Storm and tidal interactions control sediment exchange in mixed-energy coastal systems

Abstract

Storms can have devasting effects on shorelines causing flooding and destruction of property and infrastructure. As global warming and the frequency and magnitude of tropical storms increase, barrier islands comprising 10% of the world’s coast may undergo significant change caused by beach erosion, loss of dunes, and formation of washovers and tidal inlets. Understanding how storms affect sediment transport at tidal inlets is an understudied subject that directly influences barrier island erosional-depositional processes and long-term sediment budgets. This study models hydrodynamics and sediment transport at a conceptualized mixed-energy, mesotidal inlet system using 10 synthetic storm tracks. We investigate provenance and the role of various storm characteristics and timing between the peak storm surge peak and high tide on sediment fluxes for different grain sizes. We find that most storms (38 of 40) cause a net import of sediment into the basin that is sourced primarily from the updrift and downdrift nearshore and secondly, from the ebb-delta. Very little sediment comes from inlet channel scour. Cumulative (net) transport correlates well with peak significant wave height because wave height influences bottom shear stresses and sediment suspension on the ebb-tidal delta and in the nearshore. Duration of the storm surge also correlates with net transport because it controls the period of flood-directed currents. Our findings help explain the formation of flood deltas inside tidal inlets and formation of sand shoals in backbarrier regions. Storm-induced enlargement of these deposits represents permanent long-term loss of sand to barrier islands that will lead to erosion.