• Login
    About WHOAS
    View Item 
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Geology and Geophysics (G&G)
    • View Item
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Geology and Geophysics (G&G)
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of WHOASCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywordsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywords

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Wave-angle control of delta evolution

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Article (541.1Kb)
    Animation S1: Side-by side animations of simulated delta growth for results shown in Figure 3: symmetrical delta with A = 0.5, U = 0.4; asymmetrical delta with A = 0.8, U = 0.3. (6.185Mb)
    Animation S2: Side-by side animations of simulated delta growth for results shown in Figure 3: symmetrical delta with A = 0.5, U = 0.4; asymmetrical delta with A = 0.7, U = 0.4. (6.094Mb)
    Additional file information (1.347Kb)
    Text S1: Details on shoreline transport and diffusivity and mass balance approach to delta lobe growth, with Table S1. (72.5Kb)
    Date
    2011-07-07
    Author
    Ashton, Andrew D.  Concept link
    Giosan, Liviu  Concept link
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4736
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047630
    DOI
    10.1029/2011GL047630
    Keyword
     Depositional asymmetry; Large-scale coastal evolution; Numerical modeling; Plan-view delta evolution 
    Abstract
    Wave-influenced deltas, with large-scale arcuate shapes and demarcated beach ridge complexes, often display an asymmetrical form about their river channel. Here, we use a numerical model to demonstrate that the angles from which waves approach a delta can have a first-order influence upon its plan-view morphologic evolution and sedimentary architecture. The directional spread of incoming waves plays a dominant role over fluvial sediment discharge in controlling the width of an active delta lobe, which in turn affects the characteristic rates of delta progradation. Oblique wave approach (and a consequent net alongshore sediment transport) can lead to the development of morphologic asymmetry about the river in a delta's plan-view form. This plan-form asymmetry can include the development of discrete breaks in shoreline orientation and the appearance of self-organized features arising from shoreline instability along the downdrift delta flank, such as spits and migrating shoreline sand waves—features observed on natural deltas. Somewhat surprisingly, waves approaching preferentially from one direction tend to increase sediment deposition updrift of the river. This ‘morphodynamic groin effect’ occurs when the delta's plan-form aspect ratio is sufficiently large such that the orientation of the shoreline on the downdrift flank is rotated past the angle of maximum alongshore sediment transport, resulting in preferential redirection of fluvial sediment updrift of the river mouth.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2011): L13405, doi:10.1029/2011GL047630.
    Collections
    • Geology and Geophysics (G&G)
    Suggested Citation
    Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2011): L13405
     

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      Plan-view evolution of wave-dominated deltas 

      Nienhuis, Jaap H. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2016-02)
      Ocean waves are a powerful sediment transport mechanism in the coastal zone. This thesis investigates how waves shape deltaic landforms and how small scale river mouth processes affect large-scale delta morphology. I ...
    • Thumbnail

      Holocene evolution in weathering and erosion patterns in the Pearl River delta 

      Hu, Dengke; Clift, Peter D.; Boning, Philipp; Hannigan, Robyn E.; Hillier, Stephen; Blusztajn, Jerzy S.; Wan, Shiming; Fuller, Dorian Q. (John Wiley & Sons, 2013-07-26)
      Sediments in the Pearl River delta have the potential to record the weathering response of this river basin to climate change since 9.5 ka, most notably weakening of the Asian monsoon since the Early Holocene (∼8 ka). Cores ...
    • Thumbnail

      Evolution of a Holocene delta driven by episodic sediment delivery and coseismic deformation, Puget Sound, Washington, USA 

      Barnhardt, Walter A.; Sherrod, Brian L. (Blackwell, 2006-08-16)
      Episodic, large-volume pulses of volcaniclastic sediment and coseismic subsidence of the coast have influenced the development of a late Holocene delta at southern Puget Sound. Multibeam bathymetry, ground-penetrating radar ...
    All Items in WHOAS are protected by original copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. WHOAS also supports the use of the Creative Commons licenses for original content.
    A service of the MBLWHOI Library | About WHOAS
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Privacy Policy
    Core Trust Logo