RESHAPING THE UNDERSTANDING OF BEACH RESPONSE TO SEA-LEVEL RISE FOR EQUILIBRIUM SHORELINE MODELLING

Sandy beaches are highly vulnerable to short-term and long-term erosion due to waves and sea-level rise (SLR), respectively. As global SLR is accelerating due to climate change, reliable projections of shoreline change on long time scales (greater than decadal) are critical for coastal adaptation planning. Some shoreline models that address such long- term projections rely on the equilibrium beach theory to estimate the effects of waves and SLR. However, so far, the effects of interactions between SLR and wave action are not resolved explicitly. In this work, we present a novel physical interpretation of the beach response to SLR in the context of equilibrium beach theory. Using this concept, we analyze the integration of SLR effects into wave-driven equilibrium shoreline models, while accounting for the interactions between SLR and incident waves.