Open AccessA THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF UNDERTOW
Author(s) -
J. Buhr Hansen,
Ib A. Svendsen
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
proceedings of conference on coastal engineering/proceedings of ... conference on coastal engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2156-1028
pISSN - 0589-087X
DOI - 10.9753/icce.v19.151
Subject(s) - current (fluid) , circuit breaker , geology , longshore drift , mechanics , engineering , oceanography , geomorphology , physics , sediment transport , mechanical engineering , sediment
It is well known that on a three-dimensional beach large volumes of water carried shorewards by the breakers feed longshore currents, which eventually escape back through the breaker line, often as rip currents. In a steady two-dimensional situation, however, the mass flux represented by (among other things) the surface roller in the breakers returns as a seaward current close to the bottom. This current is called the undertow. In this paper theoretical results for the undertow are compared with the results of recent laboratory experiments.