et al. (in preparation). The output of the program provided several sediment 

 size statistics and provided graphic capability to produce frequency, cumula- 

 tive frequency, histograms, and probability curves of the individual sediment 

 samples. Mean and sorting values included in this report were calculated 

 using the method of moments (Friedman and Sanders 1978) . The median values 

 were calculated by graphic formulas (Folk 1974) . The program also calculated 

 composite samples, combining individual samples mathematically to produce 

 composite sediment statistics and graphics. 



14. Sediment sample statistics are used to characterize the sediment 

 grain-size distribution. Beach sediments can be composed of several types of 

 minerals such as quartz, feldspar, carbonate shell material, and heavy min- 

 erals. The FRF beach contains primarily quartz sand with secondary components 

 of rock fragments of granule size, some shell material, heavy minerals, mica, 

 glauconite pellets, and foraminiferal tests (Meisburger and Judge 1989). The 

 main statistical descriptors used here to describe the sediment are the first 

 moment (mean grain size) , second moment (standard deviation representing the 

 degree of sorting) , and the median or D^,. While these values are good single- 

 value descriptors of the sediment, the entire grain-size distribution is 

 needed to show the variation that encompasses the size range common to this 

 coast. Grain-size distributions are illustrated using a frequency curve. 



15. The sediment sampling scheme attempted to locate the sample at the 

 same distance seaward of the baseline during each sampling period. Figure 5 

 shows the average locations of the 17 samples with the range at each station. 

 For the most part, the 21 sediment sampling periods collected sediment within 

 a narrow across-prof ile position. The sampling positions varied more in the 

 nearshore area as the spacing between stations increased. The first and last 

 profiles are plotted to show the envelope of elevation change and position of 

 the berm, bar, and trough relative to the station locations with time. The 

 general trend was for the sediment to become finer in the offshore direction. 

 An average of all the means for each station from Station 1 in the dune to 

 Station 17 in the nearshore region showed this trend (Figure 5) , except for 

 Station 3 at the base of the dune and Station 6 on the foreshore, which were 

 coarser than the surrounding stations. The stations on the beach (Stations 3 

 through 6) had the highest range of standard deviation. The narrowest range 

 in standard deviation over the study period occurred in the far nearshore 

 region (Stations 14 through 17) . 



21 



