Observations of the formation and maintenance of beach cusps on Del Monte Beach in Monterey, California

摘要

During the period of 5 April 2001 - 16 May 2001, topographic surveys of Del Monte beach in Monterey, California, were performed on a regular basis to record changes in beach cusp development for comparison to wave data being collected by the Oceanography Department of the Naval Postgraduate School. The surveys were conducted with a Real Time Kinematic Global Positioning System (RTK-GPS) secured to an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). The surveys were performed by driving the ATV on longshore transects of the beach to measure the vertical variation. From these surveys, the size and shape of the cusps were determined for each survey, and cusp variations between surveys were compared to the changes in wave conditions. Cusp spacing was determined through spectral analysis of the survey data, which produced peaks at the primary longshore wave numbers of the surf zone and swash cusps. The field data were then compared to current theory regarding beach cusp formation and maintenance in an attempt to determine the causative, maintenance, and destructive mechanisms. .