Christopher Daly

Quantifying Sediment Flux in Rip Currents (SediRip)

PostDoctoral Fellow: Dr Christopher Daly
Scientifiqs sponsors: Dr Nicolas Le Dantec and Dr France Floc’h (LGO)
LabexMER Research Axis 5 : Dynamics and vulnerability of coastal zones

Rip currents are an enigmatic and intriguing type of flow pattern commonly found in nearshore environments. They can develop powerful flows capable of flushing trace material from the surf zone, and as such, they are an important mechanism for the cross-shore exchange of suspended sediment between the surf zone and the upper shelf. In order to 1) quantify how much sediment rips are able to transport offshore under various conditions, and to 2) determine the fate of sediment flushed from the surf zone via rips, SediRip aims to develop an ambitious strategy to measure and simulate sediment flux in rips using advanced acoustic measurement techniques and numerical models, respectively.

Figure 1. Image detection of sediment suspended within a flash rip at Grand Popo beach, Benin.