GeoActa Special Publication 1
2008
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GeoActa
an international Journal of Earth Sciences
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Giovanni Sarti and Duccio Bertoni
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, Università di Pisa, Via S. Maria 53, Pisa, Italy. E-mail: sarti@dst.unipi.it, bertoni@dst.unipi.it
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Monitoring backshore and foreshore gravel deposits on a mixed sand and gravel beach (Apuane-Versilia coast, Tuscany, Italy)
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PDF (2.6 Mb)
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Abstract
Observations on gravel moving on the foreshore and the backshore have been performed on a mixed sand and gravel beach of Northern Tuscany (Italy) subject to erosive processes. In addition to the gravel naturally transported by Magra River, a large amount of gravel has been discharged by human activity through nourishments as part of a series of protection systems. Two transects, with an average spacing of 500 m, were carried out parallel and perpendicular to the coast-line on the beach-face and on the step, and gravel deposits and cusps evolution were monitored. The study was performed following sea-weather changes, in order to obtain data during fair-weather and storm-weather conditions, and shortly after storm decay. The results confirm the existence of a south-directed longshore drift. At the same time, it seems that gravel clasts are no more present on the backshore during major storms. These observations allow to distinguish five phases within a fair-weather to storm-weather cycle and to determine the response of gravel movement to sea-weather conditions.
Keywords: Mixed sand and gravel beach; Sea-weather change; Cusps; Gravel movement; Tuscany
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