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The role of the Coriolis effect in the initial formation of bottom patterns in a tidal channel is studied by means of a linear stability analysis. The key finding is that the mechanism generating oblique tidal sand ridges on the continental shelf is also present in confined tidal channels. As a result, the Coriolis effect causes the fastest growing pattern to be a combination of tidal bars and oblique tidal sand ridges. Similar as on the continental shelf, the Coriolis-induced torques cause anticyclonic residual circulations around the ridges, which lead to the accumulation of sand above the ridges. Furthermore, an asymptotic analysis indicates that the maximum growth rate of the bottom perturbation is slightly increased by the Coriolis effect, while its preferred wavelength is hardly influenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal sand ridges are large-scale rhythmic bedforms that are observed on the offshore parts of shelf seas where sand is abundantly available. Spacings between successive ridges are several kilometres, they evolve on centennial time scales, and their crests are cyclonically rotated with respect to the direction of the principal tidal currents. Here, an overview will be presented of the current knowledge about these ridges with respect to their manifestation in different seas, their observed behaviour, the basic mechanisms that explain their initial formation and their evolution towards finite heights and the ability to model them. It will be shown that both tides, waves and changes in mean sea level have a profound impact on the evolution of the ridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal sand ridges are large-scale bedforms that occur in the offshore area of shelf seas. They evolve on a time scale of centuries due to tide-topography interactions while being further shaped by wind waves. During their evolution, ridges are also affected by changes in sea level, strength and direction of the tidal current. According to their present-day behavior, ridges are classified as ‘active’ (sand transport everywhere), ‘quasi-active’ (sand transport only on parts of the ridges) and ‘inactive’ (no sand transport anywhere). Using a nonlinear morphodynamic model, the present study extends earlier work by investigating the effect of sea level rise and changes in the amplitude and principal direction of the tidal current on the growth time and height of active tidal sand ridges. Besides, the role of sea level rise and tidal current variation in the presence of quasi-active/inactive ridges is explored. Two specific settings are considered, which are characteristic for the Dutch Banks in the North Sea and for sand ridges in the Celtic Sea. The time range considered here is less than 20,000 years, roughly the period from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present. Generally active tidal sand ridges occur if the tidal current amplitude is larger than 0.5 m/s. For these ridges, with increasing rates of sea level rise, their growth time becomes longer, and the root mean square height keeps on increasing. A smaller initial tidal current amplitude gives rise to a larger growth time, while changes in the principal current direction have a minor effect on the characteristics of the ridges. On the considered time scale, assuming a constant wave climate, quasi-active tidal sand ridges occur mainly as a result of a decreasing tidal current amplitude such that the effective velocity (in the sense of stirring sand) becomes smaller than the critical velocity for sand erosion. The ridges further become inactive on a time scale that depends inversely on the rate of sea level rise. Modeled ridges are compared with observed ridges. Similarities are found and quantitative differences are explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal sand ridges are large-scale bedforms with horizontal dimensions of several kilometers and heights in the order of tens of meters, which occur on outer shelves of coastal seas. In order to study the long-term evolution of these ridges, an idealized nonlinear numerical model was developed. With this tool, the sensitivity of the characteristics of these finite-height ridges, in particular, their shape and growth time, to 1D/2D configuration (topography varies in one/two horizontal dimensions), tidal ellipticity and critical bed shear stress for sand erosion was investigated. In the case of a 1D configuration, the root mean square height hrms of the bedforms first grows exponentially and hereafter saturates. In the end, ridges in static equilibrium are obtained, i.e., hrms remains constant. In contrast, when the configuration is 2D, ridges are found with spatially meandering crests that oscillate in time. Initially the bedforms are composed of a finite number of bottom modes. The meanders occur if bottom modes with crests normal to those of the initially preferred bedform exist, and their topographic wavenumbers are in the order of that of the preferred bedform or smaller. In addition, the vertical distance between the crest and trough levels should be larger than around 80% of the maximum water depth. Generally, the global growth time, i.e., the time at which hrms stops increasing after the exponential growth stage of the bedforms, is slightly larger for a 2D than for a 1D configuration. The ridge shapes are sensitive to the tidal ellipticity, while they are hardly sensitive to the critical bed shear stress. The global growth time varies non-monotonically with the tidal ellipticity, and it increases if the critical bed shear stress is included. Comparison between the model results and field observations suggests that the model is able to simulate the gross characteristics of the Dutch Banks and the Flemish Banks in the southern North Sea and that these ridges may still be growing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal sand ridges and long bed waves are large-scale bedforms that are observed on continental shelves. They differ in their wavelength and in their orientation with respect to the principal direction of tidal currents. Previous studies indicate that tidal sand ridges appear in areas where tidal currents are above 0.5 m s −1 , while long bed waves occur in regions where the maximum tidal current velocity is slightly above the critical velocity for sand erosion and the current is elliptical. An idealized nonlinear numerical model was developed to improve the understanding of the initial formation of these bedforms. The model governs the feedbacks between tidally forced depth-averaged currents and the sandy bed on the outer shelf. The effects of different formulations of bed shear stress and sand transport, tidal ellipticity and different tidal constituents on the characteristics of these bedforms (growth rate, wavelength, orientation of the preferred bedforms) during their initial formation were examined systematically. The results show that the formulations for bed shear stress and slope-induced sand transport are not critical for the initial formation of these bedforms. For tidal sand ridges, under rectilinear tidal currents, increasing the critical bed shear stress for sand erosion decreases the growth rate and the wavelength of the preferred bedforms significantly, while the orientation angle slightly decreases. The dependence of the growth rate, wavelength and the orientation of the preferred bedforms on the tidal ellipticity is non-monotonic. A decrease in tidal frequency results in preferred bedforms with larger wavelength and smaller orientation angle, while their growth rate hardly changes. In the case of joint diurnal and semidiurnal tides, or spring-neap tides, the characteristics of the bedforms are determined by the dominant tidal constituent. For long bed waves, the number of anticyclonically/cyclonically oriented bedforms with respect to the principal current direction increases as the ellipticity of the cyclonic/anticyclonic tidal currents increases. Besides, under anticyclonic tidal currents, the growth rate of cyclonically oriented long bed waves increases as the tidal ellipticity increases. The model was also used to provide a possible explanation for the fact that the Dutch Banks have a larger wavelength than that of the Flemish Banks in the North Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model was developed and analyzed to quantify the effect of graded sediment on the formation of tidal sand ridges. Field data reveal coarse (fine) sediment at the crests (in the troughs), but often phase shifts between the mean grain-size distribution and the bottom topography occur. Following earlier work, this study is based on a linear stability analysis of a basic state with respect to small bottom perturbations. The basic state describes an alongshore tidal current on a coastal shelf. Sediment is transported as bed load and dynamic hiding effects are accounted for. A one-layer model for the bed evolution is used and two grain size classes (fine and coarse sand) are considered. Results indicate an increase in growth and migration rates of tidal sand ridges for a bimodal mixture, whilst the wavelength of the ridges remains unchanged. A symmetrical externally forced tidal current results in a grain-size distribution which is in phase with the ridges. Incorporation of an additional external M4 tidal constituent or a steady current results in a phase shift between the grain-size distribution and ridge topography. These results show a general agreement with observations. The physical mechanism responsible for the observed grain-size distribution over the ridges is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non-linear morphodynamic model of a microtidal coastal shelf is used to study the response of shoreface-connected sand ridges and the net sand balance of the shelf to large-scale interventions. The model describes the interaction between storm-driven currents and the erodible bottom. The transport of sediment comprises both bedload and suspended load contributions and is due to the joint action of waves (stirring of sediment from the bed) and net currents (causing transport). Three basic types of interventions are studied: extracting sand from ridges, nourishing sand at the shelf and constructing navigation channels. The model results indicate that for all interventions studied a relatively fast local recovery (time scale of decades to centuries) of the disturbed bathymetry to its original pattern takes place. Readjustment of the global system to its original equilibrium state (the saturation process) occurs on a longer time scale (several centuries). During the adjustment stage, significant net sand exchanges between inner shelf and adjacent outer shelf and near-shore zone occur. The results further suggest that extraction of sand from the shelf and dredging of navigation channels have negative implications for the stability of the beach (its sand volume decreases). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of the surf zone strongly depend on the characteristics of incoming sea waves,. The latter are determined by the local wind climate, but also by the bathymetry of the inner shelf, e.g. sand ridges cause wave refraction and dissipate part of the wave energy. As the shelf bathymetry evolves on decadal to centennial time scales, due to spatial variations in tide- and wave-induced sand transport, knowledge on how shelf bathymetry affects the large-scale coastal evolution is important. This study investigates the natural hydro- and morphodynamics of a mesotidal coastal system (shelf and surf zone) and their response to interventions on the shelf. For this, the coupled Delft3D-SWAN numerical model is employed to solve for tides, waves, sand transport and bed level update on the inner shelf. A one-line model is used to calculate large-scale evolution of the coastline from gradients in the longshore sand transport in the surf zone. This transport is given by the CERC formula, where its input is derived from the wave output of the shelf model. Results will be shown for a domain that crudely mimics the Belgian continental shelf. The natural behaviour of the inner shelf is studied by conducting spin-up runs for a period of 1000 years, starting from an initially linear bottom profile in the cross-shore direction. Subsequently, several interventions are created (in particular artificial islands) and the response of the system to these perturbations is studied. It will first be shown that a full process-based morphodynamic model is able to simulate the formation of mature tidal sand ridges on a shelf with a sloping bottom. The variable bathymetry of the shelf has a substantial impact on coastal erosion and accretion patterns. Second, the construction of an island strongly affects the dynamics of the sand ridges and also gives rise to substantial accretion of the coast behind the island and erosion further downstream. Third, shelf dynamics and coastal accretion and erosion rates will be presented for different positions and sizes of the island, as well as for multiple islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal sand waves are rhythmic bedforms found on sandy continental shelves that pose a threat to offshore activities. While emphasis is placed on studying their natural morphodynamic evolution, little is known about if and how fast sand waves recover after dredging. This work presents an analysis of multibeam echosounder data collected at three former sand extraction sites on the Belgian continental shelf. At one of the sites, sand waves seemed to reappear approximately 5 years after dredging had stopped, which did not happen at the other two sites during the measurement period (5 and 9 years). The lack of recovery in those sites is likely the result of larger depths and smaller local sediment availability compared with the site where recovery occurred. Furthermore, these data reveal that in the latter site sand wave recovery was established mainly through local sediment redistribution. • Tidal sand waves are isolated from bathymetric data of the Belgian continental shelf. • At only one of the three sites, sand waves seemed to regenerate after dredging. • Possible explanations are differences in water depth and local sediment availability. • The regenerating tidal sand waves do so as a result of local redistribution of sand. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]