Comprehensive Field Study of Swash-Zone Processes. II: Sheet Flow Sediment Concentrations during Quasi-Steady Backwash
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 1
Abstract
Sheet flow sediment concentration profiles were measured in natural conditions for the first time as part of a comprehensive field study on swash-zone hydrodynamics and sediment transport. Three conductivity concentration profilers (CCPs) measured the sediment concentration profile in the sheet flow layer with a 1-mm resolution in the swash zone of a dissipative beach. This paper focuses on sheet flow during quasi-steady backwash events generated by infragravity motion when the effects of phase lags, surface-generated turbulence, and accelerations are small. The sheet flow sediment concentration profile has a linear shape in the lower section of the profile and a power-law shape in the upper section, with the transition occurring at sediment volume fractions of 0.20–0.30. The shape of the concentration profile is self-similar for measured sheet flow layer thicknesses ranging from 6 to 18 mm. Because of the self-similarity, a single concentration profile curve can be used to describe the normalized profile for the entire range of sheet thicknesses, leading to improved estimates of the sheet flow layer thickness in a simple analytical model. The sheet flow layer thickness and sheet load, the sediment mass mobilized in the sheet flow layer, are well correlated with the hydrodynamic forcing represented by the mobility number ( for sheet thickness and for sheet load).
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. OCE-0845004. Additional support for this work was provided by the University of Delaware, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the Award for Global Research, Internships, and Performances for Graduate Students at the University of Delaware, the Natural Environmental Research Council, the US-U.K. Fulbright Commission, and the Australian Research Council (No. DP110101176). The authors thank D. Buscombe, T. Poate, R. McCall, B. Proença, L. Melo De Almeida, M. Sheridan, and P. Ganderton for assistance with the field measurements and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that improved this manuscript.
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Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 1 • January 2014
Pages: 29 - 42
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© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 28, 2012
Accepted: May 2, 2013
Published online: May 4, 2013
Published in print: Jan 1, 2014
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