Do intertidal flats ever reach equilibrium?

Abstract

Various studies have identified a strong relation between the hydrodynamic forces and the equilibrium profile for intertidal flats. A thorough understanding of the interplay between the hydrodynamic forces and the morphology, however, concerns more than the equilibrium state alone. We study the basic processes and feedback mechanisms underlying the long-term behavior of the intertidal system, restricting ourselves to unvegetated intertidal flats that are controlled by cross-shore tidal currents and wind waves and applying a 1-D cross-shore morphodynamic model. The results indicate that by an adjustment of the profile slope and shape, an initial imbalance between deposition and erosion is minimized within a few decades. What follows is a state of long-term seaward progradation or landward retreat of the intertidal flat, in which the cross-shore profile shape is largely maintained and the imbalance between deposition and erosion is not further reduced. These long-term trends can be explained by positive feedbacks from the morphology onto the hydrodynamic forces over the flat: initial accretion (erosion) decreases (increases) the shear stresses over the flat, which induces further accretion (erosion). This implies that a static equilibrium state cannot exist; the flat either builds out or retreats. The modeled behavior is in accordance with observations in the Yangtze Estuary. To treat these unbalanced systems with a one-dimensional numerical model, we propose a moving (Lagrangian) framework in which a stable cross-sectional shape and progradation speed can be derived for growing tidal flats, as a function of the wave climate and the sediment concentration in deeper water.