Bedform evolution and sediment transport under breaking waves

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Authors
Weltmer, Micah A.
Subjects
Advisors
Stanton, Timothy P.
Date of Issue
2003-03
Date
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Observations of the temporal evolution of ripples are analyzed in terms of geometry, migration, crest orientation, and their predicted geometry by models using wave orbital velocities. Two weeks of bedform data were obtained in the surf zone during the RIPEX/SBE in April, 2001. Bed sediment consists of medium- to coarse-grained sand (D50=0.43mm). Models capture temporal trends in ripple geometry, but regression analyses show that they do not handle the range in forcing characteristics and geometries in the surf zone well. Transport models of bedload and total load formulated under uni-directional flows qualitatively capture the temporal evolution of observed transport by ripples, suggesting that under low to moderate forcing, bed load and suspended load occur mostly within the bed-following bottom boundary layer, andare measurable by ripple migration alone. Models predict large transport rates when flat beds were observed, so that at higher forcing ripples cannot be used to measure total sediment transport. Using a two-dimensional probability density function (PDF) of vector displacement peaks, a new ripple analysis model is proposed, incorporating a hierarchy of forcing complexity that includes such physical processes as directional spreading, axis rotation, orbital asymmetry, superimposed currents and infragravity wave velocities. The two-dimensional PDF's are compared with concurrent three-dimensional bed maps and are found to assist in describing ripple sizes, types, orientations, and migration velocities.
Type
Thesis
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Series/Report No
Department
Meteorology and Physical Oceanography
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Format
xvi, 86 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps
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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.
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