A numerical investigation of fine sediment resuspension in the wave boundary layer – effect of hindered settling and bedforms

The wave bottom boundary layer is a major conduit delivering fine terrestrial sediments to the continental margin. Hence, studying the fine sediment resuspension in the wave boundary layer is crucial to the understanding of various components of the earth system, such as carbon cycle. By assuming the settling velocity to be a constant in each simulation, previous turbulence-resolving numerical simulations reveal the existence of three transport modes in the wave boundary layer associated with the sediment availability. As the sediment availability and hence the sediment-induced stable stratification increase, a sequence of transport modes, namely, (I) well-mixed transport, (II) formulation of lutocline resembling a two-layer system, and (III) completely laminarized transport are observed. In general, the settling velocity is a flow variable due to the floc dynamics and hindered settling. This study further investigate the effect of hindered settling. Particularly, for flocs with lower gelling concentrations, the hindered settling effect can play a key role in sustaining large amount of suspended sediment load and results in the laminarized transport (III). For the simulation with a very significant hindered settling effect due to a low gelling concentration, results also indicate the occurrence of gelling ignition, a state in which the erosion rate is always higher than the deposition rate. A condition for the occurrence of gelling ignition is proposed for a range of wave intensities as a function of sediment/floc properties and erodibility parameters. These aforementioned studies are limited to fine sediment transport over a flat bed. However, recent field and laboratory observation show that a small amount of sand fraction can lead to the formation of small bedforms, which can armor the bed while in the meantime enhance near bed turbulence. Preliminary investigation on the effect of bedforms on the resulting transport modes will also be presented.