Sediment Dynamics and Morphological Evolution of a Large Back-Barrier Estuary

Mulligan, Ryan P.; Mallinson, David J.; Clunies, Gregory J.; Zaremba, Nick; Leorri, Eduardo; Culver, Stephen J.; Mitra, Siddhartha; Riggs, Stanley R.

doi:10.1142/9789814689977_0205

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) to compute circulation and salt transport (Jia and Li, 2012); and Delft3D to investigate hurricane-generated waves and storm surge (Mulligan et al, 2015a), estuarine circulation and dissolved organic carbon transport (Brown et al, 2014), and sediment transport (Mulligan et al 2015b). Spatially uniform wind fields have been used in numerical models of the APES (e.g., Luettich et al, 2002;Haase et al, 2012) and are typically used for small-scale (i.e., single beach) to medium-scale (i.e., lakes, estuaries, bays) numerical models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling hydrodynamics of large lagoons: Insights from the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System

Clunies

Mulligan

Mallinson

et al. 2017

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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Large estuaries are influenced by winds over adjacent coastal ocean and land areas causing significant spatial variations in water levels, currents and surface waves. In this study we apply a numerical model to simulate hydrodynamics and waves in the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System, a large and shallow back-barrier basin in eastern North Carolina, over a one-month study period (September, 2008) with observations from several storm wind events of differing time scales and directions. Model performance is evaluated for a spatially varying wind field from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) dataset in comparison to spatially uniform forcing from wind observations at offshore, coastal and land-based sites across the region. A spatially uniform wind field from offshore winds observations results in statistically better hydrodynamic simulations of water levels (R=0.88) in the estuaries than NARR (R=0.48) after comparison with measurements and indicates the importance of strong marine winds over most of the estuary surface area.The influence of a prominent bathymetric feature on hydrodynamics in Pamlico Sound is also investigated by numerically removing a 30 km long and 2-3 m deep shoal from the model grid and replacing it with an idealized depth of 6 m. The removal of the shoal increases water level setup by 14% at the estuarine shoreline, decreases current magnitudes by up to 40% in the shoal region and increases significant wave heights locally by up to 25% in the sound, indicating the importance of this relict geomorphic feature as a major control on the hydrodynamic response of the system during wind events.The results suggest that increasing the water depth over the shoal can lead to higher storm surges and wave heights with the possibility of increased inundation and erosion of the back-barrier and mainland coastal regions. The complex bathymetry and marine wind influence are critical input conditions for modelling large and shallow lagoonal estuaries like the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling hydrodynamics of large lagoons: Insights from the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System

Clunies

Mulligan

Mallinson

et al. 2017

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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“…The APES in NC (Figure 1) is the second largest estuarine system in the United States, and is a key part of the regional economy (Wells & Kim, 1989). Previous studies in this area have highlighted that the high variability in wind speed and direction during storm events can have dramatic effects on waves (Mulligan et al., 2015b), water levels (Clunies et al., 2017), productivity (Corbett, 2010; Giffin & Corbett, 2003), and morphology (Mulligan et al., 2015a; Paerl et al., 2006). Flooding in this low‐lying area frequently occurs during storm events (Bales, 2003; Peng et al., 2004; Wagner et al., 2016), presenting a risk that is likely growing in conjunction with increased urban development (Miselis et al., 2016), sea level rise (Field et al., 2014), storm frequency (Knutson et al., 2010), and intensity (Wahl et al., 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Hurricane Winds and Precipitation on Hydrodynamics in a Back‐Barrier Estuary

2020

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“…The geological record from the innermost Curtis Sea is relatively well-constrained (Gilluly & Reeside, 1928;Pipiringos & O'Sullivan, 1978;Kreisa & Moila, 1986;Caputo & Pryor, 1991;Wilcox & Currie, 2008;Doelling et al, 2013;Danise & Holland, 2017Zuchuat et al, 2018Zuchuat et al, , 2019aDanise et al, 2020) and was used to inform and interpret series of numerical modelling experiments in Delft3D. The methods employed in this study followed common practice for hydrodynamic modelling in present-day tidal basins (Hu et al, 2009;Elias et al, 2012;Brown et al, 2014;Mulligan et al, 2015;Mulligan et al, 2019b); however, the lack of observations of water levels and currents necessitate the use of geological interpretations of palaeoenvironmental conditions. The modelling of tides in the Upper Jurassic Sundance and Curtis seas used the Oxfordian palaeogeographical map (Fig.…”

Section: Numerical Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Various palaeophysiographies were generated by converting the maps to a physiographic raster (Python code; Appendix A) and importing them into Deltares open-source Delft3D numerical modelling software. Delft3D is a three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation suite used for solving hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic equations (see Delft3D user manual for details), and it has been used to model a variety of coastal systems, including river deltas, beaches, estuaries, lagoons and barrier islands− inlet systems (Hu et al, 2009;Elias et al, 2012;Brown et al, 2014;Mulligan et al, 2015;Mulligan et al, 2019b). Due to the unknown true water depths and the need to investigate different realistic palaeophysiographies (Byrne et al, 2020), a series of different depth grids were generated using the colour-gradient in the original palaeogeographical map.…”

Section: Numerical Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The integration of field data and numerical modelling also helps to test, quantify and visualize the spatio-temporal changes in tidal processes resulting from changes in basin configuration (Collins et al, 2021). For instance, in depositional basins, the sedimentary record can be interpreted and numerical models can be used to confirm or enhance knowledge of these systems (Mallinson et al, 2018;Mulligan et al, 2019b). This increased knowledge of past basins will improve understanding of how tidal processes will evolve in response to today's sea-level rise, including assisting coastal areas in their planning by demonstrating how and where the tidal regime will significantly change (Hayden et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tidal dynamics in palaeo‐seas in response to changes in physiography, tidal forcing and bed shear stress

et al. 2022

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Simulating hydrodynamic conditions in palaeo-ocean basins is needed to better understand the effects of tidal forcing on the sedimentary record. When combined with sedimentary analyses, hydrodynamic modelling can help inform complex temporal and spatial variability in the sediment distribution of tide-dominated palaeo-ocean basins. Herein, palaeotidal modelling of the epicontinental Upper Jurassic (160 Ma, lower Oxfordian) Sundance and Curtis seas of North America reveals possible regional-scale variations in tidal dynamics in response to changes in ocean tidal forcing, physiographic configuration and bottom drag coefficient. A numerical model forced with an M2 tidal constituent at the open boundary shows that the magnitude and location of tidal amplification, and the variability in current velocity and bed shear stress in the basin, were controlled by palaeophysiography. Numerical results obtained using a depth of 600 m at the ocean boundary of the system enable the prediction of major facies trends observed in the lower Curtis Formation. The simulation results also highlight that certain palaeophysiographic configurations can either permit or prevent tidal resonance, leading to an overall amplification or dampening of tides across the basin. Furthermore, some palaeophysiographic configurations generated additional tidal harmonics in specific parts of the basins. Consequently, similar sedimentary successions can emerge from a variety of relative sea-level scenarios, and a variety of sedimentary successions may be deposited in different parts of the basin in any given relative sea-level scenario. These results suggest that the interpretation of sedimentary successions deposited in strongly tide-influenced basins should consider changes in tidal dynamics in response to changing sea level and basin physiography.

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Sediment Dynamics and Morphological Evolution of a Large Back-Barrier Estuary

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Modeling hydrodynamics of large lagoons: Insights from the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System

Modeling hydrodynamics of large lagoons: Insights from the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System

Impacts of Hurricane Winds and Precipitation on Hydrodynamics in a Back‐Barrier Estuary

Tidal dynamics in palaeo‐seas in response to changes in physiography, tidal forcing and bed shear stress

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