Infiltration effects on sediment mobility under waves

• Published in: Coastal engineering (Amsterdam) 2001-02, Vol.42 (2), p.105-114
• Main Authors: Nielsen, Peter, Robert, Sebastian, Møller-Christiansen, Bettina, Oliva, Peggy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Marine and continental quaternary; Surficial geology
• ISSN: 0378-3839; 1872-7379
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-3839(00)00051-X

Sediment mobility measurements with a horizontal sand bed under non-breaking waves are reported. Conditions include no seepage and steady downward seepage corresponding to head gradients up to 2.5. The results indicate that infiltration tends to inhibit sediment mobility for a horizontal bed of 0.2-mm quartz sand exposed to moderated wave induced bed shear stresses. The effect is weak for the parameter range of the present study. The two opposing effects of shear stress increase due to boundary layer thinning and the stabilizing downward drag are successfully accounted for through the modified Shields parameter of Nielsen [Nielsen, P., 1997. Coastal groundwater dynamics. Proc. Coastal Dynamics '97, Plymouth, ASCE, pp. 546–555] using coefficients derived from independent studies. That is, from the shear stress experiments of Conley [Conley, D.C., 1993. Ventilated oscillatory boundary layers. PhD Thesis, University of California, San Diego, 74 pp.] and the slope stability experiments of Martin and Aral [Martin, C.S. and M.M. Aral, 1971. Seepage force on interfacial bed particles. J. Hydraulics Div., Proc. ASCE, Vol. 97, No. Hy7, pp. 1081–1100].