Sediment Distribution in the Nearshore Zone: Grain Size Evolution in Response to Shoreface Nourishment (Island of Terschelling, The Netherlands)

The natural sediment distribution in the littoral zone of Terschelling, The Netherlands was disturbed by a shoreface nourishment carried out off the central part of the island. The sedimentological impact of this shoreface nourishment, i.e. the grain size evolution and the sediment dynamics, is studied in order to increase understanding of coastal processes. The variability of the sediment during the study period is due to both natural processes and the nourishment. Immediately after implementation of the nourishment, the sediment distribution was measurably affected. The sediment supplied caused a coarsening (20–40 μm) of the sediment in the zone directly affected by the nourishment. Six months after the nourishment, the grain size distribution across the profile was nearly the same as the original, and no significant effects of the nourishment could be recognized in the median grain size. Individual grain size fractions displayed a temporal evolution more complex than the median size, and significant changes, unrelated to the sand supplied, were observed. Results of the sediment analysis from the coastal zone of Terschelling indicate that the shoreface nourishment only had a short-term and very local impact on the sediment distribution. Some months after the nourishment, the former grain size distribution was re-established. This implies that the nourished sediment was quickly dispersed and mixed with the original deposits, and that it only represents a small part of the volume of sediment involved in the dynamics of the littoral zone. On a yearly perspective, the natural variability of the sediment was higher than the changes caused by the nourishment.