Flow, Sediment, and Morpho-Dynamics of River Confluence in Tidal and Non-Tidal Environments
2020 (English)In: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, E-ISSN 2077-1312, Vol. 8, no 8, article id 591Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
River confluences are the key features of the drainage basins, as their hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological nature strongly influences the downstream river characteristics. The river reaches near the coastal zones, which also makes them under the influence of tidal currents in addition to their runoff. This causes a bi-directional flow and makes the study of confluences more interesting and complex in these areas. There is a reciprocal adjustment of flow, sediment, and morphology at a confluence, and its behaviors, differ greatly in tidal and non-tidal environments. Existing studies of the river junctions provide a good account of information about the hydrodynamics and bed morphology of the confluent areas, especially the unidirectional ones. The main factors which affect the flow field include the angle of confluence, flow-related ratios (velocity, discharge, and momentum) of the merging streams, and bed discordance. Hydraulically, six notable zones are identified for unidirectional confluences. However, for bi-directional (tidal) junctions, hydrodynamic zones always remain in transition but repeat in a cycle and make four different arrangements of flow features. This study discusses the hydrodynamics, sediment transport, morphological changes, and the factors affecting these processes and reviews the recent research about the confluences for these issues. All of these studies provide insights into the morpho-dynamics in tidal and non-tidal confluent areas.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2020. Vol. 8, no 8, article id 591
Keywords [en]
river confluence, morpho-dynamics, tidal effects, flow patterns, sediment transport
National Category
Fluid Mechanics
Research subject
Fluid Mechanics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-80331DOI: 10.3390/jmse8080591ISI: 000567317800001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85090021070OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-80331DiVA, id: diva2:1456929
Note
Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2020-09-24 (alebob)
2020-08-072020-08-072025-10-22Bibliographically approved