Florida's critically eroded beaches pose a myriad of social and environmental concerns, prompting an effort to explore alternatives to more traditional sand sources. One alternative involves the use of recycled glass cullet as coastal beach fill in erosional “hot spots.” To determine the biological suitability of glass cullet in marine applications, invertebrate survivability and colonization was assessed through a biological assay program. Experimental bioassays were divided into five, three-container series (n = 15), with each series testing 23 kg of proportioned natural sand/glass cullet mixtures. Macro- and microscopic organisms were introduced to each bioassay and analyzed through direct observations. Experimental macrofauna displayed normal active behavior and recorded a mean success rate of 78% ± 3%. Mortality was attributed to predator-prey interactions rather than sediment contamination. Colonization of interstitial microfauna was successful within the cullet mixtures, and active transport between the cullet grains was documented without adverse effects. Abiotic parameters monitored in conjunction with the biological testing showed that temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH did not differ significantly among each test series. In addition, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and organic phosphates all recorded low risk factor levels. Small amounts of hydrogen sulfide precipitate began to form in the absence of wave action, but when wave simulations were introduced, no microbial zonation was detected. These experiments indicate that recycled glass cullet is a biologically benign material that can be used to mitigate development of erosional hot spots in nourished beaches. By doing so, a proactive recycling program can be initiated to protect one of Earth's most valuable resources, the coastline.

This study examined geomorphologic changes, littoral processes and sediment budget along the west side of the Cape Lookout, North Carolina, cuspate foreland, where a prograding spit at right angles to an eroding barrier island forms prominent features. Progradation of the spit is of interest geologically because it occurs within a transgressive, sediment-starved coastal setting in which adjacent barrier island limbs are eroding and in which immediate sediment sources and transport mechanisms are not obvious. Results indicate that as the spit extends to the north, it also widens to the west through swash bar attachment, leaving a well-defined record of dune ridges that mark former shoreline positions. Although northerly longshore transport occurs only under SW wave conditions, the average rate, ∼0.18 × 10⁶ m³/y, is considered high given the sheltered position of the spit within the cuspate foreland. Results of modeling and development patterns of a series of ridge and runnel systems along the spit indicate that sediments are derived from the eastern limb of the cape or, under certain conditions, from sediments stored in Cape Lookout Shoal by longshore currents. Because the spit forms the distal end of a terminal littoral cell, it has an important effect on the regional sediment budget. Shackleford Banks, oriented at right angles and located immediately downdrift of Power Squadron Spit, is sheltered by the spit at its eastern end but suffers high erosion rates in its central section from lack of sediment input from the updrift direction. This result suggests that change in the input sediment budget can be a major factor in controlling coastal geomorphologic change under uniform physical conditions.

Hooded Plovers (Thinornis rubricollis) and recreationists co-occur on the ocean beaches of southern Australia, and it has been suggested that disturbance of the breeding birds by humans constitutes a conservation problem. This study examines whether humans disturb incubating Hooded Plovers and places that disturbance in context with naturally occurring disturbances. Incubating Hooded Plovers encountered and responded to a variety of human and natural stimuli. The most common response involved leaving the nest for a period of time (an “absence”), and humans were responsible for 33.1% of time spent off nests. The response rates of incubating birds varied with the type of stimulus, with higher than expected response rates to two species of potentially predatory birds. About 17% of encounters with potential causes of disturbance occurred while birds were already responding to other disturbance, and this prolonged the return to the nest. Absences from the nest that were not apparently caused by disturbance were shorter and less frequent than those caused by external disturbance stimuli. Nest habitat influenced the response to encounters with humans, and on average foredune nests suffered the greatest decrease in attendance per encounter. This study has confirmed that human disturbance is more frequent than natural disturbances, and that humans decrease nest attendance substantially and more than any other source of disturbance.

Full-scale wave run-up measurements have been carried out on the Zeebrugge rubble mound breakwater in the frame of the EU-funded OPTICREST project. Wave run-up has been measured by a run-up gauge and by a so-called spi-derweb system. The dimensionless wave run-up value Ru_2%/H_m0 measured in Zeebrugge equals 1.77 for Iribarren number ξ_om = 3.63. An (apparent) influence of the water level on wave run-up has been observed. The porosity of the armor layer has a significant influence on wave run-up and may explain the dependency of wave run-up on the water level observed in Zeebrugge. Full-scale measurement results have been compared to literature data. The full-scale wave run-up data are in good agreement with the existing results of wave run-up tests with rip-rap slopes but are clearly higher than other wave run-up data resulting from tests with rubble mound breakwaters.

A clear difference between full-scale wave run-up measurements and small-scale model test results had been noticed during a MAST II project. This finding initiated a thorough study of wave run-up through the European MAST III OPTICREST project. Full-scale measurements have been carried out on the Zeebrugge rubble mound breakwater. This breakwater has been modeled in three laboratories: two 2D models at a scale of 1 : 30 and one 3D model at a scale of 1 : 40 have been built at Flanders Hydraulics (Belgium), at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain), and at Aalborg University (Denmark). Wave run-up has been measured by a digital run-up gauge. This gauge has proven to measure wave run-up more accurately than the traditional wire gauge. Wave spectra measured in Zeebrugge have been reproduced in the laboratories. Results of small-scale model tests and full-scale measurement results have been compared. This comparison confirmed the MAST II outcome: wave run-up is underestimated by small-scale model tests. The difference between full-scale measurement results and small-scale model test results is the result of model effects. The porosity of the armor layer has a significant influence on wave run-up and may explain the dependency of wave run-up on the water level observed in Zeebrugge. An influence of the spectral shape has also been noticed.

A multiproxy analysis of back-dune sediment cores from Rangihoua Bay, northern New Zealand, provides an environmental history of the Late Quaternary, placing human impacts on the site into a geomorphological and ecological context. The inferred paleoecological significance of the trends is generally coeval between proxies. The history commences with a Late Pleistocene deposit that formed part of a river terrace during lower sea level. The dryland vegetation at that time was dominated by Fuscospora forest. The record recommences at ca. 7400 YBP, by which time Fuscospora had been replaced by podocarp-hardwood forest, comprising mainly Dacrydium and Prumnopitys taxifolia emerging through a Metrosideros canopy. One of the core sites was a lagoon fringed with mainly Cyperaceae, Leptospermum, and Dodonaea. Redox-sensitive elements reflect phases of anoxia related to variation in lagoon depth. Transition from lagoon to peat swamp, due to natural infilling and/or climate change, occurred after ca. 5500 YBP. Human impacts were of high magnitude and include deforestation of the catchment and drainage of the wetland by early Polynesians. Errors in the radiocarbon and tephra chronologies preclude an accurate date for this. Microfossils of introduced Polynesian plants and a thick gravel bed in one of the cores suggest that parts of the wetland were used for prehistoric horticulture.

An infilled backbarrier wetland located behind a stationary-type coastal bay barrier is used to reconstruct a 6000-year paleo-environmental record that incorporates gradual, catastrophic, and human-influenced sedimentation styles on the New Zealand coast. The record is assembled from a range of proxy indicators (grain size, magnetic susceptibility, organic content, diatoms, and pollen) and is temporally constrained by tephrochronology, radiocarbon dating, and optical dating. Postglacial sea-level rise, volcanism, tsunami, and catchment clearance are all evident in the sediment record, either as artifacts or indirect indicators. Results from optical dating also provide insights into the process of sediment reworking and mixing from multiple sources during tsunami transport. We argue that backbarrier wetlands formed behind stationary-type (aggraded) bay barriers are of greater value (more sensitive) for longer-term paleo-environmental reconstruction than wetlands associated with prograded-type and receded-type barriers, where the sediment record is typically less complete.

Seasonal (autumn and spring) and multiannual (1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2001) variability in the composition of water masses on the Uruguayan shelf were analyzed. The main difference between seasons was the presence of Tropical Water (TW) and a relative dominance of Subtropical Water (STW) over Subantartic Water (SAW) in autumn, whereas spring was characterized by a dominance of SAW and the absence of TW. Changes in the composition of water masses, surface temperature distributions, and front positions and strengths are discussed in regards to biological implications. Our results reveal seasonal changes in the frontal zone position and suggest an enhaced migration during El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warm and cold episodes, reaching higher latitudes during the former (e.g., autumn of 1998). During cold episodes, the position of the frontal zone reached lower latitudes, with prevailing cold waters over the shelf. Higher frontal strength was observed during ENSO episodes, mainly because of the haline component of CW at the surface. The combination of highly variable freshwater inputs and the occurrence of shelf convergences produced a distinctive hydrographic system with a high degree of seasonal and interannual variation and an evident impact on ecological processes.

This paper identifies and quantifies the clay assemblage within coastal dunes of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and proposes a model for clay distribution and abundance. Distinct dune units identified by previous authors on the basis of the sand fraction are redefined on the basis of the composition of the clay fraction. The most mature dune unit is classified as Unit 0 (250–350? ka) and is characterised by a clay assemblage rich in kaolinite and goethite. Units 1 and 2 (19–250 ka) are of intermediate maturity and comprise kaolinite, interstratified clays, quartz, and goethite. The relatively immature Units 3 and 4 (Recent to 19 ka) are characterised by calcite, quartz, vermiculite, and montmorillonite.

The relative abundance of clay minerals in dune units allows weathering and postdeposition alteration processes within the dunes to be investigated. From these, a simplified weathering sequence with increasing maturity can be summarised as follows: quartz feldspars calcite heavy minerals → illite vermiculite → illite interstratified clays → illite montmorillonite → halloysite interstratified clays kaolinite → kaolinite. Past work and field studies indicate that the dune cordon acts as an open system of high permeability, resulting in carbonates and mobile ions being readily leached and lost from the system. However, when prolonged weathering has caused an accumulation of fine-grained material, permeability decreases substantially, whereby mobile cations and silica cannot be readily evacuated. This can result in the formation of montmorillonite rather than kaolinite, even when carbonates have been leached. The dominant controlling factors in determining clay assemblages are pH and leaching conditions. This observed weathering profile is complicated by reworking, the type and distribution of vegetation, and water table changes because of sea level changes.

Analyses of short-duration, current meter records collected in the coastal waters off Beypore on the southwest coast of India have been made in order to understand the tidal and nontidal variability during premonsoon and summer monsoon seasons of the year 2000. The region's tidal and nontidal flows were described by means of time-series displays, simple statistics, harmonic analysis, correlation coefficients, and progressive vector diagrams. The nontidal component of current was extracted using the X₀ filter. The study showed that the tidal currents were generally weak (<7 cm/s) and dominated by tidal signals only in a few records. Diurnal and semidiurnal constituents were found to be responsible for the rest of the variance. The signatures of the currents were different at the surface and bottom of the water column in the records collected during the summer monsoon season, suggesting a baroclinic nature of motion, whereas the premonsoon records showed a barotropic nature. The stratification of the water column was strong during the summer monsoon season but was well mixed during the premonsoon season. There was a strong signature of diurnal solar forcing in the surface-temperature records, which was totally lacking in the bottom records.

Digital images of the intertidal region were used to map shorelines and the intertidal bathymetry along four geo-morphically and hydrodynamically distinct coastlines in the United States, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Australia. Mapping methods, each of which was originally designed to perform well at only one of the four sites, were applied to all four sites, and the results were compared to direct topographic surveys. It was determined that the rms errors of image-derived versus directly surveyed elevations depended on the prevailing hydrodynamic conditions as well as differences in each of the four different mapping methods. Before these differences were accounted for, rms errors ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 m. An empirical correction model that computed local estimates of setup, swash, and surf beat amplitudes reduced errors by about 50%, with residual rms errors ranging between 0.1 and 0.4 m. The model required tuning only one parameter that determined how each method was affected by swash at infragravity and incident wave frequencies. In environments where all methods successfully identify shorelines, the methods can be used somewhat interchangeably. The diversity of methods is advantageous in situations where one or more methods are likely to fail (e.g., lack of color imagery, high degree of alongshore variability). This remote sensing methodology can be applied to the shoreline and intertidal mapping problem across diverse nearshore environments.

In this article, a collection of deep water (>100 m) wave records was assessed to create a long-term, statistically reliable data set. These wave data were derived from buoy data of the Coastal Information Data Program (CDIP) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Scripps Institute of Oceanography; the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and other sources. From this data set, long-term annual averages and monthly wave probability distributions were analyzed for 10 one-degree-latitude bins, bounded by the 100-m and 1000-m depth contours seaward of the California coast. The probability distributions were used to quantify the potential for useful energy extraction from the coastal waves of California. Optimal locations for developing wave energy installations are specified. South of Point Conception, California, the wave energy arriving from North Pacific storms is efficiently blocked by the significant change in the California coast orientation south of Point Conception and the Channel Islands. The near-coastal Southern California (SOCAL) region has a significantly reduced wave resource compared with the California coast north of Point Conception.

This paper focuses mainly on the coastline movements at the northeast coasts of the Aegean Sea in Turkey. The Aegean Sea is a semiclosed sea that has unique geographical features and covers an area of 191,000 km². The study area includes the coastal zone located between the southeastern part of the Meric River mouth and the Dalyan Lake coasts. The Meric Delta has accreted toward the Aegean Sea as a result of sediment discharge and transport. In contrast to this, the width of the natural land barrier between the Aegean Sea and the Dalyan Lake has decreased over the years because of coastal erosion. These processes have caused the morphological changes of coastline along some parts of the northeast coasts of the Aegean Sea. In this study, these changes were examined by using satellite data from Landsat MSS, TM, and ETM collected between 1975 and 2001. In the image processing step, registration, ISODATA classification, and temporal image ratioing techniques were used to carry out coastline change assessment. At the end of the study, significant coastline movements (in some parts more than 200 m) were detected for a 26-year period.

Galveston shoreline data from 1956, 1965, 1990, and 2001 were analyzed with a sediment budget to infer the longshore and cross-shore (out of the littoral system) transport. The analysis indicated a relatively calm period from 1990 to 2001, which was dominated by longshore transport, as well as two hurricane-prone periods (1956–65 and 1965–90), which had both longshore and cross-shore transport. The Wave Information Study wave data (1976–95) were then examined to identify those years where the waves gave the “expected” longshore transport. Five wave years were selected for further study.

Numerical modeling of shoreline change on Galveston Island, based on the five selected wave years, was conducted in order to gain an understanding of, and to design remedial action for, an erosional hotspot at the end of the island's seawall. The GENESIS model was chosen after careful consideration of its assumptions and performance and after analysis of site conditions. It was judged to be a suitable shoreline change model for the relatively calm 1990–2001 period, but not for the excessively hurricane-prone 1956–90 period. Model calculations of shoreline change from 1990 to 2001 were in agreement with the measurements in the vicinity of the hotspot. The model was used to design beach nourishment at the hotspot for 2001–11. The calculations indicate that about 100,000 m³/y of sand would be needed to maintain the 2001 shoreline. Under storm conditions, a sediment budget indicated that an additional 300,000 m³/y might be necessary to maintain the 2001 shoreline.

Holocene changes are recorded by sedimentology and palynology on a 20 m long core retrieved in the mouth of the Douro estuary (northwestern Portugal). Results show that the early Holocene (10720–6530 calibrated [cal] YBP) was characterized by a warm and humid climate as testified by a well-established Pinus–Quercus–Alnus regional forest. Shelf and slope foraminifera assemblages as well as echinoderms gradually increased toward the end of this period, reflecting the sea-level rise that occurred between 11500 and 6000 cal yr BP. A gravel barrier developed in the southern part of the estuary as a result of sea-level rise attenuation and strong hydrodynamism of the river. A radical change from regional fluvially transported pollen assemblages (mainly composed of trees) to pollen spectra derived from local vegetation (mainly Ericaceae and Poaceae) occurred between 6530 and 1500 cal yr BP, contemporaneously to the settlement of the gravel barrier. This suggests that the northward migration of the river main channel, already testified by the existence of a palaeovalley with its axis located southward of the present main channel, occurred as early as 6530 cal yr BP.

Two different versions of the operational setup of HIRLAM (High-Resolution Limited-Area Model) at the Finnish Meteorological Institute are exploited in order to verify wind forecasts in the eastern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Two cases of interest are studied in detail by also making use of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)–Pennsylvania State University mesoscale model (MM5) and a nonhydrostatic version of HIRLAM. Simulations are carried out in both models applied at three horizontal resolutions. The models' sea-land distributions play an essential role in the interpretation of the accuracy of wind speed forecasting. Considering wind direction, all experiments display similar systematic discrepancies.

The Pak Panang is a fertile yet environmentally degraded coastal embayment in southern Thailand, which is subject to massive flooding during the northeast monsoon. This study characterizes the seasonal variability of the water chemistry and the concentrations and distributions of dissolved arsenic and arsenic in sediments. In situ monitoring of water parameters and water and sediment sampling were conducted during the dry season in 2001 and the rainy seasons of 2002 and 2003. Determinations were made of dissolved, reactive phosphate, nitrate nitrite, silicate, chlorophyll a, particulate carbon content of suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediments. Analyses of total dissolved arsenic and total particulate arsenic, and other metals, in the sediments were also carried out. The hydrography of the bay was influenced mainly by fluvial input from the Pak Panang River. The nutrient concentrations in the bay were relatively low in both dry and wet seasons, although numerous discharges contribute to the nitrogen load of the bay. The SPM in the rivers had elevated carbon concentrations, up to 21%, resulting in a mean dissolved oxygen saturation of 54% and mineralization of carbon between the catchment and the bay. The total carbon concentrations in the sediments of the bay were independent of season. Total dissolved arsenic concentrations in the bay ranged from 4 to 53 nmol L⁻¹ during the wet season, whereas in the dry season the mean value was 100 nmol L⁻¹. The surface sediments in the bay had higher total arsenic contents in the wet season (210 ± 64 nmol g⁻¹) compared with the dry season (133 ± 48 nmol g⁻¹), indicating a supply from the mineralized catchment during the monsoon.

It is difficult and expensive to calculate changes in sediment volume for large sections of sandy beaches. Shoreline change could be a useful proxy for volume change because it can be collected quickly and relatively easily over long distances. In this paper, we summarize several studies that find a high correlation between shoreline change and subaerial volume change. We also examine three new data sets. On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the correlation coefficients between the time series of shoreline change and subaerial volume change at two locations are 0.73 and 0.96. On Assateague Island, the correlation coefficient between along-coast variations in shoreline change and subaerial volume change is 0.71. On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the average correlation coefficient between temporal variations in shoreline change and subaerial volume change is 0.84. For spatial variations, the average correlation coefficient is 0.88. It is therefore concluded that shoreline change is a useful proxy for subaerial volume change.

Reliable forecasts of salinity changes are essential for restoring and sustaining natural resources of estuaries and coastal ecosystems. Because of the physical complexity of such ecosystems, information on uncertainty associated with salinity forecasts should be assessed and incorporated into management and restoration decisions. The objective of this study was to investigate uncertainty in salinity forecasts imposed by limitations on data available to calibrate and apply a mass balance salinity model in the Barataria basin, Louisiana. The basin is an estuarine wetland-dominated ecosystem located directly west of the Mississippi Delta complex. The basin has been experiencing significant losses of wetland at a rate of nearly 23 km²/y. A Bayesian-based methodology was applied to study the effect of data-related uncertainty on both the retrieval of model parameters and the subsequent model predictions. We focused on uncertainty caused by limited sampling and coverage of salinity calibration data and by sparse rain gauge data within the basin. The results indicated that data limitations lead to significant uncertainty in the identification of model parameters, causing moderate to large systematic and random errors in model results. The most significant effect was related to lack of accurate information on rainfall, a major source of fresh water in the basin. The approach and results of this study can be used to identify necessary improvements in monitoring of complex estuarine systems that can decrease forecast uncertainty and allow managers greater accuracy in planning restoration of coastal resources.

Tides are usually predicted by harmonic analysis, which is a superposition of many sinusoidal constituents with amplitudes and frequencies determined from an analysis of locally measured sea levels. To form accurate tidal predictions using the method of harmonic analysis, long-term sea level registrations have to be collected and analysed. This article presents an alternative approach to the task of tidal forecasts based on the application of harmonic analysis and back-propagation, artificial neural networks to short-term measurements. Sea level records from the Hillarys Boat Harbour tide gauge, Western Australia, are used to implement this original methodology and to test its performance. The results of the methodology validation show that short-term sea level registrations can be effi-ciently employed to produce accurate tidal predictions.

We use a simple analytical model of reservoir compaction and a numerical model incorporating both reservoir compaction and fault slip to investigate surface subsidence in the area of the Lapeyrouse Field in southern Louisiana. A releveling survey shows approximately 20 m of elevation change over a 30 years time period that includes the period of extensive oil and gas production from a number of reservoirs at depth. The degree and extent of subsidence estimated from a simple analytical model of compaction predicts approximately half of the elevation change measured from the releveling surveys. Incorporating the impact of compaction-induced slip along the Golden Meadow Fault, located at the northern edge of the Lapeyrouse Field, on surface subsidence still does not account for all of the measured subsidence. Coastal wetland loss is a result of complicated process and it is difficult to isolate the impact of specific mechanisms. This study suggests that land subsidence induced by hydrocarbon production is one of several mechanisms that need to be considered when evaluating localized subsidence and wetland loss in the Louisiana coastal zone.

The regeneration of 1100 ha of derelict industrial land to the south of Cardiff included the construction of the 1.1-km-long Cardiff Bay Barrage (completed November 1999), which impounded two major South Wales rivers. A 160 m groyned beach, composed of four groynes and three bays, adjacent to and seaward of the barrage breakwater was monitored between September 1997 and September 2002 to assess pre- and postconstruction beach evolution. Overall, mean beach levels increased throughout the five-year period, resulting in a net gain of beach covering equivalent to 818.8 m³ (1800 tonnes). After barrage completion, both longshore and cross-shore gradients became less volatile and increased beach levels in the bay nearest the breakwater, prevented tidal action and erosion at the cliff toe. This was a significant change from initial conditions that was verified by parametric and nonparametric tests at the 99% confidence level. Regression analysis determined that there were significant temporal relationships. Spatial analysis identified two highly significant longshore trends with respect to distance from the breakwater and showed that this influence decreased with distance. More than 72 m from the breakwater, the regression equation (R² = 96%) modelled a trend of falling beach levels caused by net sediment transport. Conversely, from 72 m to the breakwater, beach levels increased at a rate greater than twice the fall in the previous section (R² = 92%). These trends were further supported by significantly greater level differences across the second groyne. Impacts of temporal and spatial trends, especially subsequent to barrage completion, were evidenced by the change in beach morphology and similar contour orientation in all three bays. Models were developed and proposed as management tools to identify potential changes in coastal processes, as well as the rate of change of the barrage's upstream influence with respect to net sediment flow. Groyne removal was suggested to provide recreational beach space.