Nearshore Vertical Pore Pressure Gradients and Onshore Sediment Transport under Tropical Storm Forcing

Colocated sediment pore pressures at depths of approximately 0.02 and 0.22 m below the sand surface and near-bed water velocities were measured for approximately 2 weeks in approximately 1 m mean water depth on an ocean beach near Duck, North Carolina. These measurements suggest that storm wave-driven liquefaction processes may enhance local shoreward sediment transport. During the passage of tropical storm Melissa, wave heights in 26-m water depth (NDBC 44100) were 1–4 m, and storm surge (approximately 1 m) and wave-induced setup increased the water depth on the beach. Upward vertical gradients in pressure heads between the sensors increased with the storm approach, with the largest values observed before the maxima in local wave heights, wave periods, and water depths. The large gradients in pore pressure exceeded several liquefaction criteria and usually occurred when near-bed velocities were upward- and shoreward-directed.

Observations on an ocean beach show that during storms the water pressure below the sand surface can be greater than the pressure near the sand surface. When that difference in pressure (called a pressure gradient) becomes large, the sediments fluidize, that is, they act like a fluid in a process called liquefaction. Unlike dry or partially wet sediments, the fluidized sand is moved easily by currents. During tropical storm Melissa, large upward-directed pressure gradients fluidized the sediment, usually as the crest of an ocean wave passed over the surface. Therefore, the sediments possibly became free to move as a liquid when the currents from waves were directed both upward and toward the shore. The liquified sediments could be transported shoreward, leading to changes to the sand surface (accretion and erosion). This phenomenon is important to understand because it contributes to how, where, and when sediment might be transported on an ocean beach.