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The wavelength, height, and steepness of ripples formed under oscillatory flows in flume and field studies are reexamined to construct a simple and accurate method of predicting these ripple properties. Ripples with wavelengths proportional to near‐bed wave orbital diameter (orbital ripples), predominant in laboratory experiments, are found to have heights in excess of the thickness of the wave boundary layer. Ripples with wavelengths that are roughly proportional to grain size and nearly independent of orbital diameter (anorbital ripples), which predominate in the field, have heights at least several times smaller than wave boundary layer thickness. Relating wave boundary layer height to the generally more easily estimated wave orbital diameter, a set of expressions are developed for predicting ripple type and geometry based on mean grain size, wave orbital diameter, and estimated anorbital ripple height. This method provides a good characterization of ripple wavelength and steepness for a large set of combined field and flume data.

During winters, the northern Adriatic Sea experiences frequent, intense cold‐air outbreaks that drive oceanic heat loss and imprint complex but predictable patterns in the underlying waters. This strong, reliable forcing makes this region an excellent laboratory for observational and numerical investigations of air‐sea interaction, sediment and biological transport, and mesoscale wind‐driven flow. Narrow sea surface wind jets, commonly known as “bora,” occur when cold, dry air spills through gaps in the Dinaric Alps (the mountain range situated along the Adriatic's eastern shore). Horizontal variations in these winds drive a mosaic of oceanic cyclonic and anticyclonic cells that draw coastal waters far into the middle basin. The winds also drive intense cooling and overturning, producing a sharp front between dense, vertically homogenous waters (North Adriatic Dense Water, or NAdDW) in the north and the lighter (colder, fresher), stratified waters of the Po River plume. Once subducted at the front, the NAdDW flows southward in a narrow vein following the isobaths (contours of constant depth) of the Italian coast. In addition to governing the basin's general circulation, these processes also influence sediment transport and modulate biological and optical variability

Abstract. We describe and demonstrate algorithms for treating cohesive and mixed sediment that have been added to the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS version 3.6), as implemented in the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-WaveSediment Transport Modeling System (COAWST Subversion repository revision 1234). These include the following: floc dynamics (aggregation and disaggregation in the water column); changes in floc characteristics in the seabed; erosion and deposition of cohesive and mixed (combination of cohesive and non-cohesive) sediment; and biodiffusive mixing of bed sediment. These routines supplement existing noncohesive sediment modules, thereby increasing our ability to model fine-grained and mixed-sediment environments. Additionally, we describe changes to the sediment bed layering scheme that improve the fidelity of the modeled stratigraphic record. Finally, we provide examples of these modules implemented in idealized test cases and a realistic application.

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Sediment dispersal in the Adriatic Sea was evaluated using coupled three‐dimensional circulation and sediment transport models, representing conditions from autumn 2002 through spring 2003. The calculations accounted for fluvial sources, resuspension by waves and currents, and suspended transport. Sediment fluxes peaked during southwestward Bora wind conditions that produced energetic waves and strengthened the Western Adriatic Coastal Current. Transport along the western Adriatic continental shelf was nearly always to the south, except during brief periods when northward Sirocco winds reduced the coastal current. Much of the modeled fluvial sediment deposition was near river mouths, such as the Po subaqueous delta. Nearly all Po sediment remained in the northern Adriatic. Material from rivers that drain the Apennine Mountains traveled farther before deposition than Po sediment, because it was modeled with a lower settling velocity. Fluvial sediment delivered to areas with high average bed shear stress was more highly dispersed than material delivered to more quiescent areas. Modeled depositional patterns were similar to observed patterns that have developed over longer timescales. Specifically, modeled Po sediment accumulation was thickest near the river mouth with a very thin deposit extending to the northeast, consistent with patterns of modern sediment texture in the northern Adriatic. Sediment resuspended from the bed and delivered by Apennine Rivers was preferentially deposited on the northern side of the Gargano Peninsula, in the location of thick Holocene accumulation. Deposition here was highest during Bora winds when convergences in current velocities and off‐shelf flux enhanced delivery of material to the midshelf.

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[1] A large flood of the Eel River, northern California, created a thick sediment deposit between water depths of 50 and 70 m in January 1997. The freshwater plume, however, confined sediment delivery to water depths shallower than 30 m. Mechanisms proposed to explain the apparent cross-shelf transport include dispersal by oceanographic currents, resuspension by energetic waves, and gravitationally forced transport of a thin layer of fluidized mud. Field observations indicate that these processes were all active but cannot determine their relative significance or whether these mechanisms alone explain the location, size, and timing of deposition. Approximately 30% of the sediment delivered by the Eel River is accounted for in the midshelf mud bed and inner shelf, but the fate of the remaining 70% is uncertain. A three-dimensional, hydrodynamic model was used to examine potential mechanisms of sediment transport on the Eel River shelf. The model includes suspended sediment transport and was modified to account for a thin, near-bed layer of fluidized mud. It was used to simulate flood dispersal on the Eel River shelf, to compare the relative importance of transport within the near-bed fluid mud layer to suspended sediment transport, and to evaluate sediment budgets for floods. Settling properties of fine-grained sediment, both within the flood plume and the fluid mud layer, critically impact depositional patterns. To a lesser degree, wind-driven ocean currents influence the volume of sediment that escapes the shelf, and wave magnitude affects the cross-shelf location of flood deposits. Though dilute suspension accounts for a large fraction of total flux, cross-shelf transport by gravitational forcing appears necessary to produce a midshelf mud deposit similar in volume, location, and timing to those seen offshore of the Eel River.Citation: Harris, C. K., P. A. Traykovski, and W. R. Geyer (2005), Flood dispersal and deposition by near-bed gravitational sediment flows and oceanographic transport: A numerical modeling study of the Eel River shelf, northern California,