Coral reefs generate substantial volumes of carbonate sediment, which is redistributed throughout the reef‐lagoon system. However, there is little understanding of the specific processes that transport this sediment produced on the outer portions of coral reefs throughout a reef‐lagoon system. Furthermore, the separate contributions of currents, sea‐swell waves, and infragravity waves to transport, which are all strongly influenced by the presence of a reef, is not fully understood. Here, we show that in reef‐lagoon systems most suspended sediment is transported close to the seabed and can, at times, be suspended higher in the water column during oscillatory flow transitions (i.e., near slack flow) at sea‐swell wave frequencies, and during the peak onshore oscillatory velocity phase at infragravity wave frequencies. While these wave frequencies contribute to the transport of suspended sediment offshore and onshore, respectively, the net flux is small. Mean currents are the primary transport mechanism and responsible for almost 2 orders of magnitude more suspended‐sediment flux than sea‐swell and infragravity waves. Whilst waves may not be the primary mechanism for the transport of sediment, our results suggest they are an important driver of sediment suspension from the seabed, as well as contributing to the partitioning of sediment grain sizes from the reef to the shoreline. As the ocean wave climate changes, sea level rises, and the composition of reef benthic communities change, the relative importance of mean currents, sea‐swell waves, and infragravity waves is likely to change, and this will affect how sediment is redistributed throughout reef‐lagoon systems.

中文翻译：

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洋流，海涌波和次重力波对珊瑚礁-泻湖系统中悬浮泥沙运移的贡献

珊瑚礁会产生大量的碳酸盐沉积物，这些碳酸盐沉积物会在整个礁湖系统中重新分布。但是，对于将这种沉积物在珊瑚礁外部穿过整个礁湖系统运输的具体过程了解甚少。此外，还没有充分理解洋流，海浪和次重力波对运输的单独影响，这些因素都受到礁石的存在的强烈影响。在这里，我们表明，在礁湖系统中，大多数悬浮沉积物都在海床附近运移，并且有时会在海浪波动频率下的振荡流动过渡过程中（即，在松弛流附近）悬浮在水柱中更高的位置，在非重力波频率下的峰值陆上振荡速度阶段。虽然这些波频率分别促进了悬浮沉积物在海上和陆上的运输，但净通量却很小。平均电流是主要的传输机制，与海浪和次重力波相比，悬浮泥沙通量要高出近两个数量级。尽管波浪可能不是沉积物传输的主要机制，但我们的研究结果表明，波浪是沉积物从海底悬浮的重要驱动力，并且有助于沉积物粒度从礁石到海岸线的划分。随着海浪气候的变化，海平面的上升以及礁石底栖生物群落的组成的变化，平均海流，海浪和次重力波的相对重要性可能会发生变化，