This information is helpful in supplementing the survey measure- 

 ments to give a third-dimensional view of beach changes and processes 

 in the study area. A 1.2-meter by 2.4-meter sheet of plywood, painted 

 international orange, was placed near pipe 3 at each of the five Back 

 Bay National Wildlife Refuge Profile lines (11 to 15) . This helped 

 in locating the profile line from the air. The targets were oriented 

 to the profile line, and were easily seen from the air. All other 

 profile lines had sufficient local features to aid in the exact 

 location of the survey sites from the air and in the photos. 



Photos from these flights showing the 18 profile locations and 

 other interesting features are in Appendix A. 



9. Currituck Reconnaissance . 



Beginning with the third quarter of the study, a quarterly ground 

 reconnaissance trip to Currituck County, North Carolina, was con- 

 ducted. Beach sampling stations were established every 6.4 kilometers 

 from the Virginia-North Carolina State line to 38.6 kilometers south 

 of the line, ending just north of the construction site of the CERC 

 Field Research Facility. 



At each station, foreshore slope angle and sand grain size were 

 measured at a location approximately two-thirds of the way up the 

 beach face. Slope angle was measured in tenths of a degree with a 

 Brunton Pocket Transit. Sand grain size was measured in quarter- 

 phi units (using a pocket-size, "phi-size finder") and the beach- 

 face surface grains were recorded as to the extent of size sorting. 

 The VIMS form used during the reconnaissance is in Appendix F-2. 



IV. REVIEW OF LITTORAL PROCESSES 



In this section, information and previous work on the various 

 processes that affect beaches in the study area are reviewed and 

 summarized. Tliese include tidal range, wave climate, winds, storms 

 and related surges, nearshore circulation eolian activity, and most 

 importantly for this area, the role of man. 



1. Tidal Range. 



The neap and spring tides recorded at the Hampton Roads tide gage 

 within Chesapeake Bay entrance, and the predicted tides for Virginia 

 Beach and False Cape, which straddle the study area, are shown in 

 Table 3. 



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