3. Tides . 



Tides- in Nauset Harbor are complex due to the shape and size of the inlet 

 and the figuration of natural channels throughout the large marsh areas. The 

 tidal range is 0.67 meter in Nauset Bay and 1.31 meters just inside Nauset 

 Inlet. The ocean tidal range outside of the inlet is 1.83 meters (S. Onysko, 

 U.S. Army Engineer Division, New England, personal communication, 1979). 



III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES 



Field experiments at Nauset Beach were initiated in 1969. Test plots were 

 first established on the Nauset Harbor north spit (Fig. 2). However, during 

 the first year the inlet continued to migrate north obliterating part of the 

 study area (Fig. 3). Since loss of part of the experiment would have negated 

 the study results, the north spit plots were abandoned and new plots were 

 established on the south spit (Fig. 4) in April 1970. 



Figure 3. 



Nauset Harbor (north spit) abandoned test site, 

 October 1969. 



1. Experimental Design . 



In April 1970, the south spit was approximately 850 meters long and 180 

 meters wide. Scattered patches of American beachgrass grew along the landward 

 edge of the spit, extending northward for about 600 meters. The remainder of 

 the spit was unvegetated. Crest elevations along the spit decreased from south 

 to north at a slope of about 1 on 400. 



