John Malito

and 1 more

Capital works projects, particularly the modification of coastal rivers, are becoming increasingly significant to economic activities worldwide as a response to climate-driven changes and urbanization. The benefits of channel modification projects can be realized quickly, but the altered movement of sediments in the river channel can lead to unintended morphologic changes decades later. An example of this is the closure of the San Bernard River mouth, located on the central coast of Texas, which was clogged by sediments in the 1990s as a result of two major projects in the area: the diversion of the Brazos River channel (1929) and the construction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) (1940s). The objective of this study was to document the delayed geomorphic response to the projects using historical aerial imagery and provide a snapshot of flow pathways in the area using measurements collected in situ. Results showed that the GIWW was the main conduit for river flow as it bisects the San Bernard 2 km inland of its river mouth, reducing discharge in the terminal limb of the river. Due to reduced flow, the river mouth became clogged with wave-transported sediment supplied the Brazos River which had been diverted to within 6 km of the San Bernard. With no connection to the sea, altered sediment and flow pathways have led to numerous hazards and costly corrective dredging projects. To optimize the cost-effectiveness of channel modification projects their long-term impact must be considered as managers continue to adapt to ever-changing coastal zones.

Emily Eidam

and 3 more

Capes and cape-associated shoals represent sites of convergent sediment transport, and can provide points of relative coastal stability, navigation hazards, and offshore sand resources. Shoal evolution is commonly impacted by the regional wave climate. In the Arctic, changing sea-ice conditions are leading to (1) longer open-water seasons when waves can contribute to sediment transport, and (2) an intensified wave climate (related to duration of open water and expanding fetch). At Blossom Shoals offshore of Icy Cape in the Chukchi Sea, these changes have led to a five-fold increase in the amount of time that sand is mobile at a 31-m water depth site between the period 1953-1989 and the period 1990-2022. Wave conditions conducive to sand transport are still limited to less than 2% of the year, however - and thus it is not surprising that the overall morphology of the shoals has changed little in 70 years, despite evidence of active sand transport in the form of 1-m-scale sand waves on the flanks of the shoals which heal ice keel scours formed during the winter. Suspended-sediment transport is relatively weak due to limited sources of mud nearby, but can be observed in a net northeastward direction during the winter (driven by the Alaska Coastal Current under the ice) and in a southwestward direction during open-water wind events. Longer open-water seasons mean that annual net northeastward transport of fine sediment may weaken, with implications for the residence time of fine-grained sediments and particle-associated nutrients in the Chukchi Sea.