Resumen de Morphodynamics of Tidal Inlet Systems
H. E. de Swart, J.T.F. Zimmerman
In this review we discuss the morphodynamics of tidal inlet systems that are typical of barrier coasts formed during a period of continuous sea-level rise during the Holocene. The morphodynamics concerns feedbacks between three major components: the hydrodynamics of tidal currents and wind waves; the erosion, deposition, and transport of sediment under the action of the former hydrodynamic agencies; and the morphology proper, which results from the divergence of the sediment transport. We discuss the morphodynamics of the different units that characterize a tidal inlet system: the overall system, the ebb-tidal delta, the tidal channels, channel networks, tidal bars and meanders, and finally the intertidal zone of tidal flats and salt marshes. In most of these units, stability analysis is a major guide to the establishment of equilibrium structures.
