Wave-driven setup and alongshore flows observed onshore of a submarine canyon

Abstract

The effect of alongshore variations in the incident wavefield on wave-driven setup and on alongshore flows in the surfzone is investigated using observations collected onshore of a submarine canyon. Wave heights and radiation stresses at the outer edge of the surfzone (water depth ≈2.5 m) varied by up to a factor of 4 and 16, respectively, over a 450 m alongshore distance, resulting in setup variations as large as 0.1 m along the shoreline (water depth ≈0.3 m). Even with this strong alongshore variability, wave-driven setup was dominated by the cross-shore gradient of the wave radiation stress, and setup observed in the surfzone is predicted well by a one-dimensional cross-shore momentum balance. Both cross-shore radiation stress gradients and alongshore setup gradients contributed to the alongshore flows observed in the inner surfzone when alongshore gradients in offshore wave heights were large, and a simplified alongshore momentum balance suggests that the large [O(1 kg/(s2 m)] observed setup-induced pressure gradients can drive strong [O(1 m/s)] alongshore currents.