Hydrography and bottom boundary layer dynamics : influence on inner shelf sediment mobility, Long Bay, NC
- UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Luke A. Davis (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
- Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
- Advisor
- Lynn Leonard
Abstract: Storm-driven processes produced by atmospheric and meteorological forcing dictate
sediment transport events in the bottom boundary layer on the inner continental shelf. This study
examined the hydrography and bottom boundary layer dynamics of two typical storm events
affecting coastal North Carolina, a hurricane and the November event consisting of two small
consecutive extratropical storms during the autumn of 2005. Two upward-looking 1200-kHz
Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) were deployed at two separate locations on the inner
continental shelf of northern Long Bay, North Carolina at water depths of less than 15 m. Both
instruments profiled the overlying water column in 0.35 m bins beginning at a height of 1.35 m
above the bottom (mab). Simultaneous measurements of wind speed and direction, wave and
current parameters, and acoustic backscatter were coupled with output from a bottom boundary
layer (bbl) model to describe the hydrography and boundary layer conditions during each event.
The bbl model also was used to generate current and suspended sediment concentration profiles
and to quantify sediment transport in the boundary layer during each storm. Both study sites
exhibited similar temporal trends in response to changing physical forcing mechanisms, but
wave heights during the November event were higher than waves associated with the hurricane.
Both near-bottom mean and subtidal currents, however, were of greater magnitude during the
hurricane. Suspended sediment transport during the November event exceeded transport
associated with the hurricane by 25-70%. Substantial spatial variations in sediment transport
existed throughout both events. For both storms, along-shelf sediment transport exceeded
across-shelf transport and was closely associated with the magnitudes and directions of the
subtidal currents. Given the substantial variations in sediment type across the bay, complex
shoreline configuration, and local bathymetry, the sediment transport rates reported here are very site specific. However, the general hydrography associated with the two storms is representative
of conditions across northern Long Bay.
Hydrography and bottom boundary layer dynamics : influence on inner shelf sediment mobility, Long Bay, NC
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Created on 1/1/2009
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters of Science
- Language: English
- Date: 2009
- Keywords
- Sediment transport--Environmental aspects--North Carolina--Long Bay, Sedimentation and deposition
- Subjects
- Sedimentation and deposition
- Sediment transport -- Environmental aspects -- North Carolina -- Long Bay