Sediment Flux and Trapping on the Skagit Tidal Flats: Analysis and Modeling

Abstract

The long-term objective is to determine the hydrodynamic processes controlling sediment transport and the associated morphologic response on tidal flats. The objectives of this project are to analyze the data from the Skagit Flats deployment of June, 2009 and complete several papers that document our findings. The themes of analysis are * to ascertain the influence of freshwater inflow on the barotropic and baroclinic dynamics of Skagit Flats, and then to ascertain their consequences for sediment transport and trapping; * to determine the processes causing tidal and high-frequency (up to surface gravity-wave frequency) variations in bottom stress, turbulence and suspended sediment concentrations, including the possible formation and destruction of fluid mud layers and episodes of rapid sediment accumulation and erosion; * to quantify the mechanisms causing tidal asymmetry in bottom stress and sediment transport rate on Skagit Flats and determine the implications of these asymmetries for the sediment balance and morphological structure of the flats.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2011
Accession Number
ADA557175

Entities

People

  • David K Ralston
  • Peter Traykovski
  • Wayne Rockwell Geyer

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amplitude
  • Asymmetry
  • Backscattering
  • Buoyancy
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Frequency
  • High Resolution
  • Internal Waves
  • Measurement
  • Pressure Gradients
  • Scattering
  • Sedimentation
  • Sediments
  • Suspended Sediments
  • Underwater Acoustics
  • Water
  • Waves

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography