Calculated Potential Bedload Versus Real Transported Sands along the Guadiana River Estuary (Spain-Portugal)

Type Article
Date 2019-11
Language English
Author(s) Morales Juan A.1, Lozano Claudio1, Sedrati Mouncef2
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Huelva, Dept Earth Sci, Ave 3 Marzo S-N, E-21007 Huelva, Spain.
2 : Univ Bretagne Sud, Lab Geosci Ocean, UMR CNRS 6538, BP 573, F-56017 Vannes, France.
Source Journal Of Marine Science And Engineering (Mdpi), 2019-11 , Vol. 7 , N. 11 , P. 393 (21p.)
DOI 10.3390/jmse7110393
WOS© Times Cited 2
Note This article belongs to the Special Issue Coastal Morphodynamics II
Keyword(s) Guadiana Estuary, tidal currents, potential bedload transport, real sediment input
Abstract

The Guadiana estuary is a coastal system located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula and is the natural border between Portugal and Spain. It is a rock-bounded estuary which extends along more than 40 km and is characterized by a semidiurnal mesotidal regime. This paper represents an approach to the bedload transport across two flow sections located in the fluvial and marine domains. In the fluvial profile, the most frequent bedform is the plane bed. In the marine area the bed of the deep channel is composed of well-sorted sand, while a lateral bar displays partially cohesive sediments with dominant fine sands in a matrix of clayey silts. Data were acquired during spring and neap tides. Near-bottom water velocities were registered by an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). Density and bed rugosity were determined in sediment samples. These data were employed using Bagnold's equation (1963) to quantify the potential bedload (Qb). Further, real bedload values (Sb) were obtained by using Poliakoff traps. The comparison of the results of Qb under both ebb and flood conditions demonstrated a clear river-to-sea net transport in both sectors. The values of Sb were lower than those of Qb in every condition. The sand input across the fluvial estuary cannot supply the potential bedload in the lower domain of the channel, thereby causing a deficit that explains this lack of agreement between potential and real transport.

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