Spit Morphology at an Inlet in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

Abstract

Tidal inlets with attached sand spits are a very common coastal morphology. Since the evolution of the sand spits along the coastline have greatly affected on the social-economic development of local coastal areas. However, previous studies mainly focused on the sand spits which are usually in the scales of hundred meters in width. Therefore, in this study, morphological change of a smaller and unexplored sand spit located in the west coast of Phu Quoc Island, will be investigated. It was found that there is a seasonal variation in the evolution of the sand spit at Song Tranh Inlet. The Longshore sediment transport rates (LSTR) along the spit are in the order from 104 to 105 m3/year. LSTRs of fourteen inlets in the literature were reviewed and the LSTRs at Song Tranh Inlet are higher than half of the LSTRs along the fourteen reviewed inlets. This study aims at contrib-uting to the growing literature on sand spit morphological changes as well as the sustainable coastal management for Phu Quoc Island which is well known as the Pearl Island of Vietnam.