Sediment resuspension in the wakes of Hurricanes Edouard and Hortense

A unique set of physical and optical observations of sediment resuspension was obtained during the passage of two hurricanes, Edouard and Hortense. The eyes of these hurricanes passed within approximately 110 and 350 km, respectively, of our study site on the continental shelf (100 km south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts) within a two-week period in the fall of 1996. Sediments were resuspended to more than 30 m above the ocean bottom during both hurricanes. The sediment resuspension processes associated with the two hurricanes are shown to differ primarily because of the separation distances between the eyes of the hurricanes and the observational site (e.g., local versus remote forcing). Observed particle-size distributions were shifted toward smaller scales during Hurricane Edouard because of flocculate disaggregation caused by high levels of localized shear and turbulence.