Nearshore bathymetric evolution on a high-energy beach during the 2009-10 El Niño winter
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Abstract
The nearshore bathymetric evolution of a high-energy beach at the mouth of San Francisco Bay, California (USA), was tracked before, during, and after the powerful El Niño winter of 2009-10 to quantify alongshore bar formation and migration as well as the magnitude and alongshore variability of cross-shore transport. The observed deep-water winter wave energy was among the highest ever recorded in Northern California, peaking during a 7 day period in the middle of January 2010 with a mean deep-water significant wave height (Hs) of 5.5 m, and a maximum Hs= 9 m. The extreme forcing during the study period resulted in local bed level changes that approached 5 m, cross-shore bar migration of > 250 m, ~3 m alongshore trough deepening, and a net gain of ~1.6 million m3 of sediment to the nearshore profile over the 7 km alongshore extent of the survey area, leaving beach sand levels severely depleted. The morphological evolution observed during this El Niño winter may serve as a proxy for future coastal response to climate change if current trends of increased storminess continue for the U.S. West Coast.
Study Area
| Publication type | Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Conference Paper |
| Title | Nearshore bathymetric evolution on a high-energy beach during the 2009-10 El Nino winter |
| DOI | 10.1142/9789814355537_0105 |
| Year Published | 2011 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | World Scientific |
| Contributing office(s) | Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center |
| Description | 14 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Book |
| Larger Work Subtype | Conference publication |
| Larger Work Title | The proceedings of the coastal sediments 2011 |
| First page | 1390 |
| Last page | 1403 |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Other Geospatial | Ocean Beach |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |