Many marine animals track odor plumes to their source. Although studies of plume-tracking behavior have been performed in unidirectional flow, benthic animals such as crustaceans live in coastal habitats characterized by waves. We compared signal encounters by odor-plume-tracking stomatopods (mantis shrimp) in wave-affected and unidirectional flow in a flume. Stomatopods are small enough that w...

The effects of seagrass bed geometry on wave attenuation and suspended sediment transport were investigated using a modified Nearshore Community Model (NearCoM). The model was enhanced to account for cohesive sediment erosion and deposition, sediment transport, combined wave and current shear stresses, and seagrass effects on drag. Expressions for seagrass drag as a function of seagrass shoot d...

Previous studies have hypothesized that wave-induced drag forces may constrain the size of intertidal organisms by dislodging or breaking organisms that exceed some critical dimension. In this study, we explored constraints on the size of the articulated coralline alga Calliarthron, which thrives in wave-exposed intertidal habitats. Its ability to survive depends critically upon its segmented m...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Intertidal macroalgae must resist extreme hydrodynamic forces imposed by crashing waves. How does frond flexibility mitigate drag, and how does flexibility affect predictions of drag and dislodgement in the field? METHODS We characterized flexible reconfiguration of six seaweed species in a recirculating water flume, documenting both shape change and area reduction as fro...

The objective of this thesis was to increase our understanding of two-phase geophysical flows (e.g. debris flows) by providing velocity profiles in idealized laboratory avalanches. To that end, we developed a new experimental platformmade up of an inclined flume coupled to an imaging system to measure velocity in granular suspension. The inclined flume was 3.5 m long and 10 cm wide and could be...

Mass settling of phytoplankton can result in the accumulation of a layer of phytodetritus on the sea floor. In order to determine the fate of this organic matter, we must know whether the phytodetritus may be returned to the water column by resuspension. This study was designed to measure the critical bed shear stress (t0crit) for resuspension of phytodetritus and to test whether t0crit differs...

The specification of flow resistance is central to both simple and sophisticated hydraulic analyses. Yet it remains encumbered with the greatest level of uncertainty of all hydraulic parameters; despite over a century of field and flume experimentation. The selection of resistance coefficients for natural rivers remains more an empirical art than a matter of implementing robust scientifically v...