Dissertation
Headland sediment bypassing mechanisms, pathways, and sensitivity to changes in driving forces
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00849
Abstract
Developing a robust understanding of the coastal processes that affect our inhabited beaches is critical for present management and for developing appropriate long-term plans in the face of global climate change. Headlands present a formidable challenge to coastal management, with complex adjacent coastal processes, that create an unpredictable and sporadic supply of sand to their sheltered beaches. Despite this, the shelter offered to these beaches make them amongst the most desirable in the world for tourism, recreation, events, and property. This study has investigated the coastal processes and sediment migration around a large, microtidal headland at Noosa, Queensland, Australia to develop a comprehensive understanding of sediment transport volumes, pathways and driving forces for headland sediment transport. The study has also developed a custom computational model that can review the impacts of changes in wave conditions, regional climate conditions and projected changes forced by global warming, an area lacking from previous studies of this kind.
The study used a variety of methods in investigating this phenomenon, progressively building a conceptual understanding of the process into a robust quantified framework of sediment migration around the headland. Initially, pre-, and post-cyclone topographical surveys of the northern beach compartments were completed using both pole-mounted RTK-GNSS and SfM-derived elevation models from survey-grade drone imagery, along with coastal imaging and wave modelling to assess beach response to large wave conditions. Following this, shoreline change assessments of ten headland embayed or headland adjacent beach compartments were undertaken using 60 years of historical imagery, to determine patterns of erosion and accretion with respect to wave and climate variability. Finally, a coupled wave and process-based coastal process model using SWAN and TUFLOWFV has been developed and rigorously calibrated, that is then used to build a headland bypassing approximation tool that can evaluate sediment transport over longer periods of time at each of the headland apexes and assess the sensitivity to changes in wave conditions and regional climate drivers.
Details
- Title
- Headland sediment bypassing mechanisms, pathways, and sensitivity to changes in driving forces
- Authors
- Daniel Wishaw - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Contributors
- Javier Leon (Principal Supervisor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sustainability Research Cluster
- Awarding institution
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Degree awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- DOI
- 10.25907/00849
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991028698702621
- Output Type
- Dissertation
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