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Gravel Barrier Beach Morphodynamic Response to Extreme Conditions

Kristian Ions, Harshinie Karunarathna Orcid Logo, Dominic Reeve Orcid Logo, Douglas Pender

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Volume: 9, Issue: 2, Start page: 135

Swansea University Authors: Kristian Ions, Harshinie Karunarathna Orcid Logo, Dominic Reeve Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/jmse9020135

Abstract

Gravel beaches and barriers form a valuable natural protection for many shorelines. The paper presents a numerical modelling study of gravel barrier beach response to storm wave condi-tions. The XBeach non-hydrostatic model was set up in 1D mode to investigate barrier volume change and overwash unde...

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Published in: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
ISSN: 2077-1312
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56120
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Abstract: Gravel beaches and barriers form a valuable natural protection for many shorelines. The paper presents a numerical modelling study of gravel barrier beach response to storm wave condi-tions. The XBeach non-hydrostatic model was set up in 1D mode to investigate barrier volume change and overwash under a wide range of unimodal and bimodal storm conditions and barrier cross sections. The numerical model was validated against conditions at Hurst Castle Spit, UK. The validated model is used to simulate the response of a range of gravel barrier cross sections under a wide selection of statistically significant storm wave and water level scenarios thus simulating an ensemble of barrier volume change and overwash. This ensemble of results was used to develop a simple parametric model for estimating barrier volume change during a given storm and water level condition under unimodal storm conditions. Numerical simulations of barrier response to bimodal storm conditions, which are a common occurrence in many parts of the UK were also investigated. It was found that barrier volume change and overwash from bimodal storms will be higher than that from unimodal storms if the swell percentage in the bimodal spectrum is greater than 40%. The model is demonstrated as providing a useful tool for estimating barrier volume change, a commonly used measure used in gravel barrier beach management.
Keywords: gravel barrier beaches; storms; XBeach; morphodynamic change; overwash; bimodal spectrum
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Issue: 2
Start Page: 135