Cleveringa, J.; Taal, M. (2015). A smooth Scheldt, in: Scheldt Estuary: physics and integrated management - Special Session on of the 36th IAHR WORLD CONGRESS, 28 June – 3 July, 2015, Delft and The Hague, the Netherlands. pp. 22-25
In: (2015). Scheldt Estuary: physics and integrated management - Special Session on of the 36th IAHR WORLD CONGRESS, 28 June – 3 July, 2015, Delft and The Hague, the Netherlands. Deltares: Delft. 110 pp., more
The Western Scheldt is the seaward part of the Scheldt estuary with a pronounced multichannel morphology and extensive intertidal flats. Observations of the bathymetry and aerial photographs of the intertidal and supra-tidal environments over the last 60 years reveal distinct transformations of the morphology on various spatial scales. The overall change is from an irregular distribution of intertidal flats with branching channels and shallow areas towards smooth tidal flats in between the main channels. A decline in the number of small tidal channels – ebb- and flood chutes and channels that connect the main ebb- and flood channels, is observed throughout the Western Scheldt. The large number of small tidal flats have merged into a limited number of bigger entities, and the jagged edges of the flats have given way to almost straight water lines. The surface area of the intertidal flats that is covered with mega-ripple fields has decreased. Mechanisms that account for the changes on all scales throughout the Western Scheldt have not been recognized. So far intrinsic pattern development and/or the closure of branching tidal basins are recognized as candidates to explain the changes.
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