scholarly journals A CLASSIFICATION METHOD FOR THE PRESENCE OF TIDAL SAND WAVES AND MAINTENANCE DREDGING DESIGN

Author(s):  
Rick De Koning ◽  
Jaap van Thiel De Vries ◽  
Bas Borsje

The study into sand wave dynamics in South Channel commenced after large dune forms were observed in monitoring campaigns following the channel deepening project of the Port of Melbourne. The project involved deepening of the harbor berths and channels, but more importantly, it involved the deepening of South Channel in Port Phillip Bay. South Channel, the main shipping channel, crosses the bay over ≈20km. The growth of bedforms at various locations in South Channel now threatens to impede marine traffic. The dimensions and migration rate of the bedforms in the channel are remarkable, especially in the harsh flow conditions in the narrow channel. Therefore, the bedforms in South Channel cannot be given an obvious classification. In this paper it is shown that the bedforms in South Channel can be classified as a tidal sand wave type with a method that requires only insight in water depth, tidal flow velocity and grain size. Tidal sand waves are large-scale bedforms generated by recirculating flow cells that drive sediment to the top of a crest and are commonly observed on shallow coastal seas such as the North Sea. The bedform concern in the channel illustrates the necessity of an evaluation of the present, and alternative, channel maintenance strategies. A numerical model in Delft3D software is applied, along with a probabilistic calculation that combines insights from the simulations and survey data, to assess different maintenance strategies.

Author(s):  
Ken P. Games ◽  
David I. Gordon

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.


GeoArabia ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhittin Senalp ◽  
Abdulaziz A. Al-Duaiji

ABSTRACT The Middle to Upper Ordovician Qasim Formation is well exposed in the Qasim region of central Saudi Arabia and is recognized from many wells to the north and east. It consists of the Hanadir, Kahfah, Ra’an, and Quwarah members that are arranged in two coarsening-upward progradational sequences that have a total thickness of about 200 m in outcrops. Two sections were measured in each sequence. The lower sequence is a storm-dominated, shallow-marine depositional system composed of the late Llanvirn to middle Caradoc Hanadir and Kahfah. At least five progradational beach parasequences were identified. The Hanadir overlies deltaic deposits of the upper Saq Formation and marks a major marine transgression onto Gondwana. It is composed of laminated fissile shale formed in an offshore marine environment together with siltstone laminae that indicate periodic influxes of low-density turbidity currents. The overlying Kahfah is composed of shale and sandstone. The upper progradational sequence consists of the middle Caradoc to middle Ashgill Ra’an and Quwarah members. The Ra’an is a succession of homogeneous fissile shale and minor siltstone laminae formed in an offshore marine environment following a major transgression onto the Kahfah. The overlying Quwarah consists of sandstone and minor amounts of siltstone and shale in its lower parts, and a thickly bedded sandstone facies above. The diagnostic sedimentary structures in the Quwarah are large-scale lens-shaped tidal sand waves composed of sigmoidal bundles deposited in a mesotidal setting of barrier bars, tidal channels, ebb-dominated deltas and lagoons. In the subsurface, the Formation thickens northeastward (basinward) to over 4,000 ft (1,220 m). In the same direction, the sand-dominated Kahfah and Quwarah gradually become shale-dominated, small-scale bed forms are more abundant, and identification of members based on lithofacies is more difficult. After deposition of the Quwarah, present-day Saudi Arabia was affected by a Late Ordovician (late Ashgill) glaciation. The Qasim and older formations are deeply incised by glacial channels at the base of the Zarqa and Sarah formations. Basinward, the glacial unconformities (or their submarine erosion surface equivalents) become less significant and a thick succession of the Formation is preserved.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1071
Author(s):  
Janneke Krabbendam ◽  
Abdel Nnafie ◽  
Huib de Swart ◽  
Bas Borsje ◽  
Luitze Perk

This study focuses on the hindcasting and forecasting of observed offshore tidal sand waves by using a state-of-the-art numerical morphodynamic model. The sand waves, having heights of several meters, evolve on timescales of years. Following earlier work, the model has a 2DV configuration (one horizontal and one vertical direction). First, the skill of the model is assessed by performing hindcasts at four transects in the North Sea where sand wave data are available of multiple surveys that are at least 10 years apart. The first transect is used for calibration and this calibrated model is applied to the other three transects. It is found that the calibrated model performs well: the Brier Skill Score is ’excellent’ at the first two transects and ’good’ at the last two. The root mean square error of calculated bed levels is smaller than the uncertainty in the measurements, except at the last transect, where the M2 is more elliptical than at the other three transects. The calibrated model is subsequently used to make forecasts of the sand waves along the two transects with the best skill scores.


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 81-87
Author(s):  
T. Kakinuma ◽  
T. Inoue ◽  
R. Akahori ◽  
A. Takeda

Abstract. The authors made erodible bed experiments under steady flow condition at the Chiyoda Experimental Flume, a large-scale facility constructed on the floodplain of the Tokachi River, and observed sand waves on the bed of the flume. In this study, the characteristics of the sand waves are examined along the longitudinal survey lines and confirmed to be dunes. Next, the authors estimated Manning's roughness coefficients from the observed hydraulic values and assumed that the rise of the coefficients attributed to the sand wave development. Finally, vertical flow distribution on the sand waves are examined, and observed velocity distribution on the crest of waves found to be explained by the logarithmic distribution theory.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin-Hsuan Liao ◽  
Ho-Han Hsu ◽  
Jyun-Nai Wu ◽  
Tzu-Ting Chen ◽  
Eason Yi-Cheng Yang ◽  
...  

<p>        Submarine sand waves are known to be induced by tidal currents and their migration has become an important issue since it may affect seafloor installations. In Taiwan Strait, widely spreading sand waves have been recognized on the Changyun Ridge, a tide-dominated giant sand ridge offshore western Taiwan. However, due to lacking of high-resolution and repeated geophysical surveys before, detailed characteristics and migrating features of the sand waves in Taiwan Strait were poorly understood. As new multibeam bathymetric and seismic data were collected repeatedly during 2016 - 2018 for offshore wind farm projects, we can now advance the understanding of sand wave characteristics and migration patterns in the study area. We apply a geostatistical analysis method on bathymetry data to reveal distribution and spatial characteristics of the sand waves, and estimate its migration pattern by using an updated spatial cross-correlation method. Then, sedimentary features, internal structures and thicknesses of sand waves are observed and estimated on high-resolution seismic profiles. Our results show that the study area is mostly superimposed by multi-scaled sandy rhythmic bed forms. However, the geomorphological and migrating characteristics of the sand waves are complicated. Their wavelengths range from 80 to 200 m, heights range from 1.5 to 8 m, and crests are generally oriented in the WNW-ESE direction. Obvious sand wave migration was detected from repeated high-resolution multi-beam data between 2016 and 2018, and migration distances can be up to ~150 m in 15 months. The average elevation change of the seafloor over the whole survey area is ~3.0 m, with a maximum value of 6.9 m. Moreover, the sand waves can migrate over 30 m with ~2.5 m elevation change in 2 months and migrate over 5 m with ~1 m elevation change in 15 days. The results also show that the orientation of wave movement can be reversed even within a small distance. By identifying the base of sand wave on seismic profiles, the thicknesses of sand waves are found ranging from 1 to 10 meters. The base of wave structure become slightly deeper from nearshore to offshore. Our results indicate that the thickness of sand waves increases with degree of asymmetry and migration rate. By bathymetric and reflection seismic data analyses, systematic spatial information of sand waves in the study area are established, and we suggest that not only tidal currents can affect sand wave migration patterns, but also wave structures and thicknesses play important roles in sand wave migrating processes and related geomorphological changes.</p>


1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1821-1832 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. F. Long ◽  
Paul Copper

Laterally discontinuous, mixed carbonate–siliciclastic sandstones in the upper Vaureal and lower Ellis Bay formations of Anticosti Island were deposited on an equatorial carbonate ramp with a slope of less than 1°. The 10–18 m thick sandstones are interpreted as subaqueous sand-wave complexes analogous to detached parts of modern shoreface-connected sand ridges. These record storm-enhanced, tidal modification of a northerly derived shoal retreat massif that may have formed in response to recovery from global sea-level lowstands in the Late Ordovician (Ashgill: late Rawtheyan – Hirnantian). The sand-wave complexes formed within a tidal embayment that was confined by the Precambrian Shield to the north and northwest by rising tectonic highlands of the Humber Zone in Newfoundland to the east, and by active tectonic highlands in the Quebec Appalachians (Gaspésie) to the south. Paleocurrent distributions, parallel to the western margins of the Strait of Belle Isle, suggest that the north end of the embayment was closed in Late Ordovician time. Low-diversity faunas within the sand units consist mostly of sowerbyellid, strophomenid, and rhynchonellid brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods, large aulacerid stromatoporoids, and large, domed favositid corals. These "sandy fades" faunas belong to communities significantly different from those found in the laterally interfingering and overlying carbonates and shales, suggesting that the sand waves played an important role in local community modification.


A simplified analysis is made of the stability of long waves in a sand bed under deep, slow, and steady (or slowly varying) water flow. Allowing for vertical variation in density and shear, the linearized hydrodynamical equations yield a symmetrical flow whose only action is to impart a slow phase velocity to existing sand-waves without altering their amplitude. The only mechanism found under which sand-waves could grow under the assumed conditions is that of a stationary wave train in the lee of a permanent obstacle. The lee-waves require density gradients greater than a certain minimum, independently of any stability due to shear. Application of this model to tidal flow in the Summer thermocline over the Continental Shelf west of Brittany yields a spectrum of wave-building increments which agrees in general wavelength and shape with that of sand-waves measured on La Chapelle Bank (47° 41' N, 7° 13' W). Changes in amplitude of a few sand-grain diameters per year would be expected. Thermal stratification would be insufficient for the same mechanism to generate waves in the North Sea, but the possibility of density gradients due to suspended sediment is suggested as a likely factor of importance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin P.L. Elias ◽  
Ad J.F. van der Spek ◽  
Marian Lazar

AbstractThe estuaries in the SW Netherlands, a series of distributaries of the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt known as the Dutch Delta, have been engineered to a large extent as part of the Delta Project. The Voordelta, a coalescing system of the ebb-tidal deltas of these estuaries, extendsc.10 km offshore and coversc.90 km of the coast. The complete or partial damming of the estuaries had an enormous impact on the ebb-tidal deltas. The strong reduction of the cross-shore directed tidal flow triggered a series of morphological changes that continue until today. This paper aims to give a concise overview of half a century of morphological changes and a sediment budget, both for the individual ebb-tidal deltas and the Voordelta as a whole, based on the analysis of a unique series of frequent bathymetric surveys. The well-monitored changes in the Voordelta, showing the differences in responses of the ebb-tidal deltas, provide clear insight into the underlying processes. Despite anthropogenic dominance, knowledge based on natural inlets can still explain the observed developments. Complete damming of the three northern estuaries Brielse Maas, Haringvliet and Grevelingen resulted in a regime shift, from mixed-energy to wave-dominated, and sediments are transported in landward and downdrift direction. This results in large morphodynamic changes – sediments are redistributed from the delta front landward – but small net volume changes – a 0.1–0.2 × 106m3a−1increase in volume over the period 1965–2010 – since the dams block sediment transport into the estuaries. Sediment volume losses of 106m3a−1are observed on the ebb-tidal delta of the partially closed Eastern Scheldt and still open Western Scheldt estuary. As a result of a reduction of the estuarine tide in the mouth of the Eastern Scheldt, the north–south-running North Sea tidal wave has gained impact on its ebb-tidal delta, which causes morphological adjustments and erosion of the Banjaard shoal area. Moreover, the Eastern Scheldt ebb-tidal delta delivers sediment to its neighbours. The stable ebb-tidal delta configuration in the Western Scheldt, despite major dredging activities, illustrates that these large inlet systems are robust and resilient to significant anthropogenic change, as long as the balance between the dominant hydrodynamic processes (tides and waves) does not alter significantly.


2011 ◽  
Vol 137 ◽  
pp. 374-381
Author(s):  
Xiao Hui Chen ◽  
Xun Hua Zhang ◽  
Ri Hui Li

The geological environments in the western of the North Yellow Sea(NYS) are comparatively complicated and pregnant with various geo-hazards. High-resolution sub-bottom seismic data and previous research progress have been used to examine marine geo-hazards’ types, acoustic reflection features, origins and disaster mechanisms. The results indicate that the hazardous types are complicated and multiple in the western of the NYS, including tidal sand ridge, sand wave, tidal erosion gutter, underwater shoal, shallow gas, buried paleo-channel, active fault, irregular bedrock and so on. They have some connections as well as differentiations in their distribution and genesis. This paper can provide the theoretical basis on marine engineering, disaster prevention and mitigation in the western of the NYS . More attention should be given to severe geo-hazards that can constitute direct or potential hazards to the economic development and engineering construction.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (32) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
N. Van den Berg ◽  
A. Falqués ◽  
F. Ribas

The effects of the feedback between the changing coastal morphology and the wavefield on the generation and propagation of large scale (O(1-10 km)) shoreline sand waves is examined with a quasi-2D morphodynamic model. Traditional shoreline change models do not include this feedback and are only able to describe diffusion of shoreline sand waves and furthermore they are unable to describe migration. It is found with the present model that if there is a dominant littoral drift, the feedback causes downdrift migration of coastline features no matter if they grow or decay. Consistently with previous studies, simulations show that a rectilinear coastline becomes unstable and sand waves tend to grow spontaneously from random perturbations, if the wave incidence angle is larger then about 42o (θc) at the depth of closure (high angle wave instability). The initial wavelengths at which the sand waves develop are 2-3 km and this is similar to previous linear stability analysis. The implications of high angle wave instability for beach nourishments are investigated. The nourished shoreline retreats initially due to cross-shore transport because the nourished profile is steeper than the equilibrium profile. When a dominant littoral drift is present, the nourishment also migrates downdrift. If the wave angle at the depth of closure is below θc the alongshore transport contributes to the diffusion of the nourishment. However, if the angle is above θc (constant high angle wave conditions) the diffusion is reversed and the nourishment can trigger the formation of a shoreline sand wave train. Numerical experiments changing the proportion of ‘high angle waves’ and ‘low angle waves’ in the wave climate show that relatively small proportions of low angle waves slow down the growth of sand waves. These simulations with more realistic wave climates show shoreline sand waves that migrate downdrift maintaining more or less the same amplitude for years.


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