Wave–sediment interaction on a muddy inner shelf during Hurricane Claudette

Measurements of wave and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were conducted near the 5-m isobath on the muddy inner shelf fronting Atchafalaya Bay, Louisiana, during Hurricane Claudette. The data show that wave and current activity resuspended large quantities of sediment, with SSC R 0.5 kg/m 3 throughout the water column. In the waning phase of the storm, settling generated a suspension layer, with concentrations over 1.7 kg/m 3 measured as high as 1 m above the bottom. Numerical simulations of post-storm sediment settling showed that observations are consistent with a high-density fluid mud layer (SSC between 10 and 20 kg/m 3 ), and separated from the upper water column by a lutocline located at about 1 m above the bottom. The formation of the fluid-mud layer is correlated with strong, broad-spectrum wave dissipation, consistent with the hypothesis that surface–interface wave interaction plays an important part in the energy transfer from the surface to the soft bottom. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.