scholarly journals LONGSHORE TRANSPORT OF SUSPENDED SEDIMENT

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 (13) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Fairchild

In excess of 800 suspended sediment samples were collected from stations along the City Pier, Ventnor, New Jersey and Jennettes Pier, Nags Head, North Carolina using a tractor-mounted pump sampler. Most samples were collected within the surf zone at the Ventnor site. At the Nags Head site, sample collections included the surf zone, but generally extended over a wider range of the nearshore zone. Average sampling time was 3 minutes. Nozzle elevation varied from 3 inches above the bottom up to a maximum about mid-depth, generally not greater than 2.5 feet above bottom. Maximum concentrations at Ventnor ranged up to 2.6 ppt by weight and at Nags Head were about 4.0 ppt. Median size at Ventnor ranged from 0.12 to 0.15 mm and averaged about 0.20 mm in depths of 4 feet and less at Nags Head. Results are summarized in a series of scatter plots which relate suspended sediment concentration to nozzle height, wave height, water depth and sampling distance from an observed wave-breaker-line. Results are compared to CERC laboratory data, to two excerpted concentrations from unidirectional flow tests and to the CERC TR-4 design curve of longshore wave energy versus longshore transport.

1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (16) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy W. Kana

Suspended sediment concentration was measured in approximately 250 breaking waves on undeveloped beaches near Price Inlet, South Carolina, U.S.A., using portable in situ bulk water samplers. As many as 10 instantaneous 2-liter water volumes were obtained in each wave for a total of 1500 samples. Concentrations of suspended sediment were determined at fixed intervals of 10, 30, 60 and 100 cm above the bed for various surf zone positions relative to the breakpoint. The majority of waves sampled during 22 days in June and July, 1977 were relatively long crested, smooth, spilling to plunging in form, with breaker heights ranging from 20 to 150 cm. Surf zone process variables measured included breaker height and depth, breaker type, wave period, surface longshore current velocity, wind velocity and direction. Scatter plots of mean concentration against various process parameters indicate the amount of sediment entrained in breaking waves is primarily a function of elevation above the bed, breaker type, breaker height and distance from the breakpoint. Concentration ranged over 3 orders of magnitude up to 10 gm/1, but varied less than 1 order for samples collected under similar conditions with regard to elevation and breaker type. Plunging breakers generally entrain 1 order more sediment than spilling breakers equal in height. Despite considerable scatter, these data indicate concentration decreases with increasing wave height for waves 50 to 150 cm high, suggesting that small waves can be important in the transport of sand on gently-sloping open coasts.


1984 ◽  
Vol 1 (19) ◽  
pp. 120 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.W. Sternberg ◽  
N.C. Shi ◽  
John P. Downing

The suspended sediment distribution and longshore sediment transport characteristics at Leadbetter Beach, Santa Barbara, California were investigated using a series of miniature optical backseatter sensors which can measure particle concentrations as high as 180 gm/£ and have 10 Hz frequency response. Vertical arrays of sensors were maintained at up to four positions across the surf zone during 7-25 February 1980 and were operated concurrently with pressure sensors and current meters. Data were collected on a daily basis over 2-4 hour periods. The data were analyzed to reveal concentration profiles of suspended sediment, the average suspended sediment loads, and the longshore particle flux in relation to varying wave conditions. Results show that sediment transport occurs as individual suspension events related to incident wave motions and infragravity motion oscillations within the surf zone; suspended sediment concentration decreases approximately logarithimically away from the seabed; the maximum values of longshore transport rates occur in the mid-surf zone; and the measured suspended sediment longshore transport rate is equal to the total longshore transport rate as predicted by existing transport equations.


2007 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Greenwood ◽  
Allana Permanand-Schwartz ◽  
Christopher A. Houser

Abstract Burley Beach (southeastern Lake Huron) exhibits a multi-barred shoreface, the long-term equilibrium morphology characteristic of many low angle, sandy beaches in the Canadian Great Lakes. During a single major storm, a new bar emerged 50-60 m offshore as an irregular trough-crest form, through differential erosion of an existing shore terrace. Emergence, bar growth and offshore migration were associated with: (a) an overall negative sediment balance in the inner surf zone initially (‑2.30 m3>/m beach width), but with a large positive sediment balance (+5.10 m3/m) subsequent to the storm peak and during the storm decay; (b) progradation of the beach step to produce a new shore terrace; and (c) offshore migration of the two outer bars to provide the accommodation space necessary for the new bar. The primary transport mechanisms accounting for emergence of the new bar, its growth and migration were: (a) the mean cross-shore currents (undertow), which always transported suspended sediment offshore; and (b) the onshore transport of suspended sediment by incident gravity wave frequencies early in the storm and subsequently by infragravity waves (at the storm peak and the decay period). The longshore transport of sediment was significant in terms of the gross transport, although the net result was only a small transport to the south-west (historic littoral transport direction). It did not cause bar initiation, but it may have supplied some of the sediment for bar growth. The primary mechanism for bar initiation and growth was the cross-shore displacement of sediment by wave-driven (oscillatory) transport and cross-shore mean currents (undertow).


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1300
Author(s):  
Troels Aagaard ◽  
Joost Brinkkemper ◽  
Drude F. Christensen ◽  
Michael G. Hughes ◽  
Gerben Ruessink

The existence of sandy beaches relies on the onshore transport of sand by waves during post-storm conditions. Most operational sediment transport models employ wave-averaged terms, and/or the instantaneous cross-shore velocity signal, but the models often fail in predictions of the onshore-directed transport rates. An important reason is that they rarely consider the phase relationships between wave orbital velocity and the suspended sediment concentration. This relationship depends on the intra-wave structure of the bed shear stress and hence on the timing and magnitude of turbulence production in the water column. This paper provides an up-to-date review of recent experimental advances on intra-wave turbulence characteristics, sediment mobilization, and suspended sediment transport in laboratory and natural surf zones. Experimental results generally show that peaks in the suspended sediment concentration are shifted forward on the wave phase with increasing turbulence levels and instantaneous near-bed sediment concentration scales with instantaneous turbulent kinetic energy. The magnitude and intra-wave phase of turbulence production and sediment concentration are shown to depend on wave (breaker) type, seabed configuration, and relative wave height, which opens up the possibility of more robust predictions of transport rates for different wave and beach conditions.


1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (17) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Timothy W. Kana ◽  
Larry G. Ward

As part of the DUCK-X experiment at the CERC field research facility at Duck, North Carolina in September, 1978, suspended sediment measurements were made along the CERC pier. In situ bulk water samples were collected during a moderate northeast storm and two days later during post-storm wave conditions. Concentrations varied from approximately 0.01 g/1 to over 10.0 g/1. Vertical arrays of suspended sediment samples indicated that concentration decreases rapidly up to two meters above the bed, then remains relatively constant, reflecting the nature of the suspension; intermittent suspension of sand near the bed, and continuous washload higher in the water column. Concentrations were at a maximum during storm conditions when measured values were 3 to 5 times higher than during non-storm conditions. The total load of sediment in a pier cross section during sampling periods in storm and post^storm conditions was calculated from arrays of 49 samples each. With H1/3 exceeding 2.3 HI and the surf zone width over 300 m during the storm, the total load of sediment in suspension was approximately 10 times higher than during poststorm conditions (Hi 73 - 1.2 m and surf zone width approximately 100 m) . Estimates of the longshore flux of suspended sediment indicate that as much as 60 times more sediment was transported during storm than during post-storm conditions. Longshore transport of sediment measured from 5 cm above the bed to the surface reached the equivalent of 22,330 m^/day. This value corresponds very closely to longshore transport predicted from wave energy flux. During post-storm conditions, on the other hand, transport of suspended sediment accounts for less than one-third of the transport predicted from wave energy flux.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (33) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Daniel Conley ◽  
Daniel Buscombe ◽  
Alex Nimmo-Smith

We present results from a 3-week field experiment measuring surf-zone flows and sediment transport on a steep energetic beach in the south-west UK, including the first reported deployment of an in-line holographic camera (‘holocam’) in the surf zone, co-located with various optical backscatter sensors and an acoustic backscatter sensor (ABS). The extensive data set provides perhaps a unique opportunity to examine the performance of optical and acoustic backscatter instruments in a wide range of conditions including bubbly flows, as well as some fundamental aspects of sediment suspension processes such as the near-bed size-distribution of suspended sediment. The holocam, deployed with a 1.3cm cubic sample volume approximately 10cm above the bed, provides in-focus well-resolved images of the instantaneous suspended load, making it possible to determine highly-accurate estimates of the concentrations of mineral sand grains, bubbles and organic particles, and their size distributions. Instantaneous estimates of sediment concentration from the ABS compare poorly with the equivalent measure from the holocam. This could be due to various factors such as spatial decorrelation or acoustic insensitivities at larger grain sizes. However, the ABS does a very good job at estimating burst-averaged suspended sediment concentrations when bubble concentrations are low (less than 1ml/l). The error in ABS concentrations (as compared against holocam) appears to be related to relative bubble concentration. The OBS is even more sensitive to bubbles. Suspended sediment grain size distribution is skewed towards the finer grain sizes but shifts to the larger sizes with increased flow intensity.


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