Document Type

Report

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publication Date

12-31-1985

Abstract

The hypothesis that a pronounced bar-trough surf zone topography favors resonance of standing waves with antinodes located over the bar is examined. Numerical and field investigations of standing waves in a bar-trough surf zone suggest a selective trapping of wave energy at specific resonant frequencies in the subharmonic and the high frequency infragravity bands and a possible suppression of lower frequencies. The resonant frequencies predicted by the numerical model remain fairly constant throughtout the tidal cycle due to the small tidal range typically associated with a bar-trough beach. Cross-shore bar migration changes the resonant frequencies. Numerical simulations show that an onshore bar migration is accompanied by a reduction in the period of the resonant wave and a decrease in the longshore wavelength of the possible edge wave mode.

Keywords

Ocean waves, beaches, surf, mathematical models, dynamic response

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