cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/177367

Researchers at Flinders University’s College of Science and Engineering have been conducting tests to provide a better understanding of sand boil formation mechanisms, with particular relevance to those found in intertidal zones-including at Sellicks Beach on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula.

Sand boils occur where groundwater discharges to the land surface under sufficient hydraulic gradient to cause internal erosion and the upward transport of particles-and new research from Dr. Amir Jazayeri and Professor Adrian Werner at Flinders University’s College of Science & Engineering and the National Center for Groundwater Research and Training has identified better ways to identify and measure them.

“A proper understanding of sand boil processes is essential in evaluating a wide range of geomechanical and sediment transport situations under which groundwater seepage occurs, such as the effects of groundwater discharge on beach stability.”

“Our research focused on two key knowledge gaps in the current understanding of sand boil formation, being the effect of sand layer thickness on sand boil formation and the reformation of sand boils under variable driving head conditions,” says Professor Werner.

SMMRY