Citation

Benedet L, Finkl CW, Klein AHF. J. Coast. Res. 2006; (SI 39): 360-365.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, The Coastal Education and Research Foundation)

DOI

10.2307/25741596

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Studies of coastal morphodynamics increasingly focus on quantification of relationships between processes, form, and function of dynamic beach systems because wave climates and beach sediments interact to collectively produce distinctive types of beaches. This classifies beach types in terms beach morphology, field investigations and interpretation of aerial photography and bathymetric data. Regionalization of coastal morphodynamic patterns in turn facilitates compartmentalization of hazard zones (risks to coastal infrastructure associated with extreme meteorological events such as northeasters, tropical storms, and hurricanes) and beach safety to swimmers. The approach adopted here classifies morphological and geographical variability of beach types and indicates coastal hazards designations. Results indicate that the Ω parameter is strongly influenced by cross-shore selective sorting of bimodal sediments. General beach morphology is approximated by the Ω parameter but hardgrounds and coastal structures induce variability to beach morphology that is not detected by the Ω calculations. The east Florida coast is divided into five morphological compartments and 24 sub-segments with distinct hazard levels. The higher hazard level, in reference to coastal flooding due to storm impact, was the dune-less dissipative beaches of the Daytona coastal segment. The least hazardous beaches were undeveloped, intermediate beaches of the Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet State park area.