Dynamic morphology of small south‐eastern Mediterranean river mouths: a conceptual model

Lichter, Michal; Klein, Micha; Zviely, Dov

doi:10.1002/esp.2077

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…10). The Hadera stream is one of the most substantial coastal rivers in Israel (Lichter et al, 2011). The stream extends more than 50 km long with a drainage basin that covers an area of approximately 600 km 2 .…”

Section: Paleogeographical Reconstruction Of the Ancient Drainage Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late-Pleistocene evolution of the continental shelf of central Israel, a case study from Hadera

et al. 2016

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Section: Paleogeographical Reconstruction Of the Ancient Drainage Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late-Pleistocene evolution of the continental shelf of central Israel, a case study from Hadera

et al. 2016

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“…Semi-enclosed water bodies fed by small fluvial drainage basin environments are common systems in low tidal range, semi-arid Mediterranean regions (Lichter et al 2011). Most of the studies carried out to date in the Mediterranean are centered on the consequences of flash flood events (e.g., Guizien et al 2007).…”

Section: Communicated By Dennis Swaneymentioning

confidence: 99%

Episodic Biogeochemical Variability in a Low-Flow Mediterranean Estuary

Basterretxea

Jordi

Martínez-Soto

et al. 2017

Estuaries and Coasts

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To investigate to what extent episodic physical processes regulate nutrient availability and phytoplankton assemblages of the Mahon estuary (Minorca Island), we carried out an intensive field study during 2010-2011. During the study period, environmental conditions spanned from intense stratification to a continuous mixing and from lack of riverine inflow to intense runoff. Our data reveals a sequence of biogeochemical states of the estuary that result from the interplay between runoff, other non-periodic forcings (winds, sea level oscillations), and variations in water renewal. Seasonal runoff was revealed as a major driver of winter circulation and of the influx of inorganic nutrients, in particular nitrate. However, because of the combination between runoff and flushing time, the effects of floodwater events on phytoplankton are shortlived (days). Conversely, during summer, when freshwater influx declines, water renewal relies on pulsed atmospheric forcing that may be of local or remote origin. As depicted from the low nitrate concentrations (<1 μM) and enhanced ammonium (>1 μM), this change in circulation and external loads carries nutrient assimilation within the estuary head and forces the use of remnant nutrients through regenerating pathways to sustain an enhanced phytoplankton biomass at the lower estuary. Episodic variability represented between 52 and 65% of the annual chlorophyll variance. Despite the fact that episodic pulses represented intense departures from base biogeochemical state of the estuary, at time scale larger than weeks, the phytoplankton community composition and dynamics was largely regulated by the integrated effect of these episodes and other environmental drivers associated with seasonality rather than by individual storm events only. Our results suggest that even though the system presents good recovery capacity to individual storm episodes, it may be more vulnerable to increased nutrient fluxes during summer, as well as to changes in episode timing and frequency.

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“…The lower reach of the river (5.5 km from the sea; Figure 1b) is a bar-built estuary, with a typical water depth of less than 2.5 m, and with its riverbed up to~1.6 m below sea level [40]. The connection of the river with the sea is usually blocked by a shallow bar, which is built of sand and pebbles [40,43]. The sandbar exists at the river mouth almost year-long, although it is occasionally breached, mostly during high-sea and high-discharge winter events [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquifer Response to Estuarine Stream Dynamics

Shalem

Yechieli

Herut

et al. 2019

Water

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While seawater intrusions are widely discussed, the salinization of coastal aquifers via narrow rivers is hardly documented. This study investigates groundwater dynamics in an aquifer next to an estuarine stream on the eastern Mediterranean coast. Groundwater levels and salinization patterns were examined as a response to dynamic changes in estuary water, both in low-and high-permeability aquifer units. In the high-permeability unit, the extent of salinization was relatively constant, reaching a distance of at least 80 m from the river, with no long-term changes in fresh-saline interface depth, indicating that the system is in a quasi-steady state. Groundwater salinity in the low-permeability unit showed frequent and large fluctuations (up to 36 and 22 at 5 and 20 m from the river, respectively). We suggest that the river may have a more immediate impact on a low-permeability than on a high-permeability aquifer. This is dependent on the history of seawater encroachments to the river, which are better preserved in the low-permeability unit, and on the hydrogeology of this unit, where sand lenses can serve as high-permeability conduits. However, this unit can efficiently prevent a large extent of salinization of the regional coastal aquifer by the estuary water.2 of 20 settings (e.g., References [10,25] and the references therein) [26][27][28][29], the salinization of coastal aquifers via estuarine streams was hardly studied in the field [14,16,30,31].The rate at which water exchanges between surface water and the aquifer is controlled by hydraulic gradient and sediment permeability. In rivers and estuaries, this exchange is also known as a hyporheic exchange [31][32][33][34]. Groundwater-surface water interaction in the estuarine environment is influenced by density contrasts between the typically fresh groundwater and saline-to-brackish estuarine water, which leads to convective circulation in the aquifer [7,19,[35][36][37]. Circulation occurs even if the hydraulic gradient in the aquifer dips toward the estuary [31,38]. The size of the resultant salt wedge is dependent on the hydraulic gradient, aquifer conductivity, and estuary salinity [31,36,39].In this paper, we investigate the dynamics and mechanisms of aquifer salinization next to a bar-built estuarine river by integrating high-resolution level and salinity measurements in the river and the adjacent aquifer. The Study AreaThe Alexander River is a perennial river on the Mediterranean coast of Israel (Figure 1a). The drainage area of the Alexander River is relatively small (555 km 2 , Figure 1a) and, thus, it experiences relatively small peak discharges (up to~180 m 3 /s in recent years; data from the Hydrological Service of Israel). Although it is a perennial river, the river's natural flow to the sea is insignificant during the dry season (the base flow entering the estuarine part is typically ≤0.3 m 3 /s), which is mostly composed of effluents from sewage treatment plants and aquaculture drainage [40].

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Dynamic morphology of small south‐eastern Mediterranean river mouths: a conceptual model

Cited by 16 publications

References 32 publications

Late-Pleistocene evolution of the continental shelf of central Israel, a case study from Hadera

Late-Pleistocene evolution of the continental shelf of central Israel, a case study from Hadera

Episodic Biogeochemical Variability in a Low-Flow Mediterranean Estuary

Aquifer Response to Estuarine Stream Dynamics

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