Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967

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Applied Ocean Research

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Morphologic modelling of tidal inlet on a barrier-lagoon coast: Case study of T

the Laolonggou tidal inlet in the Bohai Bay
⁎ ⁎
Zhu Haoa,b, Zuo Liqina, , Johan Reynsc, Lu Yongjuna, , Ali Dastgheibc, Dano Roelvinkc
a
State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, 34 Hujuguan Road, Nanjing, 210024, China
b
College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
c
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, PO Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft, The Netherlands

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Understanding the long-term morphodynamic evolution of tidal inlet systems and their control mechanisms has
Tidal inlet great significance in the management and sustainable development of coastal regions. This study addresses this
Process-based model issue by applying a process-based morphological model (Delft3D) to hindcast morphodynamic evolution of the
Morphologic evolution Laolonggou tidal inlet (LTI) for a duration of 68 years and then analyze the mechanism of morphologic evolution
Laolonggou
and factors affecting it in tidal inlets. The morphodynamic model is validated against two periods, a natural stage
Bohai Bay
(1938–1983), and a recent erosion stage with reservoir construction (1983–2006). Results show that the evo-
lution pattern, sediment volume changes, and hypsometry curves simulated by the model agree well with field
data. A series of scenarios were designed to analyze the mechanism of morphologic evolution and impacting
factors. The model results reveal that the asymmetry of the tidal currents in the channels leads to tide residual
sediment transport, which causes morphodynamic evolution. The inconsistency of tidal flow path, i.e., ebb
dominance occurs in the west channel and flood dominance occurs in the east channel, is an important me-
chanism for the evolution of the whole system. In addition, the decrease of sediment supply caused by reservoirs
in Luanhe River, and extension of the barrier island contribute to the evolution of LTI. Although this study is site-
specific, the results are expected to provide valuable information for sustainable management of tidal inlet
systems.

1. Introduction The main mechanism that leads to morphological changes of tidal

Barrier-lagoon coast is a major type of sedimentary coast, ac-
counting for 11%–13% of total coastline length in the world [1]. It
comprises geomorphic units including barrier island, lagoon and tidal
inlet [2], among which tidal inlet connects semi-closed water like la-
goons, bays and estuaries to the open sea, and provides passages for
navigation and water exchange [3]. With their high economic and
ecological value, tidal inlet systems associated with mega-cities around
the world have attracted attention in terms of environmental and
geomorphological issues [4]. With increasing global climate changes
due to both natural and anthropogenic factors, the morphological re-
sponse and future trends of tidal inlets, particularly on the decadal time
scale, have become a public concern. Research of the morphologic
evolution of the tidal inlet system not only improves our understanding
of a basic process of nearshore oceanography, but also provides ne-
cessary basic information for the development and environmental
protection of coastal regions.
inlet systems is an accumulated result of net sediment transport [5],
which is governed by residual flow, tidal asymmetry and density cur-
rents, etc. [6,7]. Analysis of long-term measurements in the Marsdiep
tidal inlet [8] show that tidal currents by far dominate currents in the
Wadden Sea and the variance of water transport through the tidal inlet
can be explained from tides. Deviations from an ‘ideal tidal current’,
which cause net sediment transport, are very characteristic for shallow
areas where tide-topography interactions induce residual currents and
harmonics of the basic tidal components [9]. The combined effects of
bottom friction and advective sediment transport processes [10] can
promote sedimentation above the shallow parts and erosion of the
deeper parts through convergence of advective transport above shoals
and its divergence in channels. This growth mechanisms are further
strengthened by increasing differences in water depths between chan-
nels and shoals and differences in velocities in channels and above
shoals [11]. The mechanism that particles sink to the bottom around
slack tide causes a net transport of particles was used to explain a net

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: lqzuo@nhri.cn (L. Zuo), yjlu@nhri.cn (Y. Lu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apor.2019.101967
Received 7 March 2019; Received in revised form 29 September 2019; Accepted 11 October 2019
0141-1187/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Zhu, et al.
import of fine grained sediment [12]. Meanwhile, if the faster rising
tide leads to a larger flood current in the tidal inlet, the system is re-
ferred as flood dominant or flood asymmetry. On the contrary, the tide
is ebb dominant or ebb asymmetry [13]. The tidal asymmetry is a
dominant mechanism for tide induced net sediment transport, which
causes morphological changes of tidal inlets [14]. Variations of tidal
asymmetry in tidal inlets are largely affected by coastal morphology,
including the cross-sectional geometry of channels and the extent of
shoal [9]. Therefore, though the general principles of evolution me-
chanisms are deducted from numerous studies on tidal inlet system,
each system has its characteristics, which leads to a high uncertainty in
morphological evolution.
Numerous case studies on tidal inlet system morphodynamics based
on topographic and bathymetric datasets have been published in the
past several decades [15–17]. Although these data-driven results have
greatly improved our understanding of the morphological processes of
tidal inlet systems, they cannot be used to specify the processes that are
relevant for establishing a new equilibrium. In other cases, high-re-
solution and successive bathymetric data are rare or unavailable; thus,
the demand for modeling methods is high. Process-based models aim at
the best possible description of the relevant processes. An example is
the Delft3D system [18], in which the mathematical equations re-
presenting the physical processes of water movement and sediment
transport are solved numerically to determine the morphological
changes based on mass-balance for sediment. With rapid development
of computer technology, there also has been significant progress in
long-term morphodynamic modelling with process-based models of
tidal inlet [19–21]. For example, the process-based model system
Delft3D equipped with the morphology accelerating factor (MF) ap-
proach has been widely used in modelling and achieved remarkable
results [22,23].
This study focuses on the morphodynamic evolution of the
Laolonggou tidal inlet (LTI) system over a long-time scale by means of a
process-based model. LTI is a barrier-lagoon tidal inlet, which mainly
comprises the following geomorphic units: offshore barrier islands in-
cluding Hatuo Island and Dongkengtuo Island, Laolonggou lagoon, and
deep channels at the mouth of the tidal inlet. LIT belongs to mixed-
energy tide-dominant inlets according to the classification [24], where
tidal flow plays an important role in the sediment transport and mor-
phodynamics. This is also consistent with many research results so far.
Since the 1990s, scholars have carried out many studies on the dynamic
sedimentation environment and effects of engineering projects in this
sea area. By comparing flow fields in different years, Ji et al. [25]
concluded that the deep channel at the mouth of LTI has undergone
drastic morphologic changes, which has inevitably led to changes of the
tidal prism, and thereby influencing the overall hydrodynamic en-
vironment of Caofeidian sea area in recent years. The westward ex-
tension of Dongkengtuo Island was the main factor that leads to
scouring of the east channel. Meanwhile, the Luan River sediment
discharge significantly decreased since the 1980s due to reservoirs in
upstream and water diversion projects [26,27]. The reduction of sedi-
ment concentration in the Laolonggou sea area is considered to be one
of the main causes of erosion in the LTI [25,28]. However, it is not clear
whether the acceleration of scouring in deep channels is due to the
movement of the sand island or to the reduction of sediment supply.
Above mentioned studies improve our understanding of the morpho-
logical process, but the controlling mechanisms and the evolution
trends are still not clear. Liang et al. [29] used a process-based mor-
phological model which considers multi-fraction sediment dynamics to
investigate the influence of reclamation projects on LIT. Results show
that the tidal asymmetry is a key factor in the evolution of channels,
which is impacted by the reclamation location. However, the mor-
phological changes under natural situation before reclamation and the
evolution mechanism worth further study.
So far, the mechanism of morphologic evolution of LTI system is still
under researched. The present study uses LTI system as a case study,
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Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967
Fig. 1. (a) The location of Bohai Bay (circular); (b) The Bohai Bay with
bathymetry observed in 2006 under mean sea level. The rectangular dotted line
box denotes the location of the Laolonggou tidal inlet system.
establish a process-based model based on Delft3D, and hindcast the
morphological changes of multiple-inlet system over a long time scale.
The validated morphological model was used to discuss the mechanism
of LTI's formation and evolution, and to analyze the influence of barrier
islands and changes of sediment supply on the evolution of LTI. The
overall objective is to improve the knowledge of physical mechanisms
controlling the morphological changes of tidal inlets, focusing on the
sediment transport process in the tide-dominant tidal inlets.
2. Overview of the study area and its morphologic evolution
2.1. Overview of the region
The Laolonggou sea area is located in the north Bohai Bay (Fig. 1),
and is evolved from a fan-shaped Luan River delta. The coastal geo-
morphic units in Laolonggou sea area include offshore barrier islands, a
lagoon and inlet deep channels. There are two chains of barrier islands
in the LTI system (Fig. 2). The inside chain comprises several dis-
continuous barrier islands, including Caofeidian Island, Yaotuo Island
and Hatuo Island, in order from SW to NE. The outside barrier island
Dongkengtuo Island is in an L shape. Its minimum distance from the
coast is about 9 km. The barrier island is about 6.8 km in length and
0.4–3.2 km in width. Dongkengtuo Island is between the east and west
mouths of Laolonggou. In the water area between the inner side of the
barrier islands and the tidal channels, a large backflow and slack water
zone is formed because the barrier islands effectively obstruct the wave
propagation and deflects the flood tide in the two tidal channels on both
sides of the island.
The area of Laolonggou lagoon on the inner side of the barrier is-
lands is about 350 km2, in which a large area of silty tidal flat has
developed, wherein the area of 0 m shoal is about 160 km2. Tidal creeks
develop in the lagoon, and bifurcate into the east branch and the west
branch divided by Dongkengtuo Island. The narrowest place of LTI is
bordered by the east mouth of Hatuo Island on the west, and the shoal
of Dongkengtuo Island on the east. The mean width of the tidal inlet
system defined by the 0 m depth isobath during low tide is 2.1 km, and
its cross section area is 18.2 × 103 m2. The west branch further bi-
furcates into the east channel and the west channel. The east deep
channel is 1.5 km wide, and the deepest point is located to the south-
west of Dongkengtuo Island, reaching 21.5 m deep. The west deep
channel is shallower, reaching 15.5 m deep at its deepest point. A
H. Zhu, et al. Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967

Fig. 3. Grain size distribution of suspended load and bed materials in

Laolonggou sea area.

2.2. Morphologic evolution of LTI

LTI system is a product of long-term transformation of the sedi-

Fig. 2. Laolonggou tidal inlet system in Bohai Bay. Land and sand islands are
mentary body of the abandoned Luan River delta under the combined
gray and the three kinds of lines denote the 0-m, 5-m and 10-m isobaths re- action of wave and tide [30]. Investigations show that the estuary of the
spectively. Luan River has experienced several migrations and avulsions in the
history. The sea area between the Liuzan River and the Daqing River
used to be the ancient estuary of the Luan River (Fig. 4). After the Luan
mouth bar shoal between 5–6 m deep is between the two deep channels.
River abandoned the ancient estuary, sediment supply decreased
The east channel refers to the east channel of the west branch, and the
sharply; delta stopped growing; coarse sediments in the margin of the
west channel refers to the west channel of the west branch.
delta were reshaped by wave and tide into series of offshore barrier
Laolonggou sea area has irregular semi-diurnal tides. During spring
islands; delta plain became lagoon or bay due to wave action and
tide the mean flow velocity of flood tide is 40–60 cm/s, and the mean
compaction of sediment, then eventually LTI system took its initial
flow velocity of ebb tide is 35–50 cm/s. The tidal current in the sea area
shape. Since then, tidal currents could only pass through relatively
takes the form of reciprocating flow. Both flood and ebb currents are
narrow gaps between the barrier islands, so that water flow was bound
obviously controlled by topography. The direction of mainstream flow
and narrowed, increasing its velocity and intensifying erosion within
in near-shore sea area tends to be parallel to isobaths. During flood tide,
tidal channels, eventually forming the modern deep channels. Results of
water moves from east to west, fills the deep channels of Laolonggou
seismic stratigraphy in this sea area also show that Laolonggou is a
first, and then floods the shoals of Hatuo Island and Yaotuo Island.
In recent years, many hydrological surveys show that sediment
concentration in nearshore area is 0.07–0.15 kg/m3. It is greater than
that in the open sea, which is 0.05–0.10 kg/m3. Sediment in
Laolonggou sea area is mainly from the Luan River. A series of hy-
draulic engineering in the Luan River Basin including reservoirs in
upstream and water diversion projects have changed the sediment
supply of the Luan River. Sediment discharge of the Luan River has
decreased sharply since the 1970s due to interception of sediment by
upstream reservoirs and reduction of flood season discharge. The an-
nual sediment discharge recorded at Luan County Station averaged
27.42 million tons before 1960. It dropped to 10.12 million tons per
year in the 1970s, to several million tons in the 1980s and 1990s, and
eventually to only 0.12 million tons in 2000-2003. Since then
Laolonggou sea area has been a relatively closed and independent
system, and the sediment of the tidal inlet system has mainly been
supplemented by sediment eroded from tidal flats and barrier islands.
Sediment concentration in the tidal inlet system dropped to
0.03–0.06 kg/m3 in 2006.
According to results of particle size analysis (Fig. 3) of surface se-
diment samples in the neritic zone close to Caofeidian conducted by
Nanjing University, surface sediment in this sea area mainly comprises
sand and silt, and the mean particle size is 8–260 μm. Generally, the
particle size of sediment increases from west to east, and decreases as
the depth increases. Sediment is relatively coarse on shoal and fine in
deep channels. The mean particle size is 8–27 μm in the west side sea
area and 12–250 μm in the east side sea area. Coarse sand whose par-
ticle size is around 200 μm is mainly distributed on the shoals of barrier
islands, such as Caofeidian Island, Hatuo Island and Dongkengtuo Is-
land. Fig. 4. Migration of the Luan River.

3
H. Zhu, et al.
Fig. 5. Isobaths of Laolonggou sea area in 1938, 1983, 1996 and 2006.
modern tidal inlet system that is transformed from an ancient estuary
by tide.
Water flow and sediment transport in this sea area is complex,
leading to an intricate pattern of erosion and deposition on shoals and
in channels. Fig. 5 shows the isobaths in LTI drawn according to the sea
charts drawn in 1938, 1985, 1996 and 2006. According to the charts,
LTI in general has been erosional, among which the west channel of the
west branch has been relatively stable for many years. Water depth
upstream of Hatuo Island has changed little, the 10 m isobaths in dif-
ferent years basically overlapped. Below Hatuo Island, the 10 m isobath
in the west channel has slowly extended seaward for about 3 km over
60 years. The east channel of the west branch, however, has developed
rapidly. Between 1938 and 1983, the 5 m isobath gradually approached
the coast from the neritic zone, surrounded Dongkengtuo Island and
extended into the mouth of the tidal inlet system, moving for about
5 km in 40 years. By 1996, the 5 m isobath in the east channel had
further extended into the mouth of the tidal inlet for another 1.5 km
and basically connected with the west channel of the west branch.
Between 1996 and 2006, an obvious 10 m isobath developed in the east
channel, indicating that the maximum scour depth exceeded 10 m. It
can be seen that the east channel has always been erosional and erosion
has accelerated since the 1980s.
3. Model verification
3.1. Model description
A long-term process-based 2D morphodynamic model was estab-
lished using the Delft3D software to investigate the morphologic evo-
lution of LTI. The key issue of the process-based morphodynamic model
is the coupling of physical processes, including hydrodynamics, sedi-
ment transport and bed morphodynamics. Delft3D can solve the un-
steady shallow-water equations in either two dimensions or three di-
mensions. Morphologic evolution is instantly updated in the flow
computation. Sediment transport and morphologic evolution are com-
puted simultaneously with the flow. The model can simulate hydro-
dynamics and morphologic evolution at time scales ranging from sec-
onds to thousands of years by using representative hydrodynamic
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Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967
settings and a morphologic acceleration factor [31]. Validations of the
basic sediment transport and morphodynamic model were reported by
Lesser et al. (2004) [18] and Ranasinghe et al. (2011) [32]. Delft3D has
been successfully applied in a range of fluvial and coastal environments
to study nearshore morphodynamics, such as evolution of rivers and
tidal inlets [20]. We implemented this process-based model, with re-
duced complexity, in an attempt to gain insight into the evolution
mechanism of LTI.
3.1.1. Model domain and boundary conditions
To investigate the morphologic evolution of the study area, two
numerical models were established: a big model for the entire Bohai Sea
and a local model for Laolonggou sea area (see Fig. 6). The Bohai Sea
model provided tidal boundaries for the local model. The scope of the
large model included the entire Bohai Sea with an open boundary be-
tween Dalian and Yantai. It had 273 × 175 orthogonal curvilinear
grids, and the mean space step was 268 m. The northern boundary of
the local model was the coast from Nanpu to Jingtang Port, and the
other three boundaries were open boundaries in the sea. For the local
model, the grid spacing was about 15 m. The bed level measured in
2006 was adopted as the initial bathymetry. The time step of the hy-
drodynamic model was set as 1 min according to CFL criteria (Courant
number smaller than 10). The sediment supply at the upstream river
boundary was determined based on the data of annual sediment load.
The sand fluxes were given by a zero concentration gradient at the
offshore open boundaries. A spin-up period of 720 min without mor-
phological updating allowed the flow to stabilize. The Manning's
roughness coefficient was calculated according to particle size of sedi-
ment and depth of water, and its value was within 0.014–0.018.
The open boundary of the large scale model was set from Dalian to
Yantai, which has relatively deep water and is far away from the study
area. On the open boundary, the water level consists of 8 astronomical
tide constituents (M2, S2, N2, K2, K1, O1, P1 and Q1), the amplitude
and lag angle of which were obtained from the forecasting model of tide
and wave in East China Sea, which encompasses Bohai, Yellow Sea and
East China Sea and has been nicely verified [33]. The given water level
read,
H. Zhu, et al.
Fig. 6. Scope of the models.
k
ζ t = A0 + ∑ Ai Ficos(ωi t + (V0 + u)i − gi)
t=1 (1)
where, ζt is the water level at time t; A0 is the mean water level over a
certain period; k is the number of relevant constituents; i is the index of
a constituent; Ai is the local tidal amplitude of a constituent; Fi is the
nodal amplitude factor; ωi is the frequency; (V0 + u)i is the astronomical
argument; and gi is the local phase lag.
The local model had three open boundaries, of which one was an
offshore sea boundary and the other two were shore connecting
boundaries which were perpendicular to the shore. Because water level
and flow velocity along the shore were changing constantly, the off-
shore sea boundary was set as a tidal boundary, and the shore con-
necting boundaries were set as Neumann boundaries. Roelvink and
Walstra [34] utilized nearshore water level gradient (Neumann
boundary) to replace fixed water level or flow velocity as the boundary
condition so as to make the boundaries match with the actual condition
without perturbation.
As shown in Section 2.1, offshore barrier islands in LTI system
mainly comprises the inside chain (Hatuo Island, Yaotuo Island, etc.)
and the outside chain (mainly Dongkengtuo Island) (Fig. 2), among
which the inside chain has been stable for many years due to the
shielding effect of outside chain, while Dongkengtuo Island has been
tending westward affected by longshore current and wave. Because the
morphologic evolution of barrier islands is affected by many factors, the
mechanism of its evolution has not yet been fully elaborated. However,
the influence of Dongkengtuo Island's morphologic evolution on the
evolution of LTI cannot be neglected. Therefore most offshore barrier
islands in the model were set as fixed boundary, while the topography
of Dongkengtuo Island was updated manually in accordance with
available data from the sea charts.
3.1.2. Seabed constituent and sediment parameters
The study area is located in the transition area between sandy coast
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Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967
and silty coast, and the variation in particle size of riverbed sediment is
great. Both silt and sand were considered in the morphologic model, the
mean grain size of which were 15 and 200 μm, respectively. Silt was
treated as cohesive in this study because its mean grain size is smaller
than 63 μm. The study area was divided into several regions according
to the sand-silt ratio of riverbed sediment. In each region a generalized
sand-silt ratio was obtained from the local sediment grading curve.
Because the particle size distribution of sampled sediment did not fully
conform to the ordinary particle size distribution of deep channel and
shoal, a bed composition generation run (BCG) [35] of two spring tide
cycles were conducted to obtain a bed composition as the initial con-
dition for each morphologic simulation.
Transport rate of non-cohesive sediment is calculated following van
Rijn's formula [36]. Transport rate of cohesive sediment is calculated
following Partheniades-Krone's formula [37].
τb − τσ , E
E=M , τb > τσ , E
τcr , E (2)
τcr , D − τb
D = ωs c , τb < τcr , D
τcr , D (3)
in which E and D are erosion and deposition fluxes (kg/m s), respec- 2
tively; M is an erosion parameter (kg/m2s); τb is the maximum bed shear
stress (N/m2); τcr, E and τcr, D are the critical erosion/sedimentation
shear stresses (N/m2) (when τb < τcr , E , E = 0 ; when τb > τcr , D, D = 0 ); c
is sediment concentration (kg/m3). The effect of hindered settling in the
model is reflected by Richardson-Zaki formula ωs = ω0 (1 − ϕ)n , where
ω0 is the settling velocity of particles in clear water and ωs is the settling
velocity of particle in water with a volumetric sediment concentra-
tion ϕ. More details can be found in Delft3D manual and Van Maren
et al. [38,39]. Sediment flux and local bed elevation are jointly de-
termined by deposition flux (D) and erosion flux (E), which further
depend on the values of τcr, E, τcr, D, c and M. In this study, τcr, E and τcr, D
are set to be 0.2∼0.5 N/m2 and 1000 N/m2, respectively. The erosion
parameter M is set as 5 × 10−5 kg/m2s. Calibrations of the numerical
H. Zhu, et al.
model show that too large or too small values of M will cause the
evolution rate of the tidal inlet system to deviate much from the actual
situation. The settling velocity ω0 is determined to be 0.2 mm/s by a
simplified flocculation model according to the particle size of cohesive
sediment [40].
3.1.3. Sensitivity to the morphological factor
In the Delft3D model, no robust and objective method exists for
determining the highest morphological factor (MF) for a given simu-
lation [32]. Van der Wegen and Roelvink [20] used a MF value of 400
for the formation of the Western Scheldt estuary, while Dissanayake
et al. [41] used a MF value of 60 to study morphological changes of a
small bay over a 15-year period. The selection of MF depends on the
morphological timescale and related behavior of the system and must
be determined according to the modelling processes and model con-
figuration. The morphological change at each time step was multiplied
by the carefully selected acceleration factor [19] to appropriately ac-
celerate the evolution and make the long-term simulation more efficient
[32].
Sensitivity analysis was performed to select a better MF value. The
natural stage (1938-1983) was chosen for sensitivity analysis, because
the evolution pattern of this stage was almost unaffected by human
activities. Four cases with MF values of 1, 54, 100 and 200 were de-
fined. Same configuration settings were used to investigate the effects
of the MF. MF = 1 represents the real process without acceleration,
while the other three MF values accelerate the calculation of the model.
If the difference between the calculated results which was accelerated
and that at MF = 1 is very small, then value of MF is appropriate. The
erosion and deposition volumes under different MF values were com-
pared. Results show that, the reference case (MF = 54) and the case
with MF = 1 produce similar erosion and deposition volume, while the
cases with MF = 100 and MF = 200 show large deviations (Fig. 7).
Based on this sensitivity tests, a morphological acceleration factor of 54
was used.
3.2. Model verification
The Bohai Sea model was first verified. The model domain was
large, but measured data were mostly available in the key study area
(Fig. 8a). Verifications were made at points in the open sea where time
series of tide measurements were provided. Verification results can be
seen in Fig. 9. The results of numerical simulation match with the tide
levels provided by the tidal table, showing that the model can effec-
tively demonstrate the main characteristics of tide and can be used to
simulate large scale tidal movement.
Velocity, flow direction and sediment concentration computed by
the local model were calibrated to measurement data on 15 vertical
lines (Fig. 8b) from 11:00 on March 19 to 14:00 on March 20, 2006. The
following skill model [42] is used to quantify the model performance:
Fig. 7. Sensitivity of the morphological factor (MF) to sediment volume
changes.
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Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967
n
∑i = 1 S − D 2
skill = 1 − n
∑i = 1 ( S − D̄ + D − D̄ )2 (4)
Where S and D are the simulated and observed data, respectively; D̄
is the mean value of observed data, n is the number of observed data. A
skill value of 1.0 indicates perfect performance of the model, excellent
for skill value between 0.65 and 1.0, very good for skill value in a range
of 0.5–0.65, good for skill value in a range of 0.2–0.5 and poor for skill
value less than 0.2.
Comparison of the computed and measured tidal current processes
at six tidal stations and fifteen representative stations shows good
agreement in both magnitude and phase. All the skill values of tidal
elevation (shown in Table 2) exceed 0.95, and most of the flow velocity
magnitude and direction exceed 0.8 at fifteen stations. Measured sus-
pended sediment concentrations (SSC) were used to validate the sedi-
ment transport model, with skill values of 0.5–0.7, and the verification
can be regarded as good.
Figure 10 shows the flow fields of the study area, from which it can
be seen that the tidal current in the study area took the form of a re-
ciprocating flow. During flood tide water flowed westward and during
ebb tide water flowed eastward. Tidal current in near-shore area was
obviously under the control of bathymetry, and tended to flow parallel
to the shore or isobaths. Flood and ebb currents could only pass through
relatively narrow mouths into the tidal inlet due to the obstruction of
barrier islands like Dongkengtuo Island, so that water flow was bound
and narrow, and flow velocity in tidal inlets and creeks was relatively
high. The flow patterns of flood tide and ebb tide were different in their
velocity and flow paths. Flood current entered Laolonggou lagoon
mainly through the east channel, while ebb current mainly flowed
through the west channel. The primary cause of this difference is that
the direction of flood tide was from east to west. When obstructed by
Dongkengtuo Island, it entered the bay through deep channels on both
sides of the island. When the tide fell, because the west channel was
wide and deep, the ebb current mainly fell into it.
3.3. Verification of morphologic evolution of LTI
3.3.1. Comparison of morphologic evolution
Simulation of morphologic evolution of LTI from 1938 to 2006 was
carried out using the bathymetry in 1938 as the initial condition. Water
and sediment discharge of the Luan River had been continuously de-
clining during this period. Since the 1980s sediment transport has de-
creased for about 90%. Therefore 1980 was taken as a dividing line of
the input data of water and sediment supply and topography of
Dongkengtou Island. Comparison between the simulated morphologic
evolution and the measured data is shown in Fig. 11. Comparisons in-
dicate that the calculated morphological changes during the two per-
iods (1938-1983 and 1983-2006) qualitatively agree with the ob-
servations.
During 1938–1983, slow erosion occurs in the east branch, and the
tidal basin has little changes (Fig. 11b, c). In the mouth bar area, ero-
sion along the east channel is approximately reproduced although the
deposition on the mouth bar is overestimated, which are all well cap-
tured by the model (Fig. 11b). The 1983-2006 hindcast case also
showed reasonable results (Fig. 11d, e). It shows that the east channel
was further developed and the mouth bar continue to deposit. Basically,
the model qualitatively reproduced the evolution patterns during two
hindcast periods.
The skill model (Eq. (4)) is used to quantify the model prediction. In
this paper, the forecasting results of 1938∼1983 and 1983-2006 were
tested respectively. The predicted and observed values are derived from
the morphological changes on each grid. The SS (skill score) for the
shoals and channels are listed in Table 3. The skill values of morpho-
logical changes ranges from 0.78 to 0.84 and the evaluation of the
model prediction can be regarded as good.
H. Zhu, et al. Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967

Fig. 8. Schematic diagram of the positions of the verification points (a: Bohai Sea model, b: Local model).

3.3.2. Erosion and deposition volume
Fig. 12 shows comparison of the simulated and measured volume of
erosion and deposition during 1938-1983 and 1983-2006. Fig. 12
shows comparisons of calculated and measured erosion, deposition and
net sediment volume changes in the tidal basin area and the mouth bar
area during 1938–1983, and 1983-2006. The range of the tidal basin
area and the mouth bar was shown in Fig. 11a. It can be seen that, the
model can reproduce net deposition or erosion in LTI regions. The tidal
basin area has been slowly silting over the years the erosion in the
mouth area accelerates in the later period. The discrepancy of the si-
mulated net sediment volume loss in the whole area was 25% during
1938-1983. Meanwhile, during 1983-2006, erosion in the mouth bar
area was overestimated and deposition was underestimated, resulting
in a discrepancy of net erosion (Fig. 12b, d), with a value of 18%. The
deviation between the simulation and the measurement may be due to
the application of uniform sediment parameters and inaccurate bed
compositions in these two hindcast cases.

Fig. 9. Comparison of the measured and simulated a water level, b current velocity and flow direction, c suspended sediment concentration.

7
H. Zhu, et al.
Fig. 10. Flow field of study area during the spring tidal period (9:00 and 17:00,
Mar. 20, 2006). The dotted line denotes the 5-m isobath.
3.3.3. Hypsometry curves
Drastic morphologic evolution mainly took place in the vicinity of
the mouth of the tidal inlet, which includes the mouth bar, the east
channel and Dongkengtuo Island. Therefore, the simulation results
were compared to measured data on the cross section (A-A’) at the
mouth and on the cross section (B-B’) along the east channel (Fig. 13).
The elevation at the deepest point on the A-A’ cross section, which
was located at the north of Hatuo Island, had undergone little changes
throughout the simulation period. Its elevation was -20.81 m initially,
and evolved after 68 years to -21.94 m according to the measured data,
and -21.23 m according to the simulation result which was 5.15%
smaller than the measured value. When tide rose, flood current spilled
over barrier islands and shoals, dispersing its power and reducing the
velocity of flow that entered the tidal inlet, so the topographic change
in this area was less than 1 m from 1938 to 2006. The west channel
below Hatuo was being slowly scoured so that its bottom elevation has
dropped by 1.2m in 68 years, and the -10 m isobath had been extending
toward the mouth with the extending distance of about 11 meters per
year. Elevation changes on the B-B’ cross section shows that the west
channel was slowly narrowing and moving to west. The width of -5 m
isobath at the mouth of the tidal inlet decreased from 2.3 km in 1938 to
1.8 km in 2006, and the simulation result was reduced to 1.75 km. The
mouth bar had been aggregating and slowly moving westward. Its total
migration distance was 300 m in reality, and 450 m in simulation.
The east channel had been undergoing erosion, especially at the
southwest end of Dongkengtuo Island. The east channel was not yet
fully developed in 1938, and its mean elevation was about -3.5 m.
Simulation result shows that after 45 years the deepest point was
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eroded by about 6 m to -9.43 m. After 68 years, the elevation of the
deepest point was -19.43 m, close to the measured elevation of
-19.63 m. The simulated width of -5 m isobath is 320 m wider than the
real bathymetry, indicating that erosion had been overestimated by the
model. The erosion rate in the deep channel was 0.13 m/y in the first 45
years, and increased to 0.44 m/y in the later 23 years. The acceleration
might on one hand be induced by the reduction of water and sediment
discharge of the Luan River since the 1980s, which changed the mor-
phodynamic environment of the sea area; on the other hand the ac-
celeration may be caused by the morphologic changes of Dongkengtuo
Island, which reduced the cross section area of the east channel by
520 m2 and thereby influenced the evolution process of the east
channel.
Overall, the morphodynamic evolution of the deep channels in
Laolonggou tidal inlet over 68 years simulated by the model tallies with
the measured bathymetry in terms of position, erosion rate, and evo-
lution trend. It shows that the model is reasonable, the simulation result
is trustworthy, and the verified model can be used to simulate the
morphodynamic process of Laolonggou tidal inlet.
4. Results
4.1. The formation and evolution mechanisms of the west branch
4.1.1. The patterns of tidal currents
As mentioned in the previous section, the water depth of the west
channel has changed little, while the east channel has been developing
rapidly. In 1938, the east channel was not yet fully developed, and its
water was shallow (Fig. 11a). In 2006, a connected deep channel had
already been developed in the east channel after long-term erosion,
with the deepest point reaching over 18 m to the southwest of Dong-
kengtuo Sand Island (DS) (Fig.13). In order to analyze the role of tidal
current in the evolution of LIT, the residual current was computed
under the bathymetry of 1938 and 2006 (Fig. 14). Fig. 14 shows that
the ebb dominant current is maintained in the west channel and at the
tidal basin, and flood dominance occurs at the seaward side of the
shoals and in the east channel. The magnitude of residual current is
high in the deeper parts of the channel. The flood tidal dominance in
the east channel is more obvious in 2006 than in 1938. To better un-
derstand sediment transport processes in the channels, we plotted the
suspended loads through a given cross-section (Fig. 14a, c). As shown in
Fig. 14, landward sediment transport occurs in the east channel while
seaward sediment transport occurs in the west channel. In the deeper
parts of the channels the sediment transport is high compared to that on
the shoals.
To further analyze the characteristics of flood tide and ebb tide, the
spatial distribution of mean flow velocity was computed with the
bathymetry of 1938 and 2006 (Fig. 15). It can be seen that in 1938 the
west channel was the major watercourse for flood tide. The east channel
has since then been subject to continuous scouring by flood current and
extended toward the mouth of the tidal inlet, gradually transforming
the east channel into a watercourse for flood tide as it is now. Com-
parison between the flow fields of ebb tide in 1938 and 2006 shows that
the ebb current velocity in the west channel in 2006 is slightly greater
than that in 1938 (Fig. 15b, d). The difference is most salient in the
main channel to the north of Hatuo Island. In the east channel, the flow
velocity in 2006 was slightly greater than in 1938, and the belt with
high flow velocity in 2006 was thinner and longer than in 1938, in-
dicating that ebb current velocity did not decrease as water depth in-
creased.
Generally speaking, the east channel gradually developed from a
tidal channel in which flood tide and ebb tide were roughly equally
strong (1938) into a flood-dominant watercourse (2006). In the out sea,
flood current moved parallel to the outside of DS. When the flood
current was obstructed and deflected by the mouth bar and underwater
ridges, it entered the mouth of the east channel, and gradually
H. Zhu, et al.
Fig. 11. Modeled (b, d) and observed (a, c, e) LTI bathymetry in 1938(a), 1983 (b, c) and 2006 (d, e). The dashed lines denote the defined boundaries of the tidal
basin and the mouth bar area.
deepened the channel by scouring the bed. Although the mean tidal
range in this area was small, a large tidal prism and a relatively con-
centrated flow during ebb tide increased the ebb current velocity in the
west channel, which was also the main factor that has maintained a
large water depth in the west channel. The direction of both flood and
ebb currents in the open sea was parallel to the mouth of the tidal inlet
system (Fig. 10), leading to a difference in the formation mechanism of
these two tidal channels.
4.1.2. Formation mechanism of the west branch
The above analyses reveal that the formation mechanisms of the
west channel and the east channel may different. The former one
maintains its water depth mainly with a strong ebb tide, while the latter
one has been developed by erosion caused by flood tide. In order to
further demonstrate the formation mechanism of the tidal inlet system,
a verified numerical model is used to simulate the deep channels’
evolution under different generalized initial bathymetry.
The case 1 generalized initial bathymetry is to fill up all deep
channels in the bathymetry of 1938 to -5 m elevation (Fig. 16a). Si-
mulation result shows that after a period of morphologic evolution the
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Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967
west channel had fully disappeared, but the morphologic evolution of
the east channel was basically the same as the actual process. As the
tidal channels were expanded and deepened, the tidal prism also in-
creased, and a relatively great flow velocity is maintained in the east
channel. The east channel was continuously scoured, and had finally
formed a connected 10 m deep channel (Fig.16b). Thus, it became the
main watercourse of flood current. Simulation results show that the east
channel would inevitably be developed to become the main channel for
flood tide's propagation into the tidal inlet system due to the binding
and narrowing effect of the mouth bar and DS at the mouth on one
hand, and the east channel's alignment with the direction of flood
current on the other hand. Ebb tide has been maintaining the water
depth of the historically formed west channel, but could not promote its
development. It can be inferred that the west channel is evolved from
an abandoned estuary of the Luan River and was initially formed by
long-term action of river runoff. After the avulsion of the Luan River it
was remolded by tidal action into the main watercourse of ebb tide of
LTI, and its water depth has been maintained by ebb currents.
In case 2, the east channel and the mouth bar in the bathymetry of
1938 are either filled or reduced to -5 m elevation (see Fig. 16c), and
H. Zhu, et al. Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967

the west channel remains unchanged. Simulation result shows after 70

years of morphodynamic evolution the energy of flood current wea-
kened due to the disappearance of mouth bar and consequent en-
largement of the cross section area of the mouths of the tidal inlet
system, but the effect of the cape of DS still existed. Flood current en-
tered the east channel along the eastern side of DS, and gradually ex-
panded it. Because there was no mouth bar to divide the ebb current,
the cross section area of the mouths of the tidal inlet system was much
greater than the actual condition. The energy of ebb tide weakened, and
sediment carried by flood tide deposited in the west channel, gradually
obliterating the deep channel in it. However due to the bounding and
narrowing effect of Hatuo Island and DS, ebb current still has enough
energy to maintain the original water depth at the mouth of the west
channel.

4.2. Effects of sediment supply from the Luan River

The morphological evolution for a duration of 68 years is studied

considering different water discharge (WD) and suspended sediment
discharge (SSD) conditions by applying the same sediment parameters
as the verified hindcast case. Reservoir construction and water diver-
sion projects have changed the sediment supply of the Luan River
dramatically since the 1970s [25]. Table 4 shows two cases of the Luan
Fig. 12. Comparisons of calculated and measured erosion, deposition and net
River averaged over multiple years before (case 3) and after (case 4)
sediment volume changes in the tidal basin area (a, c) and the mouth bar area
building the reservoirs. During the first decade since the operation of
(b, d) during 1938–1983 (a, b), and 1983–2006 (c, d).
the reservoir was built, the annual mean SSD has decreased to

Fig. 13. Comparison of calculated and measured bed elevation on selected cross sections.

10
H. Zhu, et al. Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967

Fig. 14. Residual current (a, c) and net sediment flux (b, d) through the cross-section during the spring tide with bathymetry observed in 1938 (a, b) and 2006 (c, d),
positive and negative values represent landward and seaward sediment transport respectively.

∼0.88 mt/yr, and it was as low as 0.12 mt/yr in the years 2000-2003
(Table 1). The Bohai Sea model computes sediment concentrations in
Bohai Sea under different conditions, which are used as the boundary
condition for the local model. Simulation results reveal that since the
construction of the reservoirs, the sea area surrounding DS, especially
the shoals in the vicinity of the mouth bar, has been erosional (Fig 17).
The mouth bar was sustaining erosion and obviously moving westward.
Reduction of the Luan River's sediment transport changed the pattern of
sediment transport in Laolonggou sea area, and increased the erosion
rate of the east channel. Table 5 shows the volume of seabed changes on
both shoals and channels in two cases. The sediment volume loss in the
channel increased from 879.2 million m3 to 1, 252.7 million m3 with
reduce of SSD. However, no matter how much the sediment supply is,
the channel remained erosional, indicating that the binding and nar-
rowing effects of the mouth is the prerequisite of the tidal inlet's ero-
sion. The quantity of sediment supply can only determine the erosion

Fig. 15. The spatial distribution of mean flow velocity in 1938 (a, b) and 2006 (c, d) (left: flood tide, right: ebb tide).

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H. Zhu, et al. Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967

Fig. 16. Simulated evolution of LTI from two assumed initial bathymetry.

Table 1 in LTI evolve in such circumstance is worth further studying.

Average annual runoff and sediment discharge of the Luan River from 1929 to In order to investigate the effect of DS's shape on the evolution of
2003. LTI, three different shapes of DS were set in the model (Fig. 19). DS was
Year Discharge/billion m3 Sediment /million t 5.5 km long in case 5. It extended 1.2 km southwest in case 6. It ex-
tended another 1.1 km southwest in case 7 and was connected with the
1929–1939 / 37.12 mouth bar. These three cases of DS's topography were used as the initial
1940–1949 / 19.34
conditions of the numerical simulations.
1950–1959 5.33 24.93
1960–1969 3.52 16.55 Simulation results of isobaths in LTI can be seen in Fig. 19. Changes
1970–1979 3.72 10.12 of bottom elevation along a cross section C-C’ across the mouths of the
1980–1989 0.73 0.88 tidal inlet system are shown in Fig. 20. In case 6 the east channel was
1990–1999 1.95 3.08 pressed by the west extension of DS (compared to case 5) and became
2000–2003 0.02 0.12
narrow. The width of its -5 m isobaths, which marked the position of
1929–2003 2.38 15.42
the deep channel, decreased from 1.5 km to 1.1 km. The deep channel
and the mouth bar moved westward for about 500 m (Fig. 20). Mean-
rate and has little impact on the general pattern of tidal channels’ while, the decrease of the width of the mouth and the consequent in-
evolution. crease of flow velocity intensified erosion, and scoured the deepest
point of the east channel to -18.5 m in case 6, and in case 5 to -10.1 m.
4.3. Effects of morphologic evolution of DS (Dongkengtuo Sand Island) In case 7, because DS was connected with the mouth bar, the original
east channel was blocked and filled up by sediment deposition. Flood
The bathymetries of 1996 and 2006 show that DS extended 1.2 km current propagated along the rim of Dongkengtuo, struck the mouth
west (Fig. 18). Changes of the shape of DS may affect the morphologic bar, and finally divided the mouth bar and formed a new channel that
evolution of LTI. This section studies the effect of the evolution of DS converged with the west channel upstream. The bottom elevation of the
with the model. Sediments resuspended from the bottom of the neritic deepest point of the new channel was -9 m, which was far smaller than
zone near DS is brought into LTI by flood current and deposits to the -18.5 m in case 6. This may because it took some time for the flood
southwest of DS due to significantly reduced flow velocity, leading to current to divide the mouth bar and form a new channel, and the
the westward extension of DS. Furthermore, if DS continues extending equilibrium between erosion and deposition had not yet been reached.
westward, it may connect with the mouth bar. How the deep channels Thus, it is conceivable that the new deep channel would continue to be

Table 2
Skill value from comparison of simulation and observation.
Tidal station a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6

Tidal elevation 0.97 0.97 0.99 0.98 0.96 0.96

Representative stations 1# 2# 3# 4# 5# 6# 7# 8# 9# 10# 11# 12# 13# 14# 15#
Velocity magnitude 0.79 0.85 0.96 0.89 0.84 0.84 0.82 0.85 0.74 0.86 0.78 0.90 0.82 0.83 0.88
Flow direction 0.92 0.84 0.97 0.90 0.91 0.95 0.96 0.96 0.88 0.89 0.88 0.95 0.94 0.98 0.95
SSC 0.51 0.79 0.53 0.58 0.62 0.55 0.66 0.72 0.69 0.59 0.52 0.69 0.70 0.61 0.63

12
H. Zhu, et al.
Table 3
Skill score from the comparison of prediction and observation.
Location Skill scores
1938∼1983 1983∼2006
Shoals 0.78 0.83
Channels 0.81 0.84
Table 4
Model parameters including the annual water discharge (WD), the annual
suspended sediment discharge (SSD) and the annual suspended sediment con-
centration (SSC) of Luan River before and after the construction of reservoirs.
Annual WD (m3/s) Annual SSD (mt/yr) Annual SSC (kg/m3)
Case 3 4.19 21.6 5.16
Case 4 0.9 1.36 1.51
scoured by flood current. The shape of DS determines the width and
depth of the east channel. Even if the southwest end of DS extends more
westward than case 7, a new deep channel will still be formed.
5. Discussion
Laolonggou sea area is classified as a mixed-energy to tidal domi-
nant regime [29], in which tidal currents play an important role in
sediment transport and morphological dynamics. For most of the tidal
basins, asymmetry tidal currents which cause net sediment transport
are very characteristic mechanisms where tide-topography interactions
induce residual currents and harmonics of the basic tidal components
[43]. In Wadden Sea, the tidal water level curve deformated when
propagating in shoals caused by different propagation speed of tidal
waves at high and low water levels, so that there was a difference in the
flow during the slack tide at the end of the flood as compared with the
situation around slack tide at the end of the ebb. This mechanism
causing residual current was used to explain a net import of fine sedi-
ments into the Wadden Sea [12]. Similarly, the direction of residual
currents is consistent with the direction of net sediment transport in
LTI. It means that residual current caused by tidal asymmetry is qua-
litatively responsible for the sediment transport. Observation at the
Ancao Inlet in Southern Portugal [44] reveals that if the high tide
spreads faster than the low tide, it will cause a faster rising than falling
tide and stronger flood than ebb currents, which will lead to the
asymmetry of the tide and a net loss of sediment transport. Liang et al.
[29] demonstrate that a flood tidal asymmetry (γM 2 − M 4 = ∼0.3) is
produced in Laogonggou sea area. Simultaneously, as tides propagates
into the shallow Laolonggou lagoon, the M4 amplitude is amplified
from 0.02 to 0.04 m to 0.04–0.12 m, resulting in a larger flood tidal
asymmetry (γM 2 − M 4 = 0.3–0.6) in Laolongou lagoon as well. Therefore,
we can infer that the seaward net sediment transport in the whole area
Fig. 17. Evolution of LTI bathymetry simulated with different sediment supply.
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Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967
Table 5
The volume of seabed changes of the shoals and channels in two cases
(million m3)
Shoals Channels
Case 3 438.6 -879.2
Case 4 216.4 -1, 252.7
(Fig. 12) is caused by the asymmetry of the flood tide.
However, in the present study, landward sediment transport occurs
in the east channel while the seaward sediment transport occurs in the
west channel (Fig. 14b, d). It indicates that the morphological changes
of tidal inlets are not only affected by this kind of residual tide caused
by tide asymmetry, but also by the morphology locally at the scale of
the cross-section of a channel [49]. As the direction of flood tide is
almost perpendicular to the direction of the entrance of the tidal
channel (Fig. 10), the flood tide is obstructed by the barrier Island and
entered the system through the east channel close to the island. During
ebb tides, because of the bending of the main channel and the influence
of topography, the ebb currents mainly fall into the west channel. Thus,
the sediment transport within littoral drift is imported from the flood
dominant channel (the east channel) and exported from the ebb
dominant channel (the west channel). Current asymmetry in deep
channels caused by inconsistency of ebb and flood flow paths will lead
to an inconsistency in the direction of net sediment transport. As
pointed out by previous studies [45–47], converging flood currents and
jetting ebb currents are the main hydrodynamic mechanism for the
formation of the entrance channels. Van der Vegt et al. [48] reproduced
the formation and evolution of a tidal inlet using a process-based in-
tegration model. Their results reveal that the morphological asymmetry
of the system depends on the magnitude of the cross-shore and along-
shore tidal current and its phase difference. The asymmetry of the tidal
current in the channels is caused by the angle between current velo-
cities around the entrance and the long- shore direction. Therefore, the
inconsistency of tidal flow path is an important mechanism determining
the long-term evolution of tidal channel system and the formation of
the deep channels. This paper provides a reference for studying various
morphological elements and the morphodynamic evolution of tidal
inlet systems.
The process-based morphodynamic modeling approach applied in
this study shows significant value for numerically reproducing decadal
morphological processes and understanding the mechanism of mor-
phologic evolution and factors affecting it in LTI. The hindcast case
(1983-2006) shows good model performance. The patterns of channel
erosion and shoal deposition are similar to the observed data in the
Caofeidian sea area [50] and also comparable with the simulation re-
sults of the hindcast case in the Caofeidian sea area [29]. The role of
extreme weather events was not considered, such as storms and ty-
phoons. On the one hand, the frequency of extreme events is very small
H. Zhu, et al. Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967

Fig. 18. Isobaths in Laolonggou sea area (left: 1996, right: 2006).

Fig. 19. Simulated bathymetry of LTI after 70 years of evolution.

Fig. 20. Bottom elevation on cross section C–C’ in three cases.

14
H. Zhu, et al.
in the long run, and it is difficult to produce such events in morpho-
logical dynamics model by using morphological factors. On the other
hand, there is a high degree of uncertainty about whether and how to
restore landform in this fast coastline area after a possible storm hits the
coast [51]. Van der Wegen et al. [35] argued that increasing model
complexity does not necessarily lead to better model performance. This
will require more detailed numerical modeling in future studies.
6. Conclusion
Laolonggou tidal inlet (LTI) is a typical multiple-inlet system and is
located on a barrier-lagoon coast in the north Bohai Bay, China. A
process-based morphological model (Delft 3D) was used to simulate
long-term morphologic evolution of LTI, and the factors that influence
the morphologic evolution was analyzed.
(1) The morphodynamic model is validated against the evolution ob-
served during two historical periods, a natural stage (1938–1983),
and a recent erosion stage with reservoir construction (1983-2006).
The modeled evolution patterns of these two periods agree well
with the measured data. The performance of MF was tested by
comparing the erosion and deposition volume using different MF
values. The process-based approach applied in this study can be
used to investigate morphological issues in the barrier-lagoon tidal
inlet systems.
(2) A series of scenarios were designed to analyze the morphologic
evolution in tidal inlets. Results show that the west channel acted as
the main channel of LTI, through which most of flood and ebb
currents entered the tidal inlet system in 1938. As the east channel
deepened, flood current gradually switched to the east channel. The
west channel was maintained by ebb currents, while the east
channel was enlarged by continuous erosion of flood currents. The
west channel may be an abandoned channel of the Luan River es-
tuary, and the east channel is being eroded by flood tide.
(3) Effects of changes of the boundary of DS (Dongkengtuo Sand Island)
and sediment supply from Luanhe River on the morphologic evo-
lution were estimated. The westward extension of DS narrows the
deep channel in the east channel, which increases the flow velocity
and thereby accelerates its erosion rate. The westward extension of
DS also pushes the east channel and the mouth bar westward. The
reduction of the Luan River's sediment discharge will lead to in-
sufficiency of sediment in Laolonggou sea area, which increases the
erosion rate and scour depths of the east channel; however, the
impacts of Luan River's sediment discharge on the overall evolution
pattern of the deep channels is limited.
(4) The results are expected to provide valuable information for the
physical mechanisms controlling the morphological changes of tide-
dominat tidal inlets. The residual currents caused by asymmetry of
tidal currents in the channels leads to tide residual sediment
transport, which is widely accepted to explain morphodynamic
changes. However, the inconsistency of the tidal flow path in dif-
ferent channels is another important mechanism for the evolution
of the whole system. In LTI, this inconsistency of tidal flow causes
landward sediment transport in the east channel (flood dominant
channel) and seaward sediment transport in the west channel (ebb
dominant channel).
Declaration of Competing Interest
We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships
with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence
our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any
nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be
construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the
manuscript entitled.
15
Applied Ocean Research 94 (2020) 101967
Acknowledgement
The study is financially supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No.: 51520105014). We gratefully
acknowledge the helpful comments from anonymous reviewers.
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