Abstract
The dynamics of micro-tidal inlets is quite complicated as their stability is controlled both by the littoral drift and the tidal range. Thus the process of assessing their stability is not well understood and quite challenging. This paper brings out the process of assessing the stability aspects of inlets using numerical codes. The equilibrium between the longshore transport rate and spring tidal prism ensures the stability of inlet between ocean and estuary. However, any disturbance to this equilibrium leads to the closure of the inlets. The active movement of sediments in the surf zone are due to the long shore velocity, the driving force for the littoral drift, which is obtained with the application of time domain model, FUNWAVE, a public domain software. With the driving force thus obtained, the long shore transport is then estimated through empirical relations from which, the stability of the inlet is assessed. The spring tidal prism is the discharge of the flow entering into the ocean from inlets/estuaries. The flow velocity is determined by the application of shallow water model. The input data for the nearshore circulation due to waves and currents are mostly measured from the field. For the current study, the Kondurpalem inlet(14001′07″N, 80009′24″E)along the East coast of Indian peninsula is investigated and its seasonal variation is assessed. The stability state of the inlet is re-assessed by providing necessary training works. The stability of the trained inlet is found to be more stable and the minimum depth and width to be maintained in the inlet gorge can be established through this process.
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The authors wish to thank National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai., for providing wave and tide data and for assistance during the field data collection.
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Senthilkumar, R., Murali, K. & Sundar, V. Stability of micro-tidal inlets along coastlines dominated by littoral drift. J Coast Conserv 21, 789–801 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-017-0537-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-017-0537-1