Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics
Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics
NPG
Articles | Volume 33, issue 2
Articles | Volume 33, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-33-197-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-33-197-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 33, issue 2
Research article
 | 
21 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 21 Apr 2026

Sandy beaches' chaos: shoreline-sandbar coupling inferred from observational time series

Marius Aparicio, Sylvain Mangiarotti, Salomé Frugier, Laurent Lacaze, Marcan Graffin, and Rafael Almar

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Short summary
We studied how sandy beaches evolve by tracking the shoreline and offshore sandbars from satellites over many years. By rebuilding beach behavior directly from observations, we show that beaches follow organized but chaotic motion shaped by internal feedbacks. Beyond the seasonal rhythm imposed by waves, shorelines and sandbars exchange energy through the surf zone, producing repeated erosion and recovery cycles with limited predictability, explaining why beaches remain difficult to forecast.
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