Observed Suspended Sediment Dynamics during a Tidal Cycle above Submerged Asymmetric Compound Sand Waves

Abstract

Abstract:The data from Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) of the three-dimensional current-field, echo intensity, modulation of Suspended Sediment Concentration (SSC), and related water levels and wind velocities have been analyzed as a function of water depth above submerged asymmetric compound sand waves during a tidal cycle in the Lister Tief of the German Bight in the North Sea. Signatures of vertical current component, echo intensities and calculated SSC modulations in the water column depend strongly on wind and current velocity. Bursts of vertical current component and echo intensity are triggered by sand waves itself as well as by superimposed megaripples due to current wave interaction at high current  1.0 ms -1 and wind speeds  10.0 ms -1 , preferably of opposite directions, measured at high spatial resolution. The magnitude of currents and SSC modulations during ebb and flood tidal current phases are only weakly time dependent, whereas the local magnitudes of these parameters are variable in space above the sand waves. Some hydrodynamic parameters are further investigated and analyzed, showing a consistence of ADCP measurements in the applied theory.