Wave Induced Sediment Enrichment in Arctic Coastal Ice Covers

该项目是一项将海底沉积物纳入海冰覆盖范围的实验室研究。这种现象在阿拉斯加北部海岸外的波弗特海的浅水中被广泛观察到，那里的海冰可能含有大量的细粒沉积物。所包含的沉积物对光在冰中的传输有重大影响，从而影响冰下的海洋生物过程。人们对沉积物夹带和浓缩过程的机理知之甚少。初步研究和实验室测试表明，波浪作用在将悬浮泥沙输送到冰盖中起主导作用。本项目将建立这样一种输沙模式的理论模型，并用振荡波槽对该模型进行检验，该模型将作为波浪频率和试验时间的函数来量化滞留泥沙。预计实验数据将能够根据区域气候条件以及海浪和海流状况来预测自然环境中随后的泥沙浓度。

This project is a laboratory study of the incorporation of ocean bottom sediment into a sea ice cover. Such a phenomenon is widely observed in the shallow waters of the Beaufort sea off the northern coast of Alaska where the sea ice may contain large concentrations of fine-grained sediment. The included sediment has a significant effect on the transmission of light through the ice and thus affects marine biological processes beneath the ice. The mechanics of the process by which sediments are entrained and concentrated are poorly understood. Preliminary studies and laboratory tests indicate that wave action predominates in transporting suspended sediment to the ice cover. This project will develop a theoretical model of such a transport mode and test the model with an oscillating wave tank which will quantify the retained sediment as a function of wave frequency and experiment duration. The expectation is that the experimental data will allow a prediction of the subsequent sediment concentration in the natural environment as a function of regional climatic conditions and the ocean wave and current regime.