The infralittoral prograding wedge: a new large-scale progradational sedimentary body in shallow marine environments

A progradational sedimentary body, the infralittoral prograding wedge (IPW), has been developing from the mean fair-weather wave-base level to the storm wave-base level between the onshore (beach) and the offshore (inner continental shelf) depositional zones along the Spanish coast during the Late Holocene. The main sedimentary body is composed of large inclined master beds which prograde seawards parallel to the shoreline, formed by sediments swept offshore by waves from shallow-water littoral environments. The inclined beds downlap onto finer-grained offshore sediments and, in turn, are overlain by shoreface deposits. The IPW is generated by downwelling storm currents and associated seaward transport of sediment. It represents a new depositional model for clastic wave-dominated coasts, and its identification requires a new subdivision of the nearshore environment. Received: 10 June 1999 / Revision accepted: 15 February 2000     

Atmospheric forcing of fine-sand transport on a low-energy inner shelf: south-central Louisiana,USA

Hydrodynamic and sediment transport measurements from instrumentation deployed during a 54-day winter period at two sites on the Louisiana inner shelf are presented. Strong extratropical storms, with wind speeds of 7.8 to 15.1 m s^-1, were the dominant forcing mechanism during the study. These typically caused mean oscillatory flows and shear velocities about 33% higher than fair weather (averaging 12.3 and 3.2 cm s^-1 at the landward site, and 11.4 and 2.7 cm s^-1 at the seaward site, respectively). These responses were coupled with mean near-bottom currents more than twice as strong as during fair weather (10.3 and 7.5 cm s^-1 at the landward and seaward sites, respectively). These flowed in approximately the same direction as the veering wind, causing a net offshore transport of fine sand. Weak storms were responsible for little sediment transport whereas during fair weather, onshore sand transport of approximately 25-75% of the storm values appears to have occurred. This contradicts previous predictions of negligible fair-weather sediment movement on this inner shelf.     

Bed load transport on the shoreface by currents and waves

Tide-driven bed load transport is an important portion of the net annual sediment transport rate in many shoreface and shelf environments. However, bed load transport under waves cannot be measured in the field and bed load transport by currents without waves is barely measurable, even in spring tidal conditions. There is, consequently, a strong lack of field data and validated models. The present field site was on the shoreface and inner shelf at 2 to 8.5 km offshore the central Dutch coast (far outside the surfzone), where tidal currents flow parallel to the coast. Bed load transports were carefully measured with a calibrated sampler in spring tidal conditions without waves at a water depth of 13–18 m with fine and medium sands. The near-bed flow was measured over nearly a year and used for integration to annual transport rates. An empirical bed load model was derived, which predicts bed load transports that are a factor of > 5 smaller than predicted by existing models. However, they agree with laboratory data of sand and gravel transport in currents near incipient motion. The damped transport rates may have been caused by cohesion of sediment or turbulence damping due to mud or biological activity. The annual bed load transport rate was calculated using a probability density function (pdf) derived from the near-bed current and orbital velocity data which represented the current and wave climate well when compared to 30 years of data from a nearby wave station. The effect of wave stirring was included in the transport calculations. The net bed load transport rate is a few m²/year. This is much less than predicted in an earlier model study, which is partly due to different bed load models but also due to the difference in velocity pdf. The annual transport rate is very sensitive to the probability of the largest current velocities.     

海南岛西部岸外沙波的高分辨率形态特征

利用SIMRAD-EM3000多波束探测系统和DGPS定位系统,对海南岛东方岸外的沙波沙脊区进行了高精度探测,分析结果表明:从海岸到陆架底形具有明显的分带性,依次出现弱侵蚀底形段、沙波沙脊底形段和平坦底形段。沙波仅发育于沙波沙脊段,介于水深20~50 m之间,沙波形态有二维与三维两种,沙波波高多为0.7~2.5 m,波长20~70 m,沙波指数(L/H)为20~60,对称指数为1~3;沙波沙脊区沉积物的搬运方向有明显的规律性,在沙脊的西侧,沉积物主要向北搬运;在沙脊的东侧,沉积物主要向南搬运;沙波的形成和发育主要受潮流场控制,热带风暴对其有改造作用。     

Across-shelf sediment dispersal, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand

Side-scan, seismic and surficial sediment data accompanied by current meter records highlight across-shelf sediment transport in Hauraki Gulf, an island-studded embayment off northern New Zealand. Calm weather currents are locally dominated by the tides, with periodic incursions of oceanic water from detached meanders of the East Auckland Current. Under these conditions, bedload transport occurs mainly in three 15–20 km-wide channels, where bathymetric intensification of the flow brings about near-bottom speeds of up to 82 cm s⁻¹ for Colville Channel and 33–44 cm s⁻¹ in Jellicoe and Cradock Channels. Surficial sediments are gravelly to muddy sand, winnowed in places, leaving a lag deposit of mainly biogenic carbonate gravel. Modelling results suggest that in Colville Channel, dominant fine to medium sand modes are mobile for 20–60% of the time, with a net eastward movement for fine sand. In Jellicoe and Cradock Channels, the prevailing direction of transport is southwards across the shelf, with sand mobile for up to 33% of the time. Oceanic incursions have the potential to boost flow in the western Gulf, however such incursions are transitory, and there is no measurable expression of oceanic water in the sedimentary record. Because of their association with prolonged periods of calm weather, the incursions are unlikely to accompany storm events, where their cumulative effect might be important for sediment transport. Near-bottom currents resulting from oceanic incursion may reinforce peak tides inside the Gulf by up to 2–4 cm s⁻¹. Enhancement of prevailing water motions occurs during periods of extreme weather. During cyclone Drena (January 1997), measured flow speeds in Jellicoe Channel reached 48 cm s⁻¹. Furthermore, the disturbance generated large waves that stirred bottom sediments down to over 100 m water depth. Such events are probably the major agent of sediment redistribution in the Hauraki Gulf. The net effect of storm and calm weather currents is to move sediment across the outer to middle shelf where, in the western and central Gulf it accumulates, and in the eastern Gulf it escapes eastward via Colville Channel.     

Stratigraphic framework of sediment-starved sand ridges on a mixed siliciclastic/carbonate inner shelf; west-central Florida

Seismic reflection profiles and vibracores have revealed that an inner shelf, sand-ridge field has developed over the past few thousand years situated on an elevated, broad bedrock terrace. This terrace extends seaward of a major headland associated with the modern barrier-island coastline of west-central Florida. The overall geologic setting is a low-energy, sediment-starved, mixed siliciclastic/carbonate inner continental shelf supporting a thin sedimentary veneer. This veneer is arranged in a series of subparallel, shore-oblique, and to a minor extent, shore-parallel sand ridges. Seven major facies are present beneath the ridges, including a basal Neogene limestone gravel facies and a blue-green clay facies indicative of dominantly authigenic sedimentation. A major sequence boundary separates these older units from Holocene age, organic-rich mud facies (marsh), which grades upward into a muddy sand facies (lagoon or shallow open shelf/seagrass meadows). Cores reveal that the muddy shelf facies is either in sharp contact or grades upward into a shelly sand facies (ravinement or sudden termination of seagrass meadows). The shelly sand facies grades upward to a mixed siliciclastic/carbonate facies, which forms the sand ridges themselves. This mixed siliciclastic/carbonate facies differs from the sediment on the beach and shoreface, suggesting insignificant sediment exchange between the offshore ridges and the modern coastline. Additionally, the lack of early Holocene, pre-ridge facies in the troughs between the ridges suggests that the ridges themselves do not migrate laterally extensively. Radiocarbon dating has indicated that these sand ridges can form relatively quickly (1.3 ka) on relatively low-energy inner shelves once open-marine conditions are available, and that frequent, high-energy, storm-dominated conditions are not necessarily required. We suggest that the two inner shelf depositional models presented (open-shelf vs. migrating barrier-island) may have co-existed spatially and/or temporally to explain the distribution of facies and vertical facies contacts.     

Role of mean circulation,tides, and waves in the transport of bottom sediment on the New Zealand continental shelf

Evaluation of velocity data on water movements over the New Zealand continental shelf has revealed that the mean circulation by itself is too slow to induce transport of bottom sediments. Tides generally have higher velocities, but are still not the main transporting agent except in the tide‐dominated Cook and Foveaux. Straits. Waves have the potential to stir sediments on the inner and middle shelf (less than about 70 m deep) during annual storms, and probably down to 130 m depth during the maximum 25‐y storm.

For sediment transport to take place, energies of at least two of the major water movements would have to complement one another. Optimum conditions for transport probably occur during storm periods when wave‐suspended sediment is readily moved by tides and the mean circulation.

The direction of transport is mainly along the continental shelf and is largely in response to prevailing weather patterns coincident with the direction of the mean circulation and strongly reinforced by the appropriate phase of the tide.     

Sediment transport and morphology at the surf zone of Presque Isle, Lake Erie, Pennsylvania

A four-year investigation of surf zone sedimentation at Presque Isle, Pennsylvania, was undertaken in preparation for the design of a segmented breakwater system. Sediment transport calculations were based on hind-cast annual wave power statistics and “calibrated” by known accretion rates at the downdrift spit terminus. 30,000 m³ of sediment reaches the peninsula annually from updrift beaches. The transport volume increases downdrift due to shoreface erosion and retreat of the peninsular neck. At the most exposed point on Presque Isle (the lighthouse) the annual transport is 209,000 m³. East of the lighthouse is a zone of net shoreface accretion as the longshore transport rate progressively decreases.

The downdrift variation in sediment supply, combined with increasing refraction and attenuation of the dominant westerly storm waves produce a systematic change in prevailing surf zone morphology. Storms produce a major longshore bar and trough along the exposed peninsular neck. The wave energy during non-storm periods is too low to significantly alter the bar which consequently becomes a permanent feature. The broad shoreface and reduced wave energy level east of the lighthouse produce a morphology characterized by large crescentic outer bars, transverse bars, and megacusps along the beach. At the sheltered and rapidly prograding eastern spit terminus the prevalent beach morphology is that of a ridge and runnel system in front of a megacuspate shore.

The morphodynamic surf zone model developed for oceanic beaches in Australia is used as a basis for interpretation of shoreface morphologic variability at Presque Isle. In spite of interference by major shoreline stabilization structures, and differences between oceanic and lake wave spectra, the nearshore bar field at Presque Isle does closely correspond to the Australian model.     

Shoreface morphodynamics of a high-energy,steep and geologically constrained shoreline segment in Northern Ireland

The shoreface, a complex and poorly understood part of the coastal zone, plays a critical role in sediment transport processes between the beach and the inner shelf. This two-year study examined the surface and subsurface architecture and the process-response mechanisms of a high-energy, steep and geologically constrained shoreface segment (1–20 m depth) in Northern Ireland. Fourteen sequential bathymetric surveys, covering an area of ~ 2 km², were compared and analysed in order to investigate seabed changes and their relationship to wave and wind forcing. Results reveal that the shoreface is highly dynamic and complex. An examination of high-energy conditions and lower-than-average energy conditions revealed significant periods of both accretion and erosion. These complex morphodynamic responses are attributed mainly to a combination of antecedent (pre-survey) morphology, differences in wind forcing and coastal surges. A comparison of seabed changes over 2 yr reveals net shoreface accretion, which is attributed to inner-shelf to shoreface sediment transport. Over the same period, the adjacent West Strand beach showed moderate erosion. The study provides information on the morphodynamics of a steep, high-energy embayment shoreface, a coastal environment which has received little previous attention.     

陆架沙丘(波)活动量级和稳定性标志研究

陆架底流包含定时变向的潮流、定时定向的洋流和偶发性的暴风浪流,水下沙丘的塑造和运动是潮、浪动力共同作用的结果.用水文计算法计算沙丘迁移速率时应充分考虑陆架各动力要素的作用,并与定位观测速率相对照.按陆架水下沙丘的运动量级和发育过程可划分为强运动、弱运动、不运动(残留)和消亡(或埋藏)沙丘等4种类型,它们的稳定性标志,表现于海底状况、外部形态、粒度结构、水动力和迁移速率等方面.     

The effects of storms and storm-generated currents on sand beaches in Southern Maine, USA

Storms are one of the most important controls on the cycle of erosion and accretion on beaches. Current meters placed in shoreface locations of Saco Bay and Wells Embayment, ME, recorded bottom currents during the winter months of 2000 and 2001, while teams of volunteers profiled the topography of nearby beaches. Coupling offshore meteorological and beach profile data made it possible to determine the response of nine beaches in southern Maine to various oceanographic and meteorological conditions. The beaches selected for profiling ranged from pristine to completely developed and permitted further examination of the role of seawalls on the response of beaches to storms.

Current meters documented three unique types of storms: frontal passages, southwest storms, and northeast storms. In general, the current meter results indicate that frontal passages and southwest storms were responsible for bringing sediment towards the shore, while northeast storms resulted in a net movement of sediment away from the beach. During the 1999–2000 winter, there were a greater percentage of frontal passages and southwest storms, while during the 2000–2001 winter, there were more northeast storms. The sediment that was transported landward during the 1999–2000 winter was reworked into the berm along moderately and highly developed beaches during the next summer.

A northeast storm on March 5–6, 2001, resulted in currents in excess of 1 m s⁻¹ and wave heights that reached six meters. The storm persisted over 10 high tides and caused coastal flooding and property damage. Topographic profiles made before and after the storm demonstrate that developed beaches experienced a loss of sediment volume during the storm, while sediment was redistributed along the profile on moderately developed and undeveloped beaches. Two months after the storm, the profiles along the developed beaches had not reached their pre-storm elevation. In comparison, the moderately developed and undeveloped beaches reached and exceeded their pre-storm elevation and began to show berm buildup characteristic of the summer months.     

Surficial Sediments along the Inner Continental Shelf of Maine

Through 10 years of support from the Minerals Management Service Association of American State Geologists' Continental Margins Program we have mapped along the Maine coast, seaward to the 100 m isobath. In all, 1,773 bottom sample stations were occupied, 3,358 km of side-scan sonar and 5,011 km of seismic reflection profiles were gathered. On the basis of these data, a surficial sediment map was created for the Maine inner continental shelf during the Year 8 project, and cores and seismic data were collected to evaluate sand thickness during Years 9 and 10. Sand covers only 8 % of the Maine shelf, and is concentrated seaward of beaches off southern Maine in water depths less than 60 m. Sand occurs in three depositional settings: (1) in shoreface deposits connected dynamically to contemporary beaches; (2) in submerged deltas associated with lower sea-level positions; and (3) in submerged lowstand shoreline positions between 50 and 60 m. Seismic profiles over the shoreface off Saco Bay, Wells Embayment, and off the Kennebec River mouth each imaged a wedge-shaped acoustic unit which tapered off between 20 and 30 m. Cores determined that this was sand that was underlain by a variable but thin (commonly 1 m) deposit of estuarine muddy sand and a thick deposit of glacial-marine mud. Off Saco Bay, more than 55 million m3 of sand exists in the shoreface, compared with about 22 million m3 on the adjacent beach and dunes. Seaward of the Kennebec River, a large delta deposited between 13 ka and the present time holds more than 300 million m3 of sand and gravel. The best sorted sand is on the surface nearshore, with increasing amounts of gravel offshore and mud beneath the surficial sand sheet. Bedforms indicate that the surficial sand is moved by waves to at least 55 m depth. Seaward of the Penobscot River, no significant sand or gravel was encountered. Muddy estuarine sediments overlie muddy glacial-marine sediment throughout the area offshore area of this river. No satisfactory explanation is offered for lack of a sandy delta seaward of Maine's largest river. Lowstand-shoreline deposits were cored in many places in Saco Bay and off the Kennebec River mouth. Datable materials from cores indicated that the lowstand occurred around 10.5 ka off the Kennebec. Cores did not penetrate glacial-marine sediment in the lowstand deposits, and seismic profiles were ambiguous about the vertical extent of sand in these units. For these reasons, no total thickness of sand was determined from the lowstand deposits, but given the area of the surficial sand, the volume is probably in the hundreds of millions of cubic meters.     

南海北部陆架坡折附近表层沉积物的粒度特征和其输运趋势

对南海北部陆架坡折附近取的50个表层沉积物样品,作粒度测试,计算粒度参数。粒度分析表明研究区的沉积物主要存在4种类型:含砾砂、砾质砂、砂质砾和含砾泥质砂;沉积物组分中砾石和砂占绝对优势,基本上不含黏土。综合因子分析和聚类分析的结果把研究区划分为4类沉积区:Ⅰ类沉积区属于内陆架沉积区,Ⅱ类沉积区属于陆架坡折上部沉积区,Ⅲ类沉积区属于陆架坡折下部沉积区,Ⅳ类沉积区区属于陆架边缘沉积区,每类沉积区都代表着不同的沉积环境。研究区沉积物的粒径趋势分析结果显示,陆架坡折附近的沉积物主要向内陆架和外陆架边缘或上陆坡输运,同时存在着跨陆架输运和沿陆架坡折输运现象,这与研究区实测的底流方向相一致。本研究表明,南海北部陆架坡折附近的沉积环境和沉积物输运模式比较复杂和特殊。本研究对今后陆架和陆坡区其他相关的研究具有十分重要的指导和借鉴意义。     

The morphodynamic modelling of tidal sand waves on the shoreface

An artificial sand wave on the Dutch shoreface of the North Sea has been studied in conditions with relatively strong tidal currents in the range of 0.5 to 1 m/s and sediments in the medium sand size range of 0.2 to 0.5 mm. The sand wave is perpendicular to the tidal current and has a maximum height and length of the order of 5 m and 1 km, respectively. The sand wave is dynamically active and shows migration rates of the order of a few metres per year. A numerical morphodynamic model (DELFT3D model) has been used to simulate the morphological behaviour of the sand wave in the North Sea. This model approach is based on the numerical solution of the three-dimensional shallow water equations in combination with a surface wave propagation model (wind waves) and the advection–diffusion equation for the sediment particles with online bed updating after each time step. The model results show that the sand wave grows in the case of dominant bed-load transport (weak tidal currents; relatively coarse sediment; small roughness height; low waves) and that the sand wave decays in the case of dominant suspended transport (strong currents, relatively fine sediment, large roughness height; storm waves).     

Side-scan sonar mosaic of a sand Ridge field: southern Mid-Atlantic Bight

Side-scan sonar coverage of a 1.5 km by 1.5 km area of the inner shelf depicts the morphology of part of a submarine ridge field. The presence of megaripples indicates that ridge sediments are presently reworked by currents. Megaripples occur in the coarser sands of the north-facing ridge flanks. Distribution of megaripples and the ridge asymmetry support the hypothesis that sand ridges respond as large-scale bedforms to south-setting flows. Megaripple crests were observed to be aligned shore-parallel which indicates a pre-survey episode of shore-normal bedload transport.     

Sand ridges on the inner Atlantic shelf of North America: Morphometric comparisons with Huthnance stability model

Sand ridge fields on the inner shelf of the Middle Atlantic Bight are generally thought to have formed in response to northeasterly storm flows as the shoreface underwent erosional retreat with postglacial sea-level rise. However, the hydrodynamic mechanism is poorly unerstood. Coastal boundary models see the ridges as responses of the seafloor to distortions in the flow induced by the coastal boundary. Stability models propose that an irregular initial topography will evolve toward an ordered array of bedforms in response to repeated flow events. The two classes of models are not mutually exclusive, nor are members within each class mutually exclusive. Results of measurements of ridge spacing on the inner Atlantic shelf of North America agree with the predictions of stability models.     

Clay minerals from the sedimentary cover from the Northwest Iberian shelf

The Northern Iberian margin is a typical example of a continental margin subjected to seasonal highly energetic regime (waves and tides) and receiving inputs of continental sediments via riverine discharges. The principal goal of this study has been to use clay minerals as indicators of sedimentary dynamics in the open shelf system. The distributions of clay mineral in the top layer of the sedimentary cover are shown to be related to their continental sources, but also reflect the influences of winter storms and longshore currents in determining the pathways of sediment transport.The mineralogical composition of the material issuing from the rivers is very similar to the general mineralogical composition of the fine fractions of the seabed sediments. Those deposits that are directly influenced by riverine discharges have higher contents of kaolinite (>20%), whereas those that are not have higher contents of illite (>80%). The available data indicate no significant quantities of terrigenous particles are being discharged from the Spanish rias. Therefore, we conclude that physical processes are controlling the clay mineral distributions and that, despite contributions from the Minho River, the main source of fine detrital particles to the shelf region is the Douro River discharge. These particles settle on the middle shelf, below the 60 m isobath. During storm events these particles are re-suspended and advected northwards to the Galician shelf or into deeper domains. Thus the distributions of the clays indicate there is a net transport of fine sediments both northwards and off-shelf.     

Mobile sand deposits and shoreface sediment dynamics in the inner German Bight (North Sea)

This paper presents a conceptual model for the net bedload transport regime on the shoreface of the German Bight. The model is based on the spatial distribution of the surficial sediment cover (North Sea sands) which is identical to the uppermost layer in the seismic recordings. Sediment thickness was measured using very high resolution seismic profiling (chirp sonar) and vibrocoring. The three-dimensional sediment distribution was estimated using geostatistical methods (cokriging). The results demonstrate a longshore sand distribution with three distinct zones. In Zone 1 (0–10 m water depth) the sediments attain their maximum thickness of 10±2.5 m. Between 10 and 15 m water depth a relatively thin sand layer of 0.4–1.5 m is observed within Zone 2. The seaward adjacent Zone 3 (15–20 m water depth) is characterized by an averaged sand thickness of 2–3 m with local maxima of 5–6 m. Further offshore, the sand layer decreases to about 1–2 m thickness. The net bedload transport directions inferred from this sediment zonation comprise a longshore sediment bypassing in Zone 1 which results in a substantial sediment supply to the innermost part of the German Bight due to bedload convergence. Shore-normal bedload transport shifts sand to and fro across the coastal profile although the net directional transport is seawards. This results in sediment depletion between the 10 and 15 m-isobaths (Zone 2) and an adjacent sediment accumulation in deeper waters (Zone 3).     

Sand suspension and transport on the Middelkerke Bank (southern North Sea) by storms and tidal currents

Estimates have been made of the suspended sand transport at two sites on the Middelkerke Bank, in the southern North Sea, from suspended sand profiles and current meter measurements over a period of approximately 40 days. Sand resuspension was mainly due to waves while transport was dominated by a few hours when large waves coincided with peak flood currents. Soulsby's relationships for the stress under combined currents and waves were found to be poor predictors for the observed near-bed concentrations; the mean stress, , predicting 45% of the variance while the maximum stress, , predicted just 15%, and overestimate the effects of the waves. When the influence of the stress due to the waves is reduced, the variance explained increases to 67%. The sand transport rate on the steep slope of the bank was 10 times that of the southern end, and was up-slope at 25° to the bank axis, in the direction of the major axis of the tidal ellipse. The transport on the steep slope was mainly in the size range 100–140 μm which did not occur in any significant proportion in samples of the sea bed at that site but was advected from deeper water to the southeast. Excluding this finer component the transport rates of coarser sand (>200 μm) at the two sites were similar over the 40-day period. The up-slope transport during storms suggests that waves play an important part in the bank maintenance and are not simply the mechanism which prevents the continual growth of the sand bank due to asymmetrical transport by the tidal currents alone. The transport rates are consistent with a time-scale of 10²–10³ years for the formation of the Middelkerke Bank.