Tidal dynamics of the water table in beaches

Tidal motions of the water table height inside a sloping beach are investigated via field measurements and theoretical considerations. Only the movements forced by the tide are considered, so a beach with negligible wave activity was chosen for the field measurements. The data show that even in the absence of precipitation the time averaged inland water table stands considerably above the mean sea level. Also the water table at a fixed point inside the beach is far from sinusoidal even though its variation is forced by an essentially sinusoidal tide. This latter effect is due to the boundary condition along the sloping beach face which acts as a highly nonlinear filter. The observed behavior of the water table is explained in terms of perturbation extensions to the classical “deep aquifer solution.” One extension deals with the nonlinearity in the interior, the other with the boundary condition at the sloping beach face.