Pocket Beach Hydrodynamics: the Example of Four Macrotidal Beaches, Brittany, France
Marine Geology 266 (2009) 1–17 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Marine Geology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/margeo Pocket beach hydrodynamics: The example of four macrotidal beaches, Brittany, France A. Dehouck a,⁎, H. Dupuis b, N. Sénéchal b a Géomer, UMR 6554 LETG CNRS, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Technopôle Brest Iroise, 29280 Plouzané, France b UMR 5805 EPOC CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, avenue des facultés, 33405 Talence cedex, France article info abstract Article history: During several field experiments, measurements of waves and currents as well as topographic surveys were Received 24 February 2009 conducted on four morphologically-contrasted macrotidal beaches along the rocky Iroise coastline in Brittany Received in revised form 6 July 2009 (France). These datasets provide new insight on the hydrodynamics of pocket beaches, which are rather poorly Accepted 10 July 2009 documented compared to wide and open beaches. The results notably highlight a cross-shore gradient in the Available online 18 July 2009 magnitude of tidal currents which are relatively strong offshore of the beaches but are insignificant inshore. Communicated by J.T. Wells Despite the macrotidal setting, the hydrodynamics of these beaches are thus totally wave-driven in the intertidal zone. The crucial role of wind forcing is emphasized for both moderately and highly protected beaches, as this Keywords: mechanism drives mean currents two to three times stronger than those due to more energetic swells when beach morphodynamics winds blow nearly parallel to the shoreline. Moreover, the mean alongshore current appears to be essentially embayed beach wind-driven, wind waves being superimposed on shore-normal oceanic swells during storms, and variations in beach cusps their magnitude being coherent with those of the wind direction.
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