Morphologic evolution of a storm surge barrier system

Aart Kroon, Alina Kristin Kabuth, Sune Westh

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Morphologic evolution of a barrier island system on the southern shore of Zealand, Denmark shows regular inlet breaching and inlet closing over the last centuries. At the same time, the barrier slowly moves in a landward direction at its most exposed stretches. Alongshore wave-driven processes cause shoreline alignment and closure of inlets. A combination of high-energy waves and high water levels induces inlet breaching and overwash processes over the barrier crests. However, local high water levels are often not correlated with storm events in the inner Danish coastal waters. The water level fluctuations along the southern shore of Zealand are strongly influenced by the water level fluctuations in the Kattegat due to wind set-up and seiches in the Baltic Sea; local wind set-up and local wave set-up on the southern shore of Zealand are often of secondary importance. Statistics on extreme water levels based on measured water levels over the last century are often used to express the risk for flooding in a coastal environment. The present study indicates that this approach cannot directly be used in case of coastal erosion and inlet breaching. Extreme water levels and associated exceedance curves may overestimate these risks in cases of de-coupled extreme water levels and storm events.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Coastal Research
Issue number65
Pages (from-to)529-534
Number of pages6
ISSN0749-0208
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Event12th International Coastal Symposium - Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom
Duration: 8 Apr 201312 Apr 2013

Conference

Conference12th International Coastal Symposium
LocationPlymouth University
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityPlymouth
Period08/04/201312/04/2013

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