scholarly journals ARTIFICIAL BREACHINGS OF BOT RIVER ESTUARY

1982 ◽  
Vol 1 (18) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
G.A.W. Fromme

During the flood year of 1981 the "Bot River Vlei", one of the largest lagoons in the south-western Cape of the Good Hope was opened to the sea by two artificial breachings of the sand bar which were aimed at lowering the excessively high water levels in the lagoon, and at the re-establishment of estuarine conditions. The Coastal Engineering and Hydraulics Division of the National Research Institute for Oceanology of the CSIR surveyed and monitored the hydrological and sedimentological events in the Bot River lagoon and at the mouth channels in an attempt to formulate a future viable management policy, which had to take into account the conflicting interests of the defenders of continued artificial breachings and of those who advocate conditions of a closed estuary which will eventually change into a coastal freshwater lake.

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
W. E. McDonald

Throughout the recorded history of the Great Lakes, the fluctuation in their water levels has created engineering problems generally unique in relation to coastal engineering. In periods of low water, demands are heard from navigation and power interests to raise the levels. In periods of high water appeals are made by shore property owners to lower the levels. Such conflicting interests present major engineering problems, the nature of which during a given period of time reflect the long-range upward and downward trend in lake levels due to natural phenomena.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Kevin C. Scharffenberg ◽  
Shannon A. MacPhee ◽  
Lisa L. Loseto

Each summer, Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) form a large congregation in the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area (TNMPA) in the Mackenzie River estuary, a behaviour thought to be linked to warm, freshwater conditions. In 2018, >50 belugas were observed upriver near Aklavik in the Mackenzie River Delta. Community members noted that this upriver occurrence of belugas was unusual and suggested that wind-driven high water levels in the Mackenzie River were a primary driver. We investigated this explanation by searching past communications and reports for documentation of beluga sightings upriver and identifying storm surges and water-level changes at six hydrometric stations in the Mackenzie River Delta. We found three previous occurrences of belugas upriver dating back to 2000, all of which followed prominent surges in river level attributable to coastal storms. Although acknowledging a small sample size, we suggest that upriver occurrences of beluga whales warrant further investigation through extension of the TNMPA beluga monitoring program. As climate-driven changes cause more frequent and intense Arctic storm surges, we expect storm events to increasingly overlap with the annual summer beluga congregation. This may cause upriver movements to become more common, and population-level implications are not known.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Talke ◽  
David Jay ◽  
Ramin Familkhalili

<p>In this contribution, we show that channel deepening can amplifiy tide and storm surge--while simultaneously decreasing the river slope during both normal conditions and during floods.  We investigate the Saint Johns River Estuary, Florida, an example of a hyposynchronous, strongly frictional estuary with a landward decay in tidal amplitudes. Records since the 1890s and numerical modeling show that tidal range doubled in Jacksonville, Florida (40 km from coast), while tidal discharge approximately doubled everywhere. Overall, an increase in channel depth from 5 to 10m drove the observed changes, with width and length changes comparatively minor factors. Tidal amplitude evolved in a spatially variable way--negligible at the coast and inland, maximal 20-30km from the ocean.  The change in the M2 constituent is approximated by the equation x * exp(mu*x), where x is the distance from the ocean and mu is a damping coefficient that depends on depth, drag coefficient, and other system properties.  The observed tidal evolution is similar to storm surge:  Numerical modeling of hurricane Irma (Sept. 2017) under 1898 and 2017 bathymetric conditions confirms that both tidal and storm surge amplitudes have increased over time, with a maximum change about 20-25km from the inlet. Nonetheless, hurricane Irma produced overall high water levels in the historical bathymetric configuration. The reason is that the mean water level slope required to move water out of the modern estuary has decreased. An analytical model confirms that reduced slope is caused primarily by channel deepening.  However, greater tides and storm surge imply an increased vulnerability to a worst-case scenario hurricane. </p>


2007 ◽  
Vol 158 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 14-21
Author(s):  
Vasyl Sabadosh ◽  
Oleg Suprunenko

The upper Theresian Valley lies along the southwest-facing ridge of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Despite expansive forestation high water levels are frequent. The forest belongs to the state and is centrally administrated. Felling is sometimes outsourced to private companies and private companies have also been founded to process the timber. Job opportunities have become fewer and illegal work is increasing. A new democratic awareness has emerged since the «Orange Revolution» in 2004. With foreign investors, however, new risks emerge. The authors recommend giving monies from forest management to the communities, the founding of new wood processing enterprises and more transparent information.


The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 095968362098168
Author(s):  
Christian Stolz ◽  
Magdalena Suchora ◽  
Irena A Pidek ◽  
Alexander Fülling

The specific aim of the study was to investigate how four adjacent geomorphological systems – a lake, a dune field, a small alluvial fan and a slope system – responded to the same impacts. Lake Tresssee is a shallow lake in the North of Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). During the Holocene, the lake’s water surface declined drastically, predominately as a consequence of human impact. The adjacent inland dune field shows several traces of former sand drift events. Using 30 new radiocarbon ages and the results of 16 OSL samples, this study aims to create a new timeline tracing the interaction between lake and dunes, as well, as how both the lake and the dunes reacted to environmental changes. The water level of the lake is presumed to have peaked during the period before the Younger Dryas (YD; start at 10.73 ka BC). After the Boreal period (OSL age 8050 ± 690 BC) the level must have undergone fluctuations triggered by climatic events and the first human influences. The last demonstrable high water level was during the Late Bronze Age (1003–844 cal. BC). The first to the 9th century AD saw slightly shrinking water levels, and more significant ones thereafter. In the 19th century, the lake area was artificially reduced to a minimum by the human population. In the dunes, a total of seven different phases of sand drift were demonstrated for the last 13,000 years. It is one of the most precisely dated inland-dune chronologies of Central Europe. The small alluvial fan took shape mainly between the 13th and 17th centuries AD. After 1700 cal. BC (Middle Bronze Age), and again during the sixth and seventh centuries AD, we find enhanced slope activity with the formation of Holocene colluvia.


1975 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Kamphuis

A number of lightweight coastal protection structures, built on the Lake Erie shore are discussed in this paper. There were two constraints on the design; limited funds and a very precarious downdrift beach. Thus the structures were inexpensive and the protection was low-key to prevent damage downdrift. In 1972–1974 these structures were subjected to a combination of large waves and high water levels and thus they were tested well beyond their design limits.The paper discusses the structures, their performance under normal conditions, and their performance during and after the abnormally high water levels. It is found that inexpensive, low-key structures are sufficiently strong to survive normal conditions, but fail by overtopping and flanking under conditions beyond their low design limits.


Author(s):  
A.-L. Montreuil ◽  
M. Chen ◽  
A. Esquerré ◽  
R. Houthuys ◽  
R. Moelans ◽  
...  

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Sustainable management of the coastal resources requires a better understanding of the processes that drive coastline change. The coastline is a highly dynamic sea-terrestrial interface. It is affected by forcing factors such as water levels, waves, winds, and the highest and most severe changes occur during storm surges. Extreme storms are drivers responsible for rapid and sometimes dramatic changes of the coastline. The consequences of the impacts from these events entail a broad range of social, economic and natural resource considerations from threats to humans, infrastructure and habitats. This study investigates the impact of a severe storm on coastline response on a sandy multi-barred beach at the Belgian coast. Airborne LiDAR surveys acquired pre- and post-storm covering an area larger than 1 km<sup>2</sup> were analyzed and reproducible monitoring solutions adapted to assess beach morphological changes were applied. Results indicated that the coast retreated by a maximum of 14.7 m where the embryo dunes in front of the fixed dunes were vanished and the foredune undercut. Storm surge and wave attacks were probably the most energetic there. However, the response of the coastline proxies associated with the mean high water line (MHW) and dunetoe (DuneT) was spatially variable. Based on the extracted beach features, good correlations (r>0.73) were found between coastline, berm and inner intertidal bar morphology, while it was weak with the most seaward bars covered in the surveys. This highlights the role of the upper features on the beach to protect the coastline from storm erosion by reducing wave energy. The findings are of critical importance in improving our knowledge and forecasting of coastline response to storms, and also in its translation into management practices.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. e4479108555
Author(s):  
Josué Ribeiro da Silva Nunes ◽  
Carolina Joana da Silva ◽  
Solange Kimie Ikeda-Castrillon ◽  
Nilo Leal Sander

The Pantanal wetland Mato Grosso, Brazil is among the largest floodplains in the world, with a mosaic of different habitats and rich aquatic and terrestrial biota. The habitat mosaics are found in the Chacororé and Sinhá Mariana lake System. These parental lakes of the Cuiabá River, a left tributary of the Upper Paraguay River, are known for their aquatic productivity and scenic beauty. The characteristics of these lakes and their floodplains are showed through the difference between their waters, the diversity of the aquatic macrophytes communities, fish communities and aquatic birds. Our study looked at changes in limnological variables as well as diversity of aquatic birds, during high water or flooded phase; medium water or receding phase; and the low water or dry phase. We used a temporary small lagoon in the floodplain of this system as our study area. The flood pulse is the main ecological factor affecting the Pantanal; it modifies ecological process and species composition. The water depth decreases during the season, decreasing electrical conductivity, dissolved phosphate and nitrate, water transparency, dissolved oxygen and biomass of aquatic macrophyte; and increasing calcium, total phosphorus and total nitrogen. We also observed increase in species richness and abundance of aquatic birds during the receding phase. Results show that the number of species (density) of aquatic birds increased from 10 to 30 species and the numbers of individuals from 40 to 936. The maximum richness and abundance of aquatic birds was registered during the receding phase.


1986 ◽  
Vol 32 (110) ◽  
pp. 101-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almut Iken ◽  
Robert A. Bindschadler

AbstractDuring the snow-melt season of 1982, basal water pressure was recorded in 11 bore holes communicating with the subglacial drainage system. In most of these holes the water levels were at approximately the same depth (around 70 m below surface). The large variations of water pressure, such as diurnal variations, were usually similar at different locations and in phase. In two instances of exceptionally high water pressure, however, systematic phase shifts were observed; a wave of high pressure travelled down-glacier with a velocity of approximately 100 m/h.The glacier-surface velocity was measured at four lines of stakes several times daily. The velocity variations correlated with variations in subglacial water pressure. The functional relationship of water pressure and velocity suggests that fluctuating bed separation was responsible for the velocity variations. The empirical functional relationship is compared to that of sliding over a perfectly lubricated sinusoidal bed. On the basis of the measured velocity-pressure relationship, this model predicts a reasonable value of bed roughness but too high a sliding velocity and unstable sliding at too low a water pressure. The main reason for this disagreement is probably the neglect of friction from debris in the sliding model.The measured water pressure was considerably higher than that predicted by the theory of steady flow through straight cylindrical channels near the glacier bed. Possible reasons are considered. The very large disagreement between measured and predicted pressure suggests that no straight cylindrical channels may have existed.


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