Migrating bedforms boost sediment transport in nearshore waves and currents.
Bedload transport in the nearshore is crucial for moving sediment. Observations show that bedforms move more sediment during combined wave-current flows than in wave or current dominant conditions. Bedforms transport the most sediment when strong currents align with high-energy waves. Bedform migration rates increase with the total kinetic energy in the flow. An energetics-based model best represents the data for sediment transport in combined flows.