Animal-sediment Interactions Relevant to Shallow-water Boundary-layer Flows and Sediment Transport.

摘要

Models that provide estimates of sediment-transport rates and directions use, as input, a modest amount of information from the field. Such models possess an inherent, untested assumption that only physical processes and abiotic characteristics of the bed govern sediment movement. This study evaluates this assumption by measuring the magnitude of benthic-biological effects on nearbed flows and sediment transport in the kinds of environments of most immediate interest to the Navy -- sands, sand-mud mixtures and high flows that occur in very shallow water. The long-term goals of this research are to identify (1) conditions where existing, abiotic, sediment-transport models would make reasonably accurate predictions, and (2) the key, biologically relevant variables which should be incorporated into the models for conditions where biology is important. Ultimately, this research would contribute to a new generation of models that could provide sediment-transport predictions which are meaningful for both biotic and abiotic conditions.