Aeolian sand drift from the intertidal zone on a temperate beach: Potential and actual rates

Abstract

Abstract This paper compares the amount of sand that is potentially moved into a coastal dune system from a beach using estimates based solely on the wind force, with actual measured amounts. The actual sand inputs are determined by measuring sand level changes each month over a period of eighteen months, along a 1760‐m section of foredune on Braunton Burrows, Southwest England. The calculation procedure used to estimate the potential rates of sand drift is based on the capacity of the wind force to transport sand using a published transport equation (White, 1979). The results show that the actual movement rates are markedly smaller than the potential rates for all months except in the summer. Meteorological variables and the watertable level in the adjacent dune system are used in an empirically derived regression equation in an attempt to explain the large discrepancy between the potential and actual movement rates. The resulting corrected potential movement rates are a closer estimate to the actual rates, but there remains much unexplained variance.