Estimating global shelf sediment mobility due to swell waves

Global climate models (GCMs), such as those produced at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), generate data that are relevant to the study of marine sedimentary processes. We used estimates of significant wave height and period, derived from an ECMWF GCM, to predict for the first time the area of continental shelves over which sediment is mobilised. The wave climatology was such that 0.1 mm diameter quartz sand had the potential to be mobilised on at least one occasion between July 1992 and July 1995 over 41.6% of the earth's continental shelves. The North Atlantic region has the most energetic global wave climate, strong enough to mobilise 0.1 mm diameter quartz sand to water depths of up to 234 m at least once over a 3-year period. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.