Sand Wave Migration Research Articles

Experimental study on the formation and migration of submarine sandwaves under wave-only and combined wave-current conditions

Based on the assumption that the crest lines of sandwaves are perpendicular to the main flow direction, the formation and migration of submarine sandwaves are simulated in a 2 D flume under wave-only and combined wave-current conditions. The effects of various flow parameters, including the wave height and current velocity, on the characteristic dimensions and migration rates of sandwaves are discussed. Measured morphological data indicate that the seabed is composed of both large-scale sandwaves and small-scale sand ripples, and sandwaves are dominant in shaping the seabed form. Starting from a flat seabed, the height of sandwaves increases gradually and tends to become dynamically stable, while the wave length of sandwaves reaches a constant value at the initial stage. Under wave-only conditions, the characteristic wave heights and wave lengths of sandwaves increase with increasing incident wave height. The relative locations of the sandwave peak and trough are almost constant, indicating that sandwaves scarcely migrate under wave-only conditions. Under combined wave-current conditions, the characteristic heights and lengths of sandwaves also increase with increasing current velocity. The migration direction of sandwaves coincides with the direction of the residual current, and the migration rate increases with increasing current velocity. Finally, the characteristic dimensions of sand ripples are also analyzed, revealing that the Reynolds number (based on the particle size) is dominant in determining the size of a sand ripple. Both the characteristic wave lengths and the characteristic wave heights of sand ripples decrease with increasing Reynolds numbers.

Modeling the formation and migration of sand waves: The role of tidal forcing, sediment size and bed slope effects

Tidal sand waves are rhythmic bedforms existing widely in shallow shelf seas and are formed by the interaction of tidal currents and topography. Using a process-based numerical model, Delft3D, the wave lengths and migration rates of sand waves were simulated and verified with field measurements. The physical mechanism that controls the evolution of sand waves was mainly the balance between bedload transport, suspended load transport and the slope effect. It was found that the bedload transport multiplier, which reflects the bed slope effect, was a key parameter to reproduce the observed sand wave dynamics accurately. If the bedload transport multiplier is tuned with the actual grain size, it fits the observations on wavelength of sand wave much better. Both the migration rates and wavelengths were better predicted by the process-based numerical Delft3D model compared to a linear stability analysis sand wave model, since the former adopted sophisticated process formulations necessary for accurate field predictions. Next, sand wave formation and evolution under different environment settings, including tidal forcing and sediment sizes, were examined systematically. It was found that the preferred wavelength (LFGM, fastest growing mode) of the sand wave increased with increasing tidal current magnitudes and decreasing sand diameters. Sand waves were only formed within a certain range and combination of tidal current magnitude and sand diameters. Downstream- and upstream-migration of sand waves were predicted by considering residual currents or tidal constituent of higher harmonics.

Experimental investigation of sediment dynamics in response to breaking high-frequency internal solitary wave packets over a steep slope

Abstract Previous studies have found that internal solitary waves (ISWs) can erode, resuspend and transport seabed sediments and form intermediate nepheloid layers (INLs) and bottom nepheloid layers (BNLs). In our recent flume experiments, the function of the BNLs and the fate of suspended sediment were studied by breaking high-frequency ISW packets over a steep slope. We found that a considerable amount of sediment was resuspended down the slope with the vortex, and it reached across the entire water column at almost the same time due to the vertical ejection (pump) of flow at the head of the bore by the breaking ISW. The maximum height of the suspended sediment reached the pycnocline. The suspended sediment may be transported slightly up to the top of the slope via the BNL. The downslope transporting distance was very short and the suspended sediment did not reach the foot of the slope via the BNL. The suspended sediment was mainly redeposited around the middle of the slope, and some fine-grained sediment suspended offshore was spread along the pycnocline via the INL to greater distances. The changes in slope elevation might be influenced by successive scouring, the redeposition of sediment, and the migration of sand waves. Our study was performed under low Iribarren number conditions, which can facilitate the development of new field experiments designed to obtain direct measurements and insights on the interactions between ISWs and seabed sediments.

The Influence of Storms on Sand Wave Evolution: A Nonlinear Idealized Modeling Approach

We present a new 2DV nonlinear process‐based morphodynamic model to investigate the effects of storms, specifically wind‐driven flow and wind waves, on finite amplitude tidal sand wave evolution. Simulations are performed on periodic domains of two lengths: (i) on a 350‐m domain, comparable to the wavelength of observed sand waves, we study the evolution toward equilibrium shapes, and (ii) on a 4‐km domain, we study the evolution from a randomly perturbed seabed. Our model results demonstrate that both wind‐driven flow and wind waves reduce sand wave height and tend to increase wavelength. Wind‐driven flow breaks the tidal symmetry, resulting in horizontal sand wave asymmetry and migration. Waves alone do not induce migration but can enhance migration induced by, for example, tidal asymmetry and wind‐driven flow. On the 350‐m domain, we further find that migration rates decrease with increasing sand wave height. However, in an irregular sand wave field, large sand waves tend to overtake the smaller ones, suggesting a complicated interaction among neighboring bed forms. The above results concern steady state storm conditions. However, since storms occur on an intermittent basis, we also simulated a synthetic storm climate consisting of alternating short periods of storm conditions and long periods of fair‐weather conditions. Simulations reveal a dynamic equilibrium with sand wave heights significantly below those obtained for tide‐only conditions, also for relatively short storm duration. Our work identifies mechanisms that explain why sand wave heights are generally overpredicted by numerical models that do not include storm processes.

Modeling wave and wind climate effects on tidal sand wave dynamics: A North Sea case study

To obtain site-specific wave and wind climate averaged sand wave dynamics, we combine an idealized linear stability model with 20 years of wave and wind data taken from the Euro Platform in the North Sea. The model output results in a wave and wind climate-averaged growth and migration rate. The results show that waves and wind affect particularly migration and to a much smaller extent the growth rate. Seasonal variations in wave and wind conditions during winter and summer periods result in seasonal variations in sand wave dynamics, in particular during winter the migration rate is larger, the growth rates are lower and the preferred wavelength is larger compared to summer. Medium wave and wind conditions are responsible for two thirds of the migration rate, while these conditions occur roughly only one third of the time. Extreme wave and wind conditions result in only a moderate contribution to the migration rate. Furthermore, we see a seasonal variation in migration as well as reasonable correlation with observed migration rates for the intervals between surveys in the period 1996–2010. Our work shows that storms are able to affect sand wave migration, and cause variability in migration rate.

Modeling the influence of storms on sand wave formation: A linear stability approach

We present an idealized process-based morphodynamic model to study the effect of storms on sand wave formation. To this end, we include wind waves, wind-driven flow and, in addition to bed load transport, suspended load sediment transport. A linear stability analysis is applied to systematically study the influence of wave and wind conditions on growth and migration rates of small-amplitude wavy bed undulations. The effects of the wind and waves of various magnitudes and directions are investigated. Waves turn out to decrease the growth rate of sand waves, because their effect on the downhill gravitational transport component is stronger than their growth-enhancing effect. The wind wave effect is strongest for wind waves perpendicular to the tidal current. In the case of a symmetrical tidal current, wind-driven flow tends to breach the symmetry, thus causing sand wave migration. Wind effects on sand wave behavior are strongly influenced by the Coriolis effect, in magnitude as well as direction. Stirring due to wind waves enhances sand wave migration. Next to bed load transport, suspended load also has a growing and a decaying mechanism, being the perturbed flow and the perturbed suspended sediment concentration respectively. The decaying mechanism outcompetes the growing mechanism for bed forms with shorter wavelengths, resulting in an increase in the preferred wavelength. Wind waves increase the growth rate due to suspended load, but this is outcompeted by the reduction in growth rate by wind waves due to bed load transport. We conclude that storms significantly influence sand wave dynamics in their formation stage.

Numerical research on evolvement of submarine sand waves in the Northern South China Sea

Submarine sand waves, vital to seabed stability, are an important consideration for oceanic engineering projects such as oil pipe lines and submarine cables. The properties of surface sediment and the evolvement of submarine sand waves in a specified area in the South China Sea are studied using both a hydrological model and field observational data. The bottom flow field data between 2010 and 2011 in the study area are simulated by the Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS). The migration of submarine sand waves is calculated using Rubin’s formula along with typhoon data and bottom flow field data, which allows for the analysis of sand wave response under the influence of typhoons. The migration direction calculated by Rubin’s formula and bottom flow are very similar to collected data. The migration distance of different positions is between 0.0 m and 21.8 m, which reciprocates cumulatively. This shows that Rubin’s formula can predict the progress of submarine sand waves with the bottom flow simulated by ROMS. The migration distances of 2 sites in the study area are 2.0 m and 2.9 m during the typhoon “Fanapi”. The proportion of the calculated migration distance by the typhoon is 9.17% and 26.36% of the annual migration distance, respectively, which proves that the typhoon can make a significant impact on submarine sand waves.

Using robust correlation matching to estimate sand-wave migration in Monterey Submarine Canyon, California

Sandwave migration rate is of critical importance for the hydrodynamic research as well as the coastal engineering application. To acquire this information, the correlation matching algorithm is applied in this paper. By searching for similar seafloor areas between multi-temporal digital terrain models, the migration rate can be estimated. To account for the impact of the morphological distortion as well as outliers in the survey data, the correlation matching is adjusted based on the robust estimation theory. By executing the correlation matching based on the least median square criterion, a robust initial estimate is obtained. Afterwards, the potential outliers are detected based on the initial matching result, and the corresponding weights are adjusted to zero. Finally, correlation matching is executed with the updated weights. With the above procedure, the impact of outliers can be accounted for. The developed method is applied on the bathymetry time-series data collected in Monterey Canyon, California. Comparison shows that the presented algorithm significantly improves the credibility of the estimation. The generated migration vector field not only reveals the main tendency of the migration rate in the region, but also highlights the unique local migration patterns, which is helpful for understanding the mechanism of the sandwave migration.

Research on bilateral reverse migration of one-group seabed sand waves in a small shallow shelf sea

Bilateral reverse migration of one-group seabed sand waves is found recently in many small sea areas and is a potential threat to the safety of many near seabed engineering structures, such as pipelines and cables. The mechanism cannot clearly be explained by existing theories. This paper focuses on the bilateral reverse migration of one-group seabed sand waves around a sand ridge in a small shallow shelf sea of the South China Seas, and presents a developed numerical model consisting of three-dimensional wave–current coupling module and sand transport module to simulate this complex phenomenon and perform relative analysis on the characteristics of the current and bilateral reverse migration formation mechanism. Taking the ocean environment characteristics of the surrounding sea area into account and with sufficient grid resolution, this model successfully depicts the process of sand wave bilateral reverse migration. Bottom friction velocity is taken as the inspecting physical quantity and divided into tidal, residual and short-term fluctuation components through harmonic analysis; with a method based on bedload transport calculation, the contributions of the above three parts are determined. It is found that long-term sand wave migration trend is primarily controlled by both tidal constituents and residual velocity. Under nonlinear pure tidal impact, the sand waves migrate southwards; the residual current is northwards and will cancel the tidal impact. When the magnitude of the residual velocity is large enough, i.e., in the western part of the sand wave area, sand waves migrate northwards; when the residual velocity is small, i.e., in the eastern part, sand waves migrate southwards and the bilateral reverse migration pattern is formed. The residual velocity distribution relates closely to the surrounding topography. This paper discloses one kind of mechanisms for bilateral reverse migration of one-group seabed sand waves, and the model and analysis framework can also be extended and applied to other similar situations to prompt deeper and more comprehensive understanding about sand wave migration.

A model to predict the migration of sand waves in shallow tidal seas

A model is presented to determine the wavelength, the height and, more importantly, the migration speed of sand waves (also named tidal dunes) in shallow tidal seas. The model is based on a linear stability analysis and predicts the growth and migration of the fastest growing mode of a random perturbation of the flat sea bed forced by tidal current and wind waves. The growth of the fastest growing mode is assumed to generate the sand waves and to have the same geometrical and kinematical characteristics of these bottom forms. The characteristics of the sand waves predicted by the stability analysis are found to be in fair agreement with field observations, even though the number of accurate quantitative and simultaneous measurements of sand waves and forcing tidal currents is small and does not allow an exhaustive comparison between theoretical results and field data.

The brightness reversal of submarine sand waves in “HJ-1A/B” CCD sun glitter images

The brightness reversal of submarine sand waves appearing in the small satellite constellation for environment and disaster monitoring and forecasting (“HJ-1A/B”) CCD sun glitter images can affect the observation and depth inversion of sand wave topography. The simulations of the normalized sun glitter radiance on the submarine sand waves confirm that the reversal would happen at a specific sensor viewing angle, defined as the critical angle. The difference between the calculated critical angle position and the reversal position in the image is about 1′, which is excellent in agreement. Both the simulation and actual image show that sand wave crests would be indistinct at the reversal position, which may cause problems when using these sun glitter images to analyze spatial characteristics and migration of sand waves. When using the sun glitter image to obtain the depth inversion, one should take the advantage of image properties of sand waves and choose the location in between the reversal position and the brightest position. It is also necessary to pay attention to the brightness reversal when using “HJ-1A/B” CCD images to analyze other oceanic features, such as internal waves, oil slicks, eddies, and ship wakes.

Study of sand wave migration over five years as observed in two windfarm development areas, and the implications for building on moving substrates in the North Sea

ABSTRACTSand waves are well known indicators of a mobile seabed. What do we expect of these features in terms of migration rates and seabed scour? We discuss these effects on seabed structures, both for the Oil and Gas and the Windfarm Industries, and consider how these impact on turbines and buried cables. Two case studies are presented. The first concerns a windfarm with a five-year gap between the planning survey and a subsequent cable route and environmental assessment survey. This revealed large-scale movements of sand waves, with the displacement of an isolated feature of 155 m in five years. Secondly, another windfarm development involved a re-survey, again over a five-year period, but after the turbines had been installed. This showed movements of sand waves of ∼50 m in five years. Observations of the scour effects on the turbines are discussed. Both sites revealed the presence of barchans. Whilst these have been extensively studied on land, there are few examples of how they behave in the marine environment. The two case studies presented show that mass transport is potentially much greater than expected and that this has implications for choosing turbine locations, the effect of scour, and the impact these sediment movements are likely to have on power cables.

Sandwaves and sand transport on the Barents Sea continental slope offshore northern Norway

We integrate morphological, geological and geophysical observations with oceanographic measurements and modelling results to interpret the processes behind the origin and evolution of sandwaves on the upper continental slope of the southwestern Barents Sea. Seven sandwave fields covering c. 130 km2 and with a volume of c. 72 × 106 m3 occur in water depths of c. 475–800 m. Individual sandwaves reach heights up to 6 m. The sandwaves are sinusoidal with asymmetric stoss–lee side relationships, and time lapse multibeam bathymetry analysis indicates that some sandwaves have migrated up to 10 m towards the NNW over a 4-year time period. This contour current parallel migration is counteracted by currents in several other directions, and the sand unit is thus not a simple contourite. Measurements show prominent diurnal period oscillations and clear spring-neap variations of current direction and speed with along-slope and cross-slope current velocities up to 75 cm s−1 and 65 cm s−1, respectively. Numerical ocean modelling results produce eddies travelling along the slope, positionally stable, daily recurring vortices and bottom current velocity up to 100 cm s−1 in the sandwave fields. Sandwave migration towards the SE is also observed, and the cross-slope currents are capable of transporting sand up and down the slope, as evidenced by ripples migrating normal to the sandwaves. Eroded sand accumulates in the sandwave fields along the boundary between North Atlantic Water and Norwegian Sea Arctic Intermediate Water. This is a consequence of the combined effect of the NNW directed along-slope Norwegian Atlantic Current and tidally induced topographic waves. The sandwave fields started to form 11 000–13 000 14C yrs BP or possibly later by current erosion of glacial sediments on the continental shelf and slope.

Numerical simulation of sand waves in a turbulent open channel flow

AbstractWe develop a coupled hydro-morphodynamic numerical model for carrying out large-eddy simulation of stratified, turbulent flow over a mobile sand bed. The method is based on the curvilinear immersed boundary approach of Khosronejadet al.(Adv. Water Resour., vol. 34, 2011, pp. 829–843). We apply this method to simulate sand wave initiation, growth and evolution in a mobile bed laboratory open channel, which was studied experimentally by Venditti & Church (J. Geophys. Res., vol. 110, 2005, F01009). We show that all the major characteristics of the computed sand waves, from the early cross-hatch and chevron patterns to fully grown three-dimensional bedforms, are in good agreement with the experimental data both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our simulations capture the measured temporal evolution of sand wave amplitude, wavelength and celerity with good accuracy and also yield three-dimensional topologies that are strikingly similar to what was observed in the laboratory. We show that near-bed sweeps are responsible for initiating the instability of the initially flat sand bed. Stratification effects, which arise due to increased concentration of suspended sediment in the flow, also become important at later stages of the bed evolution and need to be taken into account for accurate simulations. As bedforms grow in amplitude and wavelength, they give rise to energetic coherent structures in the form of horseshoe vortices, which transport low-momentum near-bed fluid and suspended sediment away from the bed, giving rise to characteristic ‘boil’ events at the water surface. Flow separation off the bedform crestlines is shown to trap sediment in the lee side of the crestlines, which, coupled with sediment erosion from the accelerating flow over the stoss side, provides the mechanism for continuous bedform migration and crestline rearrangement. The statistical and spectral properties of the computed sand waves are calculated and shown to be similar to what has been observed in nature and previous numerical simulations. Furthermore, and in agreement with recent experimental findings (Singhet al.,Water Resour. Res., vol. 46, 2010, pp. 1–10), the spectra of the resolved velocity fluctuations above the bed exhibit a distinct spectral gap whose width increases with distance from the bed. The spectral gap delineates the spectrum of turbulence from the low-frequency range associated with very slowly evolving, albeit energetic, coherent structures induced by the migrating sand waves. Overall the numerical simulations reproduce the laboratory observations with good accuracy and elucidate the physical phenomena governing the interaction between the turbulent flow and the developing mobile bed.

Application of Grid‐Nesting Technique on Sandwaves Migration Simulation II— Sandwaves Migration in Northern South China Sea

AbstractThis paper developed a numerical model applicable to the simulation of small‐scale sandwaves migration in northern South China Sea. The model is composed of ultra‐high resolution 3D ocean environment module and sediment transport module, considering the impact of terrain, tides, temperature, salinity and wind stresses on the bottom flow field and the sandwaves migration. The study found that sandwaves migrations with opposite direction on the two sides of the sand ridge resulted from the joint effects of terrain, tide, temperature and salinity. Among them, the density current induced by temperature and salinity distribution is one of the factors that cannot be ignored in the sandwave migration. Comparing with measurement results, the simulation results are better than the previous 2DV model and the Q3D model; the model can simulate the phenomenon of sandwaves migration direction flip on the two sides of the sand ridge.

The unsteady nature of sea cliff retreat due to mechanical abrasion, failure and comminution feedbacks

Sea cliff retreat is often linked to large waves, heavy precipitation and seismic events, but the specific operative mechanics have not been well constrained. In particular, what is the role of mechanical abrasion by beach sediments in cliff/platform evolution and how does it relate to the episodic nature of cliff retreat observed at certain locations? Here we present a simple, numerical model of sea cliff retreat that incorporates mechanical abrasion of a basal notch, threshold-controlled failure of the cantilevered block, and a feedback mechanism wherein retreat is dependent on the rate of sediment comminution within the surf zone. Using shore platform and cliff characteristics found in two coastal settings (the central California coast and the English North Sea coast), the model produces retreat rates comparable to those observed via field measurements. The highest retreat rates coincide with the steepest shore platforms and increasing wave height. Steeper platforms promote wave access to the cliff toe and, correspondingly, the receding cliff face produces additional accommodation space for the platform beach, preserving the erosive efficacy of the beach sediments. When exposed to energetic wave forcing, the slope of the inner platform segment controls retreat rates for concave platforms, whereas the slope of the outer platform segment exerts greater control for convex platforms. Platform beaches approached a long-term dynamic equilibrium on the concave profiles, leading to more consistent and steady retreat. Platform beaches were ephemeral on convex profiles, mirroring observed sand wave (Ord) migration on the Holderness coast, UK. These findings agree with previous field observations and support mechanical abrasion as a viable cause of temporal heterogeneity in cliff retreat rate for both coastlines.

Contour current driven continental slope-situated sandwaves with effects from secondary current processes on the Barents Sea margin offshore Norway

Abstract Seabed data acquired from the southern Barents Sea continental margin offshore Norway reveal detailed morphology of large sandwave fields. Multibeam echosounder bathymetry and backscatter, shallow seismic, sediment samples and seabed video data collected by the MAREANO program have been used to describe and interpret the morphology, distribution and transport of the sandwaves. The bedforms lie on a slope dominated by relict glacial forms and muddy/sandy/gravelly sediments. Sandwave migration across small gravity mass failures of the glacial mud constrains the field initiation as early post glacial or later. The contour-parallel nature of the fields and crestlines normal to the bathymetry contours and the geostrophic Norwegian Atlantic Current (NwAC) demonstrate that the NNW-flowing oceanographic circulation is the primary driving current. The fields coincide with the depth range at which a transition between warm, saline and underlying cooler, less saline waters fluctuate across the seabed. Statistically rigorous measurements of height, width and various parameters of slope and symmetry confirm a tendency to downstream (NNW) sandwave migration but with significant exceptions. Anomalous bedform symmetry domains within the fields are tuned to meso-scale topography along (relict) glacial debris flow chutes, indicating current focusing. Upstream and upper slope-derived winnowed sand transport eroded from the glacial sediments is the supposed source. Sandwave flank slope values are comparable to the regional slope such that the gravitational vector would have a cumulative downslope migration affect unless balanced by upslope drivers. Perpendicular cross-cutting of stoss face 3-D ripples by linear (2-D) ripples in the sandwave troughs and lee faces is evidence for non-synchronous, episodic current variations. Though deep Ekman transport and internal wave action are unproven here, these could explain chute-related tuning of bedform symmetry through funneling in the debris flow chutes and favor sand recycling, thus contributing to long-term maintenance of the sandwave field.

Sediment transport and development of banner banks and sandwaves in an extreme tidal system: Upper Bay of Fundy, Canada

Multibeam sonar mapping and geophysical and geological groundtruth surveys were coupled with tidal current and sediment transport model calculations to investigate the sediment transport and formation processes of the complex seabed features off the Cape Split headland in the upper Bay of Fundy. The Cape Split banner bank, composed of coarse to very coarse sand, is a southwest–northeast oriented, large tear-drop shaped sand body with superimposed sand waves that show wavelengths from 15 to 525m and heights from 0.5 to 19m. Isolated and chains of barchan dunes occur on top of a shadow bank to the southeast of the banner bank. The barchan dunes are composed of well-sorted medium sand and are oriented northwest–southeast. Their mean height and width are 1.5 and 55m, respectively. A gravel bank, with an elongated elliptical shape and west–east orientation, lies in the Minas Passage erosional trough east of the headland to form the counterpart to the sandy Cape Split banner bank. The southern face is featureless but the northern face is covered by gravel megaripples.Tidal model predictions and sediment transport calculations show that the formation of the banner bank and the gravel bank are due to the development of the transient counter-clockwise and clockwise tidal eddies respectively to the west and east of the headland. The formation of barchan dunes is controlled by the nearly unidirectional flow regime in outer Scots Bay. Sand waves on the flanks of the Cape Split banner bank show opposite asymmetry and the barchan dunes are asymmetric to the northeast. The tidal current and sediment transport predictions corroborate bedform asymmetry to show that sand wave migration and net sediment transport is to southwest on the northern flank of the banner bank but to northeast on the southern bank. Long-term migration of the Scots Bay barchan dunes is to the northeast. Spring-condition tidal currents can cause frequent mobilization and high-stage transport over the banner bank and barchan dunes. Strong currents in Minas Passage can cause infrequent low-stage transport over the megarippled northern face but are not high enough to mobilize the coarser gravels on the southern face of the gravel bank.

Shallow-water longshore drift-fed submarine fan deposition (Moisie River Delta, Eastern Canada)

Submarine canyons and associated submarine fans are in some cases located at the end of a littoral cell where they act as conduits for the transfer of eroded terrigenous sediments to the marine environment. Such fans are generally found in deep-water settings at >500 m water depth. Offshore the Moisie River Delta (NW Gulf of St. Lawrence, Eastern Canada), high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and seismic data led to the discovery of an unusually shallow submarine fan (≤60 m) located at the end of a littoral cell. Sediment is transported westward on the shallow coastal shelf, as demonstrated by the downcurrent displacement of oblique nearshore sandbars where the shelf narrows to less than 1 km. The steep slope near the end of the littoral cell is incised by a channel that feeds a submarine fan composed of smaller channels and depositional lobes. According to existing Holocene evolution models for the region, the fan formed within the last 5,000 years. Its evolution is largely due to the transport of sediment by longshore drift. Multibeam echosounder and seismic data also reveal that the gravity-driven accretion of the submarine fan is characterized mainly by two processes, i.e., frequent small-scale, downslope migration of sandwaves on the slope, and more episodic slumping/turbidity-current activity in the deeper part of the fan. This study documents that, besides their common deep-water location, smaller-scale submarine fans can occur also in very shallow water, implying that they could be more frequent than previously thought both in modern environments and in the rock record.

Modeling tidal sand wave formation in a numerical shallow water model: The role of turbulence formulation

Tidal sand waves are prominent dynamic bottom features in shallow sandy seas. Up to now, the processes controlling the formation of these bedforms have only been studied in stability sand wave models, in which geometry, boundary conditions and turbulence models are schematized. In this paper we present simulations of sand wave formation and migration with a numerical shallow water model (Delft3D), in which we restrict us to bedload transport and analyse the initial formation stage only. First, it is shown that the reproduction of the basic sand wave formation mechanisms in a numerical shallow water model requires careful treatment of model geometry, initial profile, vertical resolution and lateral boundary conditions. Second, an intercomparison between the Delft3D model and a nonlinear stability sand wave model is performed. Next, we compare the results for two of the built-in turbulence models: constant vertical eddy viscosity model (commonly used in stability sand wave models) and a more advanced spatially and temporally variable vertical eddy viscosity model (k–ε turbulence model). Finally, the model results are compared with field data on sand wave length. The k–ε turbulence model shows good agreement with the field data, whereas the constant vertical eddy viscosity model overestimates the wave length of the sand waves considerably.