop except during the
times of significant pauses in that rise. It has been shown
from Gulf of Mexico data that there were periods of
stability in sea level during this post-glacial time (Milliken
et al., 2008; see Figure 20). Sand bodies occur on the
inner continental shelf that are probably relic barrier islands
formed during these periods of relatively stable sea level
position.
The slowing of sea-level rise about 7–6000 years before
present permitted barrier island formation in many parts of
the globe. Beginning about that time the rate of rise slowed to
2–3 mm yr 1 or less. Looking around the world at our present
barrier islands, they are mostly in the range of 6–7 kyBP (e.g.,
Texas, Georgia, North Sea). On the Gulf coast of peninsular
Florida the barriers are less than 3000 years old. This barrier
system has developed on a sediment-starved carbonate plat-
form. The dearth of sediment caused the barriers to take
longer to develop.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 431

(a) (b) (c)

N N N

200 m Traced from a map 1883 200 m 1926 200 m 1945

(d) (e) (f)

N N N

200 m 1967 200 m 1976 200 m 2000

Figure 25 Historical development of Clearwater Pass between Clearwater Beach (top) island and Sand Key (bottom) as longshore transport
converged. Reproduced from Davis, R.A., Vinther, N., 2003. Historical development of Clearwater Pass, Florida. Coastal Sediments ’03.

Figure 26 Inlet formed on a leading edge coast as longshore sediment transport from a headland area converges on the adjacent headland area
(New South Wales, Australia). Tidal flux is sufficient to keep the inlet open.

We do see barriers developing during historical time due to and on the Florida Gulf coast (Figure 21(b)) that are less than
the relatively stable position of sea level. There are substantial a century old (Davis, 1994a, b). On the Nyarit coast of Mexico
barrier islands on the Baltic Coast of Denmark (Figure 21(a)) (Curray et al., 1969) and the Gulf coast of Mexico (West et al.,
432 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

1969), barriers and wave-dominated strand line coasts are
about the same age as most of the large Florida barriers. These
circumstances are likely to change if the rate of sea-level rise
increases significantly.
Waves and wave-generated currents tend to concentrate the
sand and remove the mud. They distribute the sand along the
coast, where it is concentrated in elongate sand bodies that
parallel the coast. Some are immediately against the mainland
and others have open water between them and the mainland.
These barrier island systems have evolved into a complex of
several environments during the past few thousand years of
slowly rising or relatively stable sea level. This complex con-
sists of the barrier island itself with its beaches, dunes, and
washover fans. Wetlands and tidal flats may also be present on
the landward side of the barrier along the seaward margin of
the adjacent estuary or lagoon. Tidal inlets separate barrier
islands and are quite dynamic depositional environments (see
Chapter 10.7).
The origin of these barrier islands has been debated for about
one and a half centuries, with three proposed mechanisms for
their formation. One is through the breaching of barrier spits
such as are abundant on leading edge coasts. This is un-
questioned because it takes place commonly, but it does not
explain the many barriers that border coastal plains. The other
two mechanisms are: (1) drowning of beach ridges through
rapidly rising sea level (Gilbert, 1885; Hoyt, 1967); or by (2) the
upward shoaling and accumulation of sand through wave action
(DeBeaumont, 1845; Davis, 1994a, b; Figure 22). Many ex-

Figure 27 Inlet that has closed due to extensive longshore transport of sediment, Dunedin Pass, Florida Gulf coast.

Figure 28 Multilobed flood tidal delta (Johns Pass, Florida) formed when this barrier island was breached during a hurricane in 1848. This type
of flood delta is typical of areas of low tidal range.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 433

amples of barrier formation by upward shoaling have developed
in the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea (Figure 21) during the
past century. To date, no examples of a barrier forming through
the drowning of beach ridges have been documented.
The combination of tidal and wave processes controls the
morphodynamics of barrier islands. This is explained in vari-
ous publications of Hayes (1975, 1979) and will be discussed
in another chapter of this volume (see Chapter 10.8). Evo-
lution of these islands, like all coastal environments, depends
on the interplay between sediments, waves, and tides and on
some coasts, wind. It is common for low-elevation barriers or
parts of barriers without dunes to be overwashed during
storms. This is the primary mechanism that causes the island
to migrate landward. As soon as substantial dunes have de-
veloped on the barrier, the elevation of the dunes prohibits
washover from taking place. As dunes mature they may be
breached at topographic lows, permitting the development of
washover channels. These circumstances commonly develop
large washover fans on the landward side of the barrier.
The most common development on mature foredune rid-
ges is scarping of the dune and seaward or longshore transport
of substantial sand that has been removed from the foredunes.
After the storm subsides it is common for much of this sand to
return to the beach and eventually to the foredune system via

Figure 29 So-called ‘‘horseshoe crab’’ shaped flood tidal delta on the north island of New Zealand. This type of flood delta is typical of
locations were tidal range is at least 1.5 m.

Figure 30 Lighthouse Inlet on the South Carolina, USA, coast showing its extensive ebb delta that is tide-dominated.
434 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

aeolian transport from the dry backbeach. Depending on the

climate and vegetation, dune sediment may become stabilized
or it may be carried landward by aeolian transport. Those
barriers with abundant sediment and low to moderate wave
energy may experience significant progradation. The ultimate
condition will be barriers with numerous dune ridges
(Figure 23). The landward aeolian transport may cover the
washover fans on the backbarrier and eventually become
vegetated, or it may be carried into the backbarrier bay
(Figure 24).
Washover fans comprise the majority of the area of most
barrier islands. Their extent is controlled by multiple factors:
(1) the length of time before dune development prevents

(a)

(b)

Figure 33 Erosional elements of rocky coasts include: (a) wave-cut

terraces, for example, near Sydney, Australia; and (b) sea stacks, for
Figure 31 Typical leading edge rocky coast with headlands and example, near Havana, Cuba, formed during Stage 5e highstand of
small pocket beaches on the coast of Oregon, USA. sea level.

Figure 32 Photographs showing the London Bridge arch on the southern coast of Victoria, Australia, after its collapse.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 435

washover processes; (2) the amount of available sediment;
and (3) the rate of relative sea-level rise. Mature barrier islands
typically have washover fans completely covered by vege-
tation. Topograpically, washovers grade gradually into inter-
tidal environments, either tidal flats or marshes, or a
combination of both.
10.16.4.4 Tidal Inlets
Tidal inlets are an important and complex component of
barrier island systems. These high-energy systems separate
adjacent barrier islands and are conduits for a great deal of
sediment transport. Their origin varies and their morphologies
and sizes range widely. One of the most obvious ways for
inlets to originate is through breaching of a barrier island by a
storm. This may take place by landward or seaward directed
flow or a combination of both. A good example of a breach
generated inlet is Johns Pass on the Gulf coast of Florida,
which was formed by a storm in 1848. The inlet has stabilized
and presently carries a large tidal prism (water budget).
The other primary mode of origin for tidal inlets is through
extension of an existing barrier island or islands, or a spit.

(a)

(b)

Figure 34 Cyclic wave energy as seasons change can change the appearance of the unconsolidated part of a rocky coast. Here on the coast of
Oregon the result is a typical (a) summer beach and a typical (b) winter beach. Arrows point to the same boulder in both photos. Photos
courtesy of W.T. Fox.
436 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

Both unidirectional and converging longshore currents can the inlet, as has occurred in many places. Such conditions also
extend an existing barrier island toward another or toward a may take place where a barrier split migrates against a
headland. As this takes place two things can happen: (1) the headland (Figure 26). In some places where headlands are
two barriers can connect into a single one; or (2) tidal flux absent, unstable inlets close as the result of relatively large
between the open water and the backbarrier water body can volumes and rapid rates of longshore sediment transport
keep a channel open – a tidal inlet. The first condition has (Figure 27).
taken place in prehistoric time between Padre and Mustang
islands on the central Texas coast. The other situation has
taken place between Sand Key and Clearwater Beach Island on
10.16.4.5 Tidal Deltas
the Florida Gulf coast (Figure 25).
Regardless of their origin, tidal inlet complexes tend to The tidal delta sand bodies show various morphologies that
have the same general morphology. A flood-tidal delta accu- are related to tidal and wave processes. There are basically two
mulates on the landward end of the inlet channel and an distinct morphologies that develop on the flood delta, and
accumulation of sediment called an ebb-tidal delta forms at they are dependent on tidal range. A multilobate flood delta
the open water end (Hayes, 1975; Boothroyd, 1985). Both of (Figure 28) develops under tidal ranges generally less than
these sediment accumulations exhibit a range of sizes and about 1.5 m. These are subtidal, and the small change in
morphologies. They provide important sediment sinks along water level does not expose the sand body, which negates any
the barrier island systems. The sediment that comprises them
may have a long residence time during which the sand-dom-
inated sediment body expands. Generally the flood delta has
the longer residence time and the ebb delta is where short
residence time takes place and sediment bypassing commonly
occurs.
The inlet channel may be stable in size and location or it
may change in both respects. It will be stable or may expand in
size when there is a balance between the tidal prism and
longshore transport. When the tidal prism, the volume of
water passing through the channel each cycle, decreases, it is
common for the inlet channel to decrease in cross-section and
to migrate along the barrier system or even to close. Under this
condition longshore transport of sediment overwhelms the
ability of tidal flux to keep the channel cross-section at the
same size and in the same position. Sediments will accumulate
on the updrift margin of the tidal channel and will erode from Figure 36 Steep-sided, deep fijord carved by a glacier along the
the downdrift side. Continuation of this will eventually close coast of Alaska. Courtesy of M.O. Hayes.

Figure 35 Steep eroding cliffs and the sea stacks known as the 12 Apostles on the south coast of Victoria, Australia.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 437

ebb-tidal morphologic changes because the ebb currents pass
right over the flood delta. Under larger tidal ranges the flood
delta is exposed and ebbing currents are directed around the
sand body, causing a combination of changes evolving into
essentially a ‘‘horseshoe crab’’ appearance (Figure 29).
The main influence on the ebb delta morphology is the
interaction between wave-generated longshore currents and
the tidal currents through the inlet channel. Sediment avail-
ability is a secondary factor. When tidal flux dominates the
open water end of an inlet, the sediment bodies extend es-
sentially perpendicular to the barrier shoreline (Figure 30). As
wave influence increases, the ebb delta develops a smooth and
arcuate outer margin (Hayes, 1975).
The evolution of tidal deltas is related to tidal flux, wave-
generated currents, longshore sediment transport, and sedi-
ment availability in general. Flood deltas tend to be initiated
by discrete events, typically breaching of a barrier by intense
storm activity (Figure 28). These obtain their basic character
in only a day or so but then may be maintained and modified
over decades or centuries. If tidal range is microtidal, there is
little that happens to the flood delta morphology after its
initial formation. If the environment is mesotidal or even

Figure 37 Multiple beach ridges exposed as the crust rebounded when glaciers melted in northern Canada on Hudson Bay. Each of these
ridges records a former shoreline location as relative sea level lowered. Courtesy of A. Hequette.

Figure 38 Beachrock exposed at the shoreline in Sarasota County, Florida, USA. Reproduced from Davis, R.A., 1994a. Barriers of the Florida
Gulf peninsula. In: Davis, R.A. (Ed.), Geology of Holocene Barrier Islands. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 167–206.
438 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

upper microtidal (41.5 m), then tidal currents will modify
the morphology over time to achieve the horseshoe crab
morphology (Figure 29).
Flood deltas that develop associated with inlets formed by
merging barriers or a barrier moving against a headland will
evolve over many years. Eventually they can reach the
morphology of the other type but this will be achieved with-
out benefit of an initiating event.
10.16.5 Rocky Coasts
Rocky coasts produce some of the most beautiful landscapes
of all coastal environments. These shorelines comprise more
than two-thirds of the world’s coasts. They are not, however,
among the most interesting from the point of view of coastal
evolution. Essentially, they are products of erosion with small
areas of sediment accumulation in the form of pocket beaches
and spits (Figure 31). They range widely in composition and
structural character but are typically produced by wave activity
or processes associated with wave activity.
For the most part, rocky coasts are associated with leading
edge tectonic settings but they also are present in some gla-
ciated areas and on low-latitude carbonate-rich shorelines.
Most oceanic islands are volcanic and also have rocky coasts.
The composition, stratification, and attitude in space cou-
pled with wave energy are all factors in the evolution of rocky
coasts. All other factors being equal, igneous and meta-
morphic rocks tend to be more resistant to erosion than
sedimentary rocks. Many sedimentary strata are friable quartz
sandstone or limestone, both relatively easily eroded. For the
most part, rocky coasts display more relief than depositional
coasts because they are dominated by erosion. The nature of
the coastal composition dictates that the rate of change is very
slow compared to rates along depositional coasts. Rates of
shoreline retreat are measured in centimeters or millimeters
per year instead of meters per year. There are, however, cir-
cumstances when change can be rapid. For example, London
Bridge on the south coast of Victoria, Australia, collapsed in
minutes in 1989 (Figure 32), leaving people stranded on
the seaward portion. The various aspects of rocky coast
geomorphology are provided in the excellent book by
Trenhaile (1987). Specific features include wave-cut terraces
(Figure 33(a)), sea stacks (Figure 33(b)), arches, and caves.
The upland region bordering such coasts is also high relief,
and contains short and steep drainage systems, so that major
fluvial systems are not present. This results in only modest
production and delivery of sediment to the coast. Wave energy
along such coasts is relatively high because the continental
margin is narrow and steep. This facilitates erosion. However,
the sediment that is produced does not spend much time in
the beach and nearshore environments. It is carried offshore
or alongshore by currents until it is intercepted by the heads of
submarine canyons and transported offshore into deep water.
There are coasts where relief is high and erosion dominates
but that are not associated with active tectonics. Probably the
best example is on the south coast of Australia where Tertiary,
horizontally oriented, carbonate-rich strata are eroded to cre-
ate cliffs that are 30 m and more above the beach surface. This
is the coast with the famous 12 Apostles (Figure 35).
10.16.6 Glaciated Coasts
Quaternary glaciers were important contributors to the
morphology of mid-latitude to high-latitude coasts. Recall that
glaciers may deposit considerable sediment along the coast
Transgressive
Beach
Marsh
Wa
sho
ver
Lag
oon
Mar
sh
Progradational
Beach
Lagoon
Shoreface
Offshore

Aggradational
Beach-
10.16.5.1 Leading Edge Rocky Coasts dune

The majority of rocky coasts in the world are associated with Washover/Aeolian
the leading edge of moving crustal plates. The best example Lagoon/Estuary
is the west coast of North, Central, and South America. Here
Shoreface
the Pacific oceanic plate is colliding with continental plates
and is descending beneath them. The result is the spectacular
scenic coast that extends for thousands of kilometers along the
eastern border of the Pacific Ocean. This type of coast displays
high relief, a wide range of rock types and orientations, pocket
beaches, headlands with spits, and in general is mainly ero- Figure 39 Cross-sections of transgressive (retrogradational),
sional. Depositional elements commonly display seasonal progradational, and aggradational barrier island stratigraphy from the
cycles due to changes in wave energy (Figure 34). Texas coast.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 439

INLET OPENED

INLET CLOSED
ANNA
Anclote Estero
MARIA OPEN AND CLOSE
Keys I. Pass
Pasco Stump
Pass
Pinellas
ESTERO I.
Longboat
Pass

Ma Big Carlos Pass

n
Sa atee LOVERS KEY
ras Gasparilla New Pass
ota
HONEYMOON Pass
Cha
Hurricane rlott Le
e Co e
Pass Lee llie
r
CALADESI I. LONGBOAT
Dunedin Pass KEY
New Pass BONITA BEACH I.
CLEARWATER
BEACH I. LIDO KEY Wiggins Pass
Boca
Clearwater Big Sarasota Grande
Pass Pass Pass
Clam Pass
SAND
KEY N CAYO
SIESTA KEY COSTA

Doctors
Midnight Pass Pass N
Captiva Pass
N
NORTH CAPTIVA I.
CASEY KEY
Gordon
SAND KEY Redfish Pass Pass
KEEWAYDIN I.

Johns Pass
Venice Inlet CAPTIVA I.
TREASURE
Blind Pass
Blind Pass
MANASOTA
KEY

LONG KEY
Little
Marca
Pass
Pass A Grille Big
Bunces Pass Marco
SANIBEL I. Pass
Pinellas
MARCO I.

Hillsborough
MULLET KEY Sa
ras
Egmont Channel Ch ota
arl Scale
EGMONT ott Caxambas
KEY e Pass
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KICE
Nautical miles
Southwest Channel I.
0 2 4 6 8 10 Blind
h
oroug Kilometers Pass
Hillsb
te e
Mana
Stump Pass

Figure 40 General map of the barrier-inlet system on the Gulf coast of Florida. Reproduced from Davis, R.A., 1988. Morphodynamics of the
west-central Florida barrier island system: the delicate balance between wave- and tide-domination. KNGMG Symposium Coastal Lowlands;
Geology and Geotechnology. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp. 225–235.
440 Evolution of Coastal Landforms
but they may also be major contributors to erosion. The
scraping of the sediment-laden ice over bedrock surfaces can
produce rocky coasts with unique morphology. An excellent
example is the coast of Maine along the northeastern part of
the United States. Here the rocky coast is very irregular in map
view but typically does not display high relief. The most
spectacular coastal morphology produced by glaciers is in the
form of fjords, the deep and narrow valleys carved as glaciers
made their way to the sea (Figure 36).
In addition to carving deep valleys to create relief, the huge
ice sheets also caused widespread changes to the coast by
changing the position of sea level. This isostatic impact in-
fluenced both depositional coasts and rocky coasts. The evo-
lution of the coast as we see it now is largely the result of the
rise in sea level as the glaciers melted. In the high latitudes,
especially in the northern hemisphere, the rebound of coastal
areas has resulted in development and preservation of
(a)
(b)
Figure 41 Examples of (a) a retrogradational barrier (Anclote Key) and (b) a drumstick island. Reproduced from Nummedal, D., et al., 1977.
German Bight in Coastal Sediments ‘77.
depositional features that developed at or near former shore-
lines. Among the most prominent such features are multiple
beach ridges such as those found along the margin of Hudson
Bay in Canada (Figure 37).
10.16.7 Rocky Carbonate Coasts
Many coastal areas, especially in low latitudes, have abundant
carbonate sediments in the beach and nearshore environ-
ments. These sediments are commonly of sand size, composed
of skeletal or ooid grains. The typical situation is shoreward
migration of the sediment and eventual deposition in beach
and sub-aerial dune accumulations. Because of the com-
position of the sediment (calcium carbonate) and the migra-
tion of groundwater in generally tropical or sub-tropical
climates, cementation may take place within decades of
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 441

deposition. In effect, the rocky carbonate coasts are built in
geological ‘‘seconds,’’ and they then may be eroded. The beach
sediment lithifies into beachrock (Figure 38) that can stabilize
a beach and make erosion difficult. The dunes may be lithified
as groundwater percolates through the carbonate-rich sedi-
ment and precipitates cement, resulting in the formation of
aeolianites, as they are called.
The Pleistocene Epoch was a time when such conditions
were present at many locations including the south coast of
Australia, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and throughout
the Bahamas and the Caribbean. These coasts develop quickly
in the geologic sense and can also be eroded quickly.
latter part of the Holocene when the present coastal systems
evolved.
Investigation of the Texas barriers extends back to the work
of Fisk (1959) and Bernard et al. (1959) and more recently
that of Morton (1988, 1994). The age of these barriers is
up to about 7000 years, based on the work of Wilkinson
(1975). Although their origin was originally thought to be
from sand transported from the Mississippi Delta area, con-
ventional wisdom now has the origin from the reworking of
extensive deltaic sediments along most of the Texas coast

Wangerooge
Spiekeroog
10.16.8 Case Histories of Coastal Evolution
Langoog

Ha
Otz

r le
A good way to understand how our present coastal systems

um
have evolved is to consider a spectrum of examples. Because

er
of the wide range in coastal types across the globe, only a

bal
few can be considered here. Those chosen include a broad

je
range of coastal types and adjacent mainland geology and
geomorphology. Their environments span a range of sediment
availability, shelf geomorphology, and tidal/wave regimes.
1650
1750
10.16.8.1 Gulf of Mexico Barriers with Emphasis on Texas 1860
(FitzGerald et al,1984)
and Florida 1960

The tectonic setting of the continental margin of the Gulf of
Mexico is essentially the same throughout the basin. There is a
broad, gently sloping shelf, but the underlying geology is thick
terrigenous sediments on the Texas coast (Berryhill, 1978),
whereas the Florida Platform is a thick carbonate section. This
combination results in a somewhat higher rate of regional sea-
level rise in Texas as compared to Florida (Davis, 2011a). It is
expected that this rate of sea level rise has persisted during the
Figure 43 A map showing historical changes to the barrier-inlet
system on the German North Sea coast. Modified from Flemming,
B.W., Davis, R.A., 1992. Holocene Evolution, Morphodynamics and
Sedimentology of the Speikeroog Barrier Island System (Southern
North Sea). Tidal Clastics Guidebook. Senckenberg Institute
Wilhelmshaven, Germany, 92 pp., and FitzGerald, D.M., Penland, S.,
Nummedal, D., 1984. Control of barrier shape by inlet sediment
bypassing: East Friesian Islands, West Germany. Marine Geology 60,
355–376.

Figure 42 Photo of Speikeroog, a barrier island on the German North Sea coast.
442 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

(Morton, 1994). These deltas were deposited on the contin-
ental shelf in the extensive fluvial-deltaic systems that
developed during the Wisconsin glaciations when sea level
was much lower than the present (Anderson and Fillon,
2004).
Processes that dominated the formation and evolution of
the Texas barriers were characterized by waves and wave-
generated currents on a wind- and tide-dominated coast.
As sea level transgressed, waves reworked sediments from
the pre-existing fluvial-deltaic plain, thereby providing the
resources for barrier initiation. The slowly rising sea level
permitted wave processes to concentrate sand bodies. The
landward portions of the fluvial systems were flooded, form-
ing the numerous estuaries that are present across this area.

Figure 44 Time-lapse map showing the deterioration of the Isles Dernieres barriers. Reproduced from Williams, S.J., Penland, S., Sallenger A.H.
(Eds.) 1994. Louisiana Barrier Island Erosion Study. Atlas of Shoreline Changes in Louisiana from 1853 to 1989. USGS/La. State University,
Miscellaneous Investigations Series 1-2150-A. USGS, Reston, VA.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 443

The basic stratigraphy of the barriers changes from location
to location: some of the barriers are aggradational (e.g., Padre
Island), some are progradational (e.g., Galveston Island), and
some are retrogradational (e.g., Matagorda Island), as depicted
in Figure 39.
By contrast, the Florida Gulf coast barrier islands are
generally younger than those of Texas, the oldest being
about 3000 years old (Stapor et al., 1988). This coast contains
what might be the most diverse geomorphology of any
barrier-inlet system in the world (Davis, 1988). It has
developed on a microtidal coast where wave energy is
small, averaging only 30 cm in wave height (Tanner, 1960).
The barrier-inlet complex includes 30 islands that range
from decades to millennia in age, from wave-dominated
to mixed-energy morphologies, and inlets that range from
wave-dominated to tide-dominated (Figure 40). Both barriers
and inlets also vary widely in their size and their tidal prisms.
It is the interaction of wave and tidal processes that control

Figure 45 Oblique photo of the Chandeleur Islands showing washovers and multiple storm breaches of the island.

k
droc Alaska
Be ICE

Corodova

Bedrock
ICE
Sediment
dispersal
Copper river delta

Transport direction
Tidal flats
Continental−transitional
0 20 km

Figure 46 Map of part of the Alaskan barrier-inlet system showing adjacent tidal flats and washover-alluvial fan plain. Modified from Ruby, C.,
Hayes, M.O., 1994. Barriers of Pacific Alaska. In: Davis, R.A. (Ed.), Geology of Holocene Barrier Islands. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 395–433.
444 Evolution of Coastal Landforms
the system, with tidal prism being the most important
(Davis, 2011b).
Estuaries on the Florida coast are generally smaller and they
are fewer in number than on the Texas coast. This is because
fluvial systems on the Florida peninsula, which is a carbonate
platform, are not well developed. Only two of the estuaries are
large: Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor. These have very large
tidal prisms, whereas most Florida estuaries are small with
small prisms. This is an important factor in both inlet and
barrier morphology, along with sediment supply. The latter is
quite limited on the Florida shelf because: (1) no terrigenous
sediment was transported there until Miocene time; and (2)
there is a lack of well-developed fluvial systems able to deliver
sediment to the shelf. The result is that slowly rising sea level
from about 7000 to 3000 years before present was not able to
deliver reworked sediment to the coast. Much data indicate
that sea level reached its present position on this coast about
3000 years ago (Davis, 1994a). This permitted considerable
time for wave processes to rework and accumulate sediment to
form the present barriers. These islands (Figure 41) typically
are retrogradational (e.g., Anclote Key, Sand Key, North
Captiva Island) or a combination of retrogradational and
progradational (i.e., drumstick barriers such as Captiva Island,
Siesta Key, and Cayo Costa Island) (Davis, 1994a, b).
In summary, although both the Florida peninsular coast
and the Texas coast have quite extensive barrier-inlet systems
and both areas are microtidal, the resulting morphology of the
barriers is significantly different. The differences are primarily
a result of sediment availability, tidal prism, wave energy, and
rate of sea-level rise.
10.16.8.2 North Sea Barrier-Inlet Systems
An extensive barrier-inlet system has developed along the so-
called German Bight – the North Sea coast of The Netherlands,
Germany, and Denmark (Figures 41(a,b) and 42). These are
primarily mixed-energy barriers (drumsticks) (Figure 43). This
coast is mainly mesotidal with ranges that increase toward the
apex of the bight, where tide-dominated conditions prevail
and barriers are absent. Wave energy is fairly similar
throughout these shores, but tidal range changes dramatically
(Nummedal et al., 1977). Ranges are smallest on the western
coast of The Netherlands (1.36 m), then increase to near 4 m
at the entrance to Jade Bay, and then decrease to 1.40 m on the
Jutland coast of Denmark (Davis, 1994b). Because wave
energy is similar throughout this coastal reach, the different
barrier morphologies reflect mainly the tidal range and
tidal prism.
Similar to the Gulf of Mexico barriers, those of the German
Bight developed from the reworking of thick terrigenous
sediments, but in the North Sea those sediments were accu-
mulated from Quaternary glaciation. As sea level rose, the low-
lying coast developed small barriers seaward of their present
location along with extensive tidal flats. Sea level was about
7 m below its present position at this time. The slowly rising
sea level permitted barriers to wash over and migrate landward
as well as filling some of the backbarrier area.
Shortly after significant occupation and agricultural devel-
opment of the adjacent supratidal zone, extensive reclamation
of the tidal flats began to add uplands, primarily for grazing.
This practice lasted for several centuries and caused significant
loss of tidal prism due to the decrease of intertidal and
subtidal area. This resulted in an increase in wave and
wave-generated longshore sediment transport. The barriers
were increasing in length (Figure 43) and the tidal inlets were
narrowing and deepening (FitzGerald et al., 1984). This
process–response combination has also caused the tidal div-
ides to move eastward as the barriers lengthened in that dir-
ection (Figure 43). This morphodynamic scenario continues
today. Most of these barriers have been occupied for many
centuries on the updrift end, and the younger downdrift end is
both narrow and low in elevation (Figure 43). Now that
reclamation procedures along this portion of the North Sea
coast have ceased, it is likely that the barrier-inlet-tidal flat
system will become more stable.
10.16.8.3 Mississippi River Delta Area
The northern Gulf of Mexico is a microtidal coast that is
subjected to severe but irregular events, for example, tropical
storms and hurricanes. It is also the area of the Gulf basin
where the thickest and most extensive sediment accumula-
tion has taken place over Holocene time. The dominant geo-
morphic element is the Mississippi Delta, which is considered
to be fluvially dominated (Galloway, 1975). During modern
times human influence has greatly lessened the impact of the
Mississippi River by constructing numerous dams and levees
in the drainage system.
The evolution of this coastal system is primarily controlled
by the multiple lobes of the delta that have developed over the
past 7000 years (Kolb and Van Lopik, 1966) after sea-level rise
slowed enough to allow substantial accumulations of sedi-
ment. The multiple lobes (Figure 13) developed due to
avulsion of the main channel during this time. The com-
position of these lobes is dominated by mud with significant
amounts of sand.
As sea level transgressed over the lobes there was sediment
reworking by waves, especially during high-energy events.
Figure 47 Oblique aerial photo of Egg Island, a good example of
the Alaskan barriers. Courtesy of M.O. Hayes.
 Evolution of Coastal Landforms 445

The result of this combination of processes has produced
multiple barrier-inlet systems, all of which are wave-domin-
ated (Figure 44). These barrier systems have evolved from
three of the delta lobes. In decreasing age the barrier systems
and their lobes are: Isles Dernieres from the Teche Lobe,
Chandeleurs Islands from the St. Bernard Lobe, and the
Timbalier Barriers from the Lafourche Lobe. The latter are the
largest and include Grand Isle, which has substantial
development on it.
All of these barrier-inlet systems are quite vulnerable to
destruction as the result of rapid sea-level rise and numerous
severe storms. This destruction can be shown by a time-lapse
look at the Isles Dernieres (Figure 44), which have diminished
greatly in size while the inlets that separate them have
widened dramatically. Probably the most vulnerable of the
three systems is the Chandeleur Islands, which are quite low,
with numerous breaches from storm activity (Figure 45). The
islands are overwashed by even moderate storms, so that the
combination of about a centimeter per year rise in sea level
and the spreading of the sand by storms will destroy them in
the not too distant future.
10.16.8.4 Panhandle of Alaska
Coastal evolution on the leading edge of a continental plate is
varied and typically does not include true barrier-inlet systems.

(a)

(b)

Figure 48 Photo of (a) washover channel about 15 m above sea level. Upper arrow points to imbricated boulders and lower arrow to a man.
(b) Imbricated large boulders on the margins of the washover caused by ‘‘The Rage’’ on Eleuthra Island, Bahamas.
446 Evolution of Coastal Landforms
As an example, the west coast of the US is dominated by
headlands with spits and small inlets (Dingler and Clifton,
1994). Dozens of these small, wave-dominated features are
distributed along more than 1500 km of this meso- and
macrotidal coast.
By contrast, the southeastern coast of Alaska contains a
barrier system that is hundreds of kilometers long and is
similar to those we see on trailing edge coasts. In this case, the
main reason for such a development is the sediment supply.
Wave energy here is quite high and the tidal range is in the
upper end of mesotidal. The wealth of sediment supplied by
glaciers that characterize the coast permits the barriers to de-
velop (Hayes and Ruby, 1994). The coastal plain is no more
than 35 km wide and is characterized by alluvial fans and
outwash plains produced by the glaciers (Boothroyd and
Ashley, 1975).
Sediment transport direction is to the northwest
(Figure 46), and the barriers are low in elevation, with most
having no vegetation. Unlike typical barrier systems, gravel,
rather than sand, is a common constituent of those on the
Alaskan coast due to the sediment supply combined with the
high physical-energy conditions. The morphology of the bar-
riers is essentially the drumstick model (Figure 47), with the
wide end on the downdrift side of the inlets. The combination
of abundant sediment and large tidal range has developed
extensive tidal flats landward of the barriers (Figure 47).
Sea-level change along this coast is largely controlled
by tectonics and shows a general fall in level because of isostatic
rebound. Tectonic events can also have a major effect on these
barriers. For example, during the 1964 earthquake there was a
3–4 m rise in land elevation (Hayes and Ruby, 1994). The
combination of the sediment supply and tectonic setting helps
to preserve these barriers in a high-energy coastal environment.
10.16.8.5 Southeastern Australia and Bahamas
The various coastal reaches discussed in Sections 10.16.8.1–
10.16.8.4 all evolved during the Holocene when sea level was
rising, with deposition produced by a combination of wave
and tidal processes; some with the aid of extreme storm en-
ergy. We are now learning that other factors may be important
in coastal evolution. In present times the earth has experi-
enced severe earthquakes and the tsunamis that they produce.
Important examples are those affecting Hawaii (1946), Alaska
(1964), Indonesia (2004), and most recently in Japan (2011).
These energetic waves produce sediment accumulations that
have recognizable and geomorphologically persistent signa-
tures (Dawson et al., 1991). Considerable research efforts to
study such deposits are currently being expended, especially
within the US Geological Survey.
Although not a Holocene phenomenon, it is worthy of
inclusion here to consider the late Pleistocene coastal devel-
opment of southeastern Australia (Victoria and New South
Wales). A study by Bryant and Young (1996) has shown that
tsunamiites (sediments deposited by tsunamis) might be very
important in coastal evolution. Their investigation of sedi-
ment sequences and landforms on the southeastern coast of
Australia has shown that numerous tsunamis impacted this
coast about 26 000 years ago and also more recently at about
4000 YBP. These ages are based on dating tsunami overwash
deposits using modern thermoluminescence techniques. The
criteria used for recognition of tsunamiites are: (1) they
comprise uncemented clastic deposits; (2) the boulders are
imbricated, stacked, and aligned; (3) they are constructional
features; and (4) there has been erosional sculpturing of
bedrock (Bryant and Young, 1996).
Similar features were deposited in modern times near the
north end of the Island of Eleuthra in the Bahamas by a
relatively unknown storm called locally ‘‘The Rage.’’ The
presence of these features and the so-called ‘‘tsunamiites’’
permits us to see first-hand how these phenomena change the
coast. Cliffs about 15 m above sea level (Figure 48(a)) were
overtopped and had large boulders deposited on them. A
distinct channel is present denoting where the large boulders
were transported across the narrow island. Washover fans
containing large imbricated boulders were deposited on the
landward side of the island (Figure 48(b)).
The Australian coast was impacted by multiple tsunami
events causing a combination of cliff erosion and very coarse
sediment accumulations. Earlier barriers were severely eroded,
but their debris contributed to the present barriers (Bryant and
Young, 1996). Cliff sections of this coast have large boulder
deposits at their crests, at elevations up to 35 m above the
present sea level (Young et al., 1995). Although we typically
think of tsunamis as being primarily events that drown coasts
and destroy buildings, there is this and other evidence in the
stratigraphic record and on undeveloped coasts that they can
also produce sediment accumulations that can help to con-
struct coastal morphology.
10.16.9 Summary
Coastal evolution varies greatly with respect to both time and
location. Important variables include tectonic setting, sedi-
ment supply, sea-level change, and the wave and tidal pro-
cesses that characterize each region. Generally both erosion
and deposition are associated with coastal evolution; the
relative amount ranges widely. Delivery of sediment to the
coast is dominated by fluvial-deltaic systems, but glaciers also
contribute in some regions. Carbonate coastal systems are
‘‘born,’’ not ‘‘made’’ from pre-existing strata.
Our present coastal systems are mostly younger than
7000 years, the time when sea-level rise slowed considerably
and reached its present position in some areas and was
within a few meters of the present level at others. This slowing
of sea-level rise permitted coastal processes to rework sedi-
ment and control its accumulation in various coastal
morphologies.
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448 Evolution of Coastal Landforms

Biographical Sketch

Professor Davis received all three of his degrees in geology with minors in marine science and ecology. After a
post-doctoral fellowship he was on the faculty of Western Michigan University (1965–1973) and the University of
South Florida (1973–2005), where he retired as Distinguished University Professor. He has been visiting professor
at the universities of Melbourne, Sydney, Utrecht, Huelva, Waikato, North Carolina, and Duke. He has supervised
the research of more than 50 graduate students. Dr. Davis is a coastal geologist who studies barrier island systems,
beaches, and inlets. In 1999 he received the Shepard Medal from SEPM, The Society for Sedimentary Geology. Dr.
Davis has written/edited 17 books and authored more than 150 research articles. He is currently Visiting Professor
and Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi and Distinguished
Professor Emeritus of University of South Florida.