Coastal Processes and Landform: Submitted To

Coastal Processes and Landforms
Coastal Processes And Landform
Submitted To:
Dr.Naveed Ahsan
Submitted By:
Muhammad Zubair Idrees Summer semester (2nd semester) Roll # 51 B.Sc (Hons) Applied Geology
INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
Coastal
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Processes and Landform

Coastal zones respond to forces like any other geomorphic system. Parts of the coast might be considered as quasi-equilibrium forms. In that sense, repeated movement of sediment and water construct a beach profile that reflects some balance between the average daily or seasonal wave forces and the resistance of the landmass to the wave action. Consider over a longer time span (graded time), however, beaches or entire coastline may be imperceptibly changing towards a larger equilibrium form. On the larger geologic time scale, marine transgression and regressions may represent dramatic alteration here will focus mainly on the coastal zone during steady and graded time span. Some of the mainly used classification of coast combines, in different ways, a few basic ingredients that serves as the fundamental criteria. Most important of these are, 1. Forms of land-sea contact 2. Stability or relative movement of sea level 3. Influence of marine processes Some of classification are purely descriptive and may have little application in dynamic geomorphology. Others are genetic and so are allied closely with the processes involved in developing the diagnostic coastal properties. All the coast have past as well as present, and so time also becomes an important consideration in coastal classification. That is coast may reflect evolution and contain relict parts that are not in equilibrium with modern, or even Holocene, processes. For instance, marine terraces standing well above the ocean are not related to the modern wave attack but do indicate a coast that has undergone movement relative to sea level. Because of all consideration, no specific classification will be advocated here, and no attempt will be made to analyze entire coastal regions.
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Coastal processes
The processes that initiate change in coastal zone are extremely difficult to study because they are driven by interrelated forces of high energy, each of which may produce a difficult response in the same coastal environment. Thus, difficult processes are not easily studied without permanent installation designed to provide precise measurement over various time interval. An example of such research center is operated and maintained at Duck, north California, by the US Army Corps of Engineers. This installation, known as the Coastal Engineering Research Center-Field Facility collects data on various oceanographic and meteorologiocal factors, in addition to conducting regular and event-initaited bathymetric surveys of the near shore environment .
Waves:
The permanent driving forces in the shoreline processes are waves, which expand the energy they obtained in the ocean against the margins of the land. A through analysis of the wave theory is steeped in complex physics and mathematics.
Wave generation: Most waves that do geomorphic work are generated

by strong winds blowing across large portions of the open ocean. Empirical studies indicate that wave properties reflecting this energy exchange exchange depend primerly on the wind velocity, the wind duratyion,and the fetch (the distance over which the wind blow). The fetch is perticularly importantin detrermining the height of the of waves and their oeriod, a parameter that is merely the time interveal between two successive waves crests passing a fixed point. Extremely high waves with long period can be generated only when all three controlling factors are at a maximum. Waves are irregular and individual crests are discernible for only short distance before they disappear in a maze of intersting waves. This state occur because small and large waves generated during the same storm are out of phase. Waves passing through a system tend to interfere with one another; adding to the height of some waves and subtracting from others. Strom waves are commonly more than 20 m high under sever winds. Waves dispersion: when the waves move away from the source area, that begins to seprate from one another according too their variuos periods,
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causing regulary spaced succession of waves with rounded crests to migrate from the source zone. Waves steepness: a parameter in which emerging waves typically have low ratio of wave height to wave length.
Waves of ossilation: The rise and fall of oscillatory waves in an open

water reflects the circular motion of water particles. There is relatively little forward motion by a water particle as a wave passes. It is simply the wave form and its energy that is transmitted across the ocean surface. Water particles move in circular orbits that diminish with depth. The radius of the circular path is greatest at the surface and decreases with toward the bottom of the wave. Larger waves exhibit larger orbital radii and extend to a greater depth than smaller waves. At some point in deep water, the wave has no effect on the motion of the water. Thus a zone of no wave motion exists from the base of the wave to the ocean floor.
Waves and shoaling: In fluid dynamics, wave shoaling is the effect by

which surface waves entering shallower water increase in wave height (which is about twice the amplitude). It is caused by the fact that the group velocity, which is also the wave-energy transport velocity, decreases with the reduction of water depth. Under stationary conditions, this decrease in transport speed must be compensated by an increase in energy density in order to maintain a constant energy flux.Shoaling waves will also exhibit a reduction in wavelength while the frequency remains constant. In shallow water and parallel depth contours, non-breaking waves will increase in wave height as the wave packet enters shallower water. This is particularly evident for tsunamis as they wax in height when approaching a coastline, with devastating results.
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Waves of translation are different from waves of oscillation in that the water particles have a distinct forward motion without the corresponding backward movement that characterized s oscillation. Once in the form of translation, the velocity and length are determined as V= (gh) And L=(gh) Where is h is depth of water. The change in wave types is accompained by the phenomenon of breaking waves. Deep-water oscillatory waves remains stable if the waves steepness (H/L) is loweer than 1/7. As waves approaches the shore, the water depth is proressivly decreased, this phenomenon is called shaoling. And waves begins to feel bottom.Their height increases as the rounded crests become more peaked, and their velocities, and lenghts decreases as the wave crsets bunch up; only the wave period remains constant. The combine effect of an increased height (H) and decreasing length (L) causes oversteepening of the wave; the critecal H/L value is attained and the wave breaks. There are three common types of breakers, 1. Spilling 2. Plunging 3. Surging
1.
Spilling: The top of the wave crest becomes unstable and flow down
the wave front as an irregular foam.

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Plunging: The wave crest curl over the front face and fall with the splashing action into the base of the wave.
2. 3.
Surging: the wave crest remains essentialy unbroken, but the base
of the wave front advanced up the beach.
Collapsing: This is fourth type that is intermediat type having characteristics between those of plunging and and the surging types.
4. The sidnificance of breaker style rests in the fact that most types tend to push sediment towards the shore and therefore are relativly bening with regard to beach erosion.plunging braeker, however, are dominently erosive and will produce large changes in the beach environment.
Surf: breakers mark the oceanward limit of zone called surf, in which the
original energy givin to the waves receives its final transformation. High velocities and substatial impacts occur under breakers, and thus the creation of translationwaves provides the water with the kinetic energy that is capable of doing geomorphic work. The swash zone is relativly coverd as the water rushes up the beach face (swash) and the exposed as the water moves back down the beach (backwash) under the influence of gravity.
Tides and currents

Although wavses are the dominent force influencing the coastal environment, they are not the only significant water motion. Tides and currents each constitute a type of movement that can modify the cosatal properties. Although our treatment of these forces will be necesserily brief, a complete understanding of nearshore geomorphic mechanics requires detaied consideration of these factors.
Tides: The rise and fall of sea level caused by astronomical conditions is
regular and predictable. There is a great range in the magnitude of this daily or semi-daily change in water level. Along some coasts the tidal range is less than 0.5 metre, whereas in the Bay of Fundy (Fundy, Bay of) in southeastern Canada the maximum tidal range is just over 16 metres. A simple but useful classification of coasts is based solely on tidal range without regard to any other variable. Three categories have been established: micro-tidal (less than two metres), meso-tidal (two to four metres), and macro-tidal (more than four metres). Micro-tidal coasts constitute the largest percentage of the world's coasts, but the other two categories also are widespread. The role of tides in molding coastal landforms is twofold:
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(1) tidal currents transport large quantities of sediment and may erode bedrock (2) the rise and fall of the tide distributes wave energy across a shore zone by changing the depth of water and the position of the shoreline. Tidal currents transport sediment in the same way that longshore currents do. The speeds necessary to transport the sediment (typically sand) are generated only under certain conditionsusually in inlets, at the mouths of estuaries, or any other place where there is a constriction in the coast through which tidal exchange must take place. Tidal currents on the open coast, such as along a beach or rocky coast, are not swift enough to transport sediment. The speed of tidal currents in constricted areas, however, may exceed two metres per second, especially in inlets located on a barrier island complex. The speed of these tidal currents is dictated by the volume of water that must pass through the inlet during a given flood or ebbtide cycle. This may be either six or 12 hours in duration, depending on whether the local situation is semidiurnal (12-hour cycle) or diurnal (24-hour cycle). The volume of water involved, called the tidal prism, is the product of the tidal range and the area of the coastal bay being served by the inlet. This means that though there may be a direct relationship between tidal range and tidal-current speed, it is also possible to have very swift tidal currents on a coast where the tidal range is low if the bay being served by the inlet is quite large. This is a very common situation along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico (Mexico, Gulf of) where the range is typically less than one metre but where there are many large coastal bays. The rise and fall of the tide along the open coast has an indirect effect on sediment transport, even though currents capable of moving sediment are not present. As the tide comes in and then retreats along a beach or on a rocky coast, it causes the shoreline to move accordingly. This movement of the shoreline changes the zone where waves and longshore currents can do their work. Tidal range in combination with the topography of the coast is quite important in this situation. The greater the tidal range, the more effect this phenomenon has on the coast. The slope of a beach or other coastal landform also is important, however, because a steep cliff provides only a nominal change in the area over which waves and currents can do their work even in a macro-tidal environment. On the other hand, a broad, gently sloping beach or tidal flat may experience a change in the shoreline of as much as one kilometre during a tidal cycle in a macro-tidal setting. Examples
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of this situation occur in the Bay of Fundy and along the West German coast of the North Sea.
Longshore currents
Waves usually approach the coast at some acute angle rather than exactly parallel to it. Because of this, the waves are bent (or refracted) as they enter shallow water, which in turn generates a current along the shore and parallel to it. Such a current is called a longshore current, and it extends from the shoreline out through the zone of breaking waves. The speed of the current is related to the size of the waves and to their angle of approach. Under rather quiescent conditions, longshore currents move only about 10 30 centimetres per second; however, under stormy conditions they may exceed one metre per second. The combination of waves and longshore current acts to transport large quantities of sediment along the shallow zone adjacent to the shoreline. Because longshore currents are caused by the approaching and refracting waves, they may move in either direction along the coast, depending on the direction of wave approach. This direction of approach is a result of the wind direction, which is therefore the ultimate factor in determining the direction of longshore currents and the transport of sediment along the shoreline. Although a longshore current can entrain sediment if it moves fast enough, waves typically cause sediment to be picked up from the bottom, and the longshore current transports it along the coast. In some locations there is quite a large volume of net sediment transport along the coast because of a dominance of one wind directionand therefore wave direction over another. This volume may be on the order of 100,000 cubic metres per year. Other locations may experience more of a balance in wave approach, which causes the longshore current and sediment transport in one direction to be nearly balanced by the same process in the other direction.
Rip currents (rip current)

Another type of coastal current caused by wave activity is the rip current (incorrectly called rip tide in popular usage). As waves move toward the beach, there is some net shoreward transport of water. This leads to a slight but important upward slope of the water level (setup), so that the absolute
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water level at the shoreline is a few centimetres higher than it is beyond the surf zone. This situation is an unstable one, and water moves seaward through the surf zone in an effort to relieve the instability of the sloping water. The seaward movement is typically confined to narrow pathways. In most cases, rip currents are regularly spaced and flow at speeds of up to several tens of centimetres per second. They can carry sediment and often are recognized by the plume of suspended sediment moving out through the surf zone. In some localities rip currents persist for months at the same site, whereas in others they are quite ephemeral.
Beaches
A consideration of the beach must also include the seaward adjacent nearshore environment because the two are intimately related. The nearshore environment extends from the outer limit of the longshore bars that are usually present to the low-tide line. In areas where longshore bars are absent, it can be regarded as coincident with the surf zone. The beach extends from the low-tide line to the distinct change in slope and/or material landward of the unvegetated and active zone of sediment accumulation. It may consist of sand, gravel, or even mud, though sand is the most common beach material. The beach profile typically can be divided into two distinct parts: (1) the seaward and relatively steep sloping foreshore, which is essentially the intertidal beach, and (2) the landward, nearly horizontal backshore. Beach profiles take on two different appearances, depending on conditions at any given time. During quiescent wave conditions, the beach is said to be accretional, and both the foreshore and backshore are present. During storm conditions, however, the beach experiences erosion, and the result is typically a profile that shows only the seaward sloping foreshore. Because the beach tends to repair itself during nonstorm periods, a cyclic pattern of profile shapes is common. The nearshore zone is where waves steepen and break, and then re-form in their passage to the beach, where they break for the last time and surge up the foreshore. Much sediment is transported in this zone, both along the shore and perpendicular to it. During storms the waves tend to be steep, and erosion of the beach occurs with sediment transported offshore. The intervening calmer conditions permit sediment to be transported landward and rebuild the beach. Because wave conditions may change daily, the
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nature of the profile and the sediment on the foreshore portion of the beach may also change daily. This is the zone of continual change on the beach.
The backshore of the beach is not subjected to wave activity except during storm conditions. It is actually in the supra-tidal zonei.e., the zone above high tide where inundation by water is caused not by regular astronomical tides but rather by storm-generated tides. During nonstorm conditions the back-beach is relatively inactive except for wind action, which may move sediment. In most cases, there is an onshore component to the wind, and sediment is carried from the back-beach landward, typically forming dunes. Any obstruction on the back-beach, such as vegetation, pieces of driftwood, fences, or even trash discarded by people, results in wind-blown sand accumulation. There are variations in beach forms along the shore as well as in those perpendicular to the shore. Most common is the rhythmic topography that is seen along the foreshore. A close look at the shoreline along most beaches will show that it is not straight or gently curved but rather that it displays a regularly undulating surface much like a low-amplitude sine curve. This is seen both on the plan view of the shoreline and the topography of the foreshore. The spacing is regular along a given reach of coast, but it may vary from place to place or from time to time at a given place. At some locations, concentrations of gravel or shells may develop, forming beach cusps (more or less triangular deposits that point seaward) during some wave conditions.
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Although there is a common trend to the beach profile, some variation exists both because of energy conditions and because of the material making up the beach. Generally speaking, a beach that is accumulating sediment and experiencing low-energy conditions tends to have a steep foreshore, whereas the same beach would have a relatively gentle foreshore during storm conditions when erosion is prevalent. The grain size of beach sediment also is an important factor in the slope of the foreshore. In general, the coarser the constituent grains, the steeper the foreshore. Examples include the gravel beaches of New England, as contrasted to the gently sloping sand beaches of the Texas coast.
Morphological zone
The shore zone to refer to the region of mobile sediment that is available to waves and currents for building of the beach. It contains the body of sediment that forms the slope extending from the foredune ridge or a bluff to the shelf. The seaward limit is defined by a change in slope where the sediment wedge meets the shelf and the depth of closure, the depth below which waves are incapable of moving sediment. As would be expected the shore zone may undergo radical changes as wave climate varies. The components of the shore zone are as follows.
Shore and Beach: The strip of land in direct contact with the water
between high and low water. The term beach applies if the region is composed of unconsolidated sediment. The width of the shore is determined by tidal range and slope.
Backshore: The region of a beach
extending from the berm crest landward to a foredune ridge, vegetation line, seawall or some other physiographic break. Under typical conditions the berm area includes the supratidal area of a beach. The backshore is typically beyond the reach of ordinary waves and tides but is influenced by aeolian processes. Swash processes are important along the berm crest. The backshore becomes wider during the Summer and narrower during the Winter. In some instances along engineered coasts the backshore may be missing. For example, waves reflecting from a seawall at high tide create turbulence and scouring that eventually remove the sand along its base.
Foreshore: The sloping portion of the beach between the limits of high
tide and low tide swash. This is the intertidal zone that includes the beach face and low tide terrace-the region affected by swash and backwash. Along macrotidal shores the
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beach face is commonly separated by a plunge step, a small trough filled with coarse sand or shells from by the breaking of small plunging waves at the base of the beach face. On gravel (shingle) beaches there may be an abrupt transition from gravel (beach face) to sand (low tide terrace).
Shoreface/inshore: The area seaward of the foreshore extending to a

point outside the breaker zone. The inshore is subtidal and below mean low water. Sediment motion here is dominated by wave activity and not by swash and backwash. Slope is the principal factor controlling the width of the shoreface. However, breaker location will fluctuate daily and seasonally depending on variables wave height, tidal stage, and beach state.
Offshore: The extending from the breaker zone to the the edge of the
continental shelf
Beach features
The dry, upper flat portion of the beach generally located at or above MHW (supratidal) is the berm. This is the area that you set your towels when you don't want to move them again when the tide rises. The berm is periodically overtopped during storms or extreme high tides. On sandy and shingle beaches berms build seaward through the multiple accretion of bars to the beach face. (See fig. 3 below) Vertical accretion to the berm is accomplished by swash (fig. 2), which is influenced by wave height. The berm height approximates 1.3 x the significant Ho. Therefore, all other factors being equal (e.g. grain size), berms on beaches facing the open ocean are higher than those on beaches in sheltered coves. A beach may have more than one berm or none at all (e.g. an eroded beach backed by a seawall). Some beaches, particularly mesotidal gravel beaches, may exhibit multiple berms (e.g. LHT berm, HHT berm, summer berm, winter berm, storm berm, etc). High-water berms are formed during storm surges or spring tides (HHT berm). The most ephemeral berm would be the low berm formed during neap tide (LHT berm).
The berm crest, formed along the upper limit of wave swash, is the linear break in slope marking the seaward limit of the flat berm and shoreward limit of the sloping beach face. The berm crest migrates seaward during periods of accretion and landward during periods of erosion.
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Figure 2. Singing Beach, Manchester by the Sea, MA. (late October 99). During high tide, waves breaking on the beach face over-top the berm. Vertical accretion occurs when water percolating down through porous sand leaves behind its load. The shallow uprush of water that carries the sediment is termed swash. The limit of swash during a tidal cycle is marked by a band of debris pushed shoreward by the leading edge of the swash.
beach face
The sloping portion of the beach dominated by wave swash and backwash.
offshore bar and trough

An offshore bar is an inshore(below mlw) linear deposit of sediment that forms a ridge that typically runs parallel to shore. The trough is the swale shoreward of the bar. Breakers will form in response to the shoaling caused by offshore bar, therefore the location of an offshore bar can be identified by noting breaker zones. Offshore bars are generally composed of sand eroded from the beach face during storms breaker zone: zone of convergent between onshore and offshore currents In tidal regions there may be two sets of bars formed and high and low tide Offshore bars act as filters, allowing only waves of a certain height to pass
Ridge and runnel (bar and trough)

A ridge and shoreward trough formed by the landward migration of an offshore bar A breach in the ridge formed by water rushing seaward from the runnel is called the runnel outlet generally absent from gravel beaches
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low tide terrace

The flat lower portion of the beach exposed during low tide. On microtidal beaches the low tide terrace is very narrow or lacking. On mesotidal and macrotidal beaches the low tide terrace is very broad and is composed of finer sediment than that on the beach face. Typically the dominant region during low tide. The low tide terrace is compose largely of fine grain material (sand, silt or clay) even on gravel beaches.
beach step (plunge step)

The beach step is the final breaking point of waves before they rush up as swash on to the beach face. Because this is a high energy environment sediment along the beach step is typically coarse grained. The beach step is best developed microtidal beaches.
Beach scarp
A scarp formed along the foreshore by beach erosion. During periods of erosion the berm crest is replaced by a landward migrating beach scarp. The berm become progressively narrower which the low tide terrace widens.
cusps
A series of embayments separated by horns of coarser sediment located in the foreshore region. Horn spacing ranges from 1 to 60m. Cusps are thought to be formed by edgewaves, which move parallel to the shore.
Foredune ridge and foredune scarp

The outermost portion and a dune backing a sandy beach. With the exception of erosional bluffs and artificial structures the foredune ridge marks the backshore limit of most sandy beaches.
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Figure .singing Beach, Manchester by the Sea (Fall 93) taken close to low tide. The beach zones on this photo are quite clear. Before moving the cursor over the figure try to identify the berm, beach face, low tide terrace and the fitted riprap revetment that terminates the backshore. On the low tide terrace lies a bar (ridge) cut by numerous runnel outlets. Sand eroded during a storm is now migrating onshore. The dry sand on the berm is lighter in color that the wet sand along the beach face and low tide terrace. Shoreward of the bar lies light band between the low tide terrace and the beach face. This highly reflective band is water ponded in the trough (runnel), located along the step.
Shoreline and landform:

In addition to the modal profile that is oriented perpendicular to the shoreline, many coastal geomorphologists now accept Tanners premise that
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beaches develop a shoreline configuration revealing another type of balance between water energy and sediment supply. This paln-view shape is best established where no long-term unidirectional movement of sediment occurs parallel to shoreline. Like a graded river, the shoreline configuration is developed over a period of years and is adjusted to the prevailing wave characteristics. It would seem that the most logical environment to preserve a modal configuration would be protected bays where there is no dominant current. In such a local wave might produce minor long shore transport of sediments where the wave crests are not completely refracted. The sediment will continue to drift until the shoreline is reoriented parallel to attacking wave crest at every segment. Offshore topography thus determines the wave refraction, and the wave turn establishes the shoreline configuration.
Beach cusps:
The most common crecentric forms are beach cusps. Cusps develop at the upper part of the beach face and along the outer fring of the berm.they are usually spaced less than 30 m apart can form in beach sediment of any size, including boulders and cobbles. Some sorting is produced in the formative mechanics because the cusps projection, nor horns, are usually more coarse grained than the intervening embayments. These cusps are most often a few metres long, however they may reach 60 m (200 ft) across. Although the origin of beach cusps has yet to be proven, once cusps have been created they are a self sustaining formation. This is because once an oncoming wave hits the horn of a beach cusp it is split and forced into two directions. The crashing of the wave into the cusps slows its velocity, therefore causing coarser sediment to fall out of suspension and be deposited on the horns. The waves then flow along the embayments (picking up finer sediment) and run into one another in the middle. After this collision these waves attempt to flow back out to sea where they are met by incoming waves. Therefore, once the cusp is established coarser sediment is constantly being deposited on the horn and finer sediment is being eroded away from the embayments. This process causes the horns and embayments to at least maintain their size, if not grow larger.
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Large Scale Rhytmic Topography and Capes

Rhytmic Topography: large feature in the hierarchy of crecentric forms
have been called rhythmic topography. They are of two types, 1. Crecentric bars 2. Rhythmic variation These are controlled by the rip currents as sand waves, giant cusps, or shoreline rhytms. Rhythmic topography differ from beach cusps in several impaotant ways. Rhytmic topographic features commonly migrate parallel to the shoreline. The rate of movement varies bur can be a kilometer or more a year. Much of rhythmic topography is submerged. The Submerged rhythmic topography is usually in form of crecentric shaped sand bars or long shore bars that are segmented by rip current channels. The crecentric bars are concave towards the shoreline.. they commonly stand opposite the horns of large cusps exposed on the beach face itself, but they also exists off straight beaches, especially in protected bays with a small tidal range. Uncertainty about the origin of the rhythmic topography equals the mystery surrounding beach cusps. In addition to the cusps features already examined, many coasts of the world display extremely large shoreline crenulations called capes.
Geomorphic processes
Modern geomorphology focuses on the quantitative analysis of interconnected processes. Modern advances in geochronology, in particular cosmogenic radionuclide dating, optically stimulated luminescence dating and low-temperature thermochronology have enabled us for the first time to measure the rates at which geomorphic processes occur. At the same time, the use of more precise physical measurement techniques, including differential GPS, remotely sensed digital terrain models and laser scanning techniques, have allowed quantification and study of these processes as they happen.Computer simulation and modeling may then be used to test our understanding of how these processes work together and through time. Geomorphically relevant processes generally fall into the production of regolith by weatheringand erosion, the transport of that material, and its
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eventual deposition. Although there is a general movement of material from uplands to lowlands, erosion, transport, and deposition often occur in closelyspaced tandem all across the landscape. The nature of the processes investigated by geomorphologists is strongly dependent on the landscape or landform under investigation and the time and length scales of interest. However, the following non-exhaustive list provides a flavor of the landscape elements associated with some of these. Primary surface processes responsible for most topographic features include wind, waves, chemical dissolution, mass wasting, groundwater movement, surface water flow, glacial action, tectonism, and volcanism. Other more exotic geomorphic processes might include periglacial (freeze-thaw) processes, salt-mediated action, or extraterrestrial impact.
References:
Processes Geomorphology by Dalr. F. Ritter
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