Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
DOI
10.1029/2018JF004996
Publication Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
Volume
124
Issue
8
Pages
2141-2159
Abstract
We examine variations in discharge exchange between two parallel, 1‐ to 2‐km‐wide tidal channels (the Shibsa and the Pussur) in southwestern Bangladesh over spring‐neap, and historical timescales. Our objective is to evaluate how large‐scale, interconnected tidal channel networks respond to anthropogenic perturbation. The study area spans the boundary between the pristine Sundarbans Reserved Forest, where regular inundation of the intertidal platform maintains the fluvially abandoned delta plain, and the anthropogenically modified region to the north, where earthen embankments sequester large areas of formerly intertidal landscape. Estimates of tidal response to the embankment‐driven reduction in basin volume, and hence tidal prism, predict a corresponding decrease in size of the mainstem Shibsa channel, yet the Shibsa is widening and locally scouring even as the interconnected Pussur channel faces rapid shoaling. Rather, the Shibsa has maintained or even increased its pre‐polder tidal prism by capturing a large portion of the Pussur's basin via several "transverse" channels that are themselves widening and deepening. We propose that an enhanced tidal setup in the Pussur and the elimination of an effective Shibsa‐Pussur flow barrier are driving this basin capture event. These results illustrate previously unrecognized channel interactions and emphasize the importance of flow reorganization in response to perturbations of interconnected, multichannel tidal networks that characterize several large tidal delta plains worldwide.
Rights
© 2019 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
"AGU allows authors to deposit their journal articles if the version is the final published citable version of record, the AGU copyright statement is clearly visible on the posting, and the posting is made 6 months after official publication by the AGU."
Data Availability
Article states: "The discharge, water level, and spatial data sets generated during this project are available online (doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.7495904.v1)."
Link to data with matching DOI is as follows: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7495904.v1.
Original Publication Citation
Bain, R. L., Hale, R. P., & Goodbred, S. L. (2019). Flow reorganization in an anthropogenically modified tidal channel network: An example from the southwestern Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 124(8), 2141-2159. doi:10.1029/2018JF004996
Repository Citation
Bain, R. L.; Hale, Rip P.; and Goodbred, S. L., "Flow Reorganization in an Anthropogenically Modified Tidal Channel Network: An Example From The Southwestern Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta" (2019). OES Faculty Publications. 365.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/365