For example, insufficient sediment import may result in loss of salt marsh and tidal flat area (Dissanayake et al. In periods of sea level rise, the net import of sediment is important for the long-term stability of back-barrier basins to preserve the morphology of the basins. Tidal inlets connect back-barrier basins to the adjacent sea and facilitate the exchange of sediment. Our results demonstrate how the cyclic channel-shoal dynamics at natural tidal inlets is likely to affect the safety functions of the ebb-tidal deltas, varying the offshore wave energy dissipation as well as adjusting the sediment pathways on the ebb-tidal delta. Moreover, we find that the wave energy dissipation on the ebb-tidal delta is enhanced by a shallow shoal or an updrift-oriented ebb-channel, which shields the coast from the incoming waves. As a result, the net sediment exchange between basin and sea is cyclic and follows the periodicity of the one- and two-channel inlet configuration. In particular, the periodic variations in the channel positions appear to significantly influence the tidal asymmetry in the inlet and mean flow characteristics. Here, we use Delft3D/SWAN models to simulate the Dutch Ameland tidal inlet during four phases of the cycle to show that many of the physical processes on the ebb-tidal delta and in the entire tidal system are affected by the cyclic evolution of channels and shoals. The effect of the long-term (> years) cyclic behavior on the short-term patterns of waves, tidal currents, and sediment transport is unknown. This cyclic behavior can also include an alternation between one- and two-channel inlet configurations. On many ebb-tidal deltas, channels rotate and shoals periodically attach to the downdrift island. Ebb-tidal deltas are shallow features seaward of tidal inlets, acting as a wave filter for the nearby barrier island and a source of sediment for the landward tidal basin.
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