Cross-sectional stability of tidal inlets: A comparison between numerical and empirical approaches

A process-based morphodynamic model is used to simulate the evolution of tidal inlets towards equilibrium when subjected to a range of tide and wave conditions. Specific attention is given to the evolution of the cross-sectional area of the inlet channel. Equilibrium values of cross-sectional areas are found by approaching the equilibrium from two initial conditions, i.e. by starting an experiment with an initial value of the cross-sectional area that is smaller than the estimated equilibrium value and an initial value that is larger than the estimated equilibrium value. Similar to nature a good correlation between cross-sectional area and tidal prism is found. This suggests that the physical-mathematical formulations in the model, used to describe the hydrodynamic and sedimentary process, are a good representation of the morphodynamics in the real world and that the conceptual idea of Escoffier on the cross-sectional stability of inlets is valid. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.