Arctic Mackenzie Delta channel planform evolution during 1983–2013 utilising Landsat data and hydrological time series

Arctic deltas, such as the Mackenzie Delta, are expected to face major climate change and increased human influence in the near future. Deltas are characterised by highly dynamic fluvial processes, and changing climate will cause considerable evolution of the riverine environment. The changes are difficult to predict with existing knowledge and data. This study quantified channel planform change of the Mackenzie Delta (1983–2013), analysing its temporal and spatial patterns. We addressed the main obstacle of research on large remote areas, the lack of data, by developing a unique work flow that utilised Landsat satellite imagery, hydrological time series, remote sensing‐based change analysis, and automatic vectorisation of channels. Our results indicate that the Mackenzie Delta experienced constant evolution but at a highly varying rate over the 30 years. The study demonstrates that the magnitude and duration of flood peaks and the presence of spring ice breakup floods determine the rate of Arctic delta planform change. Changing winter conditions and spring flood magnitudes may therefore affect the stability of Arctic deltas. However, no clear trends towards decreased recurrence or magnitude of spring floods or increased instability of the delta plain have yet been observed in the Mackenzie Delta. The delta plain was most dynamic at the beginning and at the end of the examined period, corresponding to intense flooding, whereas the rates of change were subtle during the low‐flood period 1994–2007. The largest changes have occurred along the wide Middle Channel and in the outermost delta. Relative to their size, however, smaller meandering channels have been highly dynamic. Hotspots of change in the delta plain are located in anastomosing and braiding channel segments and, at the local scale, in point bars and cut‐banks along meandering channels. Our study describes how Landsat satellite data can be utilised for advancing fluvial geomorphological research in remote areas. However, cloudiness in the delta restricts production of dense time series with simultaneous coverage of the whole area and requires manual preprocessing.     

Many-year variations in river delta structures

Data on several river deltas are used to analyze the regularities in their dynamics in the context of variations of water and sediment runoff, sea level, and hydroengineering activities in delta areas. The basis for this analysis includes the results of many-year studies of river deltas in Russia and the world. The specific features of the evolution of the structure and morphometry of bayhead deltas, forming in bays, lagoons, and estuaries are shown in the case of the Alikazgan delta in the Terek mouth area and the deltas of two watercourses in the Mississippi mouth area. Data on many-year variations of the morphometric characteristics of modern protruding deltas in open coastal zones are systematized, and the factors that have an effect on these changes are analyzed. The types of delta formation processes and the types of deltas are considered with regard to the factors involved. The majority of modern river deltas are found to slow down their progradation into seas under the effect of anthropogenic runoff decline; moreover, some deltas have started retreating and degrading.     

Long‐term morphological impacts of the opening of a new inlet on a multiple inlet system

In this study, the artificial opening of a new tidal inlet in an existing multiple inlet system is shown to significantly modify the adjacent nearshore and backbarrier morphology, as well as both updrift and downdrift shorelines. The study focuses on the dominant Faro‐Olhão and Armona inlets in the Ria Formosa barrier island system of southern Portugal. The equilibrium state and future evolution of the system are inferred using a range of morphological and hydrodynamic indicators, including the evolution of the inlet cross‐section, changes in tidal prism, and changes in the dimensions (length and area) of barrier islands. The results reveal how the morphology of an interconnected two‐inlet bay system and the adjacent coastlines has evolved following the artificial opening and stabilization of Faro‐Olhão inlet since 1929. A clear relationship between barrier island size, inlet cross‐section/width, and tidal prism is demonstrated. Decadal time‐scale changes in the tidal prism of the two interconnected inlets are shown to be the main mechanism responsible for morphological change, and have resulted in the remobilization of ebb‐tidal delta sediments deposited during previous hydraulic configurations. These changes, in turn, have contributed to a narrowing of Armona inlet and an increase in the size of Culatra Island. The work highlights the importance of ebb‐tidal deltas both as sand reservoirs and as conduits through which sand exchange between estuaries or lagoons and the open coast is regulated. It also shows the pivotal role of ebb‐tidal deltas in trapping longshore‐transported sediment and releasing it again during periods of increased wave activity. The findings have implications regarding the accurate assessment of the stability of multiple inlet systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of historic land‐use change on sediment delivery to a Chesapeake Bay subestuarine delta

Historic land use in the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin induced large fluxes of fluvial sediment to subestuarine tributaries. Stratigraphic and palaeoecologic analyses of deltaic deposits may be used to infer changes on the landscape, but are not sufficient to quantify past sediment supply. When viewed as an inverse boundary‐value problem, reconstruction of the sediment supply function may be achieved by combining deltaic sedimentation chronologies with an equation governing delta progradation. We propose that the diffusion equation is appropriate for simulating delta progradation and obtaining the sediment supply function provided a suitable diffusion constant (D) can be determined. Three new methods for estimating D are presented for the case of estuarine deltas. When the inverse boundary‐value technique was applied to Otter Point Creek, a tidal freshwater delta at the head of Bush River in upper Chesapeake Bay, D values ranged from 3763 to 6199 m² a^?1. Delta growth simulations showed a 1740–1760 initial pulse, a 1760–1780 erosive/redistributive interval, a 1780–1920 growth period, and a 1920‐present erosive/redistributive era. Coupling of simulated delta elevations with an empirical plant habitat predictive equation allowed for comparison of predicted versus actual relative habitat areas. Also, the model yielded reconstructed watershed erosion rates and stream suspended sediment concentrations that could be useful for development of water quality regulations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative assessment of the role of deltas in the processes of deposition of river sediments

Theoretical principles of the sediment budget at river mouths and the role of deltas in the deposition of river sediments are discussed. The results of the quantitative assessment of sediment budget components at river deltas are given. The article shows the impact of such natural factors as delta sizes, peculiarities of their topography and hydrographic system, as well as a series of anthropogenic factors, including diking, water intake structures, etc., on the role of deltas in sediment retention.     

Impacts of sediment retention by dams on delta shoreline recession: evidences from the Krishna and Godavari deltas,India

River deltas are the major repositories of terrestrial sediment flux into the world's oceans. Reduction in riverine inputs into the deltas due to upstream damming might lead to a relative dominance of waves, tides and currents that are especially exacerbated by coastal subsidence and sea‐level rise ultimately affecting the delta environment. Analysis of multi‐date satellite imagery and maps covering the Krishna and Godavari deltas along the east coast of India revealed a net erosion of 76 km² area along the entire 336‐km‐long twin delta coast during the past 43 years (1965–2008) with a progressively increasing rate from 1·39 km² yr^?1 between 1965 and 1990, to 2·32 km² yr^?1 during 1990–2000 and more or less sustained at 2·25 km² yr^?1 during 2000–2008. At present the Krishna has almost become a closed basin with decreased water discharges into the delta from 61·88 km³ during 1951–1959 to 11·82 km³ by 2000–2008; and the suspended sediment loads from 9 million tons during 1966–1969 to as low as 0·4 million tons by 2000–2005. In the case of the Godavari delta, although the water discharge data do not show any major change, there was almost a three‐fold reduction in its suspended sediment loads from 150·2 million tons during 1970–1979 to 57·2 million tons by 2000–2006. A comparison of data on annual sediment loads recorded along the Krishna and Godavari Rivers showed consistently lower sediment quantities at the locations downstream of dams than at their upstream counterparts. Reports based on bathymetric surveys revealed considerable reduction in the storage capacities of reservoirs behind such dams. Apparently sediment retention at the dams is the main reason for the pronounced coastal erosion along the Krishna and Godavari deltas during the past four decades, which is coeval to the hectic dam construction activity in these river basins. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological–morphological processes in the mouth area of the Congo R. and the effect of submarine canyon on these processes

The general geographic, hydrographic, climatic, and hydrological characteristics of the Congo R. basin are considered. The major features of the riverine and marine factors that have their effect on the hydrological regime and morphology of the delta and estuary of the Congo R. are identified; the effect of a submarine canyon on the morphological features of the estuary is analyzed in detail; and changes in river delta structure in the XX century and currently are considered. The hydrological—morphological characteristics of the largest mouths of African rivers, the formation conditions of water and sediment runoff, and variations of their deltas are compared.     

Sediment regime and morphological processes in the Hong Ha (Red River) mouth area

Main features of sediment regime in the mouth area of the Hong Ha River (Red River), Vietnam, are discussed. As shown, the hydraulic engineering construction on the Da tributary resulted in a nearly two-fold decrease of river sediment yield. Sediment budget components at the river mouth were analyzed to establish that more than 90% of the sediment yield was detained in the delta branches and in the nearshore zone of the river mouth. Morphological processes in the Hong Ha River mouth area were characterized in detail including delta evolution during Holocene and the dynamics of its channel network, coastline, and mouth bars. Special attention was given to modern processes of delta progradation at the mouths of main branches and to wave erosion of other parts of the delta coastline. The causes for the intensification of this kind of erosion and change of the delta type in the late XX century are discussed.     

Sediment balance at river mouths and the formation of deltas at rising or falling sea level

Sediment balance at river mouths—a physical basis of delta dynamics—is considered. The specific features of relationships between sediment balance components at a mouth of a river are established for a stable, rising, or dropping sea level. The development of the delta of the Chilia branch at the Danube mouth is considered as an example of delta dynamics under the conditions of a relatively stable sea level. The evolution of the Sulak delta in the Caspian Sea with a highly variable level is considered as an example of delta dynamics in the case of a considerable rise and drop of water level in the water body. The anthropogenic reduction of sediment runoff of the rivers (by a factor of two in the Danube, and by a factor of nine in the Sulak) is taken into account. The relationship between the sediment runoff of a river and the volume of the “backwater prism” that formed due to sea level rise is shown to be the key factor in the development of delta in the case of sea level rise. In the case of a drop in the sea level, the relationship between the “active” and “passive” progradation of the delta into the sea is determined by the sediment runoff of the river, the rate of sea level drop, and the bed slope in the coastal area of the nearshore zone.     

Wave energy fluxes and multidecadal shoreline changes in two coastal embayments in Denmark

Spatial patterns of multidecadal shoreline changes in two microtidal, low-energetic embayments of southern Zealand, Denmark, were investigated by using the directional distribution of wave energy fluxes. The sites include a barrier island system attached to moraine bluffs, and a recurved spit adjacent to a cliff coast. The barrier island system is characterized by cross-shore translation and by an alignment of the barrier alongshore alternating directions of barrier-spit progradation in a bidirectional wave field. The recurved spit adjacent to the cliff coast experienced shoreline rotation through proximal erosion and distal lateral accretion in a unidirectional wave climate. The multidecadal shoreline changes were coupled to a slope-based morphological coastal classification. All erosive shores occurred within a narrow range of onshore and offshore coastal slopes. The alongshore variability of directional distributions of wave energy fluxes furthermore outlined potential sediment sources and sinks for the evolution of the barrier island system and for the evolution of the recurved spit.     

Mouths of world rivers in the atlas of space images

This article characterizes the atlas prepared at the Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University; 87 mouths of the largest world rivers are presented in space images. The atlas has 325 pages, 95 maps, 425 images and six printer’s sheets of explanatory text. The atlas is based on space images in the Internet galleries with data representation at different territorial levels (river mouth area-delta, estuary or their complex-typical delta reaches). The atlas shows specific features of river mouth areas, their hydrological and morphological structure, including estuaries and river deltas, their long-term and seasonal dynamics, landscapes and delta land use, hydraulic structures in deltas, ports, cultural and historical monuments, as well as recreation objects.     

Recent geomorphological evolution of the deltas of the rivers Seman and Vjosa,Albania

Rising in the Neogene hills of the Mallakaster, the rivers Seman and Vjosa have built up two large joint deltas on the Albanian Adriatic shore. This shoreline is characterized by a low sandy coast with bars and spits. Changes in the river courses and migration of the mouths of the deltas were rapid and numerous from the Holocene period until the beginning of drainage works in the 1950s. The drainage basins of the two rivers are developed in soft clastic rocks (flysch and molasse) in the proportion of 71·4 per cent for the Seman and 44·8 per cent for the Vjosa. Both rivers carry abundant sediment loads, amounting to 6·7 × 10⁶ tonnes per year for the Vjosa and 13·2 × 10⁶ tonnes per year for the Seman. This is the reason why the alluvial deposits of the Seman have built up two‐thirds of the alluvial plain. The use of a SPOT image dated 25 May 1995 (HRV 3 081‐268) enabled us to view the effects of coastal and fluvial dynamics, the role of neotectonics as well as the predominance of the plume of suspended sediment of the Seman river. Using this image, a geomorphological map was drawn, which identifies the palaeochannels of the Seman and the Vjosa. In order to date those palaeochannels we have made an archaeological inventory from oral and written published information. The location of the sites we studied was checked systematically in the field. The mediaeval and Ottoman archives kept in Tirana also provided substantial information, as well as the reconstitution of the evolution of the shoreline between 1870 and 1990, carried out using an inventory of topographic maps. This work allowed us to reconstitute the progression of the deltas of the Seman and the Vjosa since antiquity. We may then infer that from antiquity up to the Middle Ages, the deltas of the Seman and the Vjosa both progressed very moderately and in a comparable way. However, at the end of the 15th century the Seman underwent a major change in its course, through a southward migration of the river. The natural processes of alluviation and changes in the river courses seem to have been accelerated as agricultural exploitation of the Neogene hills that form most of the drainage basin of the Seman increased. This exploitation is linked with the massive exportation of cereal from the port of Skela e Pirgut, which started in the 14th century. It appears that the 20th century has been the period of the largest progression of the deltas during historical times. The speed of progression increased as early as the beginning of the century, as a result of the rapid growth of the rural population densities. Soil erosion from arable fields increased catchment sediment yields to promote rapid changes in the river courses. This resulted in abandonment of deltaic mouths, a phenomenon leading to a straightening of the coast. Thus to the south of the present mouth of the Seman the coast receded by 7 to 30 m per year between 1968 and 1990 as a result of the abandonment of a mouth. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic morphology of small south‐eastern Mediterranean river mouths: a conceptual model

River mouths along the Israeli Mediterranean coast are characterized by a dynamic morphology as their channels migrate hundreds of meters along the coast. This study examines the dynamic morphology of seven such river mouths. It offers a conceptual model aimed at generalizing and describing their spatial and temporal morphological patterns, and the environmental factors influencing them. The study methodology comprised a detailed monitoring and mapping by GIS techniques, with quantitative data derived from historic aerial photographs, river discharge records, wave measurements, and a digital elevation model. These data were incorporated into a homogenous database and subsequently applied in the investigation of the morphological patterns of these mouths, and the analysis of their influencing factors. River mouths in this study occur in two distinctive topographic settings. In one setting (here termed barrier topography) the river mouth is deflected alongshore by a sandy barrier. In the second setting (termed funnel topography) the river mouth is confined to a funnel‐shaped topographic depression perpendicular to the coast. The behavior of river mouths in these two settings is quite distinctive. Barrier mouths usually migrate over larger distances, as they tend to deflect along a sand barrier and establish semi‐permanent channels along the dune toe. This enables the wide range migration of semi‐permanent channels over decades. Funnel topography mouths deflect over shorter distances and they rapidly migrate within the funnel boundaries. This study concludes that the topographic setting of the beach, a constant element in the temporal scale of this study, is the primary influencing factor on the morphology of the mouths studied. The influence of other factors on the morphology of these mouths differs in space and time and depends on the topographic settings.     

Holocene valley aggradation driven by river mouth progradation: examples from Australia

Since the end of the post‐glacial sea level rise 6800 years ago, progradation of river mouths into estuaries has been a global phenomenon. The responses of upstream alluvial river reaches to this progradation have received little attention. Here, the links between river mouth progradation and Holocene valley aggradation are examined for the Macdonald and Tuross Rivers in south‐eastern Australia. Optical and radiocarbon dating of floodplain sediments indicates that since the mid‐Holocene sea level highstand 6800 years ago vertical floodplain aggradation along the two valleys has generally been consistent with the rate at which each river prograded into its estuary. This link between river mouth progradation and alluvial aggradation drove floodplain aggradation for many tens of kilometres upstream of the estuarine limits. Both rivers have abandoned their main Holocene floodplains over the last 2000 years and their channels have contracted. A regional shift to smaller floods is inferred to be responsible for this change, though a greater relative sea level fall experienced by the Macdonald River since the mid‐Holocene sea level highstand appears to have been an additional influence upon floodplain evolution in this valley. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seafloor evidence for ice shelf flow across the Alaska–Beaufort margin of the Arctic Ocean

New imagery of ～14 100 km² of seafloor along a 640 km stretch of the Alaska and Beaufort margins (ABM) in water depths from 250 to 2800 m depicts a repetitive association of glaciogenic bedforms (lineations and iceberg scours), broad erosional bathymetric features and adjacent downslope turbidite gullies. These bedforms have styles, depths and orientations similar to features discovered earlier on the Chukchi Borderland, up to 800 km northwest of the ABM. Lineations occur across the surface of a flattened bathymetric bench interpreted to have formed by an ice shelf sliding along the continental slope and scraping the seafloor at temporary grounding locations. The glacial geology of surrounding areas suggests that an ice shelf probably flowed from the mouths of overdeepened glacial troughs in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago westward along the ABM and across the Chukchi Borderland. This curved pathway indicates an obstruction to ice flow in the central Canada Basin, possibly caused by either a basin‐wide ice shelf or by a pile‐up of mega‐bergs originating from the Eurasian side of the Arctic Ocean. The ice shelf that affected the ABM may have formed between Oxygen Isotopic Stage 4 to 5b, possibly correlating to an inferred intra‐Stage 5 widespread Beringian glaciation. Evidence for glaciogenic features on the ABM corroborates suggestions that large ice volumes and extents existed in the Arctic during Pleistocene glacial periods. These findings have far‐reaching implications for Arctic climate studies, ocean circulation, sediment stratigraphy and the stability of circum‐Arctic continental ice masses. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variations of Trends in Delta Development under the Effect of External Natural and Anthropogenic Factors: Case Study of the Modern Huang He Mouth

The paper considers the major geographic features of the modern Huang He delta, which ranks among the most rapidly varying in the world. The structure of the hydrographic network and the combination of the natural and anthropogenic geosystems of the delta are characterized. The major external riverine and marine, as well as local anthropogenic factors that have affected the development of the Huang He delta in the recent half century are identified. The regularities of the jump-like development of the Huang He delta in the XIX–early XXI centuries are considered. Special attention is paid to the development of the delta after the artificial redistribution of flow in its boundaries in 1996. Satellite images and methods of their interpretation improved by the authors were used. The trends in Huang He delta development are shown to have changed since the last quarter of the XX century under the effect of an abrupt decrease in river sediment load and the growing impact of marine factors. The active progradation of the delta into the sea slowed down significantly, accompanied by erosion and retreat in many segments of its coastline. Huang He delta was used to establish the conditions of changes in the development trends of other deltas under the effect of changes in the climate and economic activity.     

Deltas as Indicators of Natural and Human-Induced Changes in the Regimes of Rivers and Seas

The way in which the joint action of fluvial and marine factors control delta formation is illustrated by examples of the mouths of rivers discharging into the Black and Mediterranean seas. The processes of active delta out-building under the effect of cold, wet climatic conditions and human-induced erosion in river basins and the processes of sea-wave erosion of deltas under the effect of a significant decrease in the sediment discharge of rivers that was caused by impact of human activities in the second half of the 20th century are discussed.     

A tale of two planets: geomorphology applied to Mars' surface,fluvio‐deltaic processes and landforms

Deltas on planet Mars record past climate, but so far a wide range of hypotheses for their formation have been proposed. The objective of this paper is to understand martian fan deltas, their formative conditions, evolution and formative duration, and implications for the past climate. As an introduction to Mars, physiographic provinces are described and unambiguous proof is listed for the presence of flowing water in the past, such as certain minerals, groundwater, catastrophic outflow channels, alluvial fans and fan deltas, distributary networks and glaciers. The climate history of Mars differs from that of Earth by having had much drier conditions than on Earth, extreme intermittency and extreme events, most of them billions of years ago. Tens of fan deltas, unchannelized fan deltas and stepped fans have been found in impact crater and other lakes. The stepped fans were likely formed by backstepping under fast rising lake levels and have no known terrestrial equivalent. The fan deltas were formed once the lake overflowed. Alluvial fans are much more numerous and formed with less water. The delta studies illustrate how major challenges of martian morphology and reconstruction of past conditions can be taken up most effectively by combinations of the available high‐resolution images and digital elevation models, terrestrial analogues, laboratory experiments and physics‐based models gleaned from geomorphology. To resolve formative mechanisms and time scale of martian fans and deltas, morphological distinctions between dense debris flows and dilute fluvial flows must be identified for both source and sink areas. Furthermore, the properties of the martian surface material are very poorly constrained but can be explored by modelling various mass wasting, fluvial and glacial phenomena and hydrology, and by experimentation with slightly cohesive sediment. Finally, the highly debated role of groundwater sapping in valley and delta formation on Mars should be explored experimentally. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drivers of island beach evolution: insights from an island-scale study at Boa Vista (Cabo Verde)

Beach erosion poses significant threat to small island economies which are generally highly dependent on coastal tourism. This work investigates the evolution of the low-lying sandy coast of Boa Vista through an integrated characterization of coastline and shoreline indicators (over the past four decades) based on aerial imagery. It was found that tandem use of the two indicators was important to obtain a reliable perspective of the Boa Vista low-lying coastal evolution across a wide range of coastal environments. Results indicate that between 1968 and 2010 the coast was relatively stable, although some spatial variability was recognized. The largest changes were observed at the tips of embayed beaches and a clear coastal progradation was found at the southern (downwind) coastal sectors. Coastal evolution has been dominated by sediment budget and the results put in evidence the sedimentary connections between the beaches across the island, either through bypass and overpass processes. Findings show that understanding coastal evolution at low-lying islands should be supported on island-scale observations, being the only scale capable to capture the sedimentary connections between beach systems, that often control coastal evolution. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Morphological response of a barrier island system on a catastrophic event: the AD 1634 North Sea storm

The AD 1634 North Sea storm is one of the most catastrophic storms along the Wadden Sea coast of Denmark. In this study we show how pre‐1634 storm morphology exerted a strong control on the resulting post‐storm coastal morphology. Erosional responses associated with the storm were barrier breaching, dune scarping and shoreface erosion and accretionary responses were washover deposition, shoreface healing and barrier‐island formation. Local sediment sources appeared to have a particularly strong influence on post‐storm coastal evolution and allowed a very rapid formation of a barrier shoal which resulted in several kilometres of coastal progradation. Sediment budgets suggest that formation of the barrier shoal was possible, but the sediment transport rates in the decades after the 1634 storm, must have been two to three times higher than present‐day rates. The study demonstrates that catastrophic storms are capable of moving large amounts of sediments over relatively short time‐periods and can create barrier shoals, whereas moderate storms mostly rework the shoal or barrier and create more local erosion and/or landward migration. Catastrophic storms substantially influence long‐term and large‐scale coastal evolution, and storms may positively contribute to the sediment budget and promote coastal progradation in coastal areas with longshore sediment convergence. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.