Photo of sand ripples underwater.
Credit: Dudarev Mikhail, Adobe Stock
Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

Ripples are bedforms on sandy sea beds in coastal regions that form and react to waves and currents. The sediment dynamics of these features are complex but important for understanding how coastal morphology can change at this scale.

DeVoe et al. [2025] investigate how sand and water behave inside and above these ripples. They use advanced computer models that combine fluid (using a Large Eddy Simulation) and sediment behavior (using a Discrete Particle Model) to find out how forces and shear stresses vary over and within a moving bed using a new mathematical method. The numerical method does not need assumptions of the near-bed boundary layer as required by other models and is an important new contribution toward understanding coastal sediment transport.

Diagram from the study.
Diagram showing the numerical model domain, including the coordinate system and relevant dimensions. The mobile bed contains six sand ripples with wavelength (λr) and height (ηr), comprised of spherical sediment particles with diameter (dp). Flow over the bed oscillates in direction to simulate the influence of surface waves. Credit: DeVoe et al. [2025], Figure 1a

Citation: DeVoe, S. R., Wengrove, M. E., Foster, D. L., & Hagan, D. S. (2025). Characterization of the spatiotemporal distribution of shear stress and bedload flux within a mobile, rippled bed. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 130, e2025JC022369. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JC022369

—Ryan P. Mulligan, Editor, JGR: Oceans

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