RADIOISOTOPIC SAND TRACER STUDY (RIST) 

 STATUS REPORT FOR MAY 1966 - APRIL 1968 



E. H. Acree, H. R. Brashear, F. N. Case, and N. H. Cutshall 



ABSTRACT 



The Radioisotopic Sand Tracer Study (RIST) was initiated 

 in May 1966 as a multiagency cooperative effort to 

 develop technology and survey equipment for sediment 

 transport studies with the objective of determining 

 direction and amount of sand movement. To prove the 

 system effective a test was planned to determine how 

 sand moves around a headland where a change in beach 

 direction occurs on either side of the headland. The 

 first two years of the work done at ORNL consisted 

 primarily in developing equipment and techniques for 

 studying sand transport in the littoral zone. Field 

 operations to evaluate the equipment and to develop 

 more effective procedures were conducted at Cape 

 Kennedy, Florida, at Surf, California, and at Point 

 Conception, California. In these tests sand tagged 

 with 133 Xe was released on the ocean floor in the 

 study area at a depth of JO ft. The dispersion and 

 transport of the labeled sand were observed with 

 cesium iodide detectors contained in a specially de- 

 signed detector transport vehicle (ORNL Underwater 

 Survey System) . The detector assembly was towed 

 through the ocean by an amphibious vessel. Charts 

 of the isoactivity contours were prepared from some 

 of the data to estimate direction and velocity of 

 sand transport. 



INTRODUCTION 



The Radioisotopic Sand Tracer Study (RIST) was initiated in May 1966, and' 

 the work reported here covers a two-year period. The study is continuing 

 and as additional field tests are made, the data will be reported. The 

 program objective was to develop technology and survey equipment to obtain 

 data from a dynamic system that could be used to obtain a reasonably 

 accurate description of sediment transport in the littoral zone. These 

 techniques, when fully developed, are expected to find use in other sedi- 

 ment transport systems involving waterways and inland lakes. 



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