sediment transport model
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
1/11
Appendix 8
Sediment Transport Model
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
2/11
Sediment Transport Model
Dr. Michael Hartnett,Research Director,
Marine Modelling Centre, MRI,National University of Ireland, Galway
Abstract
A numerical model was developed to make predictions of sediment
transport throughout the Irish Sea; the objective of this component of the
project was to illustrate that a sediment transport model could be linked
with the hydrodynamic model of the Irish Sea.Sediment is mainly transported about the Irish Sea due to the forces of
tide, wind and wave induced currents. In this project only tide and wind
forces were considered; these are the primary long-term forces affecting
the movements of sediments throughout the Irish Sea.
The model selected to carry out the sediment transport analysis within the
Irish Sea was ECOMSED; this is an advanced sediment transport model
based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) hydrodynamic code. The
model was developed by HydroQual, USA and widely used throughout the
world. The transport and fate of both cohesive and non-cohesive
sediments can be simulated with ECOMSED. Resuspension, deposition and
transport of cohesive sediments, clays, silts and organic material, are
simulated using the SED module.
The model results show the spatial varying bed shear stresses throughout
the Irish Sea, and also how the shear stresses vary temporally for
changing tidal conditions. Results also show the areas within the Irish
Sea where sediment erosion and transport is most active. Selected
locations of high sediment transport activity are highlighted and a more
detailed investigation of the results at these locations is carried out.
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
3/11
A7.1 Sediment Model Introduction
A preliminary sediment was developed for the Irish Sea under the PRISM
project. The model was developed on the basis of the previously
developed hydrodynamic model of the Irish Sea. The numerical domain of
the Irish Sea is defined by the geographic region: -7E to 2.625E and
51N to 56N. The model consists of 176 and 301 cells in x- and y-
direction, respectively, and hence in total of 52,976 computational nodes.
A rectangular grid of dimensions 1/60 of latitude and 1/40 of longitude
is applied for calculations in horizontal plan. In the vertical, 34 levels in a
sigma coordinate system are used. The timesteps satisfying the numerical
stability conditions are chosen as t=8s and T=400s in external and
internal mode, respectively. The minimum bottom roughness height of 5
mm was assumed. Figure 2 presents a map of the domain and the
bathymetry of the region.
Figure 2
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
4/11
Sediment is primarily transported about the Irish Sea due to tide, wind
and wave induced currents. During this work only tide and wind forces
were considered; these provide the long-term sediment transport
pathways. The following two sections provide a brief review of sediment
distributions and movements throughout the Irish Sea.
Sediment distribution
The major features of sediment distribution in the Irish Sea largely mirrors
the distribution of tidal current speeds with gravels where the currents are
strongest and muds where they are weakest. Gravelly sediment is
widespread in the St. George's Channel and in Cardigan Bay and extends
northward in a broad ribbon through the central Irish Sea, past the Isle of
Man, tapering out in the North Channel. Sandy sediments flank these
gravels to east and west, covering much of the rest of the Irish Sea. Off
the Irish coast southward from Dublin lie a series of north/south
sandbanks (Kish, Wicklow, Bray, Arklow, Blackwater). Similarly, there is
an area of sandbanks to the northeast of the Isle of Man and in the
Solway Firth. There are three significant mud patches within the sandy
regions; two are in the areas of weak tidal currents to the southwest ofthe Isle of Man (the largest) and to the southwest of St. Bees Head, while
the third is in a deep area off Holyhead. Mud is also associated with most
estuaries.
Sediment Movement
The movement of sediment, both the path taken and the amount moved,
is very difficult either to measure or to predict. It is related to the extent
by which the near-bed current exceeds a certain threshold. In this respect
tides and waves are at least as important as residual currents. For sand
and gravel the threshold is proportional to the sediment's characteristics
(particle size and density). The sandy regions of the Irish Sea are
extensively covered by sand waves from which sand transport paths have
been deduced. Between Dublin and the North Channel, the Irish Sea is a
trap for sand, with sand moving inwards towards the Isle of Man and then
eastward into Liverpool Bay and the Solway Firth. For the eastern IrishSea this picture is, perhaps fortuitously, similar to that for near bottom
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
5/11
currents, see Figure 7. Along the North Wales coast it is supported by the
tendency for beach sand to move eastwards. South of Dublin the sand
moves southward out of the St. George's Channel and also northward into
Cardigan Bay.
Figure 2 Lagrangian Circulation in the north-western Irish Sea
Of more importance to the movement of contaminants, particularly of
heavy metals and of radionuclides like plutonium, is the behaviour of
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
6/11
mud, which is more difficult to estimate. Since mud sticks together, its
threshold is not just related to the sediment's characteristics but also to
its history at that location. The threshold which causes mud to start
moving is not the same as that which allows it to settle out. Once particles
are in suspension, primarily through the action of tidal currents and
waves, they will be transported by the currents in the water column.
The movement of mud at the patches referred to above is unknown, even
whether the patches are gaining or losing mud. Their ultimate source
material is glacial clays resulting from the last Ice Age. The mud's surface
layer is continuously being over-turned by the resident animals,
particularly worms.
Model Background
The model chosen to carry out the sediment transport analysis within the
Irish Sea was ECOMSED; this is an advanced sediment transport model
based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) hydrodynamic code.
The transport and fate of cohesive and non-cohesive sediments can besimulated with ECOMSED. Resuspension, deposition and transport of
cohesive sediments, which are composed of clays, silts and organic
material, are simulated using the SED module. The suspended transport
of non-cohesive sediments, i.e., fine sands, is calculated using the van
Rijn procedure. The effects of bed armoring due to particle-size
heterogeneity can also be included in non-cohesive sediment transport
simulations. Bed load transport is not considered here because it does not
significantly affect optical properties in the water column. The sediment
transport module can predict temporal and spatial distributions of: (1)
suspended sediment concentrations (cohesive and non-cohesive); (2)
sediment bed elevation changes; (3) fluxes at the sediment-water
interface; and (4) changes in sediment bed composition. The module can
accept as input: spatially-variable sediment bed properties and time
variable sediment loading at river discharges and open boundaries.
The basic differential equation used to solve for sediment transport isgiven below:
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
7/11
where Ck is the suspended sediment concentration; U, V and W represent
the three components of velocity as computed from the hydrodynamic
component. An important process to be considered in the development of
a sediment transport model is bed erosion. Material deposited on the bed
will resuspend when the shear stress at the seabed due to water currents
is above a particular value. In ECOMSED model the following formulationis used to compute the rate of erosion/resuspension as a function of shear
stress:
where = resuspension potential (mg cm-2); a0= constant depending upon
the bed properties; Td = time after deposition (days); b= bed shear
stress (dynes cm
-2
);c = critical shear stress for erosion (dynes cm
-2
);and m, n = constants dependent upon the depositional environment
Full details of the above model can be obtained from the ECOMSED
manual and are omitted here for clarity.
Model Application
The Irish Sea sediment model was set with the following characteristics:
cohesive (500 m) not included
tidal/wind forcing
simulation period ~34 days
non-cohesive sediments considered only
uniform initial distribution of D50 (500m, 75m)
In this model the critical shear stress for deposition (resuspension) were
selected as follows:
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
8/11
34.81 dyne/cm2 (500 m)
0.1089 dyne/cm2 (75 m)
The hydrodynamic model was run initially and the bed shear stress
distribution about the Irish Sea for both neap and spring tide conditions
are presented in Figure 3.
Figure 3 Bottom shear stress distribution throughout the Irish Sea
The above figure illustrates the regions of maximum bed shear stress
throughout the domain; these are areas from which material is likely to be
eroded from the seabed and transported to other locations.
Figure 4 illustrates the relatively low shear stresses that are induced in
the western Irish Sea; this is due to relatively low energy tidal activity and
deep water. The maximum predicted stresses here being in the order of
1.6 dynes cm-2. Figure 5 presents plots for bed shear stresses for the
Liverpool Bay, North Channel, St. Georges Channel and Arklow; the
maxima here range from 10-50 dynes cm-2. These variations are very
significant with respect to the critical values for shear stresses.
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
9/11
Figure 4 Bottom shear stress in the Western Irish Sea
At the end of the simulation the mode predicted changes to the elevations
and distributions of sediments throughout the Irish Sea. Figure 6
presents the results of these predictions; there are significant variations of
erosion and deposition through the Irish Sea and it can be sent that most
of the erosion/deposition occurs in regions of high bed shear stress as
shown in Figure 3. Figure 7 presents details of temporally varying bed
elevation changes at locations A-D as defined in Figure 6.
Bed shear stress
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Time [days]
tau[dynes/cm^
2]
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
10/11
Figure 5 Bottom shear stresses at four locations
Bed shear stress
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Time [days]
tau[dynes/cm^2]
Bed shear stress
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Time [days]
tau
[dynes/cm^2]
Bed shear stress
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Time [days]
tau[dynes/cm^2]
Bed shear stress
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Time [days]
tau
[dynes/cm^2]
Liverpool Bay
North Channel
St. Georges Channel
Arklow
-
8/4/2019 Sediment Transport Model
11/11
Figure 6 Bed elevation changes
Figure 7 Bed elevation changes at A-D
B
A
D
C
Bed elevation change [cm]
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time [days]
thickness[cm]
A
B
C
D