Estuarine Ecohydrology

(River sediment contribution to shoreline change)

(Bird, 1985)
70% beaches around the world are recessional
Shoreline change Most dynamic process in coastal region
caused by Physical and Anthropogenic
process (Chen, et.al., 2005)
Coastal erosion Global problem
In coastal region natural forces caused shoreline changes
(wind, wave, current).
Investigate coastal change and littoral drift
grain size distribution and mineral composition are the
most important sediment physical properties that must be
known.
Source: Ghent University.
Mangroves and sea grass beds interrupt large freshwater discharges. They
stabilize salinity levels in the coastal zone and act as buffers or sinks for high
sediment and/or nutrient concentrations in terrestrial run-off.
Coral reefs protect the coastline against high wave action and erosion and, as
such, create lagoons that favor the growth of mangroves and sea grasses.
Ecologically
Beach materials consist of (Horikawa, 1978):
1. Sand and gravel transported by rivers,
2. Sand composing dunes located in the vicinity of the beach, and
3. Debris from nearby coastal cliffs.
Credit Debit Balance
Longshore transport into area
River transport
Sea cliff erosion
Onshore transport
Biogenous deposition
Hydrogenous deposition
Wind transport onto beach
Beach nourishment
Longshore transport out of
area
Wind transport out
Offshore transport
Depositioning in submarine
canyons
Solution and abrasion
Mining
Beach deposition or erosion
From Bowen, A.J. and Inman, D./L., Coastal Eng. Res. Cent. Tech. Memo. No. 19, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers,
Washington, D.C., 1966.
Table 1. The budget of littoral sediments
Beach sediment
Tides rise and fall, producing flow velocities that wax, wane, and usually
reverse direction in diurnal or semi-diurnal cycles.
Freshwater runoff meets slightly denser sea water and creates vertical
circulation patterns that tend to trap and recirculate suspended material.
Ocean waves propagate into estuary mouth, joining locally generated
wind waves to agitate bottom sediments and cause longshore currents.
Processes in estuary
The net movement of the coast
(seaward progradation or
landward erosion)
Net budget
of the coastal wedge.
Balance between the riverine
sediment inflow, and the
inflow/outflow of sediment
from that wedge as longshore
and offshore exports or imports
at wave-dominated settings.
The riverine sediment inflow
The balance between the outflow of sediment landward back into the
estuary by tidal pumping and
The inflow of sediment in the coastal sediment wedge during river
floods.
Practically all the riverine sediment is exported from the estuary into
the coastal wedge when the estuary has freshwater up to the mouth at
least during floods.
Deforestration and poor land use in the river catchment increase the
riverine sediment load and increase seaward coastal progradation.
Longshore current
Longshore current
Transport the beach sediments that have been places into
motion by waves.
Move the sediment for many kilometers in longshore
direction (littoral drift)
Longshore current
produced by waves breaking at an angle to the shoreline.
generated by an oblique wave approach vary in
magnitude across the width of the nearshore (Horikawa,
1978).
Longshore movement of beach sediment along the coast
(sediments are transported parallel to the shoreline).
P
l
= Flux energy of the wave

C
b
= Breaking wave speed

b
= Breaking wave angle

E
b
= Wave energy

H
b
= Breaking wave height

K = Sedimen coefficient

D
50
= Median size of sediment

s
= Sediment density ; g = gravity aceleration
= Sea water density ; n = Sediment porosity
b b b b
C E o o cos sin P =

8
2
b
b
gH
E

=
( ) ( )

P
n g
K
Q
s

=
1
( )
50
5 . 2
4 . 1
D
e K

=
Longshore sediment transport (Q
l
)
Divide shoreline into sel with the same width
(x), and length (y
i
), i refer to the cel
number.


(y
i
)
Shoreline
Q
i
= longshore sediment
transport
i-1
cel i
x
i+1
(y
i-1
) (y
i+1
)
y
Axis x
Geometry relation between wave angle (
o
),
shoreline angle (
i
), dan breaking wave angle
(
b
)
Incoming
wave
cell
i
cell
i+1

b
=
o
+
i


x
y y
i i
i
A

=
+1
tano
x
x
y
i
-y
i+1

i


Shoreline change simulation
1. Shoreline assumed to be divided into
cells Longshore sediment
transport happen when sediment
move from one cell to another
2. Incoming wave direction (breaking wave
angle) influence the direction of sediment
transport.
d
y
x
Q
input

Q
output

Old shoreline
New Shoreline
Longshore sedimen transport in a shoreline cell
x d
t
Q Q y
out in
A
A
= A ) (
3. Longshore sediment transport into (Q
in
)
and leaving (Q
out
) cell
If
Q
in
> Q
out
y = (+) accretion
Q
in
< Q
out
y = (-) erosion
Q
in
= Q
out
y = 0 no change
Shoreline changes (y) :
Structure interfere the natural movement of sediment
Shore-perpendicular structures
(e.g., groins and jetties) tend to
get a buildup of sediment on the
updrift side of the structure and
erosion downdrift.
Longshore transport can be
slowed, or interrupted, by inlets,
groins, jetties and breakwaters.
The structures impacting the natural longshore transport may have a depositional
shadow effect on downdrift beaches, channels, harbors, etc.