High‐resolution modeling of sediment erosion and particle transport across the northwest African shelf

Abstract

The region off Cape Blanc along the northwest African coast is dominated by persistent upwelling and strong activity of small‐scale eddies, filaments, and jets. Vertical particle camera profiles obtained during recent cruises in this region show that there exist two well‐marked maxima of particle abundance in the water column, one at the surface and the other in subsurface layers between 200 m and 400 m depths. Using a high‐resolution (2.7 km) terrain‐following coordinate ocean model with built‐in ecosystem and sediment transport modules, we show that the surface particle maximum can be explained by local productivity, while the deeper, subsurface particle cloud most likely originates from particulate material eroded from the shallow shelf and transported offshore by vigorous filament activity and dynamic features of the flow. In the numerical experiments, particles are produced either by primary production in the surface layer or from prescribed sediment sources to mimic suspension and erosion along the shelf areas. Good agreement of modeled particle distributions with the data is achieved with a typical settling velocity of 5 m day−1. Time‐averaged effective transport patterns of particles reveal distinct maxima between 20.5°N and 23.5°N off Cape Blanc. In the south of Cape Bojador and off Cape Timiris, on the other hand, the effective transport distance patterns suggest energetic offshore activity.