Classification of Barred and Unbarred Beach Profiles in the Caspian Sea

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Civil Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

2 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Abstract

Nearshore bars are ubiquitous morphological features along many of the world's beaches. They are the main expression of hydrodynamic and sediment transport gradients, with bars developing as a result of sediment convergence and troughs forming in areas of sediment divergence. Nearshore bars are the most dynamic morphological elements of the surf zone and hence they are a major topic of coastal research. The separation between barred and non-barred profiles is generally related to the direction of cross-shore sediment transport. Offshore sediment transport results in erosion of the beach and the formation of barred profiles, whereas onshore sediment transport causes beach accretion and non-barred profiles. The southern coasts of the Caspian Sea were studied in this research. According to the conducted investigations, the southern coasts of Caspian Sea is considered as the type of coast with possibility of bar formation and under normal conditions, three bars would be formed in most of its coasts.

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