Observations of offshore bar decay: Sediment budgets and the role of lower shoreface processes

Long-term, net offshore bar migration is a common occurrence on many multiple-barred beaches. The first stage of the process involves the generation of a longshore bar close to the shoreline that oscillates about a mean position for some time, followed by a stage of net offshore migration across the upper shoreface, and finally a stage of decaying bar form through loss of sediment volume at the outer boundary of the upper shoreface. The phenomenon has been previously documented in the Netherlands, the USA, the Canadian Great Lakes, and in New Zealand, but our present understanding of the morphodynamic processes and sediment transport pathways involved in bar decay is limited. In this paper, long-term, net offshore bar migration is investigated at Vejers Beach, located on the North Sea coast of Denmark where offshore bar migration rates are of the order of 45–55 m a⁻¹. A wave height transformation model confirmed that the decay of the outer bar results in increased wave heights and undertow speeds at the more landward bar potentially causing this bar to speed up its offshore migration. The causes for outer bar decay were investigated through field measurements of sediment transport at the decaying bar and at a position further seaward on the lower shoreface. The measurements showed that a cross-shore transport convergence exists between the bar and the lower shoreface and that the loss of sediment involved in bar decay is associated with a longshore directed transport by non-surf zone processes. At Vejers, and possibly elsewhere, the net offshore migration of bars and the subsequent loss of sand during bar decay is an important part of the beach and shoreface sediment budget.     

Vertical profiles of fluid velocity and suspended sediment concentration in nearshore

Based on the power function of velocity and the friction velocity,a velocity profile is obtained.By solving the Schmidt’s diffusion equation,an equilibrium suspended sediment concentration profile is further deduced.The profiles of velocity and suspended sediment concentration agree well with the field data,and the profile of suspended sediment concentration avoids the unreasonableness of the classical Rouse profile such as a zero value at the water surface.According to these profiles,an expression which is easy to use for calculating the suspended sediment transport rate is derived.     

Numerical modelling of channel migration with application to laboratory rivers

The paper presents the development of a morphological model and its application to experimental model rivers.The model takes into account the key processes of channel migration,including bed deformation,bank failure and wetting and drying.Secondary flows in bends play an important role in lateral sediment transport,which further affects channel migration.A new formula has been derived to predict the near-bed secondary flow speed,in which the magnitude of the speed is linked to the lateral water level gradient.Since only non-cohesive sediment is considered in the current study,the bank failure is modelled based on the concept of submerged angle of repose.The wetting and drying process is modelled using an existing method.Comparisons between the numerical model predictions and experimental observations for various discharges have been made.It is found that the model predicted channel planform and cross-sectional shapes agree generally well with the laboratory observations.A scenario analysis is also carried out to investigate the impact of secondary flow on the channel migration process.It shows that if the effect of secondary flow is ignored,the channel size in the lateral direction will be seriously underestimated.     

Parameterization of near-bed processes under collinear wave and current flows from a two-phase sheet flow model

Sediment transport models require appropriate representation of near-bed processes. We aim here to explore the parameterizations of bed shear stress, bed load transport rate and near-bed sediment erosion rate under the sheet flow regime. To that end, we employ a one-dimensional two-phase sheet flow model which is able to resolve the intrawave boundary layer and sediment dynamics at a length scale on the order of the sediment grain. We have conducted 79 numerical simulations to cover a range of collinear wave and current conditions and sediment diameters in the range 210–460 μm$\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$. The numerical results confirm that the intrawave bed shear stress leads the free stream velocity, and we assess an explicit expression relating the phase lead to the maximum velocity, wave period and bed roughness. The numerical sheet flow model is also used to provide estimates for the bed load transport rate and to inspect the near-bed sediment erosion. A common bed load transport rate formulation and two typical reference concentration approaches are assessed. A dependence of the bed load transport rate on the sediment grain diameter is observed and parameterized. Finally, the intrawave near-bed vertical sediment flux is further investigated and related to the time derivative of the bed shear stress.     

Numerical simulation of dam-break flow and bed change considering the vegetation effects

Existing numerical investigations of dam-break flows rarely consider the effects of vegetation.This paper presents a depth-averaged two-dimensional model for dam-break flows over mobile and vegetated beds.In the model,both the consequences of reducing space for storing mass and momentum by the existence of vegetation and dragging the flow are considered:the former is considered by introducing a factor (1-c) to the flow depth,where c is the vegetation density;the later is considered by including an additional sink term in the momentum equations.The new governing equations are discretized by the finite volume method;and an existing second-order central-upwind scheme embedded with the hydrostatic reconstruction method for water depth,is used to estimate the fluxes;the source terms are estimated by either explicit or semi-explicit methods fulfilling the stability requirement.Laboratory experiments of dam-break flows or quasi-steady flows with/without vegetation effects/sediment transport are simulated.The good agreements between the measurements and the numerical simulations demonstrate a satisfactory performance of the model in reproducing the flow depth,velocity and bed deformation depth.Numerical case studies of six scenarios of dam-break flows over a mobile and vegetated bed are conducted.It is shown that when the area of the vegetation zone,the vegetation density,and the pattern of the vegetation distribution are varied,the resulted bed morphological change differs greatly,suggesting a great influence of vegetation on the dam-break flow evolution.Specifically,the vegetation may divert the direction of the main flow,hindering the flow and thus result in increased deposition upstream of the vegetation.     

Effect of advective and diffusive sediment transport on the formation of local and global bottom patterns in tidal embayments

Bathymetric field data of tidal basins reveal two main classes of bottom patterns: (1) tidal bars, located near the entrance of the basin (length scale determined by the embayment width) and (2) global channel-shoal patterns which scale with the basin length. Previous models were able to describe only either one of these patterns. In this paper it is shown that both of them can be investigated within the framework of an idealised model of a rectangular tidal embayment, with fixed side walls and an erodible bed. The water motion is described by the depth-averaged shallow-water equations and is forced by a prescribed vertical tide at the seaward entrance. Sediment is transported as suspended load and only realistic values of the bottom friction parameter are considered. By assuming the ratio of embayment length over tidal wave length to be small, the model allows for a morphodynamic equilibrium, characterised by a spatially uniform tide moving over a bottom which slopes upwards toward the landward boundary. This equilibrium is unstable for a range of values of the model parameters, such that growth of bedforms occurs. Both global and local bottom patterns are found. In this study particular emphasis is laid on the mechanism governing the growth of a new type of localised bottom pattern. These patterns consist of small bars located near the entrance of the basin, resembling multiple row bars, and are found when advective sediment fluxes prevail over diffusive sediment fluxes. The formation process of these new bedforms is discussed in detail. The results agree well with field data. Comparison of the results with those obtained with a process-based, numerical model shows that, although the idealised model is strongly simplified, it is capable of producing the essential morphodynamics. Therefore, the idealised model is a useful tool to investigate mechanisms of bottom pattern growth.Responsible Editor: Iris Grabemann     

Bedload transport from analytical and turbulence phenomenological perspectives

In this paper, we present the dynamics of bedload transport from two different perspectives. They are the analytical perspective and the turbulence phenomenological perspective. In bedload transport from the analytical perspective, we highlight the systematic advances in the analytical modelling of bedload transport over the decades. These advances are principally classified into three broad foundations, namely, the deterministic foundation, that includes the bed shear stress concept, stream power concept, force balance concept and bedform concept, and the probabilistic foundation and the turbulence phenomenological foundation of bedload transport. The bedload transport from the turbulence phenomenological perspective brings into focus the bedload-induced turbulence phenomenology, including the hydrodynamics of mobile-bed and water-worked bed flows. We also discuss the recent advances in the biofilm-coated bedload transport. Finally, conclusion is drawn, highlighting the major research challenges.     

Bed load transport during rising and falling stages on two small streams

Bed load transport rates were measured with continuously recording pit samplers on two small gravel-bed streams in the Goodwin Creek Research Watershed, northern Mississippi, U.S.A. When transport samples were grouped according to whether the stage was rising or falling, significant differences in mean bed load transport rates were found at nearly all flow strengths. At higher flow strengths, mean bed load transport rates were greater during rising stages than during falling stages. The greater transport rates measured during rising stages may be caused by a lag in the formation and destruction of bed roughness elements. One of the streams also showed evidence for greater transport rates for low flows as the stage declined. This may be caused by differences in the stability of the bed material at the beginning and at the end of a transport event.     

Fluid–particle interaction in turbulent open channel flow with fully-resolved mobile beds

The paper presents Direct Numerical Simulations of an open channel flow laden with spherical particles at a bulk Reynolds number of 2941. The transport of thousands of mobile particles is simulated propagating over a rough bed which consists of immobile particles of the same size in hexagonal ordering. An Immersed Boundary Method is used for the numerical representation of the particles. With 22 points per diameter even the viscous scales of the flow are resolved at this Reynolds number. The reference run contains just as many fixed as mobile particles with a relative density slightly above the nominal threshold of incipient motion. Further runs were conducted with decreased mass loading and decreased Shields number together with a simulation containing only immobile particles. The variation of the parameters defining the mobile sediment yields a strong modification of particle–fluid as well as particle–particle interactions yielding different structures in space and time. This is assessed by means of appropriate statistical quantities addressing the continuous and the disperse phase. The results are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations at higher Reynolds number.     

Observations of bedload movement,bar development and sediment supply in the braided Ohau river

Relative bedload transport rate and hydraulic parameters were measured on two occasions in a reach of the braided, gravel-bedded Ohau River. Each reach contained a deep, fast-flowing chute leading to an area of diverging, shallow flow which contained a middle bar. The measurements are self-consistent, and indicate that, where flow is concentrated in a deep chute, shear stress is high, but where flow diverges, depth, slope and shear stress decrease. In the first survey, the bed was scoured in the chute and sediment transport rates were high, but where flow diverged sediment transport rate decreased. It appears that deposition leads to bar growth, bar growth in turn reduces slope and depth, deposition is encouraged, and the bar continues to grow vertically, laterally and upstream. In the second survey no sediment transport was observed, despite hydraulic conditions very similar to the first survey. The absence of sediment transport is attributed to the cessation of sediment supply to the river channel.     

Hydraulics of sediment-laden sheetflow and the influence of simulated rainfall

Laminar sheetflows, transporting sediment at their capacity rates, both with and without rainfall disturbance, were investigated. Values of flow depth and relative submergence were very small. In the flows without rainfall, measured velocities exceeded the predictions of the smooth-surface, clear-water laminar model by an average of 12 per cent. Reduced flow resistance due to high sediment concentrations may explain this result. Velocities in the rainfall-disturbed flows were not significantly different from the predictions of the smooth-surface, clear-water model, and the velocity reduction due to rainfall was about 12 per cent. Although the uniformity of rainfall intensity under the single-nozzle rainfall simulator is high, variation of momentum and kinetic energy fluxes along the 1-5 m long flume was significant. The rainfall angle of incidence was highly correlated with deviations from expected flow velocities in the upper and lower sections of the flume.     

The influence of tides, wind and waves on the net sand transport in the North Sea

Large-scale redistribution of sand by hydrodynamical processes in shelf seas is important for basin and coastal evolution on time scales of a thousand to tens of thousands of years. The influence of tides on the large-scale net sand-transport patterns in the North Sea has received much attention, but the influence of wind-driven flow and wind waves has hardly been investigated. Here, to establish the present-day situation and to develop a method that can also be used for palaeo-situations and forecasts for different sea levels, this influence is assessed for the present southern North Sea using a numerical flow model, a parametric wave model and a wave-averaged sand-transport formulation. Various forcing combinations are used to identify the dominant transport mechanisms: tides only, tides and wind, tides and waves, and combined tides, wind and waves. Wind forcing is applied in two ways to find an efficient, but still representative, method of incorporating this stochastic process: a statistical wind climatology and an observed time series. The results show that (i) the wind climatology yields a good approximation of the sand transport computed using the time series; (ii) wind-driven flow and waves only contribute significantly to the net sand transport by tides when acting together where tidal currents are small; and (iii) various combinations of forcings dominate the net sand transport in different regions of the southern North Sea: (a) tides dominate in the southern, middle and northwestern parts of the Southern Bight and in the region of The Wash; (b) tides, wind-driven flow and waves all are important in the northeastern part of the Southern Bight; and (c) wind-driven flow and waves dominate north of the Friesian Islands, in the German Bight and on the Dogger Bank. Qualitative comparison with observations shows good agreement.     

Upscaling of CO2 vertical migration through a periodic layered porous medium: The capillary-free and capillary-dominant cases

We present an upscaled model for the vertical migration of a CO₂ plume through a vertical column filled with a periodic layered porous medium. This model may describe the vertical migration of a CO₂ plume in a perfectly layered horizontal aquifer. Capillarity and buoyancy are taken into account and semi-explicit upscaled flux functions are proposed in the two following cases: (i) capillarity is the main driving force and (ii) buoyancy is the only driving force. In both cases, we show that the upscaled buoyant flux is a bell-shaped function of the saturation, as in the case of a homogeneous porous medium. In the capillary-dominant case, we show that the upscaled buoyant flux is the harmonic mean of the buoyant fluxes in each layer. The upscaled saturation is governed by the continuity of the capillary pressure at the interface between layers. In the capillary-free case, the upscaled buoyant flux and upscaled saturation are determined by the flux continuity condition at the interface. As the flux is not continuous over the entire range of saturation, the upscaled saturation is only defined where continuity is verified, i.e. in two saturation domains. As a consequence, the upscaled buoyant flux is described by a piecewise continuous function. Two analytical approximations of this flux are proposed and this capillary-free upscaled model is validated for two cases of heterogeneity. Upscaled and cell averaged saturations are in good agreement. Furthermore, the proposed analytical upscaled fluxes provide satisfactory approximations as long as the saturation set at the inlet of the column is in a range where analytical and numerical upscaled fluxes are close.     

Tidal flow asymmetry in the diurnal regime: bed-load transport and morphologic changes around the Red River Delta

The relation between tidal flow asymmetry and net transport of sediment in the semidiurnal regime has been extensively described. This study reveals that in the diurnal regime, the direction of long-term net bed-load transport and resulting morphologic changes is partly determined by the phase-angle relationship of O₁, K₁, and M₂. Simple analytical formulations of time-averaged bed-load transport were derived which separate the relative contributions of tidal asymmetry from that of residual flow with tidal stirring. In this particular case, the Red River Delta in Vietnam, transports related to tidal asymmetry are larger than those induced by the monsoon currents, and are an order of magnitude larger than those associated with topographic residual flow around the delta. Tide-induced morphologic changes dominate at water depths between 10 and 25 m, of which the patterns of erosion and deposition overlap with observed bathymetric changes. Additional observed changes that occur in more shallow water cannot be explained by tidal asymmetry and are probably related to wave action and to deposition from the buoyant river plume.Responsible Editor: Jens Kappenberg     

The LHLLC scheme for Two-Layer and Two-Phase transcritical flows over a mobile bed with avalanching,wetting and drying

A numerical method of the Godunov type is presented for solving either Two-Phase or Two-Layer forms of Debris Flow Models (DFMs) describing shallow-water flow and sediment dynamics. DFMs explicitly link sediment concentrations to the momentum balance, and thus can be applied to cases involving high sediment concentrations, as in debris flows, in addition to low concentration test cases typically found in surface waters. In this paper, Two-Phase and Two-Layer DFMs are presented in a common mathematical framework to illuminate key similarities and differences and lay a foundation for a general purpose DFM solver. The proposed solver termed LHLLC is shown to achieve good accuracy over a wide range of test cases. Importantly, numerical diffusion of sediment profiles is minimized, particularly on steep slopes, the scheme is shown to preserve stationary solutions involving wet/dry interfaces, and the scheme accounts for gravity-driven slumping (avalanching) which cannot be resolved by classical DFMs.     

Temporal variations of sediment and morphological characteristics at a large confluence accounting for the effects of floodplain submergence

The large confluence between the Yangtze River and the outflow channel of Poyang Lake is receiving attention due to its importance in flood control and ecological protection in the Yangtze River basin. There is a large floodplain along the outflow channel of Poyang Lake, which is submerged during high flow and dry during low flow. The effects of the submergence of this floodplain on sediment and morphological characteristics at this large confluence have not been known. Hence, a field investigation was done in March 2019 (relatively high flow, Survey 3) to complement the previous field studies done in August (high flow, Survey 1) and December 2018 (low flow, Survey 2) to identify the temporal variations of sediment and morphological characteristics considering the submergence of this large floodplain. The predominant sediment transport modes were wash load for Poyang Lake and confluence particles and mixed bedload/suspended load for the Yangtze River particles. The sediment transport processes were largely affected by both the secondary flows and the water density contrast between the tributaries with a lock-exchange sediment rich, denser flow moving across the inclined mixing interface in Surveys 1 and 2. The sediment flux across the mixing interface was weakened in Survey 3 when the density contrast was very small. The stagnation zone near the confluence apex had a low sediment concentration and played a role in preventing the sediment flux exchange between the two flows, and its size, and, thus, its importance as a barrier to sediment mixing were related to the submergence of the floodplain. The bed morphology with the local scour holes at the confluence was largely affected by the large-size helical cells, and this kind of effect was weakened as the secondary flows got restricted in Survey 3. The current results expand the database and knowledge on the sediment transport and morphological features of large river confluences.     

Experimental investigation of the effects of shrub filter strips on debris flow trapping and interception

Ecological engineering plays an increasingly significant role in mountain hazard control, but the effect of species selection and arrangement (e.g., row spacing and stem spacing) on debris flow suppression is still unclear. To further understand the interception efficiency of shrub arrangement parameters on debris flow and explore the difference with slow hydraulic erosion, sixteen sets of small-scale flume experiments with different stem and row spacings were done to study the effects of shrubs on debris flow severity, flow rate, velocity, and particle size. The results suggest that, for a dilute debris flow, sediment interception effectiveness (27.4%–60.9%) decreases gradually as stem spacing increases. Moreover, as row spacing increases, flow velocity reduction (34.4%–44.9%) and flow reduction (18.5%–47.4%) gradually decrease; and the bulk density reduction (0.5%–5.3%) and sediment interception increase initially and then decrease. In contrast, for a viscous debris flow, the flow reduction, flow velocity reduction, and sedimentation interception decrease gradually as the stem spacing increases. As row spacing increases, the flow velocity reduction, flow reduction, and sediment interception all increase initially and then decrease. A formula for the flow velocity of dilute debris flow after the filter strip was derived based on the energy conservation law and Bernoulli's equation, confirming that debris flow movement is closely related to the degree of vegetation cover. This research strengthens the current understanding of the effectiveness of vegetation in debris flow disaster prevention and control and can guide practical applications.     

Experimental investigation on local shear stress and turbulence intensities over a rough non-uniform bed with and without sediment using 2D particle image velocimetry

The current work focuses on locally resolving velocities,turbulence,and shear stresses over a rough bed with locally non-uniform character.A nonporous subsurface layer and fixed interfacial sublayer of gravel and sand were water-worked to a nature-like bed form and additionally sealed in a hydraulic flume.Two-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry(2 D-PIV) was applied in the vertical plane of the experimental flume axis.Runs with clear water and weak sediment transport were done under slightly supercritical flow to ensure sediment transport conditions without formation of considerable sediment deposits or dunes.The study design included analyzing the double-averaged flow parameters of the entire measurement domain and investigating the flow development at 14 consecutive vertical subsections.Local geometrical variabilities as well the presence of sediment were mainly reflected in the vertical velocity component.Whereas the vertical velocity decreased over the entire depth in presence of sediment transport,the streamwise velocity profile was reduced only within the interfacial sublayer.In the region with decelerating flow conditions,however,the streamwise velocity profile systematically increased along the entire depth extent.The increase in the main velocity(reduction of flow resistance)correlated with a decrease of the turbulent shear and main normal stresses.Therefore,effects of rough bed smoothening and drag force reduction were experimentally documented within the interfacial sublayer due to mobile sediment.Moreover,the current study leads to the conclusion that in nonuniform flows the maximum Reynolds stress values are a better predictor for the bed shear stress than the linearly extrapolated Reynolds stress profile.This is an important finding because,in natural flows,uniform conditions are rare.