Three-Dimensional Cyclic Behaviors of Multiple Sandbars on the Ishikawa Coast, Japan

The characteristics of spatiotemporal variation of the multiple bar system on the Ishikawa Coast, Japan, have been investigated using a set of field surveys collected over 51 years. For the time variation, the behavior of sandbars is characterized by the presence of cyclic cross-shore migration of outer bars with approximately 10-year return period. Five cycles have been recognized from 1960 to 2010. The evolution of outermost bar strongly exhibits three-dimensional features. On the contrary to the bar migration patterns observed at many of other sites, the bar position are observed to move landward during the decaying phase.