Textural Characterization of Coastal Sediments along Tamil Nadu Coast, East Coast of India

Abstract

Particle size characterizations of beach sediments along Tamil Nadu coast was carried out in the present study. The main objective of this work is to identify the textural behaviour of beach sediments and how wave energy correlates with grain size distribution. To achieve this goal tri-plot analysis was performed. Grain size characteristics such as central tendency, kurtosis and skewness were estimated using an updated version of the GRADISTAT programme and discussed in this paper. The highest sediment samples having medium sand with unimodal and bimodal characters at all along the coast. The entire coastal area was characterized as well sorted, moderately well sorted and moderately sorted sediment environments. Sediments were identified as fine skewed to coarse skewed with platykurtic, mesokurtic and leptokurtic characters. Grain characteristics varied spatially and temporally along with beach orientation, foreshore slope withwave action and skewness correlates with shoreline changes. In some coastal tract having the negative skewness along the study region, but not very significant. The study depicts that the sedimentary coastal environment were influenced by the relatively medium wave action and some places were observed high wave action. From this study, it was concluded that the beach erosion, accretion, and stability of beaches are controlled by strong hydrodynamic and hydraulic process.