Young Investigator Award and Swash Zone Morphology: Field Manipulation and Simulation

摘要

The motivation for this research was to investigate the possible role of self organization, the development of long range order from short range nonlinear processes, in nearshore processes. Self organization models for subaerial and subaqueous ripples, bedforms and beach cusps were developed and a field experiment was conducted to test the model for beach cusp formation against a standing wave model. The models indicate that ripples and other bedforms are well characterized as attractors, wherein their pattern scale characteristics are insensitive to the detailed flow and sediment transport dynamics. Measurements during beach cusp formation are in qualitative and often quantitative agreement with a self organization model, but are not in agreement with a standing edge wave model.