Fine-Grained Versus Coarse-Grained Wave Ripples Generated Experimentally Under Large-Scale Oscillatory Flow

Abstract

Abstract Wave ripples were generated in a wave tunnel under large-scale oscillatory flow (orbital diameter 1–4.5 m) using two different grain sizes, very fine sand and coarse sand. The geometry of bed configurations that were produced varied strongly as a function of grain size: small anorbital ripples (wavelengths ~ 10 cm, heights 5 cm). These results support the hypothesis advanced by Leckie (1988) that large waves generate markedly different stratigraphic signatures in fine-grained and coarse-grained sediment.