Tracking of Small Discrete Objects Submerged in Surf and Swash Zones on Sand Beaches
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 6
Abstract
An experiment was conducted in a wave flume to measure the trajectories of 20 small objects (gravel and microplastics) in the surf and swash zones on an equilibrium beach and a nourished foreshore beach with erosion and accretion in the swash zone. The trajectory of each of the 20 objects was measured in six tests consisting of 100 runs, with each run lasting 400 s. Gravel particles were mobile within the swash zone only. Large and small microplastics moved onshore from the surf zone and accumulated in the lower swash zone of wave rundown or in the upper swash or berm zone of wave runup. Plastic particles remained on the evolving sand surface of the nourished foreshore. A simple tracking model was developed to predict the measured trajectories of the 20 particles of gravel and microplastics. The calibrated model also predicted limited net displacements of hypothetical sand particles on the equilibrium profile beach. The tracking model may eventually be generalized and become applicable to track and clean up microplastics on beaches and predict the destinations of sand particles placed on eroding beaches.
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Acknowledgments
The first author was supported by the Office of the Civil Service Commission under the Government of Thailand during his study at the Center for Applied Coastal Research, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware. This study was partially supported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Agreement nos. W912HZ18P0134 and W912HZ20-2-0016.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 6 • November 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 2, 2022
Accepted: Jun 15, 2023
Published online: Jul 25, 2023
Published in print: Nov 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Dec 25, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Beaches
- Coastal engineering
- Coasts, oceans, ports, and waterways engineering
- Detection methods
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Fluid mechanics
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Gravels
- Hydrologic engineering
- Hydrology
- Infrastructure
- Materials engineering
- Methodology (by type)
- Particles
- Pavements
- Pollutants
- Sand (hydraulic)
- Sandy soils
- Shores
- Soil mechanics
- Soils (by type)
- Tracking
- Transportation engineering
- Water and water resources
- Wave runup
- Waves (fluid mechanics)
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