Each year storms impact coastal areas, sometimes causing significant morphologic change. Cold fronts are associated with increased wave energy and frequently occur during the winter months along many coasts, such as the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The higher wave energy can be responsible for a large quantity of the sediment transport resulting in rapid morphologic change. Using streamer traps, the vertical distribution of onshore-directed sediment transport during two different cold fronts on two low-wave energy beaches (i.e., along the northern Yucatan and southeast Florida) were compared with the resulting morphologic change. The objectives of this study are to: 1) analyze the grain size distribution (statistics) of sediment transported during a cold front, 2) compare the vertical sediment distribution throughout the water column, and 3) compare characteristics of bed sediment to the sediment within the water column. Understanding the changing grain size distribution of bottom sediments in comparison to directional transport (throughout the water column) should help determine the sediment fraction(s) being eroded or deposited, which could greatly improve predictions of storm-induced morphology change. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection