The effect of groundwater on topographic changes in a gravel beach

Abstract

In recent years, several attempts to stabilize the beach by control of the percolation of water have been proposed. However, morphodynamics in the surf zone is still not clear because of the complexity of wave actions and sediment transport. Especially, there is a little research on gravel beach morphodynamics including wave breaking in the surf zone. The present study investigates experimentally how groundwater level influences topographic changes in a gravel beach and simulates numerically the wave fields and flow patterns in the surf zone, considering the porosity of the media and the presence of groundwater. In experiments, water-level control tank was designed to control the simulated groundwater elevation and the wave flume was divided into two parts to maintain a constant mean water level. The experimental results show that the berm formed in the upper portion of the shoreline moves up the beach as the groundwater level falls and the lower the groundwater level, the steeper the beach surface. The numerical model was developed to clarify these features capable of simulating the difference of groundwater and mean water level. Numerical results showed different flow patterns due to the groundwater elevation; wave run-up weakens and wave run-down strengthens by the seaward currents caused by elevated groundwater. These deformations of the flow pattern explain well how the beach profile is affected by the groundwater elevation.