TY - JOUR
T1 - Rapid adjustment of shoreline behavior to changing seasonality of storms
T2 - Observations and modelling at an open-coast beach
AU - Splinter, Kristen D.
AU - Turner, Ian L.
AU - Reinhardt, Mika
AU - Ruessink, B.G.
PY - 2017/6/30
Y1 - 2017/6/30
N2 - An 8-year time series of weekly shoreline data collected at the Gold Coast, Australia, is used to examine the temporal evolution of a beach, focusing on the frequency response of the shoreline to time-varying wave height and period. Intriguingly, during 2005 the movement of the shoreline at this site changed from a seasonally-dominated mode (annual cycle) to a storm-dominated (~monthly) mode. This unexpected observation provides the opportunity to explore the drivers of the observed shoreline response. Utilizing the calibration of an equilibrium shoreline model to explore the time-scales of underlying beach behavior, the best-fit frequency response (days-1) is shown to be an order of magnitude higher post-2004, suggesting that a relatively subtle change in wave forcing can drive a significant change in shoreline response. Analysis of available wave data reveals a statistically significant change in the seasonality of storms, from predominantly occurring at the start of the year pre-2005 to being relatively consistent throughout the year after this time. The observed change from one mode of shoreline variability to another suggests that beaches can adapt relatively quickly to subtle changes in the intra-annual distribution of wave energy.
AB - An 8-year time series of weekly shoreline data collected at the Gold Coast, Australia, is used to examine the temporal evolution of a beach, focusing on the frequency response of the shoreline to time-varying wave height and period. Intriguingly, during 2005 the movement of the shoreline at this site changed from a seasonally-dominated mode (annual cycle) to a storm-dominated (~monthly) mode. This unexpected observation provides the opportunity to explore the drivers of the observed shoreline response. Utilizing the calibration of an equilibrium shoreline model to explore the time-scales of underlying beach behavior, the best-fit frequency response (days-1) is shown to be an order of magnitude higher post-2004, suggesting that a relatively subtle change in wave forcing can drive a significant change in shoreline response. Analysis of available wave data reveals a statistically significant change in the seasonality of storms, from predominantly occurring at the start of the year pre-2005 to being relatively consistent throughout the year after this time. The observed change from one mode of shoreline variability to another suggests that beaches can adapt relatively quickly to subtle changes in the intra-annual distribution of wave energy.
KW - Equilibrium shoreline modelling
KW - Gold Coast, Australia
KW - Shoreline forecasting
KW - Shoreline variability
KW - Storm frequency
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85010606954&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/esp.4088
DO - 10.1002/esp.4088
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85010606954
SN - 0197-9337
VL - 42
SP - 1186
EP - 1194
JO - Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
JF - Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
IS - 8
ER -