assumed and bottom frictional effects are ignored. These assumptions may lead 
to serious consequences since wave energy is not at a single mode but in a 
spectrum (unknown in this case) which may-be altered as it proceeds across the 
shelf and nearshore zone. Crossing wave rays imply infinite wave heights which 
obviously do not exist. The refraction depends upon accurate knowledge of 
bathymetry on the scale of the wavelength of the surface wave. Bathymetric 
data were obtained from the National Geophysical and Solar-Terrestrial Data 
Center, Boulder, Colorado,and averaged in an offshore grid size of approximately 
200 meters. The wave refraction program of Dobson (1967) was adapted for this 
study. 
Waves of 2-meter heights and 10-second periods were assumed to approach the 
island from the three indicated directions, and resulting refraction diagrams are 
shown in Figures 11 to 16 for the north and south halves of the island. Bathym- 
etry is shown with a 5-meter contour interval. Several parallel, northeast- 
trending swales lie submerged off the island and are subparallel to the shore- 
line. Waves from the northeast approach with crests perpendicular to these 
features and are refracted in an extremely complicated way. Figures 11 to 16 
should not be taken as indicative of actual ray paths, but they do show that 
waves approaching from the direction of the predominant storm interact with 
the bottom in ways that may induce transport patterns that are not generalized 
along the entire beach. Wave rays approaching from the east (Figs. 13 and 14) 
are somewhat less complicated because of their greater angle of attack to the 
offshore bathymetric features. Points of local energy concentration suggested 
by the convergence of wave rays indicate that longshore gradients in wave run- 
up are developed which transport material along the island in both directions. 
Similar suggestions of focusing are seen in the wave rays approaching from the 
southeast (Figs. 15 and 16), nearly perpendicular to the shoreline. Additional 
studies of nearshore currents and angles of wave approach along the beach are 
required to substantiate these indications. 
(2) Northeaster, 3 November 1962. Most serious storms along the New 
Jersey coast are caused by low-pressure systems generating strong winds and 
steep waves from the north to east quadrant. Birkemeier (1980) has identified 
the 3 November storm as a "classic northeaster'which caused considerable erosion 
during the same year of the most devastating Great East Coast Storm. The record 
of 3 hourly wind readings made at Atlantic City showed that, since a previous 
northeast storm in late September, winds had remained mainly from the west with 
periods of northwest and southwest flow (Fig. 17). The September storm caused 
widespread erosion, but was not selected for analysis because the survey was 
apparently made before the storm was over, and the entire beach was not included 
in the survey. An early November storm occurred between 2 and 4 November after 
a 2-week period of offshore (seaward) winds. Maximum recorded winds of 50.4 
kilometers per hour occurred on 3 November from the northeast. Since these were 
recorded at the inland site, wind velocity along the beach could be expected to 
be somewhat greater. Location of the profile lines relative to the beach struc- 
tures known to exist at the time of the surveys is shown in Figure 4. The changes 
35 
