Although combined wave-current flows in the nearshore coastal zone are common, there are few observations of bedform response and inherent geometric scaling in combined flows. Our effort presents observations of bedform dynamics that were strongly influenced by waves, currents, and combined wave-current flow at two sampling locations separated by 60 m in the cross shore. Observations were collected in 2014 at the Sand Engine mega-nourishment on the Delfland coast of the Netherlands. The bedforms had wavelengths ranging from 14 cm to over 2 m and transformed shape and orientation within, at times, as little as 20 min and up to 6 hr. The dynamic set of observations was used to evaluate a fully unsteady description of changes in the bedform growth with the sediment transport continuity equation (Exner equation), relating changes in bedform volume to bedload sediment transport. Analysis shows that bedform volume was a function of the integrated transport rate over the bedform development time period. The bedform development time period (time lag of bedform growth/adjustment) is important for estimating changes in bedform volume. Results show that this continuity principle held for wave, current, and combined wave-current generated bedforms.
Plain Language SummaryJust under the water at sandy beaches around the world there are sand ripples that form, grow, move, change, and decay. While the ripple feature is very aesthetically pleasing, it also serves the purpose of moving sand toward and away from the coast. In order for us to accurately predict coastal change, it is important to fully understand how sand ripples grow and decay in waves, currents, and combined wave-current flows. Field observations of growing and changing sand ripples in combined wave-current flows are used to validate a new analytical expression for estimating bedform growth and decay due to changes in the flow field energy.
Citation:Wengrove, M. E., and D. L. Foster (2014) Abstract Field observations of boundary layer development within a tidally forced estuary revealed evidence of an observable viscous sublayer. Evidence is provided by several independent measures of the flow field, including hydrodynamic smoothness, an immobile bed, and characteristic velocity, constant stress, and higher-order moment structures. This investigation reports what may be the second comprehensive observation of the viscous sublayer in a marine environment, and what could be the first observation of a momentum balance that includes the viscous sublayer within a shallow estuarine environment. Hydrodynamic observations were made in a straight channel within the Great Bay Estuary of New Hampshire over a flat sandy mud with low water depth of 1.5 m at the sampling location. Beyond quantifying the role of the benthic boundary layer in nutrient dynamics, these observations are useful to provide insight into very near boundary stress estimates leading to incipient motion in estuarine and coastal environments.
Bedload transport is an important mechanism for sediment flux in the nearshore. Yet few studies examine the relationship between bedform evolution and net sediment transport. Our work contributes concurrent observations of bedform mobility and bedload transport in response to wave dominant, current dominant, and combined wave‐current flows in the nearshore. Bedload sediment flux from migrating bedforms during combined wave‐current conditions accounted for at least 20% more bedload transport when compared with wave dominant flows and at least 80% more than current‐dominant flows. Bedforms were observed to transport the most sediment during periods with strong currents, with high‐energy skewed waves, and while bedform orientation and transport direction were aligned. Regardless of flow type, bedform migration rates were directly proportional to the total kinetic energy contained in the flow field. Eleven bedload transport models formulated to be used in combined flows (both shear and energetics based) were compared with sediment flux estimated from measured bedform migration. An energetics based sediment transport model was most representative for our data.
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