Processes controlling circulation and sediment transport on the inner shelf off South Carolina
John Warner, Ph.DCivil Engineer, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program
Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Room: ELAB 38
Abstract
Long Bay is a sediment-starved, arcuate embayment located along the eastern coast of South Carolina, USA. This region has a strong history of tourism and coastal activities. Rates and pathways of sediment transport are important because they determine the availability of sediments for beach renourishment, seafloor habitat, and affect navigation. Sediment transport in this region is strongly influenced by local storm activity where wave bottom orbital motions resuspend sediment and the winds, waves, and tides create coastal circulation patterns that transport the sediment. To investigate oceanographic dynamics in this region, instruments were deployed from October 2003 to April 2004 at eight sites offshore of Myrtle Beach, SC to measure sea level, surface waves, currents, suspended sediment concentrations, and bed forms. Analysis of the observational data identifies three predominant types of storms: 1) cold fronts, 2) warm fronts and 3) tropical storms. Each type of storm has an identifiable response of circulation and sediment transport dynamics. These measurements and the application of numerical models are used to identify the effects of the storms on oceanic circulation and sediment transport on the inner shelf. The duration, magnitude, and frequency of storm types will dictate the long term sediment flux of the region.
Presenter Bio
John Warner is currently a civil engineer at the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, MA. Before joining USGS in 2001, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Water Resources Division in Sacramento, CA. He obtained a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California, Davis. He received both Master's and Bachelor's from The Pennsylvania State University. His fields of interests are Hydrodynamic and sediment transport numerical modeling, estuarine transport, oceanographic data collection, numerical methods, and time series analysis. His current focus is on the development of sediment transport and turbulence closure algorithms in oceanographic models with applications of numerical models to predict sediment transport.
