Interplay of River and Tidal Forcings Promotes Loops in Coastal Channel Networks

Abstract

The dense populations that inhabit global coastlines have an uncertain future due to increased flooding, storms, and human modification. The channel networks of deltas and marshes that plumb these coastlines present diverse architectures, including well‐studied dendritic topologies. However, the quasi‐stable loops that exist in nearly all coastal networks have not yet been explained. We present a model for self‐organizing networks inspired by vascular biophysics to show that loops emerge when the relative forcings between rivers and tides are comparable, resulting in interplay between hydrodynamic forcings at short time scales relative to network evolution. Using field data and satellite imaging, we confirm this control on 21 field networks. Our comparison provides compelling evidence that hydrodynamic fluctuations are capable of stabilizing loops in geophysical systems.

Where should hydrology go? An early-career perspective on the next IAHS Scientific Decade: 2023-2032

“…They can focus on their own discipline and share knowledge (multidisciplinarity) or combine the disciplines into a coherent whole (interdisciplinarity, Annan-Diab and Molinari, 2017). Hydrology can be more intertwined with closely related fields of research, such as meteorology (Sene, 2010), sedimentology (Waldschläger et al, 2022), and plant sciences (Konkol et al, 2022).…”

Floodplain Connecting Channels as Critical Paths for Hydrological Connectivity of Deltaic River Networks

“…Shaw et al (2021) also showed that the dredging of new connecting channels for navigation in the channel network of the lower Atchafalaya River leads to a decreasing water surface slope in the dominant channel, which is consistent with our results (Figure 8). Interestingly, according to Konkol et al (2022), deltaic channel networks are also similar to systems such as leaf vascular networks, where the numerous secondary connecting veins link main veins and thus create loops in the network to improve the resilience of the network to perturbations such as vein damage and variations in flow (Katifori et al, 2010).…”

“…The evolution of the deltaic river network and its connectivity, determining the water distribution in the river network and its responses to local perturbations, is crucial for both society (navigation, flood defense, etc.) and ecosystems (freshwater and marine habitats) and has received increasing attention in recent years (Chen et al., 2022; Hiatt et al., 2022; Konkol et al., 2022; Salter et al., 2020; Tejedor et al., 2017). With growing human interventions in deltaic river channels, understanding the response of their hydrological connectivity can help improve the management and restoration of river deltas (Bain et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2022).…”

Morphogenesis of the gastrovascular canal network in Aurelia jellyfish: Variability and possible mechanisms

“…This formation of loops by the reconnection of branches has to be differentiated from the case of stabilization and coarsening of loops. As for vascular remodeling from a capillary plexus [12], these systems start from homogeneously connected foam and particular dynamical evolution leads to the stabilization of large hierarchical loops [13][14][15]. Here, for the formation of loops by reconnection, the first mechanism proposed relates to cracks, which are known to reconnect [16], being related to twodimensional stress [17], and leading to 2D-reticulated patterns [18,19].…”