Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
9-25-2019
Journal
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Volume
7
Issue
10
First Page
334
Abstract
Particle settling velocity and erodibility are key factors that govern the transport of sediment through coastal environments including estuaries. These are difficult to parameterize in models that represent mud, whose properties can change in response to many factors, including tidally varying suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and shear stress. Using the COAWST (Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport) model framework, we implemented bed consolidation, sediment-induced stratification, and flocculation formulations within an idealized two-dimensional domain that represented the longitudinal dimension of a micro-tidal, muddy, partially mixed estuary. Within the Estuarine Turbidity Maximum (ETM), SSC and median floc diameter varied by a factor of four over the tidal cycle. Downstream of the ETM, the median floc size and SSC were several times smaller and showed less tidal variation (~20% or less). The suspended floc distributions only reached an equilibrium size as a function of SSC and shear in the ETM at peak tidal flow. In general, flocculation increased particle size, which reduced SSC by half in the ETM through increased settling velocity. Consolidation also limited SSC by reduced resuspension, which then limited floc growth through reduced SSC by half outside of the ETM. Sediment-induced stratification had negligible effects in the parameter space examined. Efforts to lessen the computation cost of the flocculation routine by reducing the number of size classes proved difficult; floc size distribution and SSC were sensitive to specification of size classes by factors of 60% and 300%, respectively.
See also associated supplementary material:
A Model Archive for Simulations in a Partially-Mixed Idealized Estuary using the COAWST System: Model Code and Output. https://doi.org/10.25773/86rw-6393
DOI
10.3390/jmse7100334
Keywords
COAWST; numerical model; flocculation dynamics; cohesive sediment
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Tarpley, Danielle R.N.; Harris, Courtney K.; Friedrichs, Carl; and Sherwood, Christopher T., Tidal variation in cohesive sediment distribution and sensitivity to flocculation and bed consolidation in an idealized, partially mixed estuary (2019). Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 7(10), 334.
10.3390/jmse7100334
