Variability in Onshore Sediment Transport on a Natural Beach during a Central American Cold Surge Event
Por:
Briggs, Tiffany Roberts, Figlus, Jens, Torres-Freyermuth, Alec, Puleo, Jack A., Warren, William, Alrushaid, Tariq
Publicada:
1 may 2020
Resumen:
Beaches facing the Gulf of Mexico along the northern part of the Yucatan
Peninsula experience frequent Central American cold surge events, or
northerly storms locally called ``Nortes,'' which interrupt the usual
daily patterns of sea-and land-breeze dominated nearshnre dynamics.
These perturbations of prevailing hydrodynamic forcing conditions also
affect sediment distribution and transport parameters in the surf and
awash zone, which are critical elements in understanding and modeling
complex morphodynamic processes during storm events. However, detailed
measurements of sediment characteristics throughout the water column
during a storm event are scarce. This study presents field measurements
of bottom and suspended sediment transported in the onshore direction
during a 24-hour storm event impacting the Yucatan Peninsula. Sediment
load data within the water column collected in 3 hour intervals via
vertical arrays of streamer traps, deployed at two cross-shore locations
in the inner surf zone, are compared with sediment data from collocated
bottom grab samples. Time series of grain size distributions, sediment
statistics, and respective vertical variations throughout the water
column are related to measured bed-level changes to verify applicability
of simple erosion and accretion predictors. Results indicate that bottom
sediment and sediment distributions throughout the water column deviate
substantially due to storms, highlighting the complexity and difficulty
of assessing sediment transport and morphodynamic processes with a
single-parameter sediment characteristic. Calculated total onshore
transport rates during the Norte were on average one order of magnitude
higher than during nonstorm conditions.
Filiaciones:
Briggs, Tiffany Roberts:
Florida Atlantic Univ, Boca Raton, FL 33431 USA
Figlus, Jens:
Texas A&M Univ, College Stn, TX 77843 USA
Torres-Freyermuth, Alec:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Sisal 97356, Yucatan, Mexico
Puleo, Jack A.:
Univ Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
Warren, William:
Taylor Engn, Jacksonville, FL 32256 USA
Alrushaid, Tariq:
Florida Atlantic Univ, Boca Raton, FL 33431 USA
|