Mangawhai-Pakiri sand study: Module 4F, Seabed drifter experiment 

Lange, W. de 

1996 

 

 

Report 

The sea bed drifter (SBD) experiment provides Langranian sediment transport data for the Pakiri study. SBDs have long been used to estimate residual bottom circulation patterns for regions of slowly varying current fields, such as the inner continental shelf. More recently it has been demonstrated that they can be employed in active wave environments (Hands and Stollitt, 1994). Bradshaw (1991) employed SBDs to predict sediment transport pathways for the East Coromandel inner continental shelf, which experiences a similar wave and current climate to Pakiri. His work demonstrated the applicability of the technique. SBDs give an indication of general transport pathways. However there are many unknown factors that complicate their use, including: the actual path followed by each SBD; the time interval between SBD arrival and eventual recovery; and the spatial and temporal variations in the driving waves and currents along the route. For the purposes of the Pakiri sand study, the SBD experiment data will be used to verify the predictions of the numerical models. Hence the experiment was concerned primarily with the patterns of SBD dispersal off Pakiri. These patterns are addressed by this report. (auth) 

 

sediment transport; Biogeophysical; water circulation; mangawhai; lagrangian functions; sands; pakiri; seabed deposits; drifters; currents; nzms260r08