Proceedings of ICHE2010, IIT Madras, Aug 2-5,2010 The pattern of seasonal sediment transport mechanisms around arichaimunai by sediment trend matrix (stm) 1 THE PATTERN OF SEASONAL SEDIMENT TRANSPORT MECHANISMS AROUND ARICHAIMUNAI BY SEDIMENT TREND MATRIX (STM) Rajagopalan V. 1 , Usha Natesan 2 and G. Venkatesan 3 Abstract: The coast is a zone of intense energy input. This energy, transported by waves arrives at the coast which set the processes of sediment transport in motion and driven by forces such as waves, tides and wind that causes morphological change. Sedimentary coastlines have an attraction to many human beings. The study on the pattern of seasonal sediment transport mechanism around Arichamunai will provide a management tool for rapid assessment of natural hazard risk potential and it is important for such activities as economics, development, tourisms, planning research, science and education etc. This study was analyzed using toposheets and beach samples characteristics. From beach samples characteristics, Grain size analysis followed by the computation of Sediment Trend Matrix (STM) helps to understand the sediment movement from various stations and points out the sediment sources and sinks around Arichamunai and also showed that predominant direction of the sediment transport during the premonsoon and monsoon is from south to north and reversed during post monsoon season. Keywords: coast; sediment; grain size; sources and sinks. INTRODUCTION The coast is a zone of intense energy input. This energy, transported by waves arrives at the coast which set the processes of sediment transport in motion and driven by forces such as waves, tides and wind that causes morphological change. Sedimentary coastlines have an attraction to many human beings. (Benedet et al., 2004). For many of them it is a place to relax, for others it is a way to earn a living either on the dry part or from the regions offshore, consequently coast lines have become densely populated areas. These reasons make the presence and quality of a sandy coastline a valuable asset. ______________________________________________________________________________ 1 Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India, Email: rarohit@yahoo.com 2 Professor, Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai-600 025, India, Email: u_natesan@yahoo.com 3 Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India, Email: gvenkat1972@gmail.com Proceedings of ninth International Conference on Hydro-Science and Engineering (ICHE 2010), IIT Madras, Chennai, India. 2 - 5 August 2010