sustainable management of the beach area. It seeks
over the long term to balance environmental, economic,
social, and cultural objectives while acknowledging the
specificities of this environment.
Estuarine beaches
Although the beach management cycle is a conceptual
approach and therefore applies to all types of beaches,
estuarine beaches constitute a singular feature that should
be highlighted. Usually, these beaches are subsumed
under existing policies to manage ocean beaches, and their
specific physical and biological processes and intrinsic
values are not always attended in management
(Nordstrom, 1992). Estuarine beaches differ from their
ocean counterparts in terms of physical structure, social
perception, intrinsic values, human use levels, and types
of development pressure (Nordstrom, 1992). For this
reason, estuarine beach management should be conducted
with a thorough understanding of their peculiar dynamics.
Conclusions
Beach management can be described as the act of organizing and coordinating efforts to archive a desired goal
for a specific beach. In beach management, four key elements are identified based on the PDCA cycle approach:
plan (establish a management strategy and actions), do
(implement management actions), check (monitor), and
act (assess the degree of achievement of the previous
objectives and eventually rethink the initial strategy).
For proper beach management, all of these steps should
be integrated with scientific knowledge of beach
dynamics.
Bibliography
Cicin-Sain, B., and Knecht, R., 1998. Integrated Coastal and Ocean
Management: Concepts and Practices. Washington, DC: Island
Press.
Drake, C. (ed.), 2010. Beach Management Manual, 2nd edn.
London: CIRIA.
Komar, P. D., 1983. Handbook of Coastal Processes and Erosion.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Micallef, A., and Williams, A. M., 2002. Theoretical strategy
considerations for beach management. Ocean & Coastal
Management, 45, 261–275.
Nordstrom, K. F., 1992. Estuarine Beaches: An Introduction to the
Physical and Human Factors Affecting Use and Management of
Beaches in Estuaries, Lagoons, Bays, and Fjords. Oxford:
Elsevier Science.
UNESCO, 2006. A Handbook for Measuring the Progress and
Outcomes of Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management. Paris:
IOC Manuals and Guides, 46; ICAM Dossier 2.
van Koningsveld, M., 2003. Matching Specialist Knowledge with
End User Needs. Ph.D. Thesis, Enschede, The Netherlands,
University of Twente.
Cross-references
Beach Processes
Coastal Indicators
Estuarine Beaches
BEACH PROCESSES
Vic Semeniuk
1 and Margaret Brocx
2
1
V & C Semeniuk Research Group, Warwick,
WA, Australia
2
Department of Environmental Science, Murdoch
University, Murdoch, WA, Australia
Definition
The physical, biological, and chemical processes operating on the surface and shallow subsurface of a beach,
resulting in stratigraphic, granulometric, and sediment
compositional variations, construction of physical sedimentary structures and biogenic structures, authigenic/
diagenetic mineral responses, and biogenic mineral
products.
Introduction
A beach can be described as a shoreline that has formed
and has been reworked by waves or tides, and that is usually underlain by sand or gravel, and lacking a bare rocky
surface (modified from Bates and Jackson, 1987).
Beaches largely encompass the tidal interval, but can
extend to a limited distance inland, either to a definite
change in material or physiographic form (such as
a cliff) or to the line of permanent vegetation (usually the
effective limit of the highest storm waves). Beaches form
in many shore environments, e.g., along mainland coasts
fronting an open ocean, small seas, embayments, bays,
estuaries peripheral to coral reef islands and volcanic
islands, and lakes. This contribution focuses only on the
beaches occurring within estuaries and extends, to
a limited extent, to the open marine coast (Figure 1).
In tropical regions, some sandy beaches may be
inhabited by mangroves, but not to the extent that the
beach is fully covered by mangroves. Mangroves, if they
inhabit sandy beaches, are generally in the mid-tidal areas,
and the high-tidal part of the beach is vegetation-free.
There are a number of locations within an estuary
where beaches can form, in general order, from seaward
to river; these are (Figure 2; labeled A-I in Figure 2)
(1) mouth of the estuary, (2) margins of tidal exchange
channel, (3) leeward shoreline of a dune barrier, (4) shores
of the margins of the interior of the estuary, (5) shore of
a spit, (6) shore of a chenier, (7) shores of mid-estuarine
emergent shoals and islands, (8) sandy front of a delta,
and (9) sandy sloping bank of a river (a riverbank beach).
These shores are locations where sand and/or gravel (that
either are preexisting or have been transported to the site
by riverine, estuarine, marine, or aeolian processes) is
reworked and sculptured by estuarine prevailing wave,
storm, tidal, and aeolian processes. These beaches may
be small and localized “pocket” beaches varying to large,
laterally extensive stretches of shore. The size, slope, and
extent of development of a beach in an estuary, and
whether it is sandy or gravelly, is a function of a number
of factors including the exposure of the shore to wave
BEACH PROCESSES
55
over the long term to balance environmental, economic,
social, and cultural objectives while acknowledging the
specificities of this environment.
Estuarine beaches
Although the beach management cycle is a conceptual
approach and therefore applies to all types of beaches,
estuarine beaches constitute a singular feature that should
be highlighted. Usually, these beaches are subsumed
under existing policies to manage ocean beaches, and their
specific physical and biological processes and intrinsic
values are not always attended in management
(Nordstrom, 1992). Estuarine beaches differ from their
ocean counterparts in terms of physical structure, social
perception, intrinsic values, human use levels, and types
of development pressure (Nordstrom, 1992). For this
reason, estuarine beach management should be conducted
with a thorough understanding of their peculiar dynamics.
Conclusions
Beach management can be described as the act of organizing and coordinating efforts to archive a desired goal
for a specific beach. In beach management, four key elements are identified based on the PDCA cycle approach:
plan (establish a management strategy and actions), do
(implement management actions), check (monitor), and
act (assess the degree of achievement of the previous
objectives and eventually rethink the initial strategy).
For proper beach management, all of these steps should
be integrated with scientific knowledge of beach
dynamics.
Bibliography
Cicin-Sain, B., and Knecht, R., 1998. Integrated Coastal and Ocean
Management: Concepts and Practices. Washington, DC: Island
Press.
Drake, C. (ed.), 2010. Beach Management Manual, 2nd edn.
London: CIRIA.
Komar, P. D., 1983. Handbook of Coastal Processes and Erosion.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Micallef, A., and Williams, A. M., 2002. Theoretical strategy
considerations for beach management. Ocean & Coastal
Management, 45, 261–275.
Nordstrom, K. F., 1992. Estuarine Beaches: An Introduction to the
Physical and Human Factors Affecting Use and Management of
Beaches in Estuaries, Lagoons, Bays, and Fjords. Oxford:
Elsevier Science.
UNESCO, 2006. A Handbook for Measuring the Progress and
Outcomes of Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management. Paris:
IOC Manuals and Guides, 46; ICAM Dossier 2.
van Koningsveld, M., 2003. Matching Specialist Knowledge with
End User Needs. Ph.D. Thesis, Enschede, The Netherlands,
University of Twente.
Cross-references
Beach Processes
Coastal Indicators
Estuarine Beaches
BEACH PROCESSES
Vic Semeniuk
1 and Margaret Brocx
2
1
V & C Semeniuk Research Group, Warwick,
WA, Australia
2
Department of Environmental Science, Murdoch
University, Murdoch, WA, Australia
Definition
The physical, biological, and chemical processes operating on the surface and shallow subsurface of a beach,
resulting in stratigraphic, granulometric, and sediment
compositional variations, construction of physical sedimentary structures and biogenic structures, authigenic/
diagenetic mineral responses, and biogenic mineral
products.
Introduction
A beach can be described as a shoreline that has formed
and has been reworked by waves or tides, and that is usually underlain by sand or gravel, and lacking a bare rocky
surface (modified from Bates and Jackson, 1987).
Beaches largely encompass the tidal interval, but can
extend to a limited distance inland, either to a definite
change in material or physiographic form (such as
a cliff) or to the line of permanent vegetation (usually the
effective limit of the highest storm waves). Beaches form
in many shore environments, e.g., along mainland coasts
fronting an open ocean, small seas, embayments, bays,
estuaries peripheral to coral reef islands and volcanic
islands, and lakes. This contribution focuses only on the
beaches occurring within estuaries and extends, to
a limited extent, to the open marine coast (Figure 1).
In tropical regions, some sandy beaches may be
inhabited by mangroves, but not to the extent that the
beach is fully covered by mangroves. Mangroves, if they
inhabit sandy beaches, are generally in the mid-tidal areas,
and the high-tidal part of the beach is vegetation-free.
There are a number of locations within an estuary
where beaches can form, in general order, from seaward
to river; these are (Figure 2; labeled A-I in Figure 2)
(1) mouth of the estuary, (2) margins of tidal exchange
channel, (3) leeward shoreline of a dune barrier, (4) shores
of the margins of the interior of the estuary, (5) shore of
a spit, (6) shore of a chenier, (7) shores of mid-estuarine
emergent shoals and islands, (8) sandy front of a delta,
and (9) sandy sloping bank of a river (a riverbank beach).
These shores are locations where sand and/or gravel (that
either are preexisting or have been transported to the site
by riverine, estuarine, marine, or aeolian processes) is
reworked and sculptured by estuarine prevailing wave,
storm, tidal, and aeolian processes. These beaches may
be small and localized “pocket” beaches varying to large,
laterally extensive stretches of shore. The size, slope, and
extent of development of a beach in an estuary, and
whether it is sandy or gravelly, is a function of a number
of factors including the exposure of the shore to wave
BEACH PROCESSES
55