Aucan Jerôme auteur aut IRD Vendé-Leclerc Myriam auteur aut IRD Dumas Pascal auteur aut IRD Bricquir Marianne auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access In the present study, we examine how waves may contribute to the morphological changes of islets in the New Caledonia lagoon. We collected in situ wave data to investigate their characteristics. Three types of waves are identified and quantified: (1) high-frequency waves generated within the lagoon, (2) low-frequency waves originating from swells in the Tasman Sea, and (3) infragravity waves. We found out that high-frequency waves are the dominant forcing on the islets during typical wind events throughout the year, while infragravity waves, likely generated by the breaking of low-frequency waves, dominate during seasonal swell events. During swell events, low-frequency waves can also directly propagate to the islets through channels across the barrier reef, or be tidally modulated across the barrier reef before reaching the islets. Topographic surveys and beach profiles on one islet indicate areas with seasonal morphological changes and other areas with longer, interannual or decadal, erosion patterns. Although more data are needed to validate this hypothesis, we suspect that a relation exists between wave forcing and morphological changes of the islets. specialized Waves Infragravity Erosion Sea level New Caledonia NOUVELLE CALEDONIE 032 064 349 6-7 248-259 2017 1631-0713 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010071889 10.1016/j.crte.2017.09.003 1631-0713 [F B010071889] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010071889 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2018/01/010071889.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2018-02-05 2018-02-05 fdi:010071889 fre