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...

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...

The contribution of sand and mud to infilling of tidal basins in response to a closure dam

Human interventions and climate change can heavily influence the large-scale morphological development of tidal basins. This has implications on sediment management strategies, as well as ecological and recreational purposes. Examples of heavily impacted tidal basins are those in the Western Dutch Wadden Sea. The closure of a large sub-basin...

Monitoring underwater nourishments using multibeam bathymetric and backscatter time series

Natural and man-induced coastal erosion endanger life and environment in coastal areas worldwide. For sedimentary barrier coasts, beach and underwater nourishments are an efficient coastal protection strategy. To optimize nourishments and to understand their impact on the marine environment, monitoring strategies are required. In this study,...

Calibration of optical backscatter sensor for measurements of sediment transport through the Marsdiep inlet

In highly dynamic and vulnerable tidal systems such as the Wadden Sea, the importance of understanding natural processes and how they are hampered by anthropogenic pressure is highly demanding. Within these processes the sediment transport is one of the most challenging movements to be monitored. With this in mind, suspended particulate matter ...

Exploring the relative importance of wind for exchange processes around a tidal inlet system: The case of Ameland Inlet

Considering scenarios of sea level rise, the sediment budget of the Wadden Sea is of interest for both coastal safety and for the maintenance of values of this unique environment. Sand nourishments are foreseen on the ebb-tidal deltas of the Wadden Sea to increase the sediment budget, which requires us to predict the fate of the nourishment....

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...

Sediment budget and morphological development of the Dutch Wadden Sea: Impact of accelerated sea-level rise and subsidence until 2100

The Wadden Sea is a unique coastal wetland containing an uninterrupted stretch of tidal flats that span a distance of nearly 500 km along the North Sea coast from the Netherlands to Denmark. The development of this system is under pressure of climate change and especially the associated acceleration in sea-level rise (SLR). Sustainable...

Short Term Morphological Impact of the Eierlandsedam

After decades of coastal erosion in the north-west area of the Island of Texel, the shore-normal `Eierlandse Dam` had been built in 1995. The dam, situated in the outer delta of the Eierlandse Gat tidal inlet, resulted in a remarkable short-term morphological development of the adjacent coast. Four years following completion of the dam, large...

Simulating and classifying large-scale spatial sand-mud segregation using a process-based model for a tidal inlet system

Tidal inlet systems, as found in the Dutch Wadden Sea, often feature both sand and mud. Due to differences in sediment properties, sand and mud particles respond different to identical forcing conditions, like short waves and tidal currents. Because of this, sand and mud can get transported to different locations. This process is referred to by...

Sediment transport patterns in the Dutch Western Wadden Sea: Influence of forcing and bathymetry

The Dutch Western Wadden Sea, comprising the basins of Texel, Eierlandse Gat and Vlie, suffers a shortage of sediments. This implies that sediment is imported into the basins. The influence of the main forcing agents on the sediment transport is investigated. These forcing agents are the tide, waves and wind. In case of the wind forcing, both...