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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 barrier beaches can offer natural protection to coastlines from adverse storm conditions. Understanding the morphodynamics of gravel barrier beaches is vital for the effective and sustainable management of these systems. This study utilises an extensive, synthetic dataset simulated using a we...

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Published in: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
ISSN: 2077-1312
Published: online MDPI AG 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63015
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Abstract: Gravel barrier beaches can offer natural protection to coastlines from adverse storm conditions. Understanding the morphodynamics of gravel barrier beaches is vital for the effective and sustainable management of these systems. This study utilises an extensive, synthetic dataset simulated using a well-validated XBeach-X coastal hydro-morphodynamic model to investigate the effects of both unimodal and bimodal storm conditions on the morphodynamics of the Hurst Castle Spit gravel barrier beach, located on the Southwest coast of the United Kingdom. The dataset is used to analyse the key drivers that govern the spatio-temporal gravel barrier morphodynamic responses to storms and to quantitatively explore the morphodynamic states of the barrier. Storm wave height combined with water level (with tide and storm surge) primarily determines the morphodynamic response of the barrier beach for a given pre-storm barrier geometry. The study also revealed that swell waves can be a defining factor for morphodynamic change where different swell percentages can lead to very different responses.
Keywords: Gravel barrier, beach erosion, XBeach numerical model, bimodal wave spectrum , sediment transport, morphodynamics
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership / DTP 2020-2021 Swansea University (EP/R51312X/1 ). This research was funded by the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS II) which is a pan-Wales higher level skills initiative led by Bangor University on behalf of the Higher Education sector in Wales, UK and JBA Consulting. The project was part funded by the Welsh Government’s European Social Fund (ESF) programme for East Wales and JBA Consulting enabling the pursuit of his MSc degree at Swansea University, UK. Channel Coastal Observatory is acknowledged for providing numerous data used in this study.
Issue: 2
Start Page: 135