Course Description :
Sediment transport in marine environments, shoreline change, bedform evolution and morphodynamics, tidal inlet morphodynamics, barrier island processes, storm erosion, delta development, beach dynamics. Evolution of estuarine waterways and wetland systems.
Course Comment :
Engineering in coastal areas and subaqueous environments (lakes, water reservoirs, rivers) requires the understanding of the interaction between hydrodynamics, sediment and the resulting morphology and morphodynamics. A neglect of the local morphology and morphodynamics can lead to disastrous consequences for structures in environments which are characterized by active subaqueous sediment dynamics, coastline, delta, harbor and river development. This course addresses sediment transport mechanisms and the resulting morphological features such as slopes, bars, dunes, ripples and sorted bedforms. As the next step, morphodynamic processes will be discussed including the migration of dunes and the consequences for scour or structure stability and submarine slope failures, for example. As these topics are still subject to ongoing research and are very site specific, critical reviews of journal papers discussing different features, dynamics and sites will be conducted, as preparation for tasks in practice.