Sediment Transport

This book treats the subject of sediment transport in the marine environment, covering transport of non-cohesive sediment by waves and current in- and outside the surf zone. It can be read independently, but a background in hydraulics and basic wave mechanics is required. It is intended for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students. The primary aim of the book is to describe the physical processes of sediment transport and how to represent them in mathematical models. It does not present a large number of different formulae for the sediment transport rates under various conditions. The book can be divided in two main parts; in the first, the relevant hydrodynamic theory is described; in the second, sediment transport and morphological development are treated. The hydrodynamic part contains a review of elementary theory for water waves, chapters on the turbulent wave boundary layer and the turbulent interaction between waves and currents, and finally, surf zone hydrodynamics and wave driven currents. The part on sediment transport introduces the basic concepts (critical bed shear stress, bed load, suspended load and sheet layer, near-bed concentration, effect of sloping bed); it treats suspended sediment in waves and current and in the surf zone, and current and wave-generated bed forms. Finally, the modelling of cross-shore and long-shore sediment transport is described together with the development, of coastal profiles and coastlines.