Sediment resuspension across a microtidal, low-energy inner shelf

Simultaneous field measurements were carried out across the Ebro delta inner shelf using two instrumented bottom boundary layer tripods deployed at 8.5 and 12.5 m water depth. The period analysed corresponds to the transition from fair-weather to wave-storm conditions. The recorded data show that the sediment resuspension was associated with the increases in wave activity (“skin” wave shear stress) and started simultaneously at both study sites. Wave and current related parameters and the concentration of suspended sediment reflect an increasing trend towards the shallower location. The measured profile of suspended sediment concentration agrees well with exponential and power deterministic models. The estimated resuspension coefficient (γ0) shows temporal and spatial variability, although average values (4–6×10−3) are near the “typical” resuspension parameter previously defined for rippled bottom conditions (2×10−3).