Turning the tide: The effect of river discharge on estuary dynamics and equilibrium

TL;DRAbstract

The impact of human intervention on long-term morphological evolution of estuaries is unknown. Numerical models fail to predict natural dynamics and are sensitive to constitutive parameters. On the other hand, physical models were hampered by scaling problems in the past century. Recently, is has been discovered that a periodically tilting flume generates dynamic tidal morphology. This enables experimental investigation to complement numerical modelling.
\nI studied the effects of upstream river discharge on the small-scale channel-shoal dynamics and large-scale equilibrium planform and dimensions of estuaries. A behaviour-oriented model was used to predict the effect of river discharge on equilibrium dimensions of estuaries. The model results were further tested in scaled laboratory experiments in which I systematically varied the amount of river inflow. Typical values of river flow velocity divided by tidal flow velocity were 0.015-0.030. Tilting amplitude was 3-4 mm with a flume

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