Velocity profiles of tidal currents over sand waves
van Gastel, K. (1987). Velocity profiles of tidal currents over sand waves. Neth. J. Sea Res. 21(3): 159-170
In: Netherlands Journal of Sea Research. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ): Groningen; Den Burg. ISSN 0077-7579; e-ISSN 1873-1406, more
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| Abstract |
Velocity profiles were measured over a sand wave in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. The height of the sand wave is about 8 m, its wavelength 300 m. The depth of the trough is 36m. During one tidal cycle, velocity and depth measurements were taken regularly. The behaviour of the current in the trough was very similar to that over a flat seabed, except that a van Veen fit during the quasi-stationary period around maximum tide had a larger power: U = α zp with p=0.22 to 0.29, versus p=0.15 to 0.20 for a flat seabed. Exactly on the crest and just downstream of it, the profiles were significantly different; compared with a van Veen fit, the flow was faster in the lowest 8 m and at 4 m beneath the surface: the highest measuring point. Advection was shown to be important in forming these profiles. Depending on the method of extrapolation, the spatial variation in surface current was calculated to be 5 to 26 cm·s-1, compared with a surface current of ±65 cm·s -1 in the trough. The ratio of surface current variation to depth variation was, depending on the extrapolation method, 0.3 to 1.7. |
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