Shelf and Slope Sediment Transport in STRATAFORM

Abstract : The overall long-term goal of STRATAFORM is to advance our understanding of the development and modification of stratigraphic sequences on continental terraces (shelves and slopes). An essential part of this understanding comes from investigations of modern sedimentary processes in these critical regions of the oceans. These investigations include modeling and direct measurements of the response of bottom and suspended sediment to oceanic forcing. In this project our specific long-term goal is to understand the effects that bottom stresses caused by physical oceanographic forcing have on shelf and slope sedimentation. This work is accomplished through modeling, and through analyses of available field measurements of waves, currents, suspended sediment concentrations, and bottom sediment distributions. In this specific project we focus on understanding sediment dynamics in the two STRATAFORM study areas on the shelf and slope: (1) off the Eel River, California; and (2) off central New Jersey. Our research efforts are largely aimed at two processes: (1) the role of internal waves and tides in shaping the sediment cover of the upper continental slope; and (2) sediment resuspension and transport caused by bottom stresses associated with surface waves, tides, and quasi-steady currents.