In this review we discuss the morphodynamics of tidal inlet systems that are typical of barrier coasts formed during a period of continuous sea-level rise during the Holocene. The morphodynamics concerns feedbacks between three major components: the hydrodynamics of tidal currents and wind waves; the erosion, deposition, and transport of sediment under the action of the former hydrodynamic agencies; and the morphology proper, which results from the divergence of the sediment transport. We discuss the morphodynamics of the different units that characterize a tidal inlet system: the overall system, the ebb-tidal delta, the tidal channels, channel networks, tidal bars and meanders, and finally the intertidal zone of tidal flats and salt marshes. In most of these units, stability analysis is a major guide to the establishment of equilibrium structures.

Morphodynamics of Tidal Inlet Systems

[1] The research objective is to investigate long-term evolution of estuarine morphodynamics with special emphasis on the impact of pattern formation. Use is made of a two-dimensional (2-D), numerical, process-based model. The standard model configuration is a rectangular 80 km long and 2.5 km wide basin. Equilibrium conditions of the longitudinal profile are analyzed using the model in 1-D mode after 8000 years. Two-dimensional model results show two distinct timescales. The first timescale is related to pattern formation taking place within the first decades and followed by minor adaptation according to the second timescale of continuous deepening of the longitudinal profile during 1600 years. The resulting longitudinal profiles of the 1-D and 2-D runs are similar apart from small deviations near the mouth. The 2-D results correspond well to empirically derived relationships between the tidal prism and the channel cross section and between the tidal prism and the channel volume. Also, comparison between the current model results and data from the Western Scheldt estuary (in terms of bar length, hypsometry, percentage of intertidal area and values for the ratio of shoal volume and channel volume against the ratio of tidal amplitude and water depth) shows satisfying agreement. On the basis of the model results a relationship for a characteristic morphological wavelength was derived on the basis of the tidal excursion and the basin width and an exponentially varying function was suggested for describing a dimensionless hypsometric curve for the basin. Furthermore, special attention is given to an analysis of the numerical morphodynamic update scheme applied.

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Long‐term morphodynamic evolution of a tidal embayment using a two‐dimensional, process‐based model

Over decades and centuries, the mean depth of estuaries changes due to sea-level rise, land subsi- dence, infilling, and dredging projects. These processes produce changes in relative roughness (friction) and mixing, resulting in fundamental changes in the char- acteristics of the horizontal (velocity) and vertical tides (sea surface elevation) and the dynamics of sediment trapping. To investigate such changes, a 2DV model is developed. The model equations consist of the width- averaged shallow water equations and a sediment balance equation. Together with the condition of mor- phodynamic equilibrium, these equations are solved analytically by making a regular expansion of the vari- ous physical variables in a small parameter. Using these analytic solutions, we are able to gain insight into the fundamental physical processes resulting in sediment trapping in an estuary by studying various forcings separately. As a case study, we consider the Ems es- tuary. Between 1980 and 2005, successive deepening of the Ems estuary has significantly altered the tidal and sediment dynamics. The tidal range and the surface sediment concentration has increased and the position of the turbidity zone has shifted into the freshwater zone. The model is used to determine the causes of these historical changes. It is found that the increase of the tidal amplitude toward the end of the embayment is the combined effect of the deepening of the estuary and a 37% and 50% reduction in the vertical eddy viscosity and stress parameter, respectively. The phys- ical mechanism resulting in the trapping of sediment, the number of trapping regions, and their sensitivity to grain size are explained by careful analysis of the var- ious contributions of the residual sediment transport. It is found that sediment is trapped in the estuary by a delicate balance between the M2 transport and the residual transport for fine sediment (ws = 0.2 mm s −1 ) and the residual, M2 and M4 transports for coarser sediment (ws = 2 mm s −1 ). The upstream movement of the estuarine turbidity maximum into the freshwa- ter zone in 2005 is mainly the result of changes in tidal asymmetry. Moreover, the difference between the sediment distribution for different grain sizes in the same year can be attributed to changes in the temporal settling lag.

/pdf/the-effect-of-tidal-asymmetry-and-temporal-settling-lag-on-3cvidu8jcg.pdf

The Effect of Tidal Asymmetry and Temporal Settling Lag on Sediment Trapping in Tidal Estuaries

Morphodynamics of tidal networks: advances and challenges

The formation of channel and shoal patterns in a schematic estuary is investigated using a 2-D depth-averaged numerical model based on a description of elementary flow and sediment transport processes. The schematisations apply to elongated inland estuaries, sandy, well-mixed and tide-dominated. The model results show how, due to non-linear interactions, a simple and regular pattern of initially grown perturbations merges to complex larger-scale channel/shoal patterns. The emerging patterns are validated with field observations. The overall pattern agrees qualitatively with patterns observed in the Westerschelde, The Netherlands, and in the Patuxent River estuary, Virginia. Quantitative comparison of the number of channels and meander length scales with observations and with an analytical model gives reasonable accordance. Complementary to other research approaches, this model provides a tool to study the morphodynamic behaviour of channels and shoals in estuaries.

Numerical modelling of shoal pattern formation in well-mixed elongated estuaries

http://ta.twi.tudelft.nl/dv/users/schuttel/getpub/schramkowski_2002.pdf

The effect of geometry and bottom friction on local bed forms in a tidal embayment

The dynamics of finite-amplitude bed forms in a tidal channel is studied with the use of an idealized morphodynamic model. The latter is based on depth-averaged equations for the tidal flow over a sandy bottom. The model considers phenomena on spatial scales of the order of the tidal excursion length. Transport of sediment mainly takes place as suspended load. The reference state of this model is characterized by a spatially uniform M2 tidal current over a fixed horizontal bed. The temporal evolution of deviations from this reference state is governed by amplitude equations: these are a set of non-linear equations that describe the temporal evolution of bed forms. These equations are used to obtain new morphodynamic equilibria which may be either static or time-periodic. Several of these bottom profiles show strong similarity with the tidal bars that are observed in natural estuaries. The dependence of the equilibrium solutions on the value of bottom friction and channel width is investigated systematically. For narrow channels (width small compared to the tidal excursion length) stable static equilibria exist if bottom friction is slightly larger than rcr. For channel widths more comparable to the tidal excursion length, multiple stable steady states may exist for bottom friction parameter values below rcr. Regardless of channel width, stable time-periodic equilibria seem to emerge as the bottom friction is increased.

Non-linear channel–shoal dynamics in long tidal embayments

[1] A new physical mechanism that is potentially relevant for the equilibrium morphodynamics of tide-dominated estuaries and in understanding the occurrence of lateral shoals in these systems is identified. The mechanism acts in relatively straight and wide channels (width of the order of the horizontal tidal excursion length) in which both external overtides and the Coriolis force affect sediment transport. This is investigated by analyzing an idealized model, which consists of the 3D shallow water equations, mass conservation for suspended load, and a bed evolution equation. The model is forced by a prescribed depth-averaged tidal current. It is demonstrated that, when viewed in the direction of the flood flow, a flood (ebb)-dominant current generates a net cross-sectional sediment transport to the left (right) in the Northern Hemisphere. A morphodynamic equilibrium is established by a counteracting dispersive sediment flux, generated by shear stresses that increase toward shallower water. This dispersive flux is much larger than the flux due gravitational downslope effects. The equilibrium bed profile has a constant slope in the lateral direction that varies as cos(φ), where φ is the phase difference between the M2 and M4 external horizontal tide. Hence, the smallest depths are found on the left (right) in case of a flood (ebb)-dominant current. Typical cross-channel depth differences may be as large as several meters. Velocity data collected in the Dutch Western Scheldt estuary are used to tune the hydrodynamic parameters in the model. Analysis of the bathymetric data seems to confirm the qualitative results of the model.

/pdf/morphodynamic-equilibrium-in-straight-tidal-channels-50vx9vskm5.pdf

G. P. Schramkowski

Papers

The effect of geometry and bottom friction on local bed forms in a tidal embayment

Non-linear channel–shoal dynamics in long tidal embayments

Morphodynamic equilibrium in straight tidal channels: Combined effects of the Coriolis force and external overtides