Introduction to Coastal Processes

Trilochan Sahoo

Department of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur - 721302, INDIA
Email:[email protected]
 INTRODUCTION
1. Coastal processes are the set of mechanisms that operate along a coastline,
bringing about various combinations of erosion and deposition.
2. The land water interface along the coastline is always in a highly dynamic
state and nature works towards maintaining an equilibrium condition.
3. The energy due to tide, waves, wind and currents is constantly working in the
coastal zone. Dissipation of energy (due to tide, wind, waves and current) is
often provided by the beaches, mudflats, marshes, corals and mangroves.
4. Human use of the coasts also requires space and herein lies the conflict,
which results in unstable coastal systems.
5. Coastal processes are highly unpredictable and is a challenge to coastal
scientists.
6. Apart from various physical processes, various chemical/biological
processes along the coast affect the quality of life and is a challenge to the
coastal community.
7. The water quality changes due to the presence of pollutants, variations in
temperature, salinity etc. which affect the ecosystem of the coast.
8. Human interference for economic development often affect the coastal
morphology and biodiversity of the coastal zone.
Classification of coastal processes

 Wave processes
 Sediment transport processes
 Various wave processes
 Wave interference
 Wave shoaling
 Wave reflection
 Wave refraction
 Wave diffraction
 Wave scattering
 Wave set up
 Wave run up
 Wave overtopping
 Wave breaking
 Wave-current interaction
 Wave-structure interaction
 Wave-sea bed interaction
 WAVE INTERFERENCE
Like force vectors, waves can work together or in
opposition. Sometimes they can even do some of both
at the same time. Superposition applies even when the
waves are not identical.
Constructive interference occurs at a point when two waves
have displacements in the same direction. The amplitude of the
combo wave is larger either individual wave.
Destructive interference occurs at a point when two waves have
displacements in opposite directions. The amplitude of the combo
wave is smaller than that of the wave biggest wave.
Superposition can involve both constructive and destructive
interference at the same time (but at different points in the medium).
 CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE
Reinforcement when the crest of one wave overlaps the crest of
another. Their individual effects adds together, resulting in a wave
increased in amplitude.

Superposition of two transverse waves in phase produces a wave of increased amplitude

 DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE
• Cancellation of two transverse waves takes place when
crest of one wave overlaps with the trough of another
reducing their individual effects.
• Out of phase- When the crest of one wave arrives at a
point at the same time as a trough of the second wave
arrives, the resultant waves cancel each other.
• In phase- two waves crests and troughs arrive at a place
at the same time, effects reinforce each other

Superposition of two transverse waves which are out of phase cancel each other
CONSTRUCTIVE & DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE

Destructive Interference
Constructive Interference
Waves are “out of phase.” By
Waves are “in phase.” By super- superposition, red and blue
position, red + blue = green. If red completely cancel each other
and blue each have amplitude A, out, if their amplitudes and
then green has amplitude 2A. frequencies are the same.
 INTERFERENCE AND ROGUE WAVES
Interference waves
When waves from different storm systems overtake one
another. They add (constructive interference) or
subtract (destructive interference) from the other.
 STANDING WAVES
Standing waves or seiches consist of a water
surface “seesawing” back and forth

• A node is an imaginary line across the surface

which experiences no change in elevation as
the standing wave oscillates. It is the line
about which the surface oscillates.
• Antinodes are where there is the maximum
displacement of the surface as it oscillates
and are usually located at the edge of the
basin.
STANDING WAVES Contd…
 WAVE REFLECTION

Wave energy is reflected

(bounced back) when it
hits a solid object

Reflected wave crest pattern

 
Direction of reflected waves Direction of incident waves

Direction of reflected wave

waves
 WAVE REFLECTION CONTD…
When the water depth suddenly changes, part of the
incident wave energy is reflected in the direction opposite
to the incident wave direction, part energy continues to
propagate in the incident wave direction.

H i  incident wave height

H r  reflected wave height
Hr
Reflection coefficient=Cr 
Hi
WAVE REFLECTION NEAR A WALL
Wave reflection near a coastal forest
 Wave reflection/scattering & applications
 Wave reflection

Incident wave direction Rigid wall

Reflected wave direction

Arbitrary bottom topography

 Wave scattering
Transmitted wave direction
Incident wave direction

Reflected wave direction structure

Arbitrary bottom topography

 Application
 Shore protection
 Reduction of wave height
 Creation of calm region for various coastal engineering applications
 Wave trapping and it’s applications
 Wave Trapping
 Time harmonic free oscillation of a fluid confined only within a finite
region is referred as wave trapping such as edge waves confined to
beaches
Incident wave direction Reflected wave direction Trapped wave
Rigid wall

Rigid/Porous
Open water region structure Trapped region

Arbitrary bottom topography

 Application
 Control sediment transport
 Coastal fishery (breeding and nursing ground for fish)
 Creation of calm region for various coastal engineering applications
WAVE SCATTERING BY CAISSON BREAKWATER
WAVE PAST POROUS BREAKWATER
 WAVE REFRACTION
The direction of waves may change when they enter from
deep to shallow water or from shallow to deep water.

sin 1 sin  2
Snell’s law: 
c1 c2

Direction of incident waves

1
2 c1  wave celerity of depth h1
Direction of refracted waves c2  wave celerity of depth h2

c2 c1

h2
h1
WAVE REFRACTION CONTD…
 REFRACTION OF OCEAN WAVES
Wave fronts are shown in white heading toward the beach. The water
gets shallow at the bottom first, which causes the waves to slow down
and bend, and the wavelength to decrease. By the time the waves
reach shore, they’re nearly parallel to the shoreline. The effect can
even be seen on islands, where winds nearly wrap around it and come
toward the island from all sides.
 WAVE DIFFRACTION
•When wave energy is transferred laterally to wave direction, this
phenomenon is known as wave diffraction.
•Wave diffraction occurs when waves passing by a surface piercing body.
It may occur in deep or shallow water.
•An example in shallow water is wave diffraction behind a breaker water.
•The sound waves from an owl’s hoot travel a greater distance in the forest
than a song bird’s call, because a low pitch owl hoot has a longer wavelength
than a high pitch songbird call, and the owl’s waves are able to diffract around
trees.
 WAVE DIFFRACTION CONTD…
When waves pass a barrier they curve around it slightly. When they
pass through a small opening, they spread out almost as if they had
come from a point source. These effects happen for any type of wave:
water; sound; light; seismic waves, etc.

Diffraction of water waves by a block and a narrow gap

WAVE DIFFRACTION CONTD…

Direction of reflected wave

Reflection of a diffracted wave

WAVE BREAKING
 WAVE BREAKING
• In relative deep water, wave stability depends critically
on the wave steepness;
• In shallow water, wave stability becomes dependant
upon the wave height to water depth ratio;
• It is not as yet possible to adequately describe a
breaking wave in mathematical form; hence an
essentially empirical approach is usually adopted.
 WAVE BREAKING
Criteria for wave breaking
• In deep water when h/ > 0.5 or h > /2 then only the wavelength is
important.
• In shallow water, when h/ < 0.05 or h <  /20 then only the depth of the
water is important.
• In practice H/h at breaking depends also on both the wave steepness
and the beach slope.

Breaking Wave Formulas

H Hb
Michell(1893)   0.142
(deep water)  b
Hb 2 db
Miche(1944)  0.142 tanh
(transitional depth) b b
Hb
McCowan(1891)  0.78
(shallow water) b
 TYPES OF WAVE BREAKING

Types of Breaking Waves

• Spilling breaker
• Plunging breaker
• Surging breaker
Factors for breaking wave
• Slope
• Contour
• Composition
 WAVE BREAKING

Spilling breakers at Torrey Pines Beach, CA Plunging breaker (threatens a boat)

Surging breaker on a narrow Hawaii beach Surging wave crashing on seacliffs

 WHIRLPOOL and TORNADO IN OCEAN

WHIRLPOOL (TSUNAMI IN JAPAN) TORNADO (ATLANTIC OCEAN)

HARBOR OSCILLATION
 HARBOR OSCILLATION
• Harbor oscillations are long period wave motions that sometimes
disrupt harbor activities. The oscillations are standing waves with
typical periods between 30s to 10min. Vertical motions are generally
small, but horizontal motions can be large. Oscillation characteristics
are generally controlled by basin size, and water depth. Oscillations
are most damaging when the period coincides with a natural resonant
period of the harbor. The phenomenon is also referred to as harbor
resonance, surging, seiching, and resonant oscillations.

• Harbor oscillation can be significant problem for inner harbor

components and moored vessels within a harbor basin. Resonant
periods characteristic of moored vessels often fall into the same
range of periods as harbor oscillations. Thus, harbor oscillations can
create dangerous mooring conditions including breaking of mooring
lines, damage to fender systems, vessel collisions, and delay of
loading and unloading operations at port facilities.
WAVE OSCILLATION IN A BASIN AND A BAY

Natural Period of oscillation = T

 MODES OF OSCILLATION

Surface profile for the first four modes in closed and open-ended rectangular basins of uniform depth
HARBOR OSCILLATION
 SLOSHING
Slosh refers to the movement of liquid inside another object.

Sloshing in a closed tank

 SLOSHING OF WATER

Water sloshing Sloshing in a bay

 WAVE RUN UP
• As wave propagates over a gently sloping bed into shallow water, it will be
observed that outside the surf zone there is a slight depression of mean water
label, with a maximum depression at about the breaking point. This
phenomenon is called the wave set-down. Then in the surf zone, the mean
water surface slopes upward and a rather large raising is observed.
• This super elevation of the mean water label caused by the wave action along is
called the wave set-up. The set-up (bmax) is measured from the mean water
label as shown in Fig. bmax roughly ranges between 30 and 50% of the breaker
height Hb . These variations in the mean water label occur to balance the cross
shore component of the incident wave forces namely momentum and pressure.
 WAVE OVERTOPPING
Wave overtopping is the average discharge per linear meter of width, for example in
per m or 1/s per m. Wave overtopping is calculated in relation to the height of the
outer crest line and it is assumed that this wave overtopping also reaches the rear
of the slope and the inner slope. In reality there is no constant discharge over the
crest of a water defence during wave over topping. The highest wave will push a
large amount of water over the crest in a short period of time, less than a wave
period. Lower waves will not produce any wave overtopping.
 Wave setup and setdown
• Wave setup is the increase in mean water level due to the presence of
waves

• Wave setdown is a wave-induced decrease of the mean water level

• Wave heights are measured at a finite distance from the shoreline to

avoid the effect of wave breaking near shoreline during a storm
SEDIMENT TRANSPORT PROCESSES
Coastal beach profile
 Coastal Profile
A beach includes several zones defined by their proximity
to shore and the dominant processes that occur within
them.
 SEDIMENT TRANSPORT
• Sources of sediment
-- erosion of cliffs ( direct input )
-- other sources like current bringing materials from sea bed .etc

• Sediment is stored as
-- depositional landforms
-- near shore feature ( bank or offshore bar )
-- transported as a throughput and is deposited in
deep water or away from the coastal area in question
 Where sediments are Stored?
SEDIMENTS IS STORED AS
-- depositional landforms
-- near shore feature ( bank or offshore bar )
-- or transported as a throughput and is
deposited in deeper water or away
from the coastal area in question

Shore face- showing near shore features

Broad vistas of the depositional landforms Beach : a result of sediment deposition

 TYPES OF SEDIMENTS .
• MAJORLY OF TWO TYPES –
 Clastic sediment-- from rock weathering and erosion.
Classification based on grain dia. in mm.
-- cobble (d>76)
-- clay ( 4.76<d<76)
-- coarse sand ( 2.0<d<4.76)
-- medium sand ( .42<d<2.0)
-- fine sand (.074<d<.42)
-- silt (.0039<d< .074)
-- clay (d<.0039)
 Biogenic sediment--shells and skeletons of marine
organisms.
SEDIMENT TRANSPORT & DEPOSITION
 Waves, currents, tides and wind provide the energy
inputs for the erosion and transport of sediment from
the source areas to create coastal landforms which
exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium with the local
conditions
 These depositional landforms such as beaches, sand
dunes, salt marshes and mudflats, act as a dynamic
sediment store and sediments are transported
onshore, offshore, and alongshore to create them.
These stores in turn provide sediment for stores further
down the coast.
 Modes of transport
• Suspended load transport
• It is the part of the total load that is moving in suspension without
continuous contact with the bed. It consists of very fine particles
transported in water.
• Beach drift : the particles those are not suspended but go with the water
ex. sand movements that take place along the beach
• Bed load : small and large pieces of rock rolling on the bed
 Littoral transport
• Littoral transport : Movement of sediment in the near shore reason
by the action of wave and current. FALL VELOCITY is the critical
water velocity above which sediment movements take place

• Rhythmic aggradations – It is the periodic taking away and

deposition of sediments leading to maintenance of beach naturally

• Down drift : It refers to the situation of sediment transport process in

which the sediment and current directions are the same .

• Up drift : In this case, the sediment movement is opposite to the

current direction (generally due to gravity). Ex. A steep slope shore
..so the waves climb up while the sediments go down..

• Cross shore transport : In this case, movement of sediment

perpendicular to the direction of wave action i. e. parallel to the beach
…responsible for the formation of sand bars (analogous to sand dune
formations ..)
 Advantage and Disadvantages
• The deposited sediment • Coastal erosion
is very fertile –so good for • Eroding beaches and
cultivation..!! related facilities
• Aids in salt collection • Filling up of navigation
• Helps in natural channels
nourishment of shoreline • Reducing depths of ports
and harbors
• Scouring of foundations
etc. of breakwaters,
seawalls etc.
OTHER COASTAL PROCESSES
 COASTAL EROSION
Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land or the removal of beach
or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or
drainage. Waves, generated by storms, wind, or fast moving motor
craft, cause coastal erosion, which may take the form of long-term
losses of sediment and rocks, or merely the temporary
redistribution of coastal sediments; erosion in one location may
result in accretion nearby.
 RECLAMATION
Land reclamation, usually
known as reclamation, is the
process to create new land
from sea or riverbeds
(landfill). The land reclaimed
is known as reclamation
ground.

Reclaimed in Perth, Australia (1964) East Coast Park, Singapore (1970)

 RECLAMATION CONTD…
• Millions of people migrate to Mumbai
• Many people choose to live in the heart of
the city in slums rather than far north in
better houses.
• A way to mitigate the over-population is the
planned city of Navy Mumbai.
• With more and more migrants coming to
Mumbai, it needs an alternate comparable
to that of the vast land reclamation projects

Mumbai, the financial capital and most populous city of India, was once a group of seven islands.
 BEACH NOURISHMENT
Beach nourishment is a technique of placing sand fill along the
shoreline to supplement sand on an existing beach or to build
up an eroded beach.
Beach nourishment provides
– A buffer against wave action
– A recreational area
– An enhanced environmental zone
 DREDGING
Definition:
Dredging is the operation of removing material from under water. In all situations
the operation is undertaken by specialist floating plant, known as a dredger.
Major Requirements
• navigation
• Infrastructure (creation of
space)
• coastal engineering
• mining industry
• offshore industry
Phases
• excavation
• lifting
• transportation
• disposal
NAVIGATIONAL CHANNEL MAINTENANCE
CONSTRUCTION/MAINTENANCE OF CHANNEL
COASTAL POLLUTION
 Oil Spill
 An oil spill is a release of a liquid
petroleum hydrocarbon into the
environment due to human activity, and
is a form of pollution
 The term often refers to marine oil
spills, where oil is released into the
ocean or coastal waters
 Oil spills include releases of crude oil
from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling
rigs and wells, as well as spills of
refined petroleum products
 Oil effects in marsh, mangroves, sea
grasses are havoc.
 Major effects in short term on young
plants, inverts, fish and wildlife.
 Suffocate marine life and create "dead
zones“ where oxygen is so depleted
that nothing lives.
Oil Spill
 Major Oil Spills
History of major Oil Spills ( > 100,000 tons)
 Oil Spill in India
Paradip Spill
• Date:- 12 September, 2009
• Location:- 5 kms off Paradip port. (BoB)
• Cause:- Sinking ( MV Black Rose)
freighter.
• Effect:- threat to rare Olive Ridley turtles.

• August 2009, Crude Oil Spill in Gujarat, due to undersea pipeline burst.
• August 2006, light crude Spill off the Nicobar port, due to collision of 2 tankers.
 CONCLUSION
Coastal Processes are highly important and are
challenges to coastal scientists. The study of these
processes are important in the case of
– Prediction of environmental quality and impact
– Habitat stability,
– Public health risks,
– Marine hazards such as ship grounding
– Access to ports, seabed scouring

– Siltation of harbours, infill of reservoirs and artificial lakes

– Coastline protection.