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 beach sediments are medium- to coarse-sized sand with occurrences of 

 gravel deposits. Offshore material is moderately well sorted, ranging from medium to fme 

 sand. The sediment size distribution along the cross-shore is presented in Figure 2. A report 

 regarding the sediment morphodynamics of the FRF is provided in Stauble (1992). 



Tides along the FRF are semidiurnal with a mean range of approximately I m. Average 

 annual significant wave height is 1.0 m (1980-1990) with a standard deviation of +0.6 m, and 

 a mean peak spectral period of 8.3 + 2.6 sec (Leffler et al. 1992). Wave energy varies with 

 season and is typically higher during the winter months and lower in the spring and summer. 

 Tropical and extratropical storms occurring throughout the year result in perturbations of the 

 seasonal trends. Storm occurrences are dominated by extratropical northeasters during the 

 winter months and occasionally by tropical hurricanes during the summer season. A number 

 of significant storms occurred during the period of study, although no major hurricanes 

 affected the area. Birkemeier et al. (1985) provide a more complete description of the FRF. 



The report is comprised of six chapters and four appendixes. Chapter 2 presents the 

 profile data and survey methods. Survey error determination and correction are also 

 discussed in this part. Chapter 3 addresses the long-term (1981-1991) profile characteristics 

 as an aid in interpreting the data. Chapter 4 discusses the associated wave and water-level 

 data. The report is summarized in Chapter 5. Appendixes include survey plots (Appendix 

 A), the table of profile data (Appendix B), tables of wave height and period (Appendix C), 

 and plots of wave height, observed water level, and profile survey dates (Appendix D). 



WEIGHT PERCENT 

 25 50 



80 ^ 



1.0 u) 



0.5 S 

 0.25 



0.125 < 



0.063 u 

 0.031 



100 200 300 .(OO 500 600 700 BOO 900 1000 

 DISTANCE FROM BACKSTAKE {m) 



Figure 2. Cross-shore sediment distribution at the FRF (from Stauble, 1992) 



Chapter 1 Introduction 



