Microseismic measurement of wave-energy delivery to a rocky coast

Abstract

Research Article| October 01, 2002 Microseismic measurement of wave-energy delivery to a rocky coast Peter N. Adams; Peter N. Adams 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Robert S. Anderson; Robert S. Anderson 2Department of Earth Sciences and Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Justin Revenaugh Justin Revenaugh 2Department of Earth Sciences and Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Peter N. Adams 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA Robert S. Anderson 2Department of Earth Sciences and Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA Justin Revenaugh 2Department of Earth Sciences and Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 15 Feb 2002 Revision Received: 13 Jun 2002 Accepted: 18 Jun 2002 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2002) 30 (10): 895–898. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0895:MMOWED>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 15 Feb 2002 Revision Received: 13 Jun 2002 Accepted: 18 Jun 2002 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Peter N. Adams, Robert S. Anderson, Justin Revenaugh; Microseismic measurement of wave-energy delivery to a rocky coast . Geology 2002;; 30 (10): 895–898. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0895:MMOWED>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Rocky coasts are attacked by waves that drive sea-cliff retreat and etch promontories and embayments into the coastline. Understanding the evolution of such coastlines requires knowledge of the energy supplied by waves, which should depend upon both the deep-water waves and the coastal bathymetry they cross. We employ microseismic measurements of the wave-induced shaking of sea cliffs near Santa Cruz, California, as a proxy for the temporal pattern of wave-energy delivery to the coast during much of the winter 2001 storm season. Visual inspection of the time series suggests that both deep-water wave heights and tide levels exert considerable control on the energy delivered. We test this concept quantitatively with two models in which synthetic time series of wave power at the coast are compared with the shaking data. In the first model, deep-water wave power is linearly scaled by a fitting parameter; because this model fails to account for the strong tidal signal, it fits poorly. In the second model, the wave transformation associated with shoaling and refraction diminishes the nearshore wave power, and dissipation associated with bottom drag and wave breaking is parameterized by exponential dependencies on two length scales; this model reduces the variance by 32%–45% and captures the essence of the full signal. Shoaling and refraction greatly modulate the wave power delivered to the coast. Energy dissipated by bottom drag across the shelf is relatively small; the dissipation length scale is many times the path length across the shelf. In contrast, much energy is dissipated in the surf zone; the tidal-dissipation depth scale is of the same order as the tidal range (1–2 m), which accounts for the strong dependence of the cliff shaking on the tide. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.