Table of Contents
What is the definition of a beach profile?
[′bēch ′prō‚fīl] (geology) Intersection of a beach’s ground surface with a vertical plane perpendicular to the shoreline.
How do you measure a beach profile?
1. Beach profiles
- Person A stands at a safe distance from the edge of the sea holding a ranging pole.
- Person B stands holding a second ranging pole further up the beach where there is a break of slope.
- The distance between the two ranging poles is measured using a tape measure.
What is a beach GCSE geography?
Beaches. Beaches are made up from eroded material that has been transported from elsewhere and then deposited by the sea. For this to occur, waves must have limited energy, so beaches often form in sheltered areas like bays . Constructive waves build up beaches as they have a strong swash and a weak backwash .
What process shapes the beach profile?
In the coastal zone ocean waves are transformed by shoaling, breaking, and swash. In doing so they interact with the seabed, and determine the beach morphology or shape, a process called beach morphodynamics.
What are the components of a beach profile?
From Beachapedia. Measurement of the elevation or height of the beach surface taken along a line that runs from the dune to the water across the beach. Profiles taken at different dates can be compared to illustrate and quantify storm, seasonal, and longer-term changes in beach width, height, volume, and shape.
Why do beaches profiling?
Beach profile monitoring provides information that can be used to assess whether a shoreline is eroding or accreting on a long term basis, the amount of erosion and cut back of beaches during storm events and how the beach recovers after those events.
Why do beach profiles change over time?
Beach profiles aren’t the same all year round, they can vary over time. Beaches can change overnight with high tides pushing the coarser material into high tied ridges and sweep zone changes can be driven by certain events such as a storm. This can change a beach profile dramatically and make many negatively changes.
What does a steep beach profile mean?
Shingle beaches typically have a steep gradient (over 10˚) because the waves easily flow through the coarse, porous surface of the beach, decreasing the effect of backwash erosion and increasing the formation of sediment into a steep sloping back.
Are beaches formed by erosion or deposition?
A beach is formed by deposition. When soil or rock that was eroded away from another place gets deposited right next to a sea, a beach forms. Beach materials are usually deposited in regions that are more sheltered compared to other places.
What factors influence beach profile?
Beach Morphology and Sediment Profiles Constructive waves alter beach morphology by causing net movement of sediment up the beach, steeping the beach profile. Swash carries sediment of all sizes up the beach, but weaker backwash can only transport smaller particles down the beach.
Why do beach profiles vary?
What is a beach slope?
Beach slope in the tailings industry refers to the surface slope of the tailings after being hydraulically or mechanical deposited from a point of discharge. This is the slope the tailings settle at after being discharged from the end of a pipe.
How do I create a beach profile in Excel?
Add axis titles – click Design > Add Chart Element (on the left) > Axis Titles: Vertical axis: Height of beach (metres) • Horizontal axis: Distance from shoreline (metres) • Don’t forget to change the chart title as well.
How are beaches formed and name any two beaches?
Beaches are formed when waves deposit sand and gravel along the shoreline. Some beaches are made up of pebbles and rock. Over time, they are rolled out smooth by the waves.
Which geologic process directly forms beaches on the shores of the bay?
A beach forms when waves deposit sand and gravel along the shoreline. . This can undercut cliffs causing large sections of rock and sediment to fall into the water. Tides are the daily or twice-daily rise and fall of the oceans.
How does beach profile affect longshore drift?
Features of shoreline change Longshore drift plays a large role in the evolution of a shoreline, as if there is a slight change of sediment supply, wind direction, or any other coastal influence longshore drift can change dramatically, affecting the formation and evolution of a beach system or profile.
What causes a steep beach profile?
Where backwash is larger than swash more material is being eroded from the beach profile than is being accumulated. This carries material out to sea and makes for a steeper beach profile. These waves are called DESTRUCTIVE WAVES which have steeper profiles, larger and higher wave crests and come more frequently.
How does beach profile affect erosion?
The mining of sand and gravel along beaches and in the surf-zone will cause erosion by depleting the shore of its sediment resources.
What determines beach slope?
Grain size determines the slope of the beach. Beaches with finer grain sizes tend to be flatter with gentler slopes (between the high and low tide line) than beaches with coarser grains. The reason for this has to do with the ability of sand to absorb water (porosity and permeability) from wave swash.
What is a beach profile?
A beach profile describes the landscape of the beach, both above the water and below it. Beaches can be warm, and rich in vegetation such as palm or mangrove trees.
What determines the shape of a beach?
The shape of the beach profile determines how the coast responds to storms, what part of the beach is useable for habitat and recreation, and the legal boundaries of land ownership.
What causes changes in beach profile shape?
Seasonal Changes in Beach Profiles. Changes in beach profile shape occur as a result of changing wave conditions, which can be due to a single storm of unusual magnitude, or seasonal changes in repeated storm intensity. The pattern of beach-profile response to wave intensity is illustrated schematically in Figure 5.
How do you calculate a healthy beach profile?
Typical response of a “healthy” beach to a storm event. Approximations to a beach profile can be expressed as very simple mathematical functions. A linear approximation is provided by the relationship: h = x tanβ where h is the still-water depth, x is the distance from the shoreline, and tanβ is the beach slope.