QUANTIFYING THE WAVE-DRIVEN RECOVERY OF SANDY BEACHES FOLLOWING STORM EROSION

Abstract

Following the rapid and destructive impacts of storm erosion, beach recovery is a key natural process of restoration, returning eroded sand to the subaerial beach and rebuilding coastal morphology to continue to support the needs of present-day coastal communities. While more detailed attention in international literature has been given to understanding and predicting beach behaviour under regimes of storm erosion, beaches are for most of the time by nature accretionary features. This paper presents critically important advanced new insight and quantification of recovery processes of sandy beaches by waves. Durations and rates of recovery are synthesised from over 70 studies worldwide in a range of wave climates (from low to high wave energy) and tidal settings (from micro- to macrotidal), with a focus primarily on sandy beach coastlines. A holistic perspective of the different processes and indicators that constitute beach recovery is presented, including those in the subaqueous beach related to the post-storm onshore migration of sandbars and storm deposits in deeper offshore waters, as well as processes in the subaerial beach related to the recovery of subaerial sediment volume, shorelines, berms, and dunes.