Fine particle retention and deposition in regions of cyclonic tidal current rotation



Williams, ME, Amoudry, LO ORCID: 0000-0002-6592-6790, Brown, JM and Thompson, CEL
(2019) Fine particle retention and deposition in regions of cyclonic tidal current rotation. MARINE GEOLOGY, 410. pp. 122-134.

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Abstract

Benthic sediments in continental shelf seas control a variety of biogeochemical processes, yet their composition, especially that of fine sediment, remains difficult to predict. Mechanisms for mud or fine sediment deposition and retention are not fully understood. Using sediment data and a hydrodynamic model of the Northwest European shelf seas, a relationship is shown to exist between fine benthic sediment composition and regions of cyclonic tidal current rotation. The reduced thickness of cyclonic tidal benthic boundary layers compared with the anticyclonic case promotes deposition of fine sediment and trapping of resuspended material. Adding the effects of the benthic boundary layer thickness, as influenced by ellipticity or not, sheds some light on the limitations of approaches only focusing on bed shear stress and sediment pathways to predict the location of mud deposits. A tidal boundary layer predictor that includes ellipticity alongside tidal current magnitude and depth was shown to spatially agree with maps of mud deposits.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Tidal benthic boundary layer, Fine sediment, Mud retention, Cyclonic tidal currents, Mud deposit
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 16 May 2019 11:11
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 00:45
DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2019.01.006
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2019.01.006
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URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3041603