The causal drivers of short-term changes (days to months) in human-, wind-, and wave-driven sand transport on a sandy beach are not often considered in an integral and data-driven approach. However, improving current knowledge on (urban) sandy beach topographical change requires the incorporation of multi-scale, cross-sectional and human factors. In this research we process a time series of 21,194 hourly point clouds, obtained in a Permanent Terrestrial Laser Scanning setup. From this 3D time series we extract 5,102 short-term temporary surface dynamics, through a method called 4D objects-by-change (4D-OBCs). The causal drivers of two of these 4D-OBCs are investigated in detail. One is interpreted as an aeolian depositional surface dynamic (1), and one as a bulldozer deposit, that consecutively eroded under high wave energy conditions (2). The dynamics show clear correlation to a particular combination of wind direction and intensity (1), and wave height and wave period (2), indicating that point cloud time series derived 4D-OBCs are useful data to study causality of short-term surface dynamics of different origins. However, to study these surface dynamics systematically and derive statistical proof of causal relations we must consider multivariate correlations, as well as spatiotemporal dependence between sediment dynamics and larger scale morphological changes on the beach.