Scripps Institution of Oceanography

This chapter identifies and develops the transport processes pertinent to the budget of sediment for a littoral cell. It is intended to provide a conceptual basis for the discussions which follow in Chapters 6 (Sources, Transport Modes, and Sinks of Sediment), 7 (Application of Shoreline Change Models) and 9 (Budget of Sediment and the Prediction of the Future State of the Coast). The processes of primary interest here are the action of waves and coastal currents in eroding and terracing the land and in transporting sediment along the coast; the tractive forces of streams in eroding, transporting and depositing sediments; the effect of changing sealevel on beach erosion; and finally the influence of tides and streams in the maintenance and filling of coastal lagoons. For a more detailed discussion of these processes and their cumulative effects and interaction within the littoral cells of the San Diego Region, refer to CCSTWS 86-1 (Inman, et al., 1986).