A mud budget of the Wadden Sea and its implications for sediment management

The world’s coasts and deltas are progressively threatened by climate change and human activities. The degree at which coastlines can adapt to these changes strongly depends on the sediment availability. The availability of muddy sediments is however poorly known. This study aims at developing a mud budget for the world’s largest system of...

Morphodynamic Modeling of Tidal Basins: The Role of Sand-Mud Interaction

The morphology of tide-dominated systems is progressively influenced by human activities and climate change. Quantitative approaches aiming at understanding or forecasting the effects of interventions and climate change are often aggregated, thereby simplifying or schematizing the investigated area. In this work, we advance on the knowledge...

The Existence and Origin of Multiple Equilibria in Sand-Mud Sediment Beds

The sediment composition of the seabed governs its mobility, hence determining sediment transport and morphological evolution of estuaries and tidal basins. Bed sediments often consist of mixtures of sand and mud, with spatial gradients in the sand/mud content. This study aims at increasing the understanding of processes driving the sediment...

A historical review of sediment export–import shift in the North Branch of Changjiang Estuary

Net sediment transport is predominantly seaward in fluvial-dominated estuaries worldwide. However, a distributary branch in the Changjiang Estuary, the North Branch, undergoes net landward sediment transport, which leads to severe channel aggradation. Its controlling mechanism and the role of human activities remain insufficiently understood,...

EBB-tidal delta morphology in response to a storm surge barrier

The ebb-tidal delta of the Eastern Scheldt tidal inlet has been under the influence of a storm surge barrier for the past 25 years. This barrier caused a strong decrease in average tidal currents through the inlet. The morphological response of the ebb-tidal delta is characterized by several different processes: (1) an overall decrease in...

Morphodynamic development and sediment budget of the Dutch Wadden Sea over the last century

The availability of nearly 100 years of bathymetric measurements allows the analysis of the morphodynamic evolution of the Dutch Wadden Sea under rising sea level and increasing human constraint. The historically observed roll-over mechanisms of landward barrier and coastline retreat cannot be sustained naturally due to numerous erosion control...

Hydrodynamics and morphodynamics of a seasonally forced tidal inlet system

Hydrodynamics and morphodynamics of a seasonally forced tidal inlet system are investigated using numerical models. The ocean forcing including tidal and wave actions and sediment transport is simulated using Delft3D model. Fluvial processes in Delft3D are taken into account as results from SOBEK RURAL model. Analysis of the numerical simulation...

Quantification of Biogeomorphological Variables for Dutch Tidal Systems

Definitiestudie morfologische dynamiek Westerschelde

Morphodynamic development of secondary channel systems along Rhine branches in the Netherlands