Tidal and longshore sediment transport associated to a coastal structure

• Published in: Estuarine, coastal and shelf science Vol. 62; no. 1; pp. 291 - 300
• Main Authors: Cuadrado, Diana G., Gómez, Eduardo A., Ginsberg, S. Susana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Bahía Blanca Estuary (Argentina); Biological and medical sciences; Brackish water ecosystems; estuarine dynamic; fetch; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; side-scan sonar records; subaqueous dune field; Synecology; wind data; South America; Argentina; America; estuarine dynamic; Bahía Blanca Estuary (Argentina); wind data; side-scan sonar records; fetch; subaqueous dune field; Brackish water environment; Wind; Estuaries; Sediments; Transport; Dunes
• ISSN: 0272-7714; 1096-0015
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2004.09.010

In order to understand the subtidal marine dynamics relative to the coastal engineering works in the Bahía Blanca Estuary (Argentina), the balance of sediment transport caused by tidal currents was estimated in the Puerto Rosales area and compared with the predicted potential littoral transport. The breaking wave height used in the littoral drift calculation was estimated after applying different wave transforming procedures over the deepwater wave which was predicted by the occurrence of predominant wind, blowing long enough in an essentially constant direction over a fetch. The effect of a breakwater on currents and circulation was studied by bathymetric and side-scan sonar records, sedimentology, and tidal current measurements. Different modes of transport occur on either sides of the breakwater. On the east side, longshore transport is the principal mode, and on the west side, tidal transport is predominant.