Beach sediments collected from the tidal flat and beach slope at the Msasan
i Beach, about 15 km north of the Dar es Salaam Harbour, are used to (1) es
tablish the grain size distribution pattern, (2) assess the effect of man-m
ade and natural structures (rivers, creeks, sea wall and groynes) on the gr
ain size distribution, and (3) assess whether sediments are preferentially
transported northward by longshore currents. Generally, the Msasani Beach s
lope sediments have an average mean diameter of 1.55 phi, while those from
the tidal flat average at 1.87 phi. There is a general trend of decreasing
grain size from south to north that is associated with improvement in sorti
ng, particularly in the tidal flat. The northward fining of the sediment su
ggests that the sediment in the study area is transported from south to nor
th. The trend of northward decrease in the mean grain size is locally disto
rted at the river mouths, creeks end man-made structures. The contribution
of the man-made structures to the observed distortion can not be separated
from that of natural structures owing to the fact that these man-made struc
tures were placed next to the natural features. The data collected from the
Msasani Beach were subjected to factor analysis. Four factors account for
more than 95% of the observed variations in the grain size distribution in
the study area. These factors are: medium energy environments (66.5% of tot
al variance) common at the beach slope; low energy environments found in mi
cro-bays (16%); high energy environment found at the tidal creeks and river
entrance (7.8%); and intermediate (between medium and low) energy environm
ents common in the tidal flat (5.6%).
Most of the beach slope samples are unimodal (87%), while a significant num
ber of the tidal flat samples (46%) are bimodal, with the most common mode
being 2.25 phi. The bimodality observed in this study can be attributed to
the presence of shell fragments that were not removed during sieving, to su
dden fluctuation in the energy strength at the beach, and to mixing of diff
erent grain populations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Limited. All rights rese
rved.