BEACH CHANGES AT VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA 



by 



W. Harrison q\ 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Norfolk, Virginia , and 

 Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia 



and 



Kenneth A. Wagner 

 Powell Laboratories, Gladstone, Oregon^'^^ 



ABSTRACT 



This descriptive report summarizes the results of repeated 

 profiles taken daily, weekly, or (rarely) monthly along four 

 transects. Seven topographic maps of the nearshore bottom, based 

 on detailed soundings to depths of 15-24 feet below MLW off Camp 

 Pendleton, are also presented. One of the profiles and one of 

 the maps show the effects of waves from the violent storm of 

 7-8 March 1962. 



Weekly and monthly observations at 61st Street, repeated 

 for a continuous 23-month period, showed that the greatest 

 vertical changes of the foreshore profile amounted to 6.6 feet. 

 This maximum variation was centered in the vertical zone on the 

 foreshore coinciding with the interval between mean tide level 

 and mean high water. An unknown amount of change in altitude 

 along the profile, for about 17 months, is believed to be related 

 to artificial beach nourishment in progress nearby at the time 

 the profiles were run. Minor changes were noted in weekly pro- 

 files across the dune at 61st Street from November 1956 - June 

 1957, the greatest horizontal change (2.8 feet) occurring near 

 the dune crest on the seaward facing slope where it was stabil- 

 ized by vegetation. Approximately one-half of the dune was lost 

 during the storm of March 7-8, 1962. 



Twenty-five profiles at Camp Pendleton, taken on consecu- 

 tive days at low tide, yield a rhythmic pattern, when superim- 

 posed. The bottom changes could be qualitatively related to 

 changes in the wave regime, but were not always dependent upon 

 breaking waves for their formation or dissolution. Magnitudes 

 of daily cut and fill of the foreshore face approximated a few 

 tenths of a foot. The greatest daily change of the nearshore 

 bottom, 2.5 feet, occurred 225 feet from the MLW shoreline. 



Present address: Land & Sea Interaction Laboratory, 439 York St. , 



Norfolk, Virginia. Study completed while at the Virginia Institute 



of Marine Science. 



(2) 



Formerly at the Norfolk College of William and Mary 



I 



