A preliminary analysis of flat-gravel transport over a sandy beach, Pehuén Co, Argentina

Gerardo M.E.  Perillo; Mauricio M.  Perillo; M. Cintia  Piccolo; G. Noelia    Revollo Sarmiento; Natalia V.  Revollo Sarmiento; Ernesto D.  Alberdi

Autores/as

Gerardo M.E. Perillo CONICET - Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, CC 804, B8000FWB Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670, B8000DIC Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
Mauricio M. Perillo Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 208 NHB Natural History Building, MC-102, 1301 West Green St., Urbana, IL 61801. Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Lab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1534 HSL Hydrosystems Lab, MC-250, 205 North Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, United States.
M. Cintia Piccolo CONICET - Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, CC 804, B8000FWB Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Departamento de Geografía, Universidad Nacional del Sur, 12 de Octubre y San Juan, B8000DIC Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
G. Noelia Revollo Sarmiento CONICET - Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, CC 804, B8000FWB Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
Natalia V. Revollo Sarmiento CONICET - Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, CC 804, B8000FWB Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
Ernesto D. Alberdi CONICET - Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, CC 804, B8000FWB Bahía Blanca, Argentina.

Palabras clave:

Heterogeneous Beaches, Gravel Transport, Wave Runup, Pehuén Co Beach, Argentina.

Resumen

Pehuén Co Beach, on the southwest coast of the Buenos Aires Province (Argentina), provides an example of an heterogeneous (mixed sand-gravel) sediment beach with gravels of the most diverse size and origin. Over 40% of the pebbles are carbonate flat gravels. Field observations included beach profiles, measurements of wave generated currents with an acoustic currentmeter (ADV), videos of 5 x 5 m grid located on the swash zone during inundation from a nearby tower. Video films where rectified and analyzed using PIV and wavelets. Based on the results, we demonstrated that flat gravels can be easily transported upbeach distances in excess of 5 m in about 1.5 h. This period corresponds to the high tide situation and covering the steepest beachface segment. Wave conditions during the experiment corresponded to low breaker height and short periods, but by no means they could be considered as storm waves demonstrating that gravels can be transported even by saltation during fair weather conditions.

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