ABSTRACT
The availability of a large volume of sand from a nearby source area and the performance of the fill material on the nourished beach are key elements for successful beach-fill design. Studies to identify potential sand sources are the most critical part of any beach nourishment project and almost as costly as placing the sand on the beach. Sources of fill material in large volumes from upland areas, back-barrier lagoons, and wetlands are becoming increasingly difficult to exploit due to cost and environmental constraints. The essential data required for a sand source study include sediment cores, high-resolution subbottom seismic profiles, and accurate horizontal positioning for core locations and seismic tracklines. Sand source surveys in Holocene shelf sediments are confined to much smaller areas in which higher seismic resolution is cost effective and can be supplemented by retrieval and analysis of sediment cores. The inner continental shelf is often given the highest potential as a borrow area for beach-fill sand.
