Tidally-induced clouds of suspended sediment connected to shallow-water coral reefs

The Bay of Banten, West Java, Indonesia represents a shallow coastal embayment harboring coral reefs subject to extremely turbid conditions. The sedimentary regime and flow structure of two contrasting coral reef islands in the embayment were investigated to identify the mechanisms responsible for mean and peak levels of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) around the reefs. Arrays of in situ calibrated optical backscatter (OBS) sensors were deployed across the reef slopes. Far field conditions were simultaneously monitored using an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and a conductivity temperature and depth (CTD) probe, equipped with an OBS sensor. In addition, hydrographic surveys were conducted using the ADCP attached to a small fishing boat, navigating transects perpendicular to the reef islands. The direct influence of river plumes was found to be insignificant. Waves act only in the uppermost few meters of the reef slopes, where coral growth is most abundant and little sediment is available for resuspension. Tidal currents are the primary cause of high turbidity, which was inferred from peaks in the diurnal and semidiurnal frequency bands of SSC spectra, and the large depths where the turbidity variation sometimes initiates. The entrained sediment disperses upward across the reef slopes, which is likely due to a secondary current associated with bending of the flow along the curved, hydraulically rough reef slopes, in weakly stratified ambient waters. Changes in sediment availability, variable critical shear stresses for erosion and deposition, and the formation and evanescence of island wakes may explain the high variability of SSC at the reef slopes.