Abstract
Fundamental statistical analysis has been conducted on the long-term and large-scale evolutions of sandbars on Ishikawa Coast, Japan. The bar behavior is quantified in terms of bar crest position, crest/trough depth, bar height, and other parameters using a bathymetric data set with an alonghosre extent of 21.5 km and sampled for more than 40 years. The correlations for couples of parameters as well as the characteristics of temporal and spatial variation have been examined. The results revealed that the bar behavior along the Ishikawa Coast is characterized by the presence of cyclic cross-shore migration of outer bars with approximately 10-year periods. Superimposed on periodical migration, the outer bar position has a clear onshore trend in longer time scale of decades under the influence of overall erosion of the study area.
