Title: THE INFLUENCE OF NEARSHORE SAND BANKS ON COASTAL HYDRODYNAMICS AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT, NORTHERN COAST OF FRANCE
Abstract: Tidal sand banks are common along the coast of the eastern English Channel and southern North Sea where they form linear shore-parallel or slightly oblique sand bodi es in a wide range of water depths, from shallow co astal areas to depths of several tens of meters. Analyses of bathy metry changes revealed different behaviors in nears hore bank evolution that led to contrasting shoreline change along the coast. These analyses showed that at a ti me-scale of several decades, sand banks undergo significant morphological changes and commonly experience longshore as well as onshore migration. The longshore migration of the b anks can be explained by the action of shore-parall el tidal currents, while their landward movement is attributed to stor m waves that are responsible for onshore sediment motion across the bank crests. Wave propagation and sediment tran sport modeling and in situ hydrodynamic measurements show that nearshore sand banks strongly influence circulation and sediment transport in the coastal zone, and co ntrol wave energy distribution along the coast. Our observatio ns clearly show that nearshore sand banks can have very different effects on coastal hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics, depending on the depth, orientation and distan ce of the bank to the coast. The changing position of sand banks c onsequently results in progressive modifications of wave refraction, circulation and sediment transport in the coastal z one.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 5
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