ABSTRACT
This chapter explains computer models of shoreline configuration: headland erosion and the graded beach revisited. Numerical computer models simulate a variety of physical processes. Some success has been achieved in the development of computer models to examine shoreline changes resulting from the transport of sand along beaches by waves and currents. The chapter illustrates techniques of numerical models of shoreline changes by a model of headland erosion in which the sand is transported into an adjacent embayment. Computer models are ideal for quantitatively analyzing such geomorphic concepts because they permit systematic changes in the parameters of interest while eliminating other complicating effects which would obscure the results. The techniques of developing computer models of shoreline changes parallel the formulation of fluid-flow models. The analyses illustrate the usefulness of computer models for investigating geomorphic concepts of shoreline configuration. The concept of the graded river is well established and an extensive literature dealt with its analysis and applications.
