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Science 14 May 1993:
Vol. 260. no. 5110, pp. 968 - 971
DOI: 10.1126/science.260.5110.968
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Articles

Beach Cusps as Self-Organized Patterns

B. T. Werner 1 and T. M. Fink 2

1 Center for Coastal Studies, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093-0209
2 Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy 200-36, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125

Computer simulations of flow and sediment transport in the swash zone on a beach demonstrate that a model that couples local flow acceleration and alongshore surface gradient is sufficient to produce uniformly spaced beach cusps. The characteristics of the simulated cusps and the conditions under which they form are in reasonable agreement with observations of natural cusps. The self-organization mechanism in the model is incompatible with an accepted model in which standing alongshore waves drive the regular pattern of erosion and deposition that gives rise to beach cusps. Because the models make similar predictions, it is concluded that currently available observational data are insufficient for discrimination between them.

Submitted on November 12, 1992
Accepted on February 10, 1993


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Longshore Drift: Trapped in an Expected Universe.
(2004)
Journal of Sedimentary Research 74, 599-606
Self-Organization of Sorted Patterned Ground.
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Science 299, 380-383
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Complexity in Natural Landform Patterns.
B. T. Werner (1999)
Science 284, 102-104
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Considerations on wave-induced fluid mud streaming at open coasts.
H. N. Rodriguez and A. J. Mehta (1998)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 139, 177-186
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