Sediment Transport in the Eel River Plume

Abstract

My long-term goal is to understand the mechanics of river-plume transport of sediment and its influence on the trapping and dispersion of sediment on the continental shelf. This effort will also contribute to the development of predictive models of sediment dispersal and sedimentary strata formation. I set out to determine the trajectory and fate of suspended sediment entering the Pacific Ocean from the Eel River, Northern California, during floods. The initial hypothesis was that sediment was delivered directly to the mid-shelf flood deposit, at water depths between 60 and 90 m, via hemipelagic deposition from the surface plume. In order to test this hypothesis, measurements of the river plume had to be obtained during flood conditions, to determine the influence of the unique forcing conditions during storms on the plume trajectory and sediment transport.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 1998
Accession Number
ADA536250

Entities

People

  • Wayne Rockwell Geyer

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Continental Shelves
  • Data Analysis
  • Dynamics
  • Measurement
  • Mechanics
  • Oceans
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Particle Size
  • Particles
  • Predictive Modeling
  • Sedimentation
  • Sediments
  • Surveys
  • Suspended Sediments
  • Three Dimensional
  • Transport Ships

Fields of Study

  • Geology

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography