Research
Lateral dynamic analysis and classification of barotropic tidal inlets
HENCH, J. L., B. O. BLANTON, AND R. A. LUETTICH, JR., 2002. Lateral dynamic analysis and classification of barotropic tidal inlets. Continental Shelf Research, 22 (18/19): 2615-2631Abstract
The dynamical balances at shallow tidal inlets are highly nonlinear, and can vary substantially over sub-kilometer scales. In this study, barotropic dynamics are examined with numerical experiments on a series of idealized inlets with differing inlet widths and lengths. Circulation and elevation fields obtained from fully nonlinear depth-integrated circulation models are used to reconstruct the contribution of each term in the momentum equations. Momentum terms are rotated into a local coordinate system to simplify interpretation of the dynamics. Spatial patterns in momentum reveal that the lateral balances at inlets can vary from nearly geostrophic to strongly cyclostrophic. Marked dynamical differences are seen between inlets with different lengths and widths. Inlet regions of geostrophic or cyclostrophic balances can be predicted using two dimensionless parameters, the dynamic length L* and dynamic width W*. A classification scheme is proposed using L* and W* to compare the idealized inlets analyzed here with inlets from 20 previous studies. Four distinct inlet types are identified and discussed.
| ID | Inlet description | Reference |
| A | Sandy Hook-Rockaway Pt., New York | Doyle and Wilson 1978 |
| B | Idealized inlet | Awaji et al. 1980 |
| C | Idealized inlet | Imasato 1983 |
| D | The Cut, Koombana Bay, Australia | Hearn et al. 1985 |
| E | Zeegat van het Vlie, Netherlands | Ridderinkof 1988 |
| F | Ribbon Reefs 3 and 4, Australia | Wolanski et al. 1988 |
| G | Indian River Inlet, Delaware | Wong and DiLorenzo 1988 |
| H | Wells Inlet, Maine | Mariano and FitzGerald 1991 |
| I | Sebastian Inlet, Florida | Liu 1992 |
| J | Port Phillip Bay, Australia | Black et al. 1993 |
| K | Idealized inlet | Imasato et al. 1994 |
| L | Essex River Inlet, Massachusetts | Smith and FitzGerald 1994 |
| M | Idealized inlet | Kapolnai et al. 1996 |
| N | Idealized inlet | Wheless and Valle-Levinson 1996 |
| O | Puerto Real Inlet, Mexico | David and Kjerfve 1998 |
| P | San Diego Bay, California | Chadwick and Largier 1999 |
| Q | Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina | Luettich et al. 1999 |
| R | Shinnecock Inlet, New York | Militello et al. 2000 |
| S | Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida | Militello and Zarillo 2000 |
| T | Aransas Pass, Texas | Brown et al. 2000 |
| 1 | Idealized inlet I | This study |
| 2 | Idealized inlet II | This study |
| 3 | Idealized inlet III | This study |
| 4 | Idealized inlet IV | This study |
Inlet classification diagram based on barotropic lateral dynamics. Parameter values for 20 inlets from the literature are plotted with the 4 inlets analyzed in this paper.