Seasonal changes in beach morphology, Grand Beach, Manitoba

Abstract

Researchers have postulated and examined processes occuring on oceanic coasts. Most of the results associated erosion with winter or high energy waves which are prevalent during the winter season. Dubois (1972) noted the seasonal variation in morphology on limnic beaches and directed his research to the Lake Michigan area. The results show that the beach retrograded from spring to summer concomitantly with the rise in lake level, and prograded from summer to winter with decreasing water levels. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the seasonal changes of a limnic beach, including changes in profiles and grain size parameters. The Grand Beach area was chosen for its accessibility. It is located on the east shore of Lake Winnipeg, approximately fifty miles northeast of Winnipeg (Figure 2). The East Beach of Grand Beach was selected as the sample site as it can be divided into two similar beach areas separated by vegetation and sand dunes. These two areas appear to experience the same natural limnic processes. The East Beach also does not have the heavy influx of summer visitors which populate the other areas of Grand Beach...