Do intertidal flats ever reach equilibrium?

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...

Progradation Speed of Tide-Dominated Tidal Flats Decreases Stronger Than LinearlyWith Decreasing Sediment Availability and LinearlyWith Sea Level Rise

We use the results of a one-dimensional morphodynamic model and the basis of the “Lagrangian equilibrium state” (Maan et al., 2015, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JF003311) to derive a quantitative relationship between the progradation speed of tidal flats and the suspended sediment concentration in their adjacent waters and show that the speed...

Morphodynamic Feedback Loops Control Stable Fringing Flats

We apply a 2-D horizontal process-based model (Delft3D) to study the feedback mechanisms that control the long-term evolution of a fringing intertidal flat in the Western Scheldt Estuary. The hydrodynamic model is validated using a comparison with measurements on the intertidal flat and the sediment transport module is calibrated against long...