Abstract

The analysis of 1.8years of data gives an understanding of the response to varying forcing of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and chlorophyll-a (CHL-a) in a coastal turbidity maximum zone (TMZ). Both temporal and vertical concentration variations in the near-bed layer (0–2m) in the shallow (11m deep) coastal zone at 1km off the Dutch coast are shown. Temporal variations in the concentration of both parameters are found on tidal and seasonal scales, and a marked response to episodic events (e.g. storms). The seasonal cycle in the near-bed CHL-a concentration is determined by the spring bloom. The role of the wave climate as the primary forcing in the SPM seasonal cycle is discussed. The tidal current provides a background signal, generated predominantly by local resuspension and settling and a minor role is for advection in the cross-shore and the alongshore direction. We tested the logarithmic Rouse profile to the vertical profiles of both the SPM and the CHL-a data, with respectively 84% and only 2% success. The resulting large percentage of low Rouse numbers for the SPM profiles suggest a mixed suspension is dominant in the TMZ, i.e. surface SPM concentrations are in the same order of magnitude as near-bed concentrations.

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