Print Email Facebook Twitter Sediment Disposals in Estuarine Channels Alter the Eco-Morphology of Intertidal Flats Title Sediment Disposals in Estuarine Channels Alter the Eco-Morphology of Intertidal Flats Author de Vet, P.L.M. (TU Delft Coastal Engineering; Deltares) van Prooijen, Bram (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics) Colosimo, I. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics) Ysebaert, T. (NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research; Wageningen University & Research; Universiteit Utrecht) Herman, P.M.J. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics; Deltares) Wang, Zhengbing (TU Delft Coastal Engineering; Deltares) Date 2020 Abstract Dredging of navigation channels in estuaries affects estuarine morphology and ecosystems. In the Western Scheldt, a two-channel estuary in the Netherlands, the navigation channel is deepened and the sediment is relocated to other parts of the estuary. We analyzed the response of an intertidal flat to sediment disposals in its adjacent channel. Decades of high-frequency monitoring data from the intertidal flat show a shift from erosion toward accretion and reveal a sequence of cascading eco-morphological consequences. We document significant morphological changes not only at the disposal sites, but also at the nearby intertidal flats. Disposals influence channel bank migration, driving changes in the evolution of the intertidal flat hydrodynamics, morphology, and grain sizes. The analyzed disposals related to an expansion of the channel bank, an increase in bed level of the intertidal flat, a decrease in flow velocities on this higher elevated flat, and locally a decrease in grain sizes. These changes in turn affect intertidal flat benthic communities (increased in quantity in this case) and the evolution of the adjacent salt marsh (retreated less or even expanded in this case). The shifts in evolution may occur years after dredged disposal begins, especially in zones of the flats farther away from the disposal locations. The consequences of sediment disposals that we identify stress the urgency of managing such interventions with integrated strategies on a system scale. Subject ecologyestuariesintertidal flatsmorphologysediment disposalssediment management To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:320176af-7f75-4848-8995-50e1f401be68 DOI https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005432 ISSN 2169-9003 Source Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 125 (2), 1-10 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2020 P.L.M. de Vet, Bram van Prooijen, I. Colosimo, T. Ysebaert, P.M.J. Herman, Zhengbing Wang Files PDF Vet_et_al_2020_Journal_of ... urface.pdf 13.02 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:320176af-7f75-4848-8995-50e1f401be68/datastream/OBJ/view