Simulation of grain-size abundances on a barred upper shoreface

Using the barred upper shoreface of Long Island, New York, as an example, this study provides a semi-quantitative demonstration of the concept that the distribution of grain sizes in a closed depositional system is the product of the reworking and redistribution by the physical process and the availability of the sediment source. In the particular case of Long Island, the physical process is represented by the agitation of sediment grain sizes by the shoaling waves under the average fair-weather wave conditions as a first-order approximation.