Morphodynamic_Scheldt_effects_sea_level_rise.pdf

14_094_8 FHR reports

Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth Effects of sea level rise

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth Eects of sea level rise

NnaďŹ e, A.; De Maerschalck, B.; Vanlede, J.; Schramkowski, G.; Mostaert, F.

Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Effects of sea level rise

Abstract The morphology of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth varies as a result of natural evolu on and human impacts. Par cularly sea level rise has become an important driver for policy makers dealing with the long-term management of this area. The overall aim of this report is to increase fundamental knowledge of effects of sea level rise on the morphodynamic evolu on of the Scheldt estuarine system, using the coupled Del 3D-SWAN morphodynamic model of Nnafie et al., 2017b. The impacts of different rates of sea level rise, as well as the impact of a me-varying dal forcing on this evolu on are also addressed.

Model results indicate that a rising sea level at a rate of 2 mm/yr results in an slight landward retreat of the ebb- dal delta of the mouth area, whereby channels and shoals undergo increased sedimenta on over me (0.25 mm/yr on average). This sedimenta on is the result of increased sand import from the offshore areas. The la er changes become stronger with increasing rate of sea level rise.

In the Western Scheldt estuary, a rising sea level rather causes the redistribu on of sand in this area, such that sand is deposited on the shoals and dal flats. The overall sedimenta on rate in the la er area is 0.15 mm/yr. Higher rates of SLR increase sedimenta on on the shoals, which is mostly provided through deepening of channels and the reduc on of the sand loss to the mouth area.

In the case that the amplitude of dal currents remains fixed in me, sedimenta on rates in the mouth and the Western Scheldt are too small for these areas to keep up with the rising sea level, which eventually might lead to the drowing of the estuarine system. However, the inclusion of stronger dal currents increases sedimenta on rates on the shoals, and it increases the volume of the deep channels, thereby counterac ng the drowning of the estuarine system caused by SLR. These results suggest that the observed increasing dal amplitudes in this area, most likely resul ng from the rising sea level, is crucial for the estuarine system to keep pace with the rising sea level.

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Eects of sea level rise

Contents Abstract........................................................................................................ III List of Figures ................................................................................................. VI List of Tables .................................................................................................. VII Nederlandse samenva ng .............................................................................. 1 1 Introduc on ............................................................................................... 2 2 Historical sea level rise in the Scheldt estuary ........................................................ 3 3 Experimental setup ...................................................................................... 5 3.1 Model conďŹ gura on ................................................................................. 5 3.2 Overview experiments............................................................................... 5 4 Results and discussion ...................................................................................

4.1 SLR-default (R=2) .....................................................................................

4.2 Sensi vity to rate of SLR .............................................................................

4.3 Variability in dal forcing ............................................................................

4.4 Physical mechanisms ................................................................................

10 10 11 14 17

5 Summary and conclusions............................................................................... 20 References .................................................................................................... 21

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Eects of sea level rise

List of Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18

VI

Historical me series water level ...............................................................

Historical development of dal components in the Western Scheldt ......................

Del 3D computa onal grid .....................................................................

Amplitudes of the dal components imposed at the oshore boundaries in the different scenarios ..................................................................................

Schema c view of channel and shoal conďŹ gura ons in the model ........................

Simulated bedlevels in the cases with and without sea level rise ..........................

Cumula ve changes of the total volumes of channels and shoals in the mouth and the Western Scheldt in the cases with and without sea level rise .........................

As in Fig. 7, but for the Western Scheldt (WS). ...............................................

Modeled hypsometric curves in the cases with and without sea level rise ...............

Dierence �� at � = 200 years between the bedlevels of the cases with dierent rates of SLR and without SLR. ..................................................................

As in Figure 7, but for the cases with dierent rates of SLR. ................................

As in Figure 8, but for the cases with dierent rates of SLR. ................................

As in Figure 9, but for the cases with dierent rates of SLR. ................................ a-b) As in Figure 6, but comparing the bedlevel dierences �� (with respect to the reference case) in the cases of ’SLR-Default’ (a) and ’Higher-M2M4’ (b). c) Dierence between the bedlevels of the two cases. .....................................................

As in Figure 9, but with the addi on of the results from run ’Higher-M2M4’. ...........

As in Figure 6, but comparing the bedlevel dierences �� (with respect to the reference case) in the cases of ’Variable-M2’ (a) and ’Variable-M2M4’ (b). ...................

As in Figure 9, but with the addi on of the results from runs ’Variable-M2’ and ’Variable-M2M4’. ................................................................................

Dierences in the magnitudes of dal currents in the cases with and without sea level rise ...........................................................................................

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List of Tables Table 1 Overview model parameters. .................................................................... 6 Table 2 List of model runs.................................................................................. 7

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Eects of sea level rise

Nederlandse samenva ng Het doel van dit rapport is om fundamenteel inzicht te verschaen in de invloed van zeespiegels jging op de morfodynamische evolu e van de Scheldemonding en de Westerschelde. Hierbij wordt gebruik gemaakt van een gekoppelde Del 3D-SWAN model (zie NnaďŹ e et al., 2017b voor een beschrijving van dit model). Er wordt onder meer onderzocht hoe de morfodynamische evolu e van dit gebied verandert als gevolg van 1) het vergroten van de snelheid van zeespiegels jging, en van 2) het laten toenemen van de ge jamplitude in de jd.

Model resultaten laten zien dat een zeespiegels jging van 2 mm per jaar leidt tot een toename van het zandvolume van de monding (ongeveer 0.25 mm per jaar), waarbij de geulen verzanden, de banken en platen hoger worden, en de eb-ge jde delta zich enigzins terugtrekt in landwaartse richng. Deze veranderingen worden sterker naarmate de zeespiegel sneller s jgt. In de Westerschelde lijkt de zeespiegels jging er eerder voor te zorgen dat sediment opnieuw herverdeeld wordt, waarbij de platen hoger worden met zand dat voornamelijk vrijkomt als gevolg van de uitdieping van de geulen. De zanduitwisseling tussen de Westerschelde en de monding neemt af met zeespigels jging. De gemiddelde sedimenta e in dit estuarium is ongeveer 0.15 mm per jaar. Dit betekent dat in zowel de monding als het estuarium de sedimenta e rates niet voldoende groot zijn om een zeespiegels jging van 2 mm per jaar bij te benen, hetgeen impliceert dat dit gebied op lange termijn zal verdrinken.

Echter, wanneer de ge jamplitude toeneemt, hetgeen leidt tot een sterkere ge jstroming in dit gebied, de verzanding van de geulen neemt sterk af, en meer zand wordt aangevoerd naar de monding (0.5 mm per jaar), waarbij sedimenta e op de banken en platen sneller toeneemt. In de Westerschelde worden de geulen dieper en de platen hoger (1 mm per jaar). Deze resultaten laten zien dat een toename van de ge jamplitude, wat hoogstwaarschijnlijk door de zeespiegels jging wordt veroorzaakt, ervoor zorgt dat de verdrinking van dit gebied wordt tegengegaan.

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Effects of sea level rise

1 Introduc on The morphology of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth varies as a result of natural evolu on and human impacts. Par cularly sea level rise has become an important driver for policy makers dealing with the long-term management of this area. This is because sea level rise might affect the hydrodynamics, which in turn can lead to morphological adapta on of the system, which poten al implica ons for naviga on, fishery and other estuarine values. For instance, channels might undergo increased sedimenta on resul ng from SLR (Pethick, 2001), which will require more dredging maintenance.

The overall aim of this report is to increase fundamental knowledge of effects of sea level rise on the morphodynamic evolu on of the Scheldt estuarine system, following an idealized modeling approach by schema zing forcing condi ons, ini al bathymetry and excluding as many processes as possible.

The specific aims of the present report are threefold. The first is to inves gate effects of sea level rise on the morphodynamic evolu on of shoals and dal channels. Par cular a en on will be paid to the impact of sea level rise on the development of evolu on of volume of channels and shoals.

The second objec ve is to examine sensi vity of model results to different rates of sea level rise. The third is to examine the joint impact of sea level rise and the observed increase in the dal currents.

To this end, the coupled Del 3D-SWAN morphodynamic models described in the previous report by Nnafie et al., 2017b, are used in this study. Further details can be found in the la er report.

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2 Historical sea level rise in the Scheldt estuary Time series of water levels in the Western Scheldt have been measured since the 19th century. In the beginning, the water levels were obtained by manually reading of de gauges of high and/or low water levels, while nowadays full automa c water level data acquisi ons exist every 10 minutes (Kuijper and Lescinski, 2012). These data are free accessible and can be downloaded from live.waterbase.nl, or they can be obtained from the Helpdesk of Water of Rijkswaterstaat (RWS). To quan fy the historical development of the mean sea level and the amplitudes and phases of the dal cons tuents đ?‘€2 , đ?‘€4 and đ?‘€6 in the estuary, me series of water levels at Vlissingen are used, which have been acquired since 1900. These me series are depicted in Figure 1. Prior to 1900, water level data have been recorded once a day, and therefore, they are not suďŹƒciently accurate to be used in the analysis.

Occasionally, there are some gaps in the data, par cularly between 1900 and 1910 (Figure 1).

The historical development of the amplitudes and phases of the dal cons tuents đ?‘€0 , đ?‘€2 , đ?‘€4 and đ?‘€6 is retrieved from the water level me series using the harmonic analysis toolbox t_ de (Pawlowicz et al., 2002). Note that the đ?‘€0 dal component expresses varia ons in the mean sea level â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Š.

Results from this analysis are presented in Figure 2. A linear ďŹ t through the â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Š-data of panel a reveals that the mean sea level has been rising at a rate of approximately 2 mm/yr between 1900 and present, which is consistent with the rate found in the studies by e.g. Baart et al., 2012 and Wahl et al., 2013. Similarly, the amplitudes of đ?‘€2 and đ?‘€4 dal components have risen at rates of âˆź 0.6 mm/yr and âˆź 0.3 mm/yr, respec vely, while hardly any changes appeared in the amplitude of đ?‘€6 . The phase dierence between the đ?‘€2 and đ?‘€4 dal components (2đ?œ™2 − đ?œ™4 ) was decreasing in the ďŹ rst half of the 20th century (panel e), which is a ributed to varia ons in the phase of đ?‘€4 during this period (panel d). Note the large inuence of the 18.6 year nodal cycle on the amplitudes and phases of the dal cons tuents, which is caused by decadal varia ons in the lunar nodal cycle (Baart et al., 2012).

Figure 1 – Historical water level me series at Vlissingen between between 1900 and present.

Data source: RWS.

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Eects of sea level rise Figure 2 – Time evolu on of the amplitude of the residual dal component đ?‘€0 (i.e., mean sea level â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Š, panel a), and of the amplitudes of đ?‘€2 (b), đ?‘€4 and đ?‘€6 components (c), and their corresponding phases (d) at Vlissingen between 1900 and present.

Panel c shows the phase dierence between đ?‘€2 and đ?‘€4 (2đ?œ™2 − đ?œ™4 ).

The harmonic analysis toolbox t_ de (Pawlowicz et al., 2002) has been used to retrieve amplitudes and phases of these components.

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3 Experimental setup 3.1

Model conďŹ gura on

In this study, the version of the model described in the report by NnaďŹ e et al., 2017a is used to examine eects of SLR on the morphodynamic evolu on of the mouth and the Western Scheldt estuary (herea er referred to as WS). Here, this version is extended such that it accounts for SLR, as well as for me-varying amplitudes of the dal cons tuents đ?‘€2 and đ?‘€4 . SpeciďŹ cally, the extension of the model is established by imposing a water level đ?œ at the seaward boundaries, given by the following equa on đ?œ (đ?‘Ľ, đ?‘Ś, đ?‘Ą) = â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Š + đ?œ 2Ě‚ cos(đ?œ”đ?‘Ą − đ?œ™2 ) + đ?œ 4Ě‚ cos(2đ?œ”đ?‘Ą − đ?œ™4 ) + đ?œ 6Ě‚ cos(3đ?œ”đ?‘Ą − đ?œ™6 ),

(1)

where â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Š is the mean sea level, which increases in me according to đ?œ•â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Š = đ?‘…, đ?œ•đ?‘Ą

(2)

with đ?‘… the rate of SLR. Furthermore, to mimic eects of SLR on the amplitudes đ?œ 2Ě‚ and đ?œ 4Ě‚ of the đ?‘€2 and đ?‘€4 dal cons tuents, respec vely, these amplitude increase in me according to đ?œ• đ?œ 2Ě‚ = đ?‘…2 , đ?œ•đ?‘Ą

đ?œ• đ?œ 4Ě‚ = đ?‘…4 . đ?œ•đ?‘Ą

(3)

Here, đ?‘…2 and đ?‘…4 were determined from the observa ons at Vlissingen, i.e., đ?‘…2 = 1.9 Ă— 10−11 m/s (= 0.6 mm/yr) and đ?‘…4 = 9.5 Ă— 10−12 m/s (= 0.3 mm/yr) (Figure 2). Based on the la er ďŹ gure, amplitude đ?œ 6Ě‚ of the đ?‘€6 dal cons tuent does not change with me. For simplicity reasons, the phases of all dal components (đ?œ™2 , đ?œ™4 and đ?œ™6 ) are assumed constant. Other model se ngs described in the report by NnaďŹ e et al., 2017a are kept the same in the present model. See Table 1 for an overview of all model parameters.

3.2

Overview experiments

to assess the eects of SLR on the morphodynamic evolu on of the mouth and WS, the bedlevel from the spinup experiment that is conducted in the study by NnaďŹ e et al., 2017a is used as an ini al bathymetry to run the model. All the experiments that are carried out are presented below. See also Table 2 for an overview of these experiments.

As a ďŹ rst experiment, the model is run without adding SLR. This experiment (’Reference’ in Table 2) serves as a reference run in this study, allowing to quan fy the rela ve impact of SLR compared with the situa on without SLR. In the second experiment (’SLR-Default’), the mean sea level rises at a rate đ?‘… = 2 mm/yr, whereby amplitudes of the đ?‘€2 , đ?‘€4 and đ?‘€6 dal cons tuents remain constant in me (đ?œ 2Ě‚ = 1.6 m, đ?œ 4Ě‚ = 0.1 m and đ?œ 6Ě‚ = 0.05 m ). See also Figure 4 (blue lines) for a graphic representa on of how the components of the water level đ?œ imposed at the seaward boundaries change with me. Next, a series of experiments are carried out (’SensToR’ in Table 2) to examine sensi vity of model results to 1) dierent rates đ?‘… of SLR, ranging between 1 mm/yr and 10 mm/yr; and to Final version

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2) a rate đ?‘… that linearly increases in me from 0 to 10 mm/yr over a me period of 200 years, i.e., đ?‘… = 0.05đ?‘Ą (’Variable-R’). Consequently, in the la er run, the mean sea level increases according to â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Š = 0.05đ?‘Ą2 . This run aims at quan fying the impact of an accelerated SLR, although observa ons at Vlissingen do not provide any evidence of the occurrence of such an accelera on in the last century. Furthermore, to inves gate the joint impact of a rising sea level and an increasing amplitude of the water level, ďŹ rst, a run (’Higher-M2M4’) is conducted where amplitudes of đ?‘€2 and đ?‘€4 are suddenly increased from đ?œ 2Ě‚ = 1.6 m and đ?œ 4Ě‚ = 0.1 m to 1.8 m and 0.16 m, respec vely, at the start of the simula on (đ?‘Ą = 0), which is a crude representa on of the observed gradual increase of these amplitudes (Figure 2). In the subsequent runs, more realis c scenarios are explored by 1) gradually increasing only the amplitude đ?œ 2Ě‚ of đ?‘€2 dal cons tuent according to Equa on 3 (’Variable-M2’); and 2) by increasing both amplitudes đ?œ 2Ě‚ and đ?œ 4Ě‚ according to the la er equa on (’Variable-M2M4’). See also Figure 4 for a graphic representa on of how the mean sea level and the dal cons tuents vary with me in the case of runs ’Variable-M2’ and ’Variable-M2M4’.

All experiments are conducted for a simula on period of 200 years. The analysis of these experiments focuses on dierences đ?‘‘đ?‘§ between bedlevels đ?‘§đ?‘? obtained from runs with and without SLR, i.e., đ?‘‘đ?‘§ = (đ?‘§đ?‘? )đ?‘… − (đ?‘§đ?‘? )đ?‘…=0 . This analysis further quan ďŹ es the changes in the total volume of channels and shoals of the mouth (marked by the thick white lines in Figure 3) and WS (area between Vlissingen and the Dutch-Belgium border) with respect to their volumes at đ?‘Ą = 0 (Δđ?‘‰channels and Δđ?‘‰shoals , respec vely, see Figure 5). Finally, this analysis addresses the rela ve contribu ons of the dierent channels and shoals to the volume changes by compu ng the hypsometry (i.e., amount of channel and shoal surface area below a speciďŹ c bedlevel đ?‘§đ?‘? ) of the mouth and WS. It is stressed that

Value

Descrip on

đ?‘“ đ??ś đ?œˆ Ě‚ ; đ?œ™2,đ?‘† ) / (đ?œ 2,đ?‘ Ě‚ (đ?œ 2,đ?‘† ; đ?œ™2,đ?‘ ) Ě‚ ; đ?œ™4,đ?‘† ) / (đ?œ 4,đ?‘ Ě‚ (đ?œ 4,đ?‘† ; đ?œ™4,đ?‘ )

1.43 Ă— 10−4 s−1 65 m1/2 s−1 1 m2 s−1 (1.6 m; 23đ?‘œ )/(1.2 m; 55đ?‘œ ),

Coriolis parameter.

ChĂŠzy coeďŹƒcient.

Eddy viscosity.

(Amp.;Phase) đ?‘€2 South(đ?‘†)/North (đ?‘ ).

(0.1 m; -11đ?‘œ )/(0.1 m; 113đ?‘œ ),

(Amp.;Phase) đ?‘€4 South(đ?‘†)/North (đ?‘ ).

Ě‚ ; đ?œ™6,đ?‘† ) / (đ?œ 6,đ?‘ Ě‚ (đ?œ 6,đ?‘† ; đ?œ™6,đ?‘ )

(0.05 m; -24đ?‘œ )/(0.05 m; 77đ?‘œ ),

(Amp.;Phase) đ?‘€6 South(đ?‘†)/North (đ?‘ ).

đ?œ”

1.405Ă—10−4 s−1

frequency đ?‘€2 .

Waves

đ??ťđ?‘ đ?‘‡đ?‘?

1m 5.7 s

SigniďŹ cant height southwesterly waves.

Peak period southwesterly waves.

đ?œƒ

254đ?‘œ

Direc on southwesterly waves.

Sediment

Van Rijn, 2007 Bagnold, 1966 đ?›ź đ?›ż đ?‘‘50 đ?›źđ??ľđ?‘† đ?›źđ??ľđ?‘ đ?‘?

1 1.65 0.2 mm 1 15 0.4

Transport formula on Bedslope formula on Calibra on coeďŹƒcient.

Rela ve density of sediment.

Diameter grain size.

Longitudinal bedslope coeďŹƒcient.

Transverse bedslope coeďŹƒcient.

Porosity bed.

∆đ?‘Ą đ?›źMOR

30 s 200/10

Time step.

Morphological ampliďŹ ca on factor.

Flow

Parameter

Numerics

Table 1 – Overview model parameters.

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Figure 3 – Del 3D computa onal grid. The thick while lines mark the contours of the mouth area, as used in this study.

Table 2 – List of model runs.

R

đ?œ 2Ě‚

đ?œ 4Ě‚

(mm/yr)

(m)

(m)

Reference

0

1.6

0.1

SLR-Default

2

1.6

0.1

1,3,4,5,10

1.6

0.1

0.05đ?‘Ą

1.6

0.1

2

1.8

Variable-M2

2

Variable-M2M4

2

đ?œ 2Ě‚ = 0.6 Ă— 10 đ?‘Ą + 1.6 đ?œ 2Ě‚ = 0.6 Ă— 10−3 đ?‘Ą + 1.6

Name runs

SensToR Variable-R Higher-M2M4

0.18 −3

0.1 đ?œ 2Ě‚ = 0.3 Ă— 10−3 đ?‘Ą + 0.1

although the changes in the volume of channels are computed using the total volume of water that is in the channels, the addi onal water volume in the channels induced by SLR is disregarded from the computa on of the volume changes. In other words, only changes in the volume of channels that are caused by sedimenta on or erosion are considered in this study. Therefore, the comparison between the volumes of the cases with and without SLR are computed with respect to the ini al mean sea level â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Šđ?‘Ą=0 . See Figure 5 for a schema c view of these changes. Bedlevel đ?‘§đ?‘? = −10 m with respect to the ini al mean sea level â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Šđ?‘Ą=0 is used as a reference bedlevel to dis nguish between channels and shoals (Figure 5). Note that a posi ve (nega ve) volume change of channels means deepening (sedimenta on), while a posi ve (nega ve) volume change of shoals indicates sand gain (loss).

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Eects of sea level rise Figure 4 – Imposed amplitudes đ?œ đ?‘–Ě‚ of the dal forcing at the western boundary in the dierent scenarios: Reference, SLR-Default, Variable-M2, Variable-M2M4 and Variable-R.

Subscript â€?iâ€? represents the amplitudes of the dierent dal components (đ?œ 0Ě‚ , panel a), (đ?œ 2Ě‚ , b), (đ?œ 4Ě‚ , c) and (đ?œ 6Ě‚ , d).

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Figure 5 – Schema c view of channel and shoals conďŹ gura ons used to compute changes in the volume of channels and shoals (∆đ?‘‰channels and ∆đ?‘‰shoals , respec vely) with respect to their volumes at đ?‘Ą = 0.

Channels and shoals are deďŹ ned at bedlevel đ?‘§đ?‘? = −10 m with respect to the ini al mean sea level â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Šđ?‘Ą=0 .

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Eects of sea level rise

4 Results and discussion 4.1

SLR-default (R=2)

The simulated bedlevels đ?‘§đ?‘? a er 200 years of morphodynamic development in the cases without and with SLR (đ?‘… = 2 mm/yr) are presented in Figure 6 (panels a and b, respec vely). Overall, no fundamental dierences seem to exist between the simulated bo om pa erns of the cases. However, by plo ng bedlevel dierence đ?‘‘đ?‘§ between the two cases (i.e. đ?‘‘đ?‘§ = (đ?‘§đ?‘? )đ?‘…=2 − (đ?‘§đ?‘? )đ?‘…=0 ), it is seen that on average (panel c), channels and shoals undergo sedimenta on (red colors), meaning that channels become shallower and shoals are ge ng higher in the course of me. The overall shallowing of channels and the sand gain by shoals are also conďŹ rmed by Figure 7, which shows that the total volume of channels of the mouth area decreases with me (sedimenta on) and the volume of shoals increases (sedimenta on) (panels a and b, respec vely). It is stressed here that only changes in the volume of channels that are caused by sedimenta on or erosion are considered in this study.

Therefore, the comparison between the volumes of the cases with and without SLR are computed with respect to the ini al mean sea level â&#x;¨đ?‘§đ?‘ â&#x;Šđ?‘Ą=0 (for further details see Sec on 3.2).

For a quan ta ve impression of the rela ve impact of sea level rise on the development of channels and shoals in the mouth area, dierences between the volumes of channels and shoals of the cases with and without SLR at đ?‘Ą = 200 years are indicated in the panel tles as Δ|đ?‘Ą=200 yr . These dierences are also marked by the ver cal red arrows. Recall that a posi ve (nega ve) volume change of channels Δ|đ?‘Ą=200 yr means erosion (sedimenta on), while a posi ve (nega ve) volume change of shoals indicates sand gain (loss). If these dierences are averaged over the total me period, it is found that the amount of sedimenta on in the channels and on shoals is âˆź 0.1 â‹… 106 m3 /yr. The fact that the sand import from the Western Scheldt (WS) reduces in the case with SLR (Figure 7d), whereas more sand is deposited in the mouth area (panel c) means that sedimenta on in the la er area is caused by enhanced sand import from the sea. Besides sedimenta on of channels and shoals, Figure 6c further shows that the ebb- dal delta of the mouth area retreats somewhat in the case of SLR. This retreat can clearly be seen when comparing the 10 m isobaths of the cases with and without SLR (solid and dashed lines).

Regarding volume changes in the Western Scheldt estuary, Figure 8 reveals that in the case with SLR, volume of channels (panel a) and shoals (panel b) are rela vely larger during almost the en re simula on (đ?&#x2018;Ą < 170 year) me period than those in the case without SLR. This means that most of me, the channels have been deepening and shoals have been rising under the rising sea level. Eventually, a er đ?&#x2018;Ą â&#x2C6;ź 170 years, the opposite takes place, meaning that volume of channels and shoals in the former case become rela vely smaller (i.e., sedimenta on and erosion, respec vely) than those in the la er case. The sand loss from from WS reduces when adding SLR (panel c). Contrary to the mouth area, the rela ve volume changes in the channels and shoals of WS induced by SLR are mostly established through sediment redistribu on in the estuary. This means that channel erosion (sedimenta on) is accompanied with rising (lowering) of shoals.

Finally, to assess the rela ve contribu ons of the diďŹ&#x20AC;erent channels and shoals to the total volume change, hypsometric curves (amount of surface area đ??´ below a speciďŹ c bedlevel đ?&#x2018;§đ?&#x2018;? ) of the mouth and WS at đ?&#x2018;Ą = 200 years in the cases with and without SLR are depicted in Figure 9 (panel a and b). For the sake of visualiza on, the diďŹ&#x20AC;erences between hypsometric curves of the two cases are also shown (panels c and d). Almost all the channels and shoals of the mouth area experience sedimenta on in the case with SLR (panel c), although lowering of some of high shoals and deepening of some channels 10

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : EďŹ&#x20AC;ects of sea level rise Figure 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a-b) Simulated bedlevels đ?&#x2018;§đ?&#x2018;? at đ?&#x2018;Ą = 200 years in the cases without (đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 0 mm/yr, panel a) and with SLR (đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 2 mm/yr, panel b) and the diďŹ&#x20AC;erence between these bedlevels (đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ = (đ?&#x2018;§đ?&#x2018;? )đ?&#x2018;&#x2026;=2 â&#x2C6;&#x2019; (đ?&#x2018;§đ?&#x2018;? )đ?&#x2018;&#x2026;=0 , panel c).

The dashed and solid contour levels indicate the â&#x2C6;&#x2019;10 m bedlevel in the cases without and with SLR, respec vely.

take place as well. In terms of sedimenta on rates, the mouth area experiences a sedimenta on rate of roughly 0.25 mm/year, which is a factor of â&#x2C6;ź10 smaller than the rate of SLR (2 mm/yr). In the estuary (panel d), alterna ng eroding and accre ng channels characterize this area. The highest shoals and dal ďŹ&#x201A;ats are higher in the case of SLR. The average sedimenta on rate of the en re estuary is about 0.15 mm/yr.

4.2

Sensi vity to rate of SLR

Figure 10 displays the bedlevel diďŹ&#x20AC;erences đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ in the mouth area between the cases with diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of sea level rise and the reference case. The rate of SLR ranges between 1 mm/yr and 10 mm/yr.

From this Figure it appears that with increasing rate đ?&#x2018;&#x2026;, channels and shoals of the mouth area experience more sedimenta on, and the ebb- dal delta is located more landward (solid contour levels) compared with its posi on in case without SLR (dashed contour level). The increasing sedimenta on in channels and on shoals with increasing đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; is also conďŹ rmed by Figure 11 (panels a and b), in which Final version

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Figure 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a-b) Cumula ve change of the total volumes of channels (a) and shoals (b) of the mouth area versus me in the cases without (black) and with (blue) SLR (đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 2 mm/yr). c-d) As previously, but for the change of the total volumes of mouth (c) and the Western Scheldt (d).

Cumula ve volume changes are computed with respect the ini al volume (đ?&#x2018;Ą = 0). Values â&#x2C6;&#x2020;|đ?&#x2018;Ą=200 yr represent diďŹ&#x20AC;erences between the volumes of cases with and without SLR at đ?&#x2018;Ą = 200 years, which are indicated by the red arrows.

Figure 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; As in Fig. 7, but for the Western Scheldt (WS).

the changes in the total volume of channels (a) and shoals (b) are plo ed versus me. For a quan ta ve impression of how changes in the volumes of channels and shoals scale with the rate đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; of SLR, 12

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : EďŹ&#x20AC;ects of sea level rise Figure 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a-c) Modeled hypsometric curves at đ?&#x2018;Ą = 200 yr of the mouth (a) and WS (b) in the cases without (black) and with SLR (blue). c-d) Bedlevel diďŹ&#x20AC;erence đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ between cases with and with SLR as a func on of the surface area đ??´ (m2 ) for the mouth (b) and WS (c).

< đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ > in panels b and d is the mean bedlevel diďŹ&#x20AC;erence, which is obtained by averaging đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ over the total surface area đ??´.

Figure 11 reveals that in the case of đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 10 mm/yr, the amounts of sedimenta on in the channels and shoals are approximately 0.4 â&#x2039;&#x2026; 106 m3 /yr and 0.3 â&#x2039;&#x2026; 106 m3 /yr, respec vely, which are factors of â&#x2C6;ź 4.2 and â&#x2C6;ź 4.3 larger than the corresponding amounts of sedimenta on obtained in the case of imposing đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 2 mm/yr. These results suggest that amount of sand that is deposited in channels and on shoals is approximately propor onal to the rate of SLR. Similarly to the case of â&#x20AC;&#x2122;SLR-Defaultâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 2 mm/yr), also in the case of diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of SLR, the overall sand gain by the mouth area is provided by the sea (panel c). The sand exchange between WS and the mouth area reduces with increasing rate of SLR (panel d).

With regard to volume changes in WS, it appears that with increasing đ?&#x2018;&#x2026;, the overall volumes of channels and shoals are larger than those of the case without SLR (Figure 12, panels a and b). It is interes ng to note that for high rates đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; of SLR, the increased sedimenta on on shoals mostly is established by a reduc on in the sand loss from WS (panel c). In other words, sand that is lost to the mouth area in the case without SLR is increasingly more used with increasing đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; to rise the shoals of the estuary. For example, in the case of đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 10 mm/yr, almost all of the sand that is deposited on the shoals comes from reduc on in the sand loss from the estuary.

Finally, by plo ng the diďŹ&#x20AC;erences between hypsometric curves of the cases with and without SLR as a func on of the surface area đ??´ (Figure 13), it turns out that with increasing rate đ?&#x2018;&#x2026;, the deepest channels and the high shoals and dal ďŹ&#x201A;ats of the mouth area and WS experience increasing sedimenta on rates. Besides sedimenta on, the intermediate channels of WS seem to deepen more with increasing rate đ?&#x2018;&#x2026;. In terms of an overall sedimenta on rate of the system, model results show that for e.g. đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 10 mm/yr, the mouth area and WS are accre ng at rates of roughly 1.15 mm/yr and 0.5 mm/yr, which are factors of â&#x2C6;ź 10 smaller than the rate of SLR. Final version

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : EďŹ&#x20AC;ects of sea level rise Figure 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DiďŹ&#x20AC;erence đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ at đ?&#x2018;Ą = 200 years between the bedlevels of the cases with diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of SLR and without SLR.

The dashed and solid contour levels indicate the â&#x2C6;&#x2019;10 m bedlevel in the cases without and with SLR, respec vely.

4.3

Variability in dal forcing

The addi on of stronger dal currents turns out to have a major impact on the bedlevel development in the mouth area subject to a rising sea level. This can be seen from Figure 14, showing the bedlevel diďŹ&#x20AC;erences đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ (with respect to reference case) obtained from runs â&#x20AC;&#x2122;SLR-Defaultâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (panel a) and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Higher-M2M4â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (panel b). The diďŹ&#x20AC;erence between the bedlevels of the two runs are also shown (panel c). These panels demonstrate that an increase of the amplitudes of dal cons tuent đ?&#x2018;&#x20AC;2 and đ?&#x2018;&#x20AC;4 at the seaward boundaries (đ?&#x153; 2Ě&#x201A; = 1.8 m and đ?&#x153; 4Ě&#x201A; = 0.18 m) seems to increase the volume of the main channels, thereby counterac ng the sedimenta on of these channels caused by the rising sea level. Also, the landward retreat of the ebb- dal delta caused by SLR is counteracted by the inclusion of stronger dal currents. Furthermore, the hypsometric curves depicted in Figure 15 reveal that imposing stronger dal currents increases the volume of par cularly the deep channels (đ?&#x2018;§đ?&#x2018;? < â&#x2C6;&#x2019;20 m) of the mouth area and WS (panels c and d, respec vely), and it increases the sand volume of their shoals. On average, the sedimenta on rate in the mouth (including channels and shoals) is approx14

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Figure 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; As in Figure 7, but for the cases with diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of SLR.

Figure 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; As in Figure 8, but for the cases with diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of SLR.

imately 3.5 mm/yr, which is of the same order of magnitude as the rate of SLR. In the estuary, the overall sedimenta on rate is -1 mm/yr (erosion), which is caused by the large deepening of the channels. However, the sedimenta on rate on the shoals is â&#x2C6;ź 5 mm/yr, which even exceeds the rate đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; of SLR. Development of channels and shoals in the mouth a er 200 years morphodynamic evolu on in cases Final version

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : EďŹ&#x20AC;ects of sea level rise

Figure 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; As in Figure 9, but for the cases with diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of SLR.

Figure 14 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a-b) As in Figure 6, but comparing the bedlevel diďŹ&#x20AC;erences đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ (with respect to the reference case) in the cases of â&#x20AC;&#x2122;SLR-Defaultâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (a) and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Higher-M2M4â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (b). c) DiďŹ&#x20AC;erence between the bedlevels of the two cases.

of the more realis c scenarios â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Variable-M2â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Variable-M2M4â&#x20AC;&#x2122; are presented in Figure 16 (panels a and b, respec vely). Here, the amplitudes đ?&#x153; 2Ě&#x201A; and đ?&#x153; 4Ě&#x201A; of dal components đ?&#x2018;&#x20AC;2 and đ?&#x2018;&#x20AC;4 increase with increasing sea level, at rates of 0.6 mm/yr and 0.3 mm/yr, respec vely. Similarly to the results obtained in case of a sudden increase of the amplitudes đ?&#x153; 2Ě&#x201A; and đ?&#x153; 4Ě&#x201A; at the start of the simula on (run â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Higher-M2M4â&#x20AC;&#x2122;), also in the cases of runs â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Variable-M2â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Variable-M2M4â&#x20AC;&#x2122; a gradual increase of these amplitudes also counteracts sedimenta on of the channels in the mouth and WS, and it opposes the landward retreat of the ebb- dal delta in the mouth area. The main diďŹ&#x20AC;erence between the results of cases of a sudden jump and a gradual increase of the amplitudes of the đ?&#x2018;&#x20AC;2 and đ?&#x2018;&#x20AC;4 dal components is that the volume changes in the channels and shoals are smaller in the la er case.

The overall sedimenta on in the mouth is â&#x2C6;ź0.5 mm/yr. The overall WS area experiences erosion, but the shoals accrete at a rate of â&#x2C6;ź 1 mm/yr, which is comparable to the rate đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; of SLR. These results clearly indicate that stronger dal currents are needed to counteract the sedimenta on of channels and to make shoals able to keep up with the rising sea level.

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Figure 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; As in Figure 9, but with the addi on of the results from run â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Higher-M2M4â&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Figure 16 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; As in Figure 6, but comparing the bedlevel diďŹ&#x20AC;erences đ?&#x2018;&#x2018;đ?&#x2018;§ (with respect to the reference case) in the cases of â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Variable-M2â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (a) and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Variable-M2M4â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (b).

4.4

Physical mechanisms

Model results indicate that sea level rise causes the overall sedimenta on of channels and shoals of the mouth area with sand that comes from the sea, and it leads to a landward retreat of the ebbdal delta. The higher the rate of SLR, the more sedimenta on and landward retreat. In the Western Scheldt estuary, a rising sea level causes the redistribu on of sand of the en re estuary, such that sand is deposited on the shoals and dal ďŹ&#x201A;ats. This sand comes partly from a reduc on of the sand export to the mouth area, while the other part is provided through erosion of channels. Rising of shoals and dal ďŹ&#x201A;ats with increasing sea level agrees with previous ďŹ ndings by e.g. Madsen et al., 2007; Morris et al., 2002; Wang et al., 2015, sta ng that dal basins generally adapt to sea-level rise such that height of their shoals and dal ďŹ&#x201A;ats can keep up with the rising sea level. However, in the case that the amplitude of dal currents remains ďŹ xed in me, sedimenta on rates on shoals are Final version

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : Effects of sea level rise

Figure 17 – As in Figure 9, but with the addi on of the results from runs ’Variable-M2’ and ’Variable-M2M4’.

too small for these shoals to keep up with rising sea level. However, the inclusion of stronger dal currents increase sedimenta ons rates on the shoals, and they increase volume of the deep channels, thereby counterac ng the weakening of the mechanisms that maintain the estuarine system caused

by SLR. Figure 18a reveals that a rising sea level causes an overall weakening of dal currents in the mouth and WS, which is a ributed to the increasing water depth. However, imposing larger dal amplitudes at the offshore boundaries, which is mo vated by observa ons, results in stonger dal currents (panel b), thereby opposing the weakening of these currents by SLR. Thus, the joint impact of a rising sea level and stronger dal currents is crucial to maintain the equilibrium of the estuarine system.

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : EďŹ&#x20AC;ects of sea level rise Figure 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a) DiďŹ&#x20AC;erence â&#x2C6;&#x2020;|đ?&#x2018;Ł|â&#x192;&#x2014; between the magnitude of dal current |đ?&#x2018;Ł|â&#x192;&#x2014; of the cases with and without SLR. b) as in a), but with addi on of gradually increasing amplitude of đ?&#x2018;&#x20AC;2 dal components with me.

Blue and red colors represent current reduc on and enhancement, respec vely. â&#x;¨â&#x2C6;&#x2020;|đ?&#x2018;Ł|â&#x;Š â&#x192;&#x2014; represents domain averaged values.

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Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt estuary and its mouth : EďŹ&#x20AC;ects of sea level rise

5 Summary and conclusions The speciďŹ c aims of the present report were threefold. The ďŹ rst was to inves gate eďŹ&#x20AC;ects of sea level rise on the morphodynamic evolu on of shoals and dal channels, with par cular a en on to the development of channels and shoals subject to rising sea level. The second objec ve was to examine sensi vity of model results to diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of sea level rise. The third was to examine the joint impact of sea level rise and stronger dal currents. Use has been made of the coupled Del 3D-SWAN morphodynamic models described in the report by NnaďŹ e et al., 2017b.

Model results indicate that sea level rise causes an overall weakening of the ebb- dal delta of the mouth area by causing sedimenta on in its channels and on its shoals with sand that comes from the sea, and by reducing its seaward extension. In the Western Scheldt estuary, a rising sea level rather causes a redistribu on of sand in this area such that sand is deposited on the shoals and dal ďŹ&#x201A;ats.

This sand comes partly from a reduc on of the sand export to the mouth area, while the other part is provided through erosion of par cularly the deep channels.

Regarding the impact of diďŹ&#x20AC;erent rates of sea level rise on model results, it turns out that especially the deepest channels and the highest shoals and dal ďŹ&#x201A;ats in the mouth area experience more sedimenta on with increasing rate of SLR. The amount of sedimenta on of channels and shoals appears to be approximately propor onal to the rate of SLR. Moreover, higher rates of SLR further reduces the seaward extension of the ebb- dal delta. In the Western Scheldt estuary, sedimenta on on shoals increases and the sand exchange between the estuary and the mouth reduces with increasing rate of SLR. In the case of very high rates (đ?&#x2018;&#x2026; = 10 mm/yr), almost all the sand that is deposited on the shoals comes from the reduc on in sand export from the estuary to the mouth.

In the case that the amplitude of dal currents remain ďŹ xed in me, sedimenta on rates on shoals are too small for these shoals to keep up with rising sea level. However, the inclusion of stronger dal currents increases sedimenta ons rates on the shoals, and they increase the volume of the deep channels, thereby counterac ng the weakening of the mechanisms that maintain the estuarine system caused by SLR. This is because a rising sea level, and thus larger water depths, causes an overall weakening of dal currents in the mouth and WS. However, imposing larger dal amplitudes at the oďŹ&#x20AC;shore boundaries, which is mo vated by observa ons, results in stonger dal currents, thereby opposing the weakening of these currents by SLR. Thus, the joint impact of a rising sea level and stronger dal currents is crucial to maintain the equilibrium of the estuarine system.

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References Baart, F.; Van Gelder, P. H.; De Ronde, J.; Van Koningsveld, M.; Wouters, B. (2012). The effect of the 18.6-year lunar nodal cycle on regional sea-level rise es mates. Journal of Coastal Research 28 (2): 511–516 Bagnold, R. (1966). An approach to the sediment transport problem. General Physics Geological Survey, Prof. paper Kuijper, K.; Lescinski, J. (2012). Data analyses and hypotheses Western Scheldt. techreport. Deltares, The Netherlands. Project number 1204405. 187p Madsen, A. T.; Murray, A.; Andersen, T. J.; Pejrup, M. (2007). Temporal changes of accre on rates on an estuarine salt marsh during the late Holocene—reflec on of local sea level changes? The Wadden Sea, Denmark.

Marine Geology 242 (4): 221–233 Morris, J. T.; Sundareshwar, P.; Nietch, C. T.; Kjerfve, B.; Cahoon, D. R. (2002). Responses of coastal wetlands to rising sea level. Ecology 83 (10): 2869–2877 Nnafie, A.; De Maerschalck, B.; Vanlede, J.; Schramkowski, G.; Verwaest, T.; Mostaert, F. (2017a). Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt mouth: Effects of extreme wave and wind events. techreport. WL Rapporten, 14_094. Flanders Hydraulics Research: Antwerp Nnafie, A.; Van Oyen, T.; De Maerschalck, B.; Verwaest, T.; Mostaert, F. (2017b). Morphodynamic modeling of the Scheldt mouth: Effects of waves. Version 2.0. techreport. WL Rapporten, 14_094. Flanders Hydraulics Research: Antwerp Pawlowicz, R.; Beardsley, B.; Lentz, S. (2002). Classical dal harmonic analysis including error es mates in MATLAB using T_TIDE. Computers & Geosciences 28 (8): 929–937 Pethick, J. (2001). Coastal management and sea-level rise. Catena 42 (2): 307–322 Van Rijn, L. (2007). Unified View of Sediment Transport by Currents and Waves. I: Ini a on of Mo on, Bed Roughness, and Bed-Load Transport. J. Hydraul. Eng. 133: 649–6671 Wahl, T.; Haigh, I.; Woodworth, P. L.; Albrecht, F.; Dillingh, D.; Jensen, J.; Nicholls, R. J.; Weisse, R.; Wöppelmann, G. (2013). Observed mean sea level changes around the North Sea coastline from 1800 to present.

Earth-Science Reviews 124: 51–67 Wang, Z.; Van Maren, D.; Ding, P.; Yang, S.; Van Prooijen, B.; De Vet, P.; Winterwerp, J.; De Vriend, H.; S ve, M.; He, Q. (2015). Human impacts on morphodynamic thresholds in estuarine systems. Con nental Shelf Research 111: 174–183

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DEPARTMENT MOBILITY & PUBLIC WORKS Flanders hydraulics Research Berchemlei 115, 2140 Antwerp T +32 (0)3 224 60 35 F +32 (0)3 224 60 36 waterbouwkundiglabo@vlaanderen.be www.flandershydraulicsresearch.be