DISCUSSION
After conducting multiple STWAVE simulations for various wind speed and direction, I concluded that wave refraction contributes to the sediment transport phenomena that occurs within the outlet. The results from STWAVE indicate that even for west winds, the wave crests refract to strike the western coast of the outlet at a sharp angle. The oblique wave run-up, and the gravity induced return flow on the shore, creates a "zigzag" sediment particle motion on the beach, with a net movement in the down coast direction (Sorensen, 2002).
Further, I determined that wave breaking could be an important factor in the shoreline erosion and sediment transport to the top of the outlet. At higher wind speeds, the waves broke earlier near the top of the coast. Thus, during larger storm events, wave-induced current in the surf zone and the turbulence induced by the wave breaking will combine to cause sediment transport on the northern shoreline. On the western coast of the outline, the waves broke at the shoreline for every wind speed & direction. Therefore, it would be expected that this region would experience shoreline erosion. The results from STWAVE confirm historical data. Over the past couple decades, the eastern shoreline has experienced erosion. In fact, the same process is occuring on the western shoreline. These breaking waves lead to long shore currents in which sediment is transported both in suspension and along the lake bed. Furthermore, the sediment is accumulating at the northern shoreline of the Yahara River outlet to Lake Mendota.
Source: Dane County Department of Public Works