See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/256464159

Tide-controlled variations of primary-and secondary-bedform

height: Innenjade tidal channel (Jade Bay, German Bight)

Conference Paper · September 2009

CITATIONS READS

6 166

4 authors:

Verner Brandbyge Ernstsen Christian Winter

University of Copenhagen Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
91 PUBLICATIONS   476 CITATIONS    145 PUBLICATIONS   812 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Marius Becker Jesper Bartholdy

Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, Germany University of Copenhagen
31 PUBLICATIONS   194 CITATIONS    91 PUBLICATIONS   1,288 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

ECOMAP View project

Modelling flow over bedform fields in tidal environments View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Verner Brandbyge Ernstsen on 31 May 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics: RCEM 2009 – Vionnet et al. (eds)
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-55426-8

Tide-controlled variations of primary- and secondary-bedform height:

Innenjade tidal channel (Jade Bay, German Bight)

V.B. Ernstsen, C. Winter & M. Becker

MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany

J. Bartholdy
Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

ABSTRACT: Primary- and secondary-bedform height dynamics were investigated during two tidal cycles in
the Innenjade tidal channel in the Jade Bay, German Bight. Repetitive, simultaneous measurements of high-
resolution swath bathymetry and flow velocity were combined with detailed spatial mapping of bed material
characteristics. The bedform tracking tool (BTT) developed by van der Mark and Blom (2007) was further
improved for an objective and discrete analysis of primary- and secondary-bedforms. Primary-bedform heights
generally decreased during ebb tide and increased during flood tide. This was due to erosion and deposition
of the crests, as the troughs remained practically constant. Crest erosion occurred at high energy stages during
ebb tide, and overall crest deposition during flood tide (build-up of flood cap). We assign the low erosion in
the troughs to a combination of low flow velocity and armoring through shell lag-deposits. Secondary-bedform
height generally increased with increasing mean flow velocity and decreased with decreasing mean flow velocity.
We hypothesize that this was due to an excess build-up of the crests primarily through internal sediment turnover,
i.e. merely the shape of the secondary-bedforms changes. At maximum flow velocity, the secondary-bedform
crests and troughs eroded with the erosion of the crests exceeding the erosion of the troughs, leading to a decrease
in secondary-bedform height at maximum and initially falling flow velocities. We suggest that the relatively
dynamic secondary-bedform troughs were due to the absence of a shell lag deposit in the secondary-bedform
troughs.

1 INTRODUCTION shoal, Westerschelde Estuary, The Netherlands

Subaqueous bedform fields in nature are often com-
plex systems with larger primary-bedforms superim-
posed by smaller secondary-bedforms (e.g. Bartholdy
et al., 2002). Field observations of primary-bedform
height dynamics in unsteady flow at seasonal scales
have been reported since the late 1960s: e.g. Rio
Paraná River, Argentina (Stückrath, 1969), Elbe and
Weser River, Germany (Nasner, 1974 and 1978),
and Fraser River, Canada (Kostaschuk et al., 1989;
Kostaschuk and Illersich, 1995). Also at shorter time
scales, during flood hydrographs, primary dune height
dynamics in response to an unsteady flow regime has
been reported: e.g. River Rhine (Julien et al., 2002;
Kleinhans, 2002; Wilbers and ten Brinke, 2003) and
Fraser River, Canada (Villard and Church, 2003).
More recently bedform evolution models capable of
predicting dynamic primary dune height in response
to flood hydrographs have been suggested (Giri et al.,
2007; Paarlberg, 2008). The variability of primary
dune height during neap-spring tidal cycles has also
been investigated: e.g. Lifeboat Station Bank, Wells-
next-the-Sea, UK (Allen, 1976), Ossenisse intertidal
(Terwindt and Brouwer, 1986), and Spiekeroog back-
barrier channel, The Wadden Sea, Germany
(Flemming and Davis, 1992). More recently primary-
bedform height variability was also investigated
during time scales as short as single tidal cycles: Fraser
Estuary (Kostaschuk and Best, 2005) and Grådyb tidal
inlet, The Wadden Sea, Denmark (Ernstsen et al.,
2006b).
Hence, there is a considerable amount of detailed
field investigations on dynamic primary-bedform
height at various temporal scales. However, Julien
et al. (2002) stated that a composite analysis of
primary- and secondary-bedforms is recommended
for future studies on resistance to flow; and this is still
lacking.
In this paper, we report on variations of primary
as well as secondary-bedform height in the Innen-
jade tidal channel located in the Jade Bay, German
Bight, within two tidal cycles at falling and rising tide
based on repetitive high-resolution swath bathymet-
ric measurements. We provide process-based expla-
nations of the bedform height dynamics based on
simultaneous high-resolution measurements of flow

779
velocity and detailed spatial mapping of bed material
characteristics.
2 STUDY AREA
Surveys were carried out along a 700 m long tran-
sect (see Fig. 1) in the Innenjade tidal channel in the
central part of the Jade Bay system, located in the
German Bight (southeastern North Sea). The actual
analysis was performed on a 600 m long reach of this
transect, from 50 m to 650 m. The Innenjade con-
nects the Jadebusen in the inner part of Jade Bay with
the adjacent North Sea and also forms the navigation
channel to Wilhelmshaven; the survey transect, how-
ever, is located around 160 m northeast of the main
fairway. As only a few small rivers discharge into the
Jade Bay the water exchange with the North Sea is
little restricted and the hydrography of the bay is con-
trolled by the water entering from the German Bight
(Grabemann et al., 2004).
In the survey area the tides are semidiurnal with
a mean tidal range of about 3.7 m. The Innenjade
tidal channel is roughly 2–3 km wide and mean depths
range from around 15 m off the main navigation chan-
nel (in the area of the survey transect) up to 25 m in
the main fairway. In the navigation channel the surface
tidal currents can exceed 1.5 m/s (Grabemann et al.,
2004). The sandy channel bed (mean grain sizes of
0.3–0.7 mm) is covered with larger, compound bed-
forms which are superimposed by smaller bedforms
(Svenson et al., 2009).
Figure 1. Survey transect location in the Innenjade tidal
channel in the central part of the Jade Bay system, located
in the German Bight (southeastern North Sea). Bathymet-
ric image is merged from surveys in the period 9–16 April
2008. Grid cell size is 0.5 × 0.5 m. Altitude ranges from
13 m WGS84 (light grey) to 30 m WGS84 (dark grey).
39.39 m WGS84 is equivalent to mean sea level (MSL).
780
3 METHODS
3.1 Surveys and instruments
Surveys were conducted from the RV Senckenberg
along the transect (Fig. 1) during two semi-diurnal tidal
cycles in April 2008 (Fig. 2).
The first survey was on 10 April 2008 at falling tide
from mid ebb-phase to mid ebb-phase (23 repetitive
runs). The second survey was on 17 April 2008 at
rising tide from low water to low water (22 repetitive
runs).
Flow velocities were measured along the tran-
sect using a ship borne Workhorse Rio GrandeTM
(Teledyne RD Instruments) acoustic Doppler cur-
rent profiler (ADCP) operating at 1,200 kHz, and
the WinRiverTM (Teledyne RD Instruments) software
package for acquisition. The vertical resolution of the
ADCP was set to 0.20 m. The lateral resolution of the
recordings was ∼2 m at a ping rate of 0.5 Hz and a ves-
sel speed of ∼1 m/s. With a transect length of 600 m
this results in ∼300 recorded pings (or ensembles)
along the transect per run.
Bathymetry was recorded by means of a ship borne
SeaBatTM 8125 (Reson) multibeam echo sounder
(MBES) system operating at 455 kHz, and the
QINSyTM version 7.50 (QPS) data collecting and
processing software package. The vertical resolu-
tion of the MBES system is at a sub-centimetre scale
(www.reson.com), while the lateral resolution is a
function of water depth and vessel speed. For instance,
a water depth of 15 m results in an across-track res-
olution of 0.13–0.51 m, due to beam spreading at an
angle of 0.5◦ . Assuming a sound velocity of 1500 m/s,
the actual ping rate at a water depth of 15 m equals
25 Hz. At a vessel speed of 1 m/s, this results in
an along-track resolution of 0.04 m. As the outer-
most beams were not used in the present analysis,
a cell size of 0.2 × 0.2 m was chosen for the grid-
ding of the bathymetric data. The MBES system was
coupled with an AQUARIUSTM 5002 MK/SK (Mag-
ellan) dual-frequency (L1/L2) long-range kinematic
Figure 2. Tidal curve during April 2008 in the vicinity of the
survey line according to mean sea level (MSL). Grey lines:
tidal cycle surveys. Tide gauge data was provided by Wasser-
und Schifffahrtsamt (WSA) Wilhelmshaven.
(LRKTM ) global positioning system (GPS). Positions
and altitudes were output in World Geodetic System
1984 (WGS84) coordinates and displayed in relation
to the Universal Transverse Mercator 32 (UTM32)
map projection. Corrections for ship movements were
applied using an Octans SurfaceTM (Ixsea Oceano)
gyrocompass and motion sensor. The horizontal and
vertical precision of the integrated MBES system dur-
ing single surveys, conducted at vessel speeds more
than twice of that chosen in this study (cf. above),
is ±20 cm and ±2 cm, respectively, at a 95% confi-
dence level (Ernstsen et al., 2006a). It should be noted
that this horizontal precision does not represent the
full potential of the MBES system (Ernstsen et al.,
2006a), it probably being of the same order as the
vertical precision.
The bathymetric and flow velocity measurements
were performed simultaneously; and they were always
run against the main current in order to maintain a
straight course at a constant—and relatively low—
vessel speed of around 1 m/s. The low vessel speed was
chosen in order to increase the along-track resolution
of the measurements.
During the survey on 17 April 2008 as well as during
surveys on 29 and 30 April 2008, 72 bed material sam-
ples were collected along the very large, compound
bedform in the central part of the transect (Fig. 1) using
a ShipekTM grab sampler. For a detailed description of
the grain size sampling and analysis please refer to
Svenson et al. (2009).
3.2 Mean flow velocity calculation
For each run, the average mean flow velocity (depth-
averaged) along the transect was determined by aver-
aging the mean flow velocities for each recording
along the transect, calculated as the average of the
flow velocities of all the bins (depth cells) of a single
ensemble (recording).
The calculations based on the ADCP measure-
ments were all performed using MATLABTM (The
MathWorks) ADCP processing tools developed at
MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental
Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany (http://
www.marum.de/en/ADCP_processing.html).
3.3 Approximation of bedform height
Bedform height was determined for the large to very
large, compound bedforms (primary-bedforms) and
for the small to large, superimposed bedforms (secon-
dary-bedforms) along the transect (Figs. 1 and 3).
The heights were determined from bed elevation
profiles (BEPs) extracted from the gridded bathymetry.
Principally, the BEPs were processed according to
the bedform tracking tool (BTT) developed by van
der Mark and Blom (2007), which was also recently
applied by the same authors (van der Mark et al.,
Figure 3. Bedform elevation profile (as example the first
profile on 10 April 2008). a) Black line: linear trend line.
Filled and open black diamonds: tracked primary-bedform
crests and troughs, respectively. b) Grey line: moving average
trend line. Black triangles and grey diamonds and squares:
identified secondary-bedforms (for simplicity only the crests
of the identified secondary-bedforms are marked). Grey
diamonds and squares: high and flat secondary-bedforms
omitted in the analysis.
2008). The BTT follows a discrete approach in which
the geometric variables of individual bedforms are
determined from the original elevation profiles. How-
ever, as our BBT processing line deviates slightly from
the original one, we shortly outline our procedure for
both primary- and secondary-bedforms:
1. The BEP was extracted from a bathymetric grid
with a grid cell size of 0.20 m.
2. The BEP was interpolated to a horizontal step-
interval of 0.05 m.
3. Primary-bedforms: a linear trend line was deter-
mined (black line in the example Fig. 3a).
Secondary-bedforms: a moving average trend line
was determined (grey line in the example Fig. 3b).
The determination of the window size ω of the
moving average is outlined below (cf. Fig. 4).
4. Primary bedforms: the interpolated BEP was
detrended by extraction of the linear trend line.
Secondary-bedforms: the interpolated BEP was
detrended by extraction of the moving average
trend line.
5. The detrended BEP was smoothed using a moving
average filter, in order to avoid the effect of small
fluctuations in the detrended BEP around the zero
line on the following zero up- and down-crossings.
Primary-bedforms: ω = 15 m.
Secondary-bedforms: ω =1 m.

781
Figure 4. Standard deviation σ of the detrended bed eleva-
tion profile as a function of the window size ω of the moving
average filter (black line, as example the first profile on 10
April 2008). Grey line: second derivative of the function
σ = f (ω). Dashed arrows: ω-root of the second derivative
equal to the minimum slope of the function σ = f (ω) as well
as the associated σ .
6. Zero up- and down-crossings were determined of
the smoothed BEP.
7. Crests and troughs were determined of the inter-
polated (original) BEP; a crest being located at the
maximum z-value between a zero down- and zero
up-crossing, and a trough being at the minimum z-
value between a zero down- and zero up-crossing
(filled and open diamonds in the example Fig. 3a
show primary-bedforms; black triangles and grey
diamonds and squares in the example Fig. 3b show
secondary bedforms).
8. Primary-bedforms: the mean crest and trough ele-
vation of the primary-bedforms were determined.
Secondary-bedforms: Individual secondary-
bedforms were determined from the tracked crests
and troughs; a bedform being identified wher-
ever the x-value of a crest is larger and smaller,
respectively, than the x-values of two successive
troughs.
9. Primary-bedforms (final step): the mean primary-
bedform height along the transect was determined
as the difference between the mean crest and
trough elevations.
10. Secondary-bedforms: the length of individual
secondary-bedforms was determined as the
trough-to-trough distance (baseline) and the height
as the vertical distance from the crest to the line
defining the bedform length (baseline).
11. Secondary bedforms: high and flat secondary-
bedforms (high length-height ratio) were dis-
carded. The determination of high and flat
secondary-bedforms is outlined below (cf. Fig. 5).
12. Secondary bedforms (final step): mean length
and height of the ‘‘normal’’ secondary-bedforms
along the transect were determined.
This procedure does not track the individual
primary-bedforms satisfactorily (see example Fig. 3a);
782
Figure 5. Length-height ratio Ls /Hs of the secondary-
bedforms plotted against secondary-bedform height Hs along
the transect (as example the first profile on 10 April 2008).
Black triangles: accepted bedforms used to determine the
mean length and height of the secondary-bedforms along the
transect. Grey diamonds and squares: discarded high and flat
secondary-bedforms (see the text for detailed information).
and, therefore, it is not possible to determine actual
dimensions of individual primary-bedforms. The deter-
mined mean primary-bedform height may be consid-
ered as a characteristic or virtual bedform height. Since
the exact same crests and troughs were tracked in all
45 analyzed BEPs, we preferred this objective method
compared to subjective manual bedform tracking.
The window size of the moving average trend line
(cf. step 3 in the processing line) was determined
objectively. The approach was inspired by various
continuous approaches (or random field statistical
approaches): the semivariogram approach initially
applied by Robert (1988) and Robert and Richards
(1988) and recently by van Dijk et al. (2008) as well as
the root-mean-square deviation approaches (or stan-
dard deviation approaches) first applied by Nikora
and Hicks (1997) and more recently by Jerolmack and
Mohrig (2005) and Friedrich et al. (2007). We deter-
mined the standard deviation σ of the detrended BEP
as a function of the window size ω of the moving aver-
age filter (black line in the example Fig. 5); σ being
given by:
 1/2
1
n
σ = (zi − z̄)2 (1)
n i=1
where n = number of observations, z = bed eleva-
tion, and the over bar represents an average along the
transect. Equation 1 is identical to the interface width
(or root-mean-square elevation) applied by Jerolmack
and Mohrig (2005). In case of a bedform field consist-
ing of simple bedforms, i.e. no secondary-bedforms,
the slope of the function σ = f (ω) approaches zero
for ω increasing towards infinity. However, in case
of compound bedforms the slope re-increases after a
temporary decrease (see the example Fig. 4). Jerol-
mack and Mohrig (2005) refer to the increasing slope
as the scaling regime and the decreasing slope as the
roll over and, subsequently, saturation regime. Adopt-
ing these terms, in the example shown in Fig. 4, the
increasing slope up to a ω ≈ 5 m represents the scaling
regime of the secondary-bedforms, while the increas-
ing slope from 10.55 m represents the scaling regime
of the primary-bedforms (see the example Fig. 4). The
exact ω-value of the minimum slope (marked by the Figure 6. Primary-bedform height (a) and secondary-
dashed arrow in the example Fig. 4) is equal to the root bedform height (b) as a function of mean flow velocity with
of the second derivative of the function σ = f (ω); ebb being negative and flood positive. Black line: 080410-
σ = f (ω) can be described by a polynomial. The mov- falling. Grey line: 080417-rising. Arrow: last measurement
ing average trend line shown in the example in Fig. 4 in each survey (and displays the direction of the temporal
is with a ω = 10.55 m. development).
The determined ω and σ may be considered as
characteristic length and height scales of the secondary-
bedforms. The determined window sizes were approx-
imately twice the secondary-bedform lengths (i.e.
Ls ≈ 0.5ω), and the associated standard deviations
were approximately half the secondary-bedform
heights (i.e. Hs ≈ 2σ ). However, in this paper the
continuous approach was only used to determine
the ω of the moving average trend line required for
the detrending of the BEP.
The discarded high and flat secondary-bedforms
typically contained two groups of bedforms: the high-
est bedforms and the flattest secondary-bedforms
along the transect (grey diamonds and squares, respec-
tively, in the example Fig. 5). Secondary-bedforms
were discarded (considered as high or flat secondary-
bedforms) if the height was larger than the average
height plus one standard deviation, or if the length-
height ratio was larger than 25. In general the high
secondary-bedforms formed the crests of the primary-
bedforms (most likely affected by the dynamics of
flood cap formation), and the flat secondary-bedforms Figure 7. Vertical (altitude) movement of primary-bedform
were on the lower lee side of the primary-bedforms crests (a) and troughs (b) and of secondary-bedform crests
(most likely affected by the separation cell in the lee (c) and troughs (d) as a function of mean flow velocity, with
of the primary-bedforms). It was essential to exclude ebb being negative and flood positive. Legends are similar to
these bedforms from the analysis, as they display dif- Fig. 7. Error bars (for simplicity only shown on one dataset)
ferent dynamics. Further discussion of these features represent the precision of the MBES system equal to ±0.02 m
is beyond the scope of this paper. (c.f. section 3.1 or Ernstsen et al., 2006a).

4 RESULTS water, primary-bedform height remained relatively

4.1 Bedform height dynamics
During both tidal cycles, primary-bedform height gen-
erally decreased during ebb tide and increased during
flood tide (Fig. 6a).
During the flood phases of both tidal cycles around
maximum mean flow velocities, primary-bedform
height increased with increasing mean flow veloc-
ity and decreased with decreasing mean flow velocity
(Fig. 6a). At low mean flow velocities around slack
constant (Fig. 6a).
During both tidal cycles, secondary-bedform height
generally increased with increasing mean flow veloc-
ity and decreased with decreasing mean flow velocity
(Fig. 6b).
4.2 Bedform trough and crest dynamics
The vertical movement of the primary-bedform crests
was larger than that of the troughs (Fig. 7a, b). While

783

Figure 8. Vertical (altitude) and horizontal (distance) move-
ment of the crest (a) and the southeastern trough (b) of the
very large primary-bedform in the center of the transect.
Legends are similar to Fig. 7.
the vertical movement of the troughs of the primary-
bedforms was at the range of the precision of the
MBES system, the vertical crest movement was sig-
nificant (see error bars in Fig. 7a).
Regarding the secondary-bedforms, the vertical
movement of the crests and troughs were at the same
range (Fig. 7c, d); and the variation was generally
within or at the range of the precision of the MBES
system (Fig. 7c, d). The shape of the vertical move-
ment of the secondary-bedform crests and troughs as
a function of mean flow velocity was largely identical
(Fig. 7c, d).
The vertical and horizontal movement of the crest
and trough of the very large primary-bedform in the
center of the transect is shown in Fig. 8. This crest
and trough represent the highest and lowest point,
respectively, along the transect (see Fig. 3), and clearly
demonstrates the significantly larger dynamics of the
crest compared to the trough. In addition, it shows the
general northwestward (down-distance) migration of
the system.
5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1 Subjective remains in the modified bedform
tracking tool (BTT)
The choice of window size ω of the moving average
applied for the smoothing of the detrended BEP (cf.
point 5 in section 3.3) is currently entirely subjective.
The decision of exactly which ω to choose is not sen-
sitive; nevertheless, we aim at developing a procedure
to objectively set the values.
The threshold for flat secondary-bedforms omitted
in the analysis (i.e. length-height ratio larger than 25,
cf. section 3.3) is presently also completely subjective.
Here, we are aiming at a cluster analysis approach as
basis for the acceptance of secondary-bedforms, and
as a basis for a potential classification of secondary-
bedforms.
784
5.2 Mechanisms controlling primary-bedform
height
Variation in primary-bedform height (Fig. 6a) is mainly
due to erosion and deposition on the crest, as the trough
elevations remain practically constant (Fig. 7a, b
and 8). This is in line with our earlier observations of
a single very large, compound bedform in the Grådyb
tidal inlet channel in the Danish Wadden Sea during a
single tidal cycle (Ernstsen et al., 2006b). In addition,
this is also in accordance with earlier observations of
Nasner (1974) from the Elbe River, Germany. These
variations are directly related to flood cap dynamics
(e.g. Dalrymple and Rhodes, 1995). Kostaschuk and
Best (2005), in the Fraser Estuary, Canada, also relate
variations in primary-bedform height to erosion and
deposition on the crest; however, at low flow velocities
they ascribe the primary-bedform height variation to
erosion in bedform troughs that is likely caused by
increased turbulence resulting from development and
expansion of the flow separation/deceleration zone.
Detailed bed material characteristics along the tran-
sect, recently presented by Svenson et al. (2009),
revealed a high content of shell fractions coarser than
2 mm in the troughs of the primary-bedforms. We
assign the low erosion in the troughs to a combina-
tion of low flow velocity and armoring through shell
lag-deposits, despite relatively low mean grain sizes
of the bed material around 0.350 mm (Svenson et al.,
2009) and potentially high turbulence intensities due
to lee-side separation cells.
Erosion of primary-bedform crests occur at high
energy stages during ebb tide, while deposition over-
all takes place during flood tide (Fig. 7a); however,
at maximum flood tide the flow velocity apparently
shortly exceeds the erosion threshold of the crest mate-
rial, leading to a lowering of the primary-bedform
crests (Fig. 7a). The relatively stable primary-bedform
crests (and thereby relatively constant primary-
bedform height) around slack water is ascribed to
flow velocities at primary-bedform crests being below
the erosion threshold of the generally relatively coarse
crest material, having mean grain sizes around
0.700 mm (Svenson et al., 2009). Hence, we expect
the lowest primary-bedform crest elevation (and min-
imum primary-bedform height) to occur by the end of
the ebb phase, and the highest elevation (and maxi-
mum primary-bedform height) to occur shortly before
maximum flood tide
Along with the erosion and deposition on the crests
of the primary-bedforms, we expect to observe varia-
tions in crest material characteristics. This, we are in
the process of testing.
5.3 Mechanisms controlling secondary-bedform
height
As the secondary-bedform crest and trough varia-
tions display a similar tidal cycle pattern (Fig. 7c, d),
and the resulting residual of the variations is within
the precision of the MBES system, we are unable to
conclude what the mechanisms for the variations in
secondary-bedform height exactly are. Nevertheless,
we hypothesize that the increase in secondary-bedform
height with increasing flow velocity (Fig. 6b) is mainly
due to an excess build-up of the crest (Fig. 7c, d) pri-
marily through internal sediment turnover, i.e. merely
the shape of the secondary-bedform changes. How-
ever, at maximum flow velocity (ebb and flood) the
secondary-bedform crests and troughs start eroding
(Fig. 7d), the erosion of the crests exceeding the
erosion of the troughs (Fig. 7c, d). This leads to a
decrease in secondary-bedform height at maximum
and initially falling flow velocities (Fig. 6b). These
trends are in accordance with the prediction model
presented by Bartholdy et al. (2005). The relatively
dynamic secondary-bedform trough elevations are
probably due to the absence of a shell lag deposit
in the secondary-bedform troughs, as compared to the
primary-bedforms. We are currently testing this.
From a basic scientific point of view these phe-
nomenological observations contribute to an improved
understanding and quantification of the dynamics of
complex morphological systems; and, in addition,
from an engineering point of view the findings are
of direct relevance regarding e.g. navigation channel
monitoring and maintenance dredging.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was funded by the German Research Foun-
dation (DFG) through MARUM—Research Center
and Cluster of Excellence and GLOMAR—Bremen
International Graduate School for Marine Sciences.
The Senckenberg Institute provided the ship time.
We thank Christian Svenson (PhD student) and Jan
Makurat (BSc student) for performing the grain size
analyses.
REFERENCES
Allen, J.R.L. & Friend, P.F. 1976. Changes in intertidal dunes
during two spring-neap cycles, Lifeboat Station Bank,
Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk (England). Sedimentology
23: 329–346.
Bartholdy, J., Bartholomae, A. & Flemming, B.W. 2002.
Grain-size control of large compound flow-transverse
bedforms in a tidal inlet of the Danish Wadden Sea. Mar
Geol 188: 391–413.
Bartholdy, J., Flemming, B.W., Bartholomae, A. & Ernst-
sen, V.B. 2005. Flow and grain size control of depth-
independent simple subaqueous dunes. J Geophys Res
110(F04S16): 12 p.
Dalrymple, R.W. & Rhodes, R.N. 1995. Estuarine dunes
and bars. In G.M.E. Perillo (ed), Geomorphology and
Sedimentology of Estuaries. Elsevier Science, p. 359–422.
785
Ernstsen, V.B., Noormets, R., Hebbeln, D., Bartholomä, A.
& Flemming, B.W. 2006a. Precision of high-resolution
multibeam echo sounding coupled with high-accuracy
positioning in a shallow water coastal environment.
Geo-Mar Lett 26(3): 141–149.
Ernstsen, V.B., Noormets, R., Winter, C., Hebbeln, D.,
Bartholomä, A., Flemming, B.W. & Bartholdy, J. 2006b.
Quantification of dune dynamics during a tidal cycle in
an inlet channel of the Danish Wadden Sea. Geo-Mar Lett
26(3): 151–163.
Flemming, B.W. & Davis, R.A., Jr. 1992. Dimensional
adjustment of subaqueous dunes in the course of a
spring-neap semicycle in a mesotidal backbarrier
channel environment (German Wadden Sea, Southern
North Sea). In: B.W. Flemming (ed), Tidal Clastics
1992. Courier Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg 151:
28–30.
Friedrich, H., Paarlberg, A.J. & Lansink, J. 2007. Evalu-
ation of statistical properties of dune profiles. In: C.M.
Dohmen-Janssen & S.J.M.H. Hulscher (eds), River,
Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics: RCEM 2007.
Taylor & Francis Group, London, p. 913–921.
Giri, S., Yamaguchi, Y., Shimizu, Y. & Nelson, J. 2007.
Simulating temporal response of bedform characteristics
to varying flows. In: C.M. Dohmen-Janssen & S.J.M.H.
Hulscher (eds), River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphody-
namics: RCEM 2007. Taylor & Francis Group, London,
p. 939–947.
Grabemann, H-J., Grabemann, I. & Eppel, D.P. 2004. Cli-
mate change and hydrodynamic impact in the Jade-Weser
area: a case study. In: G. Schernewski & T. Dolch (eds)
Geographie der Meere und Küsten. Coastline Reports 1:
83–91.
Jerolmack, D.J. & Mohrig, D. 2005. A unified model for
subaqueous bed form dynamics. Water Resour Res 41
(W12421): 10 p.
Julien, P.Y., Klaassen, G.J., ten Brinke, W.B.M. & Wilbers,
A.W.E. 2002. Case study: Bed resistance of Rhine River
during 1998 flood. J Hydraul Eng-ASCE 128(12):
1042–1050.
Kleinhans, M.G. 2002. Sorting out sand and gravel, sedi-
ment transport and deposition in sand-gravel bed rivers.
PhD thesis, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Utrecht
University, The Netherlands, 317 pp.
Kostaschuk, R., Church, M & Lutemauer, J. 1989. Bedforms,
bedmaterial, and bedload transport in a saltwedge estu-
ary: Fraser River. British Columbia. Can J Earth Sci 26:
1440–1452.
Kostaschuk, R.A. & Illersich, S.A. 1995. Dune geornetry
and sediment transport: Fraser River, British Columbia.
In: E.J. Hicken (ed), River Geomorphology. John Wiley
& Sons, Sussex, England, p. 19–36.
Kostaschuk, R. & Best, J. 2005. Response of sand dunes to
variations in tidal flow Fraser Estuary, Canada. J Geophys
Res 110(F04S04): 11.
Nasner, H. 1974. Über das Verhalten von Transportkörpern
im Tidegebiet. Mitteilungen des Franzius-Instituts für
Grund- und Wasserbau Technische Hochschule Hannover
40: 1–149.
Nasner, H. 1978. Time-lag of dunes for unsteady flow
conditions. Proceedings of the 16th International Con-
ference on Coastal Engineering (ICCE), American Soci-
ety of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Hamburg, Germany,
p. 1801–1817.
Nikora, V.I. & Hicks, D.M. 1997. Scaling relationships for
sand wave development in unidirectional flow. J Hydraul
Eng-ASCE 123(12): 1152–1156.
Paarlberg, A. 2008. Modelling dune evolution and dynamic
roughness in rivers. PhD thesis, University of Twente,
Enschede, The Netherlands, 144 pp.
Robert, A. 1988. Statistical properties of sediment bed
profiles in alluvial channels. Math Geol 20(3): 205–225.
Robert, A. & Richards, K.S. 1988. On the modelling of sand
bedforms using the semivariogram. Earth Surf Proc Land
13: 459–473.
Stückrath, T. 1969. Die Bewegung von großriffeln an der
Sohle des Rio Paraná. Mitteilungen des Franzius-Instituts
für Grund- und Wasserbau Technische Hochschule Han-
nover 32: 267–293.
Svenson, C., Ernstsen, V.B., Winter, C. & Hebbeln, D. 2009.
Tide-driven sediment variations on a large compound
dune in the Jade tidal inlet channel, Southeastern North
Sea. J Coastal Res SI56: 361–365.
Terwindt, J.H.J. & Brouwer, M.J.N. 1986. The behavior of
intertidal sandwaves during neap-spring tide cycles and
786
View publication stats
the relevance for palaeoflow reconstructions. Sedimentol-
ogy 33: 1–31.
van der Mark, C.F. & Blom, A. 2007. A new and widely
applicable tool for determining the geometric proper-
ties of bedforms. Technical report, University of Twente,
Enschede, The Netherlands, 57 p.
van der Mark, C.F., Blom, A. & Hulscher, S.J.M.H. 2008.
Quantification of variability in bedform geometry.
J Geophys Res 113(F03020): 11 p.
van Dijk, T.A.G.P., Lindenbergh, R.C. & Egberts, P.J.P.
2008. Separating bathymetric data representing multi-
scale rhythmic bed forms: A geostatistical and spec-
tral method compared. J Geophys Res 113(F04017):
16 p.
Villard, P.V. & Church, M. 2003. Dunes and associated
sand transport in a tidally influenced sand-bed channel
Fraser River, British Columbia. Can J Earth Sci 40:
115–130.
Wilbers, A.W.E. & ten Brinke, W.B.M. 2003. The response of
subaqueous dunes to floods in sand and gravel bed reaches
of the Dutch Rhine. Sedimentology 50: 1013–1034.