Analysis of Beach Profile Variations and Sedimentation Dynamics at Haikou Bay Beach, China

Beach evolution is an important content in the beach morphodynamic study. Based on beach profile data surveyed in 33 consecutive days and surface sediment samples at the Haikou Bay Beach, China, characteristics of topography change and sedimentation dynamics were analyzed. The empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis results showed that there existed three main change modes during the observations, corresponding to the beach construction process by swells, the beach erosion process by seas induced by local wind field and the erosion process by Typhoon Talas. Analysis of surface sediments shows sediments were more sensitive responding to coastal dynamics than that of beach topography, and sediment characteristics variations should be included in the study on the beach evolution. The results also indicated that the Haikou Bay has sheltered beach characteristics.