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Beach cusps as self-organized patterns.

B T Werner, T M Fink

    Science (New York, N.Y.)
    |May 14, 1993
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Computer simulations show that beach cusps form through a self-organization mechanism driven by flow acceleration and surface gradients. Current data cannot distinguish this model from wave-driven patterns.

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    Area of Science:

    • Coastal geomorphology
    • Fluid dynamics
    • Sediment transport

    Background:

    • Beach cusps are naturally occurring, regularly spaced coastal landforms.
    • Existing models propose different mechanisms for beach cusp formation, including wave-driven and self-organization processes.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the self-organization mechanism of beach cusp formation using computer simulations.
    • To compare the simulation results with natural beach cusp observations.
    • To evaluate the sufficiency of current observational data in discriminating between different formation models.

    Main Methods:

    • Development and application of a computer model simulating flow and sediment transport in the swash zone.
    • Coupling of local flow acceleration and alongshore surface gradient within the model.

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  • Comparison of simulated cusp characteristics and formation conditions with field observations.

    • Main Results:

    • The model successfully reproduced uniformly spaced beach cusps.
    • Simulated cusp characteristics and formation conditions showed reasonable agreement with natural observations.
    • The model's self-organization mechanism was found to be incompatible with accepted standing alongshore wave models.

    Conclusions:

    • A model coupling local flow acceleration and alongshore surface gradient is sufficient to produce beach cusps.
    • Current observational data are insufficient to definitively distinguish between the proposed self-organization model and wave-driven models.
    • Further research with more discriminating observational data is needed to resolve the formation mechanism of beach cusps.