Chapter
Apr 26, 2012
The Response of Spit Shapes to Wave-Angle Climates
Authors: Andrew D. Ashton [email protected], A. Brad Murray [email protected], and Ryan LittlewoodAuthor Affiliations
Publication: Coastal Sediments '07
Abstract
We investigate spit formation and evolution in light of the high-wave-angle instability in shoreline shape arising from a maximizing angle for wave-driven alongshore sediment transport. Single spits emerge in a simple one-contour line numerical model that evolves the coast using morphodynamic feedbacks and a ‘climate' of waves approaching the shore from variable directions. Analysis of sediment transport and shoreline stability metrics illustrate how spits can be generated, demonstrating how waves from all angles can play a role in spit formation and evolution. Simulations suggest that regardless of whether high- or low-angle waves dominate relative to the general shoreline trend, as spits extend offshore, they tend to orient themselves such that most of their coast barely experiences low-angle waves and alongshore sediment transport to the spit end is maximized. This ‘graded' spit shape minimizes gradients in sediment flux, while the recurve at the spit end experiences larger gradients and a region of high-angle instability. Examining hindcast wave data, similar trends are seen along the natural example of Long Point, Lake Erie, Canada.
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© 2007 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Apr 26, 2012
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Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Geology and Geophysics Department, MS #22, Woods Hole, MA, 02543 and U. S. Geological Survey, 384 Woods Hole Rd., Woods Hole, MA, 02543. E-mail: [email protected]
Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences; Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Duke University, Durham, NC. E-mail: [email protected]
Ryan Littlewood
Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences; Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Duke University, Durham, NC
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