Upper beach reconstruction patternsafter moderate storm events

Abstract

The wave-dominated beach barrier of Villeneuve-Les-Maguelone extends between Palavas and Frontignan (Gul f of Lions, northernmost Me diterranean Sea), along a slightly natural sandy protected area char acterized by typical and well-expressed morphologies. In the nearshore, the sea bottom shows one or two approximately rectilinear sand bars. In 2010-2011, we pe rformed a 6 month-long monitoring (autumn 2010/late spring 2011) of a 500 meter-long se gment along this sand barrier. We used RTK D-GPS offering centimeter resolution to acquire sets of elevation data on the beach and the upper shoreface. The study is innovative because a full morphologic monitoring was performed each time the wave/ wind conditions changed significantly. These changes were tracked in real-time thanks to a set of hydrodynamic equipments deployed at sea, including well-known DREAL buoys. We identify from well- documented data: (1) a beach reconstruction cycle at the shorelin e after a moderate storm event (wave height at 3-4 m) and (2) how a sand bar in the nearshore migrates to the shoreline and drives the shoreline shift.