Self-organization of tidal deltas.
Tidal deltas are characterized by a dendritic network of distributaries that transport water and sediments to the ocean. Here, I show that the distributaries self-organize to uniformly redistribute the tidal prism across the entire delta system. The 2 opposite mechanisms of channel formation by avulsion and channel abandonment drive the entire delta toward a critical state at which every channel is close to the silting threshold. Under these conditions the delta reaches self-organized criticality, with changes of its planimetric channel distribution occurring across several spatial scales.
Fagherazzi
Sergio
S
Department of Earth Sciences and Center for Computational Science, Boston University, Boston, MA 02122, USA. sergio@bu.edu
D017753:Ecosystem; D005618:Fresh Water; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D045483:Rivers; D017215:Satellite Communications; D012623:Seawater; D014872:Water Movements