The motion of cobbles in the swash zone on an impermeable slope

The purpose of this communication is to present the results of a series of laboratory experiments aimed at better understanding the dynamics of the motion of large bottom particles (cobbles) in a swash zone. In this region, a thin sheet of water that results from the collapse of a turbulent bore, runs up the beach and can induce the transport of relatively large solid objects in the on-shore direction. The aims of the study were to: (i) mimic this process in laboratory experiments and identify the associated physical processes involved and (ii) to develop a suitable theoretical model to describe the motion of cobbles. The experiments employed a solid impermeable bottom and were conducted in a long tank of rectangular cross-section. An impulsive hydraulic bore, produced by a dam-break mechanism at one end of the tank, was used to simulate the water motion in the swash zone. Solid objects of simple discoid shape were used to model the cobbles. The results of the laboratory observations were compared with model predictions. In the range of external parameters used for the experiments (size and density of cobbles, propagation velocity and height of the water front, slope and friction at the bottom), a reasonable agreement between the measured and calculated values of the cobble displacement as a function of time was obtained. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.