Study of Beach Sand Movement by Fluorescent Tracer at Coondapur, S. Kanara District, Karnataka

Three fluorescent tracer tests were carried out in the swash zone on a strip of the beach, south of Ganguli light house. An analysis of the tracer dispersion pattern reveals that generally the predominant vector of sand movement is along shore in a southerly direction. The grain velocity varies from 0.7 to 1.23m/min. It is observed to be higher in the finer sized grains than in the coarse grains. The computed rate of sand depletion for the first ten minutes is 1.99 kg/min. The result of the size analysis data shows that the sand grains tend to undergo differential motion with the coarser sized ones moving towards the shore and the finer ones seawards.