Seaweed-assisted, benthic gravel transport by tidal currents

Abstract

Traction transport of pebbles and cobbles occurs subtidally at current velocities below 0.5ms−1 when seaweed attached to clasts provides additional lift and drag to the clast. In the Juan de Fuca Strait, British Columbia, Canada, the seaweed Cymanthere triplicata commonly attaches to pebbles and provides sufficient additional surface area for tidal currents to drag the clast along the seafloor. Using in situ measurements of current velocities at 13m water depth, the threshold for initiation of motion of a 30mm pebble with attached seaweed is 0.3ms−1. This is approximately one order of magnitude less than the activation velocity for a 30mm pebble without attached seaweed.In addition to kelp-rafted (floated) gravel, seaweed-assisted, benthic gravel transport is possible in marine settings where unidirectional currents (e.g., tidal currents, storm-induced bottom currents) are sufficient to transport pebbles alongshore, and into and across the offshore (below fairweather wave base). If preserved in the rock record, deposits of algal-enhanced gravel deposited via unidirectional, subtidal currents will likely appear as isolated gravel clasts encased in sandstone, reflecting the similar current velocities required to transport these two clast groups.