Observations of a Tidal Inlet on a Shingle Beach

by James R. Walker, Moffatt & Nichol, Long Beach, United States,
Craig H. Everts, Moffatt & Nichol, Long Beach, United States,
Susan Schmelig, Moffatt & Nichol, Long Beach, United States,
Vedat Demirel, Moffatt & Nichol, Long Beach, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Coastal Sediments

Abstract:

An observation and measurement program was undertaken at Batiquitos Lagoon, San Diego County, California to better understand the paths and rates of shingle movement in the littoral zone. The purpose was to relate the shingle transport phenomena to the closure of a small inlet in a shingle barrier on an open ocean coast. The information on shingle transport is required to design an inlet jetty system that will provide permanent tidal circulation for Batiquitos Lagoon. Batiquitos Lagoon is a 240 ha drowned stream valley separated from the Pacific Ocean by a narrow shingle barrier in Southern California. The inlet is not naturally maintained, but is artificially opened after the winter wet season to drain accumulative water. Waves breaking on adjoining beaches move shingle along the foreshore closing the inlet within days to a few weeks. The April 1990 breach was monitored to document the closure mechanism and quantify threshold conditions of shingle movement in the inlet and on neighboring beaches. A monitoring program was established to measure the water levels and velocities in the lagoon, and survey inlet geometry during the opening and closure period.

Subject Headings: Inlets (waterway) | Tides | Lagoons | Breaking waves | Beaches | Water waves | Wave velocity | California | United States | Pacific Ocean

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