Water waves are one of the principal causes of shoreline changes. When waves break along the shore, they release their energy and momentum and give rise to a longshore current. The longshore current, along with the stirring action of the waves, is the primary mechanism for longshore sediment transport. The longshore sand transport rate is an essential factor determining erosion or accretion along a coast. If the longshore sand transport rate can be accurately estimated, a quantitative picture of shoreline evolution can be evaluated, including changes of the shoreline due to marine structures. In the present study, analytical and numerical models are developed based on a longshore current model for random waves and a sediment transport formulation by Thornton to predict the cross-shore sediment transport distribution and to compute the total volume of sand transport rate. The model is compared with the field data acquired from Leadbetter Beach, Santa Barbara, California.

This new Encyclopedia of Coastal Science stands as the latest authoritative source in the field of coastal studies, making it the standard reference work for specialists and the interested lay person. Unique in its interdisciplinary approach. This Encyclopedia features contributions by 245 well-known international specialists in their respective fields and is abundantly illustrated with line-drawings and photographs. Not only does this volume offer an extensive number of entries, it also includes various appendices, an illustrated glossary of coastal morphology and extensive bibliographic listings.

This book treats the subject of sediment transport in the marine environment, covering transport of noncohesive sediment by waves and currents in- and outside the surf zone. It can be read independently, but a background in hydraulics and basic wave mechanics is required.The primary aim of the book is to describe the physical processes of sediment transport and how to represent them in mathematical models. The book can be divided in two main parts; in the first, the relevant hydrodynamic theory is described. This part contains a review of elementary theory for water waves, chapters on the turbulent wave boundary layer and the turbulent interaction between waves and currents, and finally, surf zone hydrodynamics and wave driven currents.The second part covers sediment transport and morphological development.The part on sediment transport introduces the basic concepts (critical bed shear stress, bed load, suspended load and sheet layer, near-bed concentration, effect of sloping bed); it treats suspended sediment in waves and current and in the surf zone, and current and wave-generated bed forms. Finally, the modelling of cross-shore and long-shore sediment transport is described together with the development of coastal profiles and coastlines.

Reviews all the commonly available literature regarding littoral sand transport up to and including 1982.