On the Initiation of Nearshore Morphological Rhythmicity

Nearshore rhythmicity is often initiated in the period just after a storm where the subtidal bar is turned alongshore uniform. The initiation time as well as the length scales of the created rhythmicity varies from one storm period to another. Here we show that the post-storm wave conditions are related to the initiation of the morphological rhythmicity. Narrow-banded and long wave period, both proxies for swell waves, are often found to be present prior to the initiation of rhythmicity. Furthermore, numerical model computations illustrate that swell waves induce significantly larger wave group induced velocities on the bar. These findings imply that the arrival of swell waves can initiate and stimulate the nearshore morphological rhythmicity. 1