Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4338-4343 |
| Journal | Geophysical research letters |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 16 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Aug 2013 |
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Keywords
- IR-90798
- METIS-297275
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Observations of barrier island length explained using an exploratory morphodynamic model. / Roos, Pieter C.; Schuttelaars, Henk M.; Brouwer, Ronald L.
In: Geophysical research letters, Vol. 40, No. 16, 20.08.2013, p. 4338-4343.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Observations of barrier island length explained using an exploratory morphodynamic model
AU - Roos, Pieter C.
AU - Schuttelaars, Henk M.
AU - Brouwer, Ronald L.
PY - 2013/8/20
Y1 - 2013/8/20
N2 - Barrier coasts display a chain of islands, separated by tidal inlets that connect a back-barrier basin to a sea or ocean. Observations show that barrier island length generally decreases for increasing tidal range and increasing basin area. However, this has neither been reproduced in model studies nor explained from the underlying physics. This is the aim of our study. Here we simulate barrier coast dynamics by combining a widely used empirical relationship for inlet dynamics with a process-based model of the tidal hydrodynamics. Our model results show stable inlet systems with more than one inlet open that support the observed qualitative relationships and fit in existing barrier coast classifications. To explain this, we identify a competition between a destabilizing mechanism (bottom friction in inlets, tending to reduce the number of open inlets) and a stabilizing one (spatially varying pressure gradients over the inlets, tending to keep the inlets open).
AB - Barrier coasts display a chain of islands, separated by tidal inlets that connect a back-barrier basin to a sea or ocean. Observations show that barrier island length generally decreases for increasing tidal range and increasing basin area. However, this has neither been reproduced in model studies nor explained from the underlying physics. This is the aim of our study. Here we simulate barrier coast dynamics by combining a widely used empirical relationship for inlet dynamics with a process-based model of the tidal hydrodynamics. Our model results show stable inlet systems with more than one inlet open that support the observed qualitative relationships and fit in existing barrier coast classifications. To explain this, we identify a competition between a destabilizing mechanism (bottom friction in inlets, tending to reduce the number of open inlets) and a stabilizing one (spatially varying pressure gradients over the inlets, tending to keep the inlets open).
KW - IR-90798
KW - METIS-297275
U2 - 10.1002/grl.50843
DO - 10.1002/grl.50843
M3 - Article
VL - 40
SP - 4338
EP - 4343
JO - Geophysical research letters
JF - Geophysical research letters
SN - 0094-8276
IS - 16
ER -