Hydro and sediment dyanamics on a laboratory scaled fringing reef: morphology simulations

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the dynamics of cross-shore sediment transport across a fringing coral reef. The aim was to quantify how a highly bimodal spectrum of high-frequency (sea-swell) and low-frequency (infragravity and seiching) waves that is typically present on coral reef flats, influences the various sediment transport mechanisms. The experiments were conducted in a 55 m wave flume, using a 1:15 scale fringing reefmodel that had a 1:5 forereef slope, a 14 m long reef flat, and a 1:12 sloping beach. The initial 7 m of reef flat had a fixed bed, whereas the back 7 m of the reef and the beach had a moveable sandy bed. Four seven-hour irregular wave cases were conducted both with and without bottom roughness elements (schematically representing bottom friction by coral roughness), as well as for both low and high still water levels. More information about this experiment is available in the methods of the associated publication (http://doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2015.01.005).