Beach Dynamics of an Open Coast of Thengapattanam, Kanyakumari District, South Western India

Henry C, Saravanan S and Chandrasekar N

Published on: 2023-12-20

Abstract

In order to study the beach dynamics of Thengapattanam on the Kumari coast, field investigations were carried out on the beach profiles, breaking wave parameters and longshore currents for a period of 25 months from December 2006 to December   2008.  Monthly measurements were made on littoral environmental observations (LEO) and beach level variations.  Longshore sediment transport rates were estimated based on the observed data. The  estimated  annual gross longshore  sediment transport rate  was higher  due to  recent  manmade  structures   and the  net  transport  was towards  west . The beach profile level was lowest in July and high in April and the range was   30 m. The total volume of sand transported is 882 m3/yr during 2007 and 710 m3/yr during 2008 only. The range of wave heights was between 0.4 to 2.5 m during 2007 and 0.45 to 1.8 m during 2008, whereas wave period was between 8 sec to 15.7 sec and 8.5 sec to 15 sec for 2007 and 2008 respectively. The study indicated that the beach is highly erosion. Thengapatanam which   is being  subjected  to  erosion  phase  during  both  monsoon  seasons and  get stable profiles  by  fair weather seasons. Longshore currents were stronger in June, July and August and steady during rest of the year. The net southerly transport was approximately 1.2*106 m3 during 2007 and   0.577*106 m3 during 2008.