Relationships Between Beach Sediment Characteristics and Foreshore Slope on Puget Sound Beaches
Presentation Abstract
Beaches throughout the Salish Sea are contained in a broad spectrum of geologic and geomorphic conditions. The majority of these beaches consist of mixed sand and gravel sediment compositions which were derived from extensive glacial deposits, and sorted by waves. The literature contains very little research into mixed grain size beaches and how the slope and character are controlled by wave energy. This poster contains data and findings from an initial investigation of beach sediment and topographic data collected from beach monitoring efforts around the Puget Sound in order to discern patterns between sediment composition and the profile and slope of a given beach. Data is available from both nourished and natural beaches Sediment grain size statistics were used to describe the sediment for comparison to physical beach parameters such as shape and slope.
With the number of bulkhead removal and beach restoration projects underway in the Salish Sea these data could prove to be invaluable to engineers and geologists in designing beach nourishment projects for restoration or soft shore protection. It is our hope that these data will allow for additional research to better understand and model wave interactions with mixed sand and gravel beaches in the Puget Sound.
Session Title
General shoreline topics
Conference Track
Shorelines
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Beaches--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Marine sediments--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Coast changes--Washington (State)--Puget Sound
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Puget Sound (Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Relationships Between Beach Sediment Characteristics and Foreshore Slope on Puget Sound Beaches
2016SSEC
Beaches throughout the Salish Sea are contained in a broad spectrum of geologic and geomorphic conditions. The majority of these beaches consist of mixed sand and gravel sediment compositions which were derived from extensive glacial deposits, and sorted by waves. The literature contains very little research into mixed grain size beaches and how the slope and character are controlled by wave energy. This poster contains data and findings from an initial investigation of beach sediment and topographic data collected from beach monitoring efforts around the Puget Sound in order to discern patterns between sediment composition and the profile and slope of a given beach. Data is available from both nourished and natural beaches Sediment grain size statistics were used to describe the sediment for comparison to physical beach parameters such as shape and slope.
With the number of bulkhead removal and beach restoration projects underway in the Salish Sea these data could prove to be invaluable to engineers and geologists in designing beach nourishment projects for restoration or soft shore protection. It is our hope that these data will allow for additional research to better understand and model wave interactions with mixed sand and gravel beaches in the Puget Sound.
