BEACH MORPHOLOGY
A beach is a narrow, gently sloping strip of land that lies along the edge of an ocean, lake, or river. Materials such as sand, pebbles, rocks, and seashell fragments cover beaches. This beach is an accumulation of loose sand and shingles at the upper end of the high tide zone, forming the margin of wave action. The morphology of the beach is one of the key drivers as it is acting at least on two of these parameters: the fetch distance defined as the stretch of beach over which wind has travelled, from a leading edge of erodible material, to any general point downward and the sediment size and supply. The primary character of the beach depends on:
- The nature of the land surface on which the sea comes to rest. If the land is low-lying the resulting beach will be straight. If the land is irregular or crenulated, the beach will tend to be irregular, discontinuous and in patches; and
- The nature of the beach material-The final form of the beach is greatly influenced by the size and sorting of the beach material according to the texture. The beach gradient is also dependent on the grain size, the steeper the beach angle, thus determining the angle of rest of the slope. Strong swash and backwash along with lithology are the causes of the Coarser texture of the beach material.
Author(s) Details:
Charlotte Maria Braganza
S K Somaiya College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Maharashtra, India.
Recent Global Research Developments in Beach Morphology in Sindhudurg District
- Study Area: The study focuses on the extreme southern section of the Maharashtra coast, specifically the shores of the Sindhudurg district. This coastal area extends between 15°45’ N latitude and 16°30’ N latitude, with a general orientation from north-northwest to south-southeast. The coastline here is approximately 100 kilometers long, covering the talukas of Devgad, Malvan, and Vengurla [1].
- Beach Sediments: Beaches consist of sediments derived from land disintegration, including sand and gravel eroded from terrestrial rocks. The composition of beach sediments reflects the nature of the source rocks and can be used to assess relative contributions and transport mechanisms [1].
- Research Findings: A study investigated the sediment textural characteristics of the coastal beach. Researchers used statistical parameters such as Graphical Mean Grain Size (Mz), Standard Deviation (σ1), Skewness (Sk), and Kurtosis (kG) to evaluate beach sediments. Additionally, experiments in a wave flume revealed sorting phenomena induced by wave action on sandy beaches [1].
References
- Braganza, C. M. (2021). Beach morphology in Sindhudurg District Maharashtra. J Coast Zone Manage, 24, 1-4. https://www.academia.edu/67617789/Beach_Morphology_in_Sindhudurg_District_Maharashtra
- Gawali, P. et al. (2022). Monsoon Impacted Magnetic and Geomorphological Changes Along the Redi Beach, Sindhudurg District, West Coast of Maharashtra, India. In: Singh, R.B., Kumar, M., Tripathi, D.K. (eds) Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems for Policy Decision Support. Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7731-1_5
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