Morphodynamics of ebb-tidal deltas: a model approach

The results of 2DH numerical models of the Frisian Inlet (located in the Dutch Wadden Sea) are discussed to gain further knowledge about the physical mechanisms causing the presence of both ebb-tidal deltas and of channels and shoals in tide-dominated inlet systems. A hydrodynamic model, extended with sediment transport formulations, was used to verify earlier conceptual models that deal with ebb-tidal delta characteristics. The model does not confirm their hypothesis concerning the observed spatial asymmetry of ebb-tidal deltas and suggests that long-term morphological simulations are needed to understand this aspect. Furthermore, the model indicates that the initial formation of the ebb-tidal delta is mainly due to convergence of the tidally averaged sediment flux related to residual currents, whilst the net sediment transport in the basin is mainly caused by tidal asymmetry. A second model (accounting for feedbacks between tidal motion and the erodible bottom) was used to simulate the long-term bathymetric evolution of the Frisian Inlet under fair weather conditions. This model reproduces the gross characteristics of the observed morphology: the presence of a double-inlet system with two distinct ebb-tidal deltas having different sizes and the presence of channels and shoals. The role of the ‘Engelsmanplaat’, a consolidated shoal in the middle of the Frisian Inlet, was not found to be crucial for the morphodynamic stability of this inlet system.