Crossing the Boundaries: How Key Advancements in Understanding of Headland Sediment Bypassing Improves Definition of Littoral Cells

Abstract

Headland sediment bypassing connects short-term physical forcing and long-term morphological response. The contributions from King et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC017053 are a substantial step in understanding the complexities by combining field observations, process-based numerical modeling, and empirical generalization with the development of an improved parametrization of headland sediment bypassing. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge about littoral cell boundaries, or as proposed in this commentary, littoral cells that respond to varying wave energy and water levels that may influence the results from shoreline change models. Evolution of the shoreline in the context of climate change can be better understood by considering variability in littoral cell boundaries.