Wind regime and sand transport on a coastal beach–dune complex

Abstract: Aeolian processes play a key role in the exchange of sediment between beaches and foredunes in coastal embayments. The present contribution examines the wind regimes characterizing one stretch of temperate coast (Tentsmuir, Scotland), the routing and volumes of the resultant aeolian sediment transport on the beaches and foredunes and presents a summary of wind-induced aeolian bedforms along the coast. The wind regime s identified in the Tentsmuir area include high-energy seasonal 'unimodal ' (offshore or onshore) and 'bimodal ' (both offshore and onshore) patterns. Landward aeolian sand transport results in foredune accretion, whereas seaward and longshore components contribute to beach growth despite reworking by waves at high water. Under the influence of the prevalent wind regimes and the resultant aeolian sediment transport, foredune accretion at Tentsmuir leads to the burial of the landward margin of the beach face. Many previous studies of coastal dunes have been limited to descriptive accounts of dune form and evolution (Cooper 1958; Jennings 1957; Olson 1958; Smith &.Messenger 1959), their ecological importance (Ranwell 1972; Woodhouse 1978) and physical development in relation to near-shore processes (Davies 1980). The wide diversity of approaches used hitherto has led to the recognition of a need for the adoption of a generally accepted technique to permit he characterization a d quantification of the various factors controlling coastal aeolian activity and dune development. During the last fifty years, research on the rate of aeolian sand transport within the beach and dune environments has not been very extensive. Most studies have been confined to wind tunnels in the laboratory except for a few sporadic field measurement contributions by Svasek &amp