Journal article
The Contribution of Currents, Sea-Swell Waves, and Infragravity Waves to Suspended-Sediment Transport Across a Coral Reef-Lagoon System
AWM Pomeroy, CD Storlazzi, KJ Rosenberger, RJ Lowe, JE Hansen, ML Buckley
Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans | AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION | Published : 2021
DOI: 10.1029/2020JC017010
Abstract
Coral reefs generate substantial volumes of carbonate sediment, which is redistributed throughout the reef-lagoon system. However, there is little understanding of the specific processes that transport this sediment produced on the outer portions of coral reefs throughout a reef-lagoon system. Furthermore, the separate contributions of currents, sea-swell waves, and infragravity waves to transport, which are all strongly influenced by the presence of a reef, is not fully understood. Here, we show that in reef-lagoon systems most suspended sediment is transported close to the seabed and can, at times, be suspended higher in the water column during oscillatory flow transitions (i.e., near slac..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This project was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, The University of Western Australia, and The Australian Research Council via the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. The authors would like to thank Carlin Bowyer, Anton Kuret, and Michael Cuttler (UWA) and Josh Logan (USGS) for their support in the field. The authors would like to thank Jessica Lacy (USGS) for her peer review of an earlier version of this manuscript and her helpful discussions, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their considered feedback that made a valuable contribution to this study. A. W. Pomeroy is grateful for the support of the Australian-America Fulbright Commission, who supported part of this research.