Marsh induced backwater: the influence of non-fluvial sedimentation on a delta's channel morphology and kinematics

Abstract

Abstract. We investigate the interaction of fluvial and non-fluvial sedimentation on the channel morphology and kinematics of an experimental river delta. We compare two deltas: one that evolved with a proxy for non-fluvial sedimentation (treatment experiment) and one that evolved without the proxy (control). We show that the addition of the non-fluvial sediment proxy alters the delta's channel morphology and kinematics. Notably, the flow outside the channels is significantly reduced in the treatment experiment and the channels are deeper (as a function of radial distance) and longer. We also find that the treatment channels have the same width from the entrance to the shoreline, while the control channels get narrower as they approach the shore. Interestingly, the channel beds in the treatment experiment often exist below sea level in the terrestrial portion of the delta top creating a ~0.7 m reach of steady, nonuniform backwater flow. However, in the control experiment, the channel beds generally exist at or above relative sea level, creating channel movement resembling morphodynamic backwater kinematics and topographic flow expansions. Differences between channel and far-field aggradation produce a longer channel in-filling timescale for the treatment as compared to the control, suggesting that the channel avulsions triggered by a peak in channel sedimentation occur less frequently in the treatment experiment. Despite this difference, the basin-wide timescale of lateral channel mobility remains similar. Ultimately, non-fluvial sedimentation on the delta top plays a key role in the channel morphology and kinematics of an experimental river delta, producing channels which are more analogous to channels in global river deltas, and which cannot be produced solely by increasing cohesion in an experimental river delta.

Sediment Compaction in Experimental Deltas: Toward a Meso‐Scale Understanding of Coastal Subsidence Patterns

“…It is likely to be found in other laboratory delta experiments with rising sea levels, and particularly those using fine-grained sediment. These deltas are constructed by flows that have a higher sediment to water ratio than field-scale systems, resulting in higher delta slopes and significantly altered morphodynamics (Sanks et al, 2023). Delta topset slopes tend to be multiple orders of magnitude lower than those observed in the control experiment, with similar slopes only widespread on the subaqueous foreset (Edmonds et al, 2011;Sanks et al, 2022a).…”