Coastal sediment dynamics: Introduction to the thematic issue

Abstract

This thematic issue of Comptes rendus Geoscience gives an overview of the works presented in the frame of a session dedicated to “Coastal sediment dynamics” at the 14th Congress of the French Association of Sedimentologists, held in Paris, France, from 5 to 7 November 2013. In total, 23 papers were presented in this session, both in the form of oral communications and posters. This national conference is traditionally a gateway for PhD and Master students to share their first results and sharpen their oral skills in front of an audience of specialists. The diversity of papers presented in this session reflects the natural diversity of the French coasts that open on the English Channel, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, both in terms of morphology (sedimentary and igneous rocky coasts, sandy beaches and subtidal prisms, bays and estuaries) and hydrodynamic processes (wave versus tide-dominated environments).