Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-09T00:38:49.800Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Morphodynamics of a storm-dominated, shallow tidal inlet: the Slufter, the Netherlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2014

M. van der Vegt  and
P. Hoekstra
M. van der Vegt*
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80125, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands
P. Hoekstra
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80125, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands
*
*Email: m.vandervegt@uu.nl
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In this article we study the morphodynamics of the Slufter on the short-term (months) and long-term (years to decades). The Slufter is a small, shallow tidal inlet located on the island of Texel, the Netherlands. A narrow (tens of meters) channel connects the North Sea with a dune valley of 400 ha. This narrow channel is located in between a 400-700 m wide opening in the dunes. Approximately 80% of the basin of the Slufter is located above mean high water level and is flooded only during storms, when a threshold water level is exceeded.

Analysis of historical aerial photographs revealed that the inlet channel migrates about 100 m per year. In the 1970's it migrated to the south, while since 1980 it is migrating to the north. When the channel reached the dunes at the north side of the dune breach the channel was relocated to the south by man. The channel inside the backbarrier basin was less dynamic. It shows a gradual growth and southward migration of a meander on a decadal time scale.

The short-term dynamics of the Slufter were studied during a field campaign in 2008. The campaign aimed at identifying the dominant hydrodynamic processes and morphological change during fair weather conditions and during storm events. During fair weather flow velocities in the main inlet channel were 0.5-0.8 m/s at water depths of 0-1.5 m, slightly ebb-dominant and associated morphological change was small. When water levels were above critical levels during a storm period the hydrodynamics in the main channel drastically changed. The flow in the main channel was highly ebb dominant. Long ebb periods with typical flow velocities of 2 m/s were alternated by much shorter flood periods with typical velocities of 0.5-1 m/s. This resulted in a net outflow of water via the main channel, while we measured a net inflow of water at the beach plain. During the storm period in 2008 we measured a 10 m migration of the channel to the north.

We conclude that the Slufter is a storm-dominated tidal inlet system.

Keywords

Storm-dominated tidal inletsSlufterWadden Seashallow waterbeach plainmorphological evolutionfield measurements.
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , November 2012 , pp. 325 - 339
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2012

References

Blanton, J.O., Linn, G. & Elson, S.A., 2002. Tidal current asymmetry in shallow estuaries and tidal creeks. Continental Shelf Research, 22, 1731–1743.Google Scholar
Boon, J.D. & Byrne, R.J., 1981. On basin hypsometry and the morphodynamic response of coastal inlet systems. Marine Geology 40: 27–48.Google Scholar
Bruun, P. & Gerritsen, F., 1960. Stability of coastal inlets. North Holland, Amsterdam, 140 pp.Google Scholar
Bowman, D., 1993. Morphodynamics of the stagnating Zwin inlet, the Netherlands. Sedimentary Geology 84: 219–239.Google Scholar
Cooper, J.A.G., 2001. Geomorphological variability among microtidal estuaries from the wave-dominated South African coast. Geomorphology 40: 99–122.Google Scholar
Davis, R.A. & Hayes, M.O., 1984. What is a wave-dominated coast? Marine Geology 60: 313–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donnelly, C., Kraus, N. & M., Larson, M., 2006. State of knowledge on measurement and modelling of coastal overwash. Journal of coastal research 22 (4): 965–991.Google Scholar
Ehlers, J., 1988. The morphodynamics of the Wadden Sea. Balkema (Rotterdam), 397 pp.Google Scholar
Eysink, W.D., 1990. Morphologic response of tidal basins to changes. Proceedings. 22nd International Conference on Coastal Engineering, ASCE, July, Delft, the Netherlands: 1948–1961.Google Scholar
Fagherazzi, S., Hannion, M. & D'Odorico, P., 2008. Geomorphic structure of tidal hydrodynamics in salt marsh creeks. Water resources research 44, W02419: doi:10.129/2007WR006289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FitzGerald, D.M., 1996. Geomorphic variability and morphologic and sedimentologic controls on tidal inlets. Journal of Coastal Research 23: 47–71.Google Scholar
French, J.R. & Stoddard, J.R., 1992. Hydrodynamics of salt marsh creek systems; Implications of marsh morphological development and material exchange. Earth surface processes and landforms 17: 235–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedrichs, C.T. & Aubrey, D.G., 1988. Non-linear tidal distortion in shallow well-mixed estuaries: a synthesis. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 27: 521–545.Google Scholar
Hubbard, D.K., Oertel, G.F. & Nummedal, D., 1979. The role of waves and tidal currents in the development of tidal-inlet sedimentological structures and sand body geometry: Examples from North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 49: 1073–1093.Google Scholar
Lincoln, J.M. & FitzGerald, D.M., 1988. Tidal distortions and flood dominance at five small tidal inlets in southern Maine. Marine Geology 82: 133–148.Google Scholar
Maas, L.R.M., 1997. On the nonlinear Helmholtz response of almost-enclosed tidal basins with sloping bottoms. Journal of fluid mechanics 349: 361–380.Google Scholar
Meerkerk, A.L., Arens, S.M., Van Lammeren, R.J.A. & Stuiver, H.J., 2007. Sand transport dynamics after a foredune breach: A case study from Schoorl, the Netherlands. Geomorphology 86: 52–60.Google Scholar
Nghiem, T.L., 2009. Hydrodynamics and morphodynamics of a seasonally forced tidal inlet system. PhD-thesis Delft University of Technology.Google Scholar
O'Brien, M.P., 1969. Equilibrium flow areas of inlets on sandy coasts. J. Waterway Port Coast Ocean Eng 95: 43–52.Google Scholar
Oost, A.P. & De Boer, P.L., 1994. Sedimentology and development of barrier islands, ebb-tidal deltas, inlets and backbarrier areas of the Dutch Wadden Sea. Senckenbergiana Maritima, 24: 66–115.Google Scholar
Powell, M.A., Thieke, R.J. & Mehta, A.J., 2006. Morphodynamic relationships for ebb and flood delta volumes at Florida's tidal entrances. Ocean Dynamics 56: 295–307.Google Scholar
Sha, L.P., 1989. Variation in ebb-delta morphologies along the west and east Frisian islands, the Netherlands and Germany. Marine Geology, 89: 11–28.Google Scholar
Stive, M.J.F. & Rakhorst, R.D., 2008. Review of empirical relationships between inlet cross-section and tidal prism. Journal of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, no 23, 11 2008.Google Scholar
De Swart, H.E. & Zimmerman, J.T.F., 2009. Morhodynamics of tidal inlet systems. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics. doi: 10.1146/annurev.fluid.010908.165159.Google Scholar
Van Bohemen, H.D., 1996. Environmentally friendly coasts: dune breaches and tidal inlets in the foredunes. Environmental engineering and coastal manage ment. A case study from the Netherlands. Landscape and Urban Planning 34: 197–2313.Google Scholar
Van der Vegt, M, Hoekstra, P. & Van Puijvelde, S.P., 2009. Channel migration in a small tidal inlet. In: Vionnet, C.A., Garcia, M.H., Latrubesse, E.M. & Perillo, G.M.E. (eds): Proceedings of the 6thRCEM conference 2009, Santa Fe, Argentina. Balkema: 169–176.Google Scholar
Van der Vegt, M., Schuttelaars, H.M. & De Swart, H.E., 2007. Modeling the formation of undulations of the coastline: The role of tides. Continental Shelf Research, 27: 2014–2031.Google Scholar
Walton, T.L. & Adams, W.D., 1976. Capacity of outer bars to store sand. In: proceedings of the 15th ICCE. ASCE, New York: 1919–1938.Google Scholar