Sand Grain Roundness and Transport in the Swash Zone

Abstract

This study considered the effect of particle roundness on the movement of sand grains in the swash zone. A wave tank was used to investigate the transport of a sample of quartz grains of fairly uniform size up an inclined ramp. A similar procedure, using fluorescently dyed grains, was used in the field in southern Lake St. Clair, Ontario. It was found that rounder grains were preferentially transported towards the upper part of the swash zone in the laboratory and field. Round grains may congregate on the berm and upper foreshore because of their higher settling velocities or their greater ease of entrainment compared with more angular grains.