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Bedload transport for heterogeneous sediments

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Abstract

A large panel of instruments was deployed in the Eastern English Channel to measure the evolution of bedload fluxes during a tidal cycle for two different sites. The first one was characterized by a sandy bed with a low dispersion in size while the other study site implied graded sediments with grain sizes ranging from fine sands to granules. The in situ results obtained were compared with predictions of total bedload fluxes by classical models. A good agreement was found for homogeneous sediments with these formulas. In the case of size heterogeneous sediments, a fractionwise approach, involving a hiding-exposure coefficient and a hindrance factor, provided better predictions of bedload fluxes, but still some discrepancies were noticed. Present results revealed that the consideration of particle shape in formulas through the circularity index enhanced the estimations of bedload transport rates. A new adjustment of Wu et al.’s (J Hydraul Res 38:427–434, 2000) formula was proposed and a very good agreement was obtained between the measured and predicted values.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their sincere thanks to the High Normandy region (Scale Research Network) for funding this work and to the University of Utrecht and Ifremer for the loan of the DNS and the DySPI respectively. The authors extend their thanks to Olivier Blanpain for his help on DySPI videos processing and as a member of the team on board of the research vessel Côtes de la Manche (INSU/CNRS), composed also of Michel Lunven, Erwan Legall, Philippe Cugier and Pascal Bailly du Bois, who made the field data collection possible during the campaign.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR CNRS 6294 LOMC, 53 Rue Prony, 76600, Le Havre, France

    Marine Durafour, Armelle Jarno & François Marin

  2. UMR CNRS 6143 M2C, Bat. IRESE A, Place E.Blondel, 76821, Mt-St-Aignan, France

    Sophie Le Bot & Robert Lafite

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  1. Marine Durafour
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  2. Armelle Jarno
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  3. Sophie Le Bot
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  4. Robert Lafite
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  5. François Marin
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Correspondence to François Marin.

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Durafour, M., Jarno, A., Le Bot, S. et al. Bedload transport for heterogeneous sediments. Environ Fluid Mech 15, 731–751 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-014-9380-1

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