Morphology and hydrologic characteristics of tidal inlets on a headland dominated, low littoral drift coast, northwestern New Zealand 

Hume, T. E.; Herdendorf, C. E. 

1990 

 

 

Article in journal 

Tidal inlets occur where Holocene sand barriers have built out towards rock headlands.(...)The inlets generally have positional stability as a result of shelter from wave energy in the lee of rock headlands. (...) The flood and ebb tidal deltas are generally small, their platform being controlled by the tidal discharge, degree of headland shelter and littoral supply.(...) In general the inlets can be considered as geometrically stable (i.e. have the ability to return to their initial configuration after a disturbance) because : (1) the generally low width to depth ratio (average 44) indicates that the inlet throat channels are hydraulically efficient, (2) the strong relationship between throat area and tidal prism/discharge indicates that there is a balance between inlet geometry and tidal flow through the gorge, (3) of the similarity of their area/tidal prism relationships and width/depth ratios to those inlets stabilized with 2 jetties on the Pacific and particularly the Atlantic coast of the USA, and (4) the very high tidal prism/littoral drift ratios indicate that entrance conditions are good and that the tidal current is main mechanism for transporting sediment through the entrance. (auth) 

 

geometry; littoral drift; new zealand; hydrology; Kaipara harbour; headlands; tidal inlets; Biogeophysical; morphology; tidal currents