Jj. Williams et al., Field observations and predictions of bed shear stresses and vertical suspended sediment concentration profiles in wave-current conditions, CONT SHELF, 19(4), 1999, pp. 507-536
During a study of sediment dynamics at an offshore field site adjacent to M
iddlekerke Bank, Belgium, high-frequency measurements of turbulence and ver
tical profiles of the time-averaged suspended sediment concentration, (C) o
ver bar, were obtained in the bottom 1.2 m of the water column above a ripp
led bed in a water depth of approximately 20 m using the autonomous multise
nsor instrument STABLE. During the experiment, a combination of large waves
and strong currents resulted in the resuspension and transport of bottom s
ediments. Values for the physical roughness of the sea bed, k(s), have been
derived. Estimates of the bed shear stress attributable to currents in the
presence of waves, <(tau)over bar>(c(tke)), and the peak wave-only bed she
ar stress, <(tau)over cap>(w), have been obtained using the turbulent kinet
ic energy (tke) method and linear wave theory, respectively, and have been
combined to obtain peak, <(tau)over cap>(wc), and time-averaged, <(tau)over
bar>(wc), wave-current (w-c) bed shear stress values for gain- and ripple-
scale roughness using existing models. A new semi-empirical expression givi
ng accurate prediction of measured vertical C profiles for a wide range of
w-c conditions has been derived. Using <(tau)over cap>(w), <(tau)over bar>(
wc) and k(s) values as input parameters to the expression, estimates of the
dynamic in situ grain settling velocity, wave mixing coefficient and total
diffusive bed shear stress that agree well with previous measurements and
with theory have been obtained. Results indicate it may now be possible to
predict vertical (C) over bar profiles, and hence suspended sediment transp
ort rates, with knowledge of flow turbulence, wave orbital motion and C mea
sured accurately at only one location near the bed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien
ce Ltd. All rights reserved.