What has been the dominant direction of longshore drift in the past along Deal beach?

Authors Avatar

Aim 5

Question:

What has been the dominant direction of longshore drift in the past along Deal beach?

Aim:

To collect evidence to show what has been the dominant direction of longshore drift, in the past, along Deal beach.

Theory:

Longshore drift is generated by wave and current action. Water and sediment are transported in a zigzag pattern as waves and currents approach the shoreline at an angle. This zigzag pattern is the mechanism for sediment transport as the swash is immediately followed by the backwash to the ocean. This energy created from the breaking waves allows for weak  to carry large amounts of coarse-grained sediment down the shoreline. These weak currents, known as longshore currents, carry water and sediment parallel to the shoreline toward the down drift end of the beach.

Method:

For this aim we split up and took up a particular position in one of five groyne boxes. Once we were in our positions we took an ice cream tub and scooped up some pebbles much like the fieldwork in aim 2. We then selected five stones at random and measured their long axis and the angularity of the stones. This was repeated in every groyne box at every position. We also recorded if the stone was a pebble, cobble, or boulder.  Below is a diagram of how the positions were set out:

 

LINE OF SEA WALL

Position 1                                                                        Position 2        

Position 5

Position 3                                                                        Position 4

Join now!

POSITION OF SEA

Results:

Groyne Box 1- position 1

Groyne Box 1- position 2

Groyne Box 1- position 3

Groyne Box 1- position 4

Groyne Box 1- position 5

Groyne Box 2- position 1

Groyne Box 2- position 2

Groyne Box 2- position 3

Groyne Box 2- position 4

Groyne Box 2- position 5

Groyne Box 3- position 1

Groyne Box 3- position 2

Groyne Box 3- position 3

Groyne Box 3- position 4

Groyne Box 3- position 5

Groyne Box 4- ...

This is a preview of the whole essay