Structuring of suspended sediments in periodic vortex flow over a vortex ripple

The formation of spatially ordered structures in a suspended sediment under the action of two-dimensional standing surface gravity waves is studied experimentally for the first time in a rectangular vessel oscillating in the vertical direction. The parameters of the structured regions in vessels with individual vortex ripples and groups of ripples are found for the first and second wave modes. Isolated structured regions of the suspended sediment appear over the bottom topography and gradually reach the free surface. The corresponding spatial horizontal scales are determined by the sand ripple dimensions, while the vertical scale of the clouds increases with time. In all experiments, the structures formed remained unchanged during the whole interval of the fluid wave motion and disappeared when the parametric excitation of the waves stopped.