On the thermodynamics-based equilibrium beach profile derived by Jenkins and Inman

Abstract

Based on the second law of thermodynamics, Jenkins and Inman (2006 J. Geophys. Res., 111, C02003) claimed that an equilibrium beach profile described by an elliptic cycloid maximises the rate of wave energy dissipation. However, here we i) highlight that the solution proposed by Jenkins and Inman (the elliptic cycloid) is difficult to recover due to important information being absent; and ii) show that, in fact, other curves can be proposed (e.g. a line) that yield larger rates of energy dissipation as formulated by the aforementioned authors, thus invalidating their claim. Combined, these two crucial aspects associated with the reproducibility and validity of the research invite further scrutiny of the work and conclusions reached by Jenkins and Inman (2006). This paper also serves as an appendix to Maldonado (2020 J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 125, e2019JC015876. doi: 10.1029/2019JC015876).