Nearshore sediment characteristics and formation of mudbanks along the Kerala coast, southwest India

In order to gain insight into the formation dynamics of mudbanks off the Kerala coast of India, extensive surveying of the nearshore bathymetry along with sediment characterization was undertaken. The textural and geotechnical properties of the surficial sediments of a mudbank were determined during pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon periods. The mudbank sediments were clayey silts with high water and organic carbon contents, high Atterberg limits, and low bulk density, and therefore very susceptible to entrainment. During the monsoon, the mudbank regime was characterised by enhanced turbidity and a benthic fluff layer, triggered by the increasing swell of the early monsoon period. Re-suspension exposed a more consolidated, previously sub-bottom, layer which exhibited lower water content and greater shear strength than the pre-monsoon seabed. Texturally, the monsoon seabed was similar to the pre-monsoon seabed, with the same modal grain size, but the proportions of sand and coarse silt increased nearshore, while the proportions of fine and very fine silt increased offshore. There was a seaward-fining textural gradient at all times, but this became pronounced during the monsoon period. Paradoxically, the monsoonal seabed displayed greatly reduced wet bulk density. It is hypothesized that this was due to the presence of gas, probably methane, in the sediments (while the pre-monsoon sediments were fully saturated, the monsoon sediments were only 83% saturated). We speculate that the gas was forced into the surficial sediments either by wave pumping (at the onset of the monsoon) or by seaward-flowing subbottom freshwater (derived from monsoonal rains). With the waning of the monsoon, the benthic fluid mud layer rapidly disappeared and the seabed returned to its pre-monsoon state as suspended sediments were re-deposited. The mudbank regime is therefore essentially an in situ phenomenon. It is suggested that the mudbanks are palimpsest, marshy, lagoonal deposits, rich in organic matter and derived gas, that were submerged after a marine transgression. The surficial sediment is annually entrained during the monsoon, but erosion is limited by the formation of the benthic fluid mud layer, which attenuates wave generated turbulence. Although some fine sediment disperses alongshore and offshore, most is returned to the seabed as the monsoon declines. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.