EFFECT OF GRAIN SHAPE ON BEDLOAD TRANSPORT OF CORAL GRAVELS UNDER TURBULENT FLOW

Abstract

Coral islands with low-lying accumulations of wave-deposited carbonate bioclasts are suffering significant erosion and flooding threats due to sea level rise and wave climate changes. Properties of coral gravels are distinct from natural quartz sands in its larger skeletal porosity and more irregular shape (de Kruijf et al., 2021). This study aims to investigate how the particle shape affects bedload transport process of coral gravels under turbulent flow by means of laboratory experiments, which can provide insights for better predictive skills of morphology change of coral islands.