Sediment transport in the coastal zone

The paper provides basic information on the description of sediment transport in the coastal zone of the sea. It explains the mechanisms of sediment movement under the influence of the waves and currents interactions, characteristic for the coastal zone. It presents models describing the movement of sediment in the regime of flat bottom, making their divided in accordance with the method of description of vertical structure of sediments transport. Particular emphasis is placed on modeling of graded sediment transport. It presents basis for the three-layer model of graded sediment transport. This allows, among others, the analysis of the variability of particle size distribution in the whole area of sediment movement. The model assumes that the movement of sediment is divided into three layers: bedload layer, contact load layer and outer flow region, as a result of the shear stress influence on the bottom.