Affiliation: | Geological Survey of The Netherlands, P.O. Box 157, 2000 AD, Haarlem, The Netherlands |
Abstract: | A scenario for the future development of the Dutch Wadden Sea is derived from an evolutionary model for tidal basins during a rise in sea level. The model is based on the evolution of the Atlantic/Subboreal Holland tidal basin, between 7000 BP and 3500 BP. It emphasizes the balance between the storage capacity created by a sea-level rise and the amount of sediment available. If the rate of relative sea-level rise exceeds the rate of sediment supply, the innermost (central) portions of the basin will not receive sufficient sediment for an intertidal morphology to be preserved. Eventually, sand will be deposited only in tidal channels and in the flood-tidal delta through which the sediment is supplied, mud deposition will occur in the interchannel areas and salt marshes will disappear. |