Sediment Pathways on Ebb-Tidal Deltas: New Tools and Techniques for Analysis

In an era of rising seas and other challenges posed by climate change, coastal regions like the Netherlands are facing ever graver threats. Strategic sand nourishments could mitigate the threat of coastal erosion and sea level rise on barrier island coasts while limiting ecological impacts. However, insufficient knowledge of sediment transport...

Understanding meso-scale processes at a mixed-energy tidal inlet: Ameland Inlet, the Netherlands – Implications for coastal maintenance

For successful and sustainable management of barrier islands, a thorough understanding of the ebb-tidal delta dynamics and interactions with the adjacent shorelines are of the utmost importance. Such understanding requires detailed observations and interpretations of the morphodynamics of smaller-scale features such as the individual channels...

The geomorphology of an ebb-tidal-delta linked to benthic species distribution and functionality

As a response to climate change and sea-level rise, new nourishment strategies for low-lying sandy coasts are developed. These interventions affect the habitat quality of coastal ecosystems for benthic communities. Unraveling the relationship between benthic fauna and their environment facilitates the design of sustainable management...

Understanding sediment bypassing processes through analysis of high-frequency observations of Ameland Inlet, the Netherlands

Ameland inlet is centrally located in the chain of West Frisian Islands (the Netherlands). A globally unique dataset of detailed bathymetric charts starting in the early 19th century, and high-resolution digital data since 1986 allows for detailed investigations of the ebb-tidal delta morphodynamics and sediment bypassing over a wide range of...

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...

Eastern Scheldt Inlet Morphodynamics

In the south-western part of the Netherlands, the system of estuaries, tidal basins and islands called the Delta, has been shaped and studied by humans for centuries. By far the largest event that determined its current configuration was the storm surge that occurred in 1953. This giant flooding gave rise to one of the largest engineering...

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...

Long-term process-based morphological modeling of large tidal basins

The morphology of tidal basins includes a wide range of features developing along different spatial and temporal scales. Examples are shoals, channels, banks, dunes and ripples. Coastal engineers use their engineering tools to answer questions on the processes governing the short term (< decades) development of these morphological features....

Historical Morphological development of the Eastern Scheldt tidal basin (the Netherlands)

The Eastern Scheldt tidal basin has changed drastically in the past five centuries under the influence of both human interventions as well as extreme events. In 1530 A.D. a storm-surge inundated large parts in the landward end of the basin, and in the following four centuries local inhabitants reclaimed about as much land as was inundated in...

Saw-tooth bars defined: A case study of the Ameland Inlet

Saw-tooth bar features occur on the downdrift side of the ebb-tidal delta of the Ameland Inlet as well as in front of the island of Ameland. The height difference between bar maximum and trough minimum can amount to 150 cm on the ebb-tidal delta and to about 25 cm in front of Ameland. Their lengths range between 500 mand 2 km. Their width...