The term depth of disturbance was introduced by King (1951) to describe the vertical limit of erosion and subsequent accretion experienced by a sand beach during a tidal cycle. King (1951, 1966) proposed a simple technique for measuring disturbance depth by recording, against fixed reference markers, the cut and fill of a column of dyed sand. Williams (1971) has modified the method, introducing more accurate location and height control by using a metal detector.
For a number of British beaches, King (1951) has shown that the expected depth of disturbance is on the order of 4% of wave height (e.g., waves 40 cm high will disturb the top 1 cm of beach), but experiments by Otvos (1965) and Williams (1971) indicate far higher ratios (up to 40%) can occur. Both Otvos and Williams describe the deposition of various types of dual and complex sediment units caused by specific wave and tide processes.
King (1951)suggested that the disturbance depth was related to wave height and beach sediment...
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References
King, C. A. M., 1951. Depth of disturbance of sand on sea beaches by waves, Jour. Sed. Petrology 21, 131–140.
King, C. A. M., 1966. Techniques in Geomorphology. London: Arnold, 342p.
Otvos, E. G., 1965. Sedimentation: Erosion cycles of single tidal periods on Long Island Sound beaches, Jour. Sed. Petrology 35, 604–609.
Williams, A. T., 1971. An analysis of some factors involved in the depth of disturbance of beach sand by waves, Marine Geology 11, 145–158.
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© 1982 Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company
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Carter, R.W.G. (1982). Depth of disturbance . In: Beaches and Coastal Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_152
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_152
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