Cuspate shoreline relationship with nearshore bar dynamics during storm events – field observations at Sete beach, France.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Balouin, Y., Tesson, J. and Gervais, M., 2013. Cuspate shoreline relationship with nearshore bar dynamics during storm e events – field observations at Sete beach, France. Cuspate shoreline or megacusps, having alongshore lengths of 100–1000 m, are features widely described, and several theories were proposed for their formation and evolution (edge waves, self-organization). Their dynamics is often related with rip-currents migration, crescentic nearshore bars evolution, even if the relationship between shoreline rhythms and inner-bar pattern appears to be extremely variable. An Argus video monitoring system was deployed in 2011 at Sete beach (French Mediterranean). This microtidal wave-dominated environment is characterized by the presence of a double crescentic nearshore bar and a cuspate shoreline with a 400 m wavelength. Wave climate is moderate at this site and most of the significant morphological evolution is observed during storm events. Monitoring of bar and shoreline evolution during tw...