MARUM Coastal Geosciences Group

Mission

The general aim of the group is to gain a comprehensive understanding of different coastal systems and their interaction in order to be able to evaluate current states, assess their stability, explain past changes and predict future developments under different conditions.

Coastal morphodynamics are understood as the physical drivers of eco-systems. They involve a bandwidth of spatial and temporal scales: from the microscopic interaction of turbulent fluid motions with single particles to meso-scale tidal dynamics of subaqueous bedforms to macro-scale seasonal adaptations of beach profiles or the development of tidal channels, to the mega-scale evolution of shorelines over decades. We apply a synthesis of field observational data, laboratory experiments and numerical model simulations to address different questions in the fields of

the formation, development and hydraulic effect of bedforms,
the morphodynamics of tidal inlets and beaches,
the dynamics of suspended matter and fluid mud.

Team

Christian Winter	Head	+49 421 218 65656	cwinter(at)marum.de
Alice Lefebvre	PostDoc	+49 421 218 65680	alefebvr(at)marum.de
Tina Loebl	PostDoc	+49 421 218 65668	mloebl(at)marum.de
Marius Becker	PostDoc	+49 421 218 65674	mbecker(at)marum.de
Eva Kwoll	PhD student	+49 421 218 65580	ekwoll(at)marum.de
Gerald Herrling	PhD student		gherrling(at)marum.de
Chris Daly	PhD student	+49 421 218 65582	chrisdaly(at)uni-bremen.de
Serena Fraccascia	PhD student	+49 421 218 65774	serena.fraccascia(at)uni-bremen.de
Kai Chu	PhD student	+49 421 218 65581	chu(at)uni-bremen.de
Brice Blossier	PhD student		bblossier(at)marum.de
Arne Schwab	PhD student
Christian Svenson	PhD student (external)		svenson(at)bafg.de

Guests
Ira Didenkulova (Senior Scientist at the Laboratory of Wave Engineering at Tallinn University of Technology) is a visiting Humboldt Fellow at MARUM.

Students
Gabriel Herbst, Markus Bennighoff, Leo Borchert, Judith Grotelueschen, Nina Kollhofer

Former members
Yann Ferret (postdoc)
Verner B. Ernsten (postdoc)
Li Wang (PhD student)
Yunwei Wang (visiting PhD student)
Mark Trevethan (postdoc)

Research projects

MARUM SD4	Dynamics at the fluid-bed interface
KFKI AufMod	AufMod-B Bedforms
INTERCOAST IC1	Beach Morphodynamics
INTERCOAST IC3	Bedform bifurcations
COSYNA	Boundary layer observation systems
WIMO	Scientific Concepts for German Bight Monitoring
BAW SUSP	Suspended Particulate Matter dynamics in tidal environments

Methods

Ship based observations

We construct and use state-of-the-art optical and hydro-acoustical field instrumentation for the in-situ measurement of hydrodynamics (turbulence, currents, waves), sediment dynamics (suspended sediment concentration, particle sizes, turbidity), and morphodynamics (high resolution bathymetry).

Modelling

We develop and apply conceptual, empirical and process based numerical morphodynamic models for the simulation of coastal system dynamics.

Land based surveys

We use camera images of the shorebreak and geodetic surveying to quantify beach morphodynamics.

Lander systems

We design and deploy autonomous landers for the detailed study of boundary layer processes.

Recent publications

Lefebvre A, Ernstsen VB, Winter C, 2011. Influence of compound bedforms on hydraulic roughness in a tidal environment. Ocean Dynamics. DOI: 10.1007/s10236-011-0476-6

Wang Y, Hebbeln D, Winter C, Gao, S, 2011. Modeling Grain Size Distribution Patterns in the Backbarrier Tidal Basins, East Frisian Wadden Sea (Southern North Sea). Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64.

Winter C, 2011. Macro scale morphodynamics of the Southern German Bight, North Sea. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64.

Stark, N., Hanff, H., Svenson, C., Ernstsen, V.B., Lefebvre, A., Winter, C., Kopf, A., 2011. Coupled penetrometer, MBES and ADCP assessments of tidal variations of the surface sediment layer along active subaqueous dunes, Danish Wadden Sea. Geo-Marine Letters, DOI 10.1007/s00367-011-0230-6

Chu K, Winter C, Hebbeln D, Schulz M, 2011. Optimization Scheme for a Coastal Morphodynamic Model. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64.

Daly C, Winter C, 2011. Schematic Modelling of Embayed Beach Morphology. Journal Coastal Research, SI 64.

Ernstsen V, Lefebvre A, Winter C, 2011. Spatiotemporal height variations of large-scale bedforms in the Grådyb tidal inlet channel (Danish Wadden Sea): a case study on coastal system impact. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64.

Fraccascia S, Hebbeln D, Winter C, 2011. Bedform evolution in a tidal inlet inferred from wavelet analysis. Journal Coastal Research, SI 64.

Kwoll E, Winter C, 2011. Determination of the initial grain size distribution in a tidal inlet by means of numerical modelling. Journal Coastal Research, SI 64.

Lefebvre A, Ernstsen VB, Winter C, 2011. Bedform characterisation through 2D spectral analysis. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64.

... all publications

Contact

We are located in the MARUM building

MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
University of Bremen
Leobener str.
28334 Bremen
Germany

Every other Mondays, the team gets together at 11:30 in the MARUM building for a group meeting, during which someone usually gives a presentation (work in progress, cruise report, practice of a conference talk...) to the other members.
These meetings are designed to encourage social and scientific exchange and to keep a good communication within the group.
If you would like to participate, please contact Alice Lefebvre.