A new paper led by G&G Research Fellow, Shari Gallop, has just been published in Marine Geology. The focus of the paper was on how the topography of coastal reefs drives alongshore variation in the mode and magnitude of erosion and accretion on a sandy beach in southwestern Australia. To achieve this, sub aerial beach surveys were undertaken monthly for two years, and hydrographic surveys were measured five times during late summer and winter. Numerical models using XBeach were used to determine how the coastal reefs influence currents in the are. This research was able to demonstrate the effect of reefs on seasonal erosion and accretion, in particular how alongshore variation in reef topography drives alongshore variation in the mode and magnitude of seasonal beach erosion and accretion; and the effect of intra- and inter-annual variability in metocean conditions on seasonal sediment fluxes.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322713001655