Analysis and modelling of cross-shore profile of gravel beaches in the province of Alicante

Significance Statement

Gravel beaches serve as natural coastal defense that protect the cliffs from erosion and backshore region from storms and wave run-up. Coarse sand and gravel mixture can be used as a filler material to regenerative eroded beaches.

Researchers from University of Alicante in Spain proposed analysis and modelling of cross-shore profile of gravel beaches in the province of Alicante with the aim of obtaining a model for an equilibrium profile of gravel beaches. they divided the profile into three category based on their characteristic, that is backshore profile runs from the beginning of the beach to the average sea level; intermediate submerged profile from the shoreline to the onset of Posidonia oceanica meadows and profile in Posidonia oceanica zone, which extends from the beginning to the end of the meadow. The study is now published in the peer-reviewed journal, Ocean Engineering.

The possible relationships between the slope of the beaches and sediment size were also studied, as well as the incident wave height in each of the beaches, and no significant relationship was obtained. In cross-shore profile analysis, the slope of the land was also studied and compared to the slope of Posidonia oceanica meadow. The team observed that the higher the slope in the land the larger the slope in the meadow.

This study successfully designed the most appropriate model for an equilibrium profile of gravel beaches advancing profile morphology prediction for beach regeneration. The model achieved with the potential function as this area has a continuous slope with a linear form, similar to that of a reef profile.   

About the author

A multidisciplinary group of the University of Alicante wrote the article Analysis and modelling of cross-shore profile of gravel beaches in the province of Alicante. On the one hand, two researchers (Luis Aragonés and Isabel López) of the Department of Civil Engineering, who are dedicated to the study of coastal behavior (analysis of the evolution of the coastline, depth of closure, Sedimentological analysis, etc.). On the other hand, the director and principal investigator of the research group Mathematical Modeling Systems at the University of Alicante, Yolanda Villacampa. The group formed by these researchers has been working together for more than five years to model the behavior of the various elements of the coast. For example, it has been possible to carry out different classifications of the types of beach, the modeling of the equilibrium beach profile of sand beaches, or the equilibrium profile of gravel beaches. The concern of these researchers does not remain here, but they are currently working in different fields such as the modeling of bathing water quality in the coastal zones, the location of the sand bars and / or the study for the prediction and determination of coastal erosion.  

Journal Reference

I. López1, L. Aragonés1, Y. Villacampa2, Analysis and Modelling of Cross-Shore Profile of Gravel Beaches in the Province of Alicante, Ocean Engineering 118 (2016) 173–186.

[expand title=”Show Affiliations”]
  1.  Department of Civil Engineering, University of Alicante, San Vicent del Raspeig s/n, 03690 Alicante, Spain
  2.  Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Alicante, San Vicent del Raspeig s/n, 03690 Alicante, Spain
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