Abstract
Wave-supported gravity flows (WSGFs) generate rates of sediment flux far exceeding other cross-shelf transport processes, contributing disproportionately to shelf morphology and net cross-shelf fluxes of sediment in many regions worldwide. However, the conditions deemed necessary for the formation of WSGF limit them to a narrow set of shelf conditions; they have been observed exclusively in regions where the seabed consists of very fine-grained sediment and typically co-occur with nearby river flood events. Here we document the occurrence of a WSGF event on a predominantly sandy seabed and in the absence of a preceding river flood. Our measurements confirm that the dynamics are governed by the friction-buoyancy balance observed in other WSGF and that WSGF can form in mixed grain-size environments and transport high concentrations of sand. The occurrence of WSGF on a predominantly sandy seabed suggests that they may occur under a much wider range of conditions and, given the global prevalence of sandy shelves, they may be a more frequent and more ubiquitous feature of shelf dynamics than previously thought.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 7634-7645 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 15 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 16 Aug 2018 |
Keywords
- cross-shelf transport
- marine gravity-driven flows
- sandy seabed
- sediment transport
- wave-supported gravity flows
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Dive into the research topics of 'Wave Generation of Gravity-Driven Sediment Flows on a Predominantly Sandy Seabed'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Datasets
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Strains data
Pietrzak, J. D. (Creator), Souza, A. J. (Creator) & Horner-Devine, A. (Creator), TU Delft - 4TU.ResearchData, 4 May 2018
DOI: 10.4121/COLLECTION:STRAINS, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JC013422 and one more link, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077936 (show fewer)
Dataset/Software: Dataset
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Wave-supported gravity flow data
Raul Flores, R. P. (Creator), Rijnsburger, S. (Creator), Meirelles, S. (Creator), Horner-Devine, A. R. (Creator), Souza, A. J. (Creator), Pietrzak, J. D. (Creator), Henriquez, M. (Creator), Reniers, A. J. H. M. (Creator) & den Heijer, K. (Creator), TU Delft - 4TU.ResearchData, 25 Jun 2018
DOI: 10.4121/UUID:E1FE526D-CF17-4332-983C-97C3A56B0DDF
Dataset/Software: Dataset