Accelerated Seaward Growth of Tidal Sand Bar during Giant Dyke Construction off the Mangyung River Mouth, West Coast of Korea

Abstract

The progress of giant dyke construction off the Mangyung and Donajin rivers, has yielded enormous impact on the estuarine environment, both hydrodynamically and sedimentologically. Especially the inter-dyke gap in the northern Saemankeum area, 4 km wide between Yamido and Piungdo, has acted as an artificial tidal inlet. Due to such a changed geometry, tidal regime has been reversed from being flood- to ebb-dominated with a directional change from NE-SW to E-W. As a result, a large tongue-like tidal sand bar (named Saemankeum Bar) has conspicuously grown seaward through the artificial tidal inlet. The Saemankeum Bar composed of well-sorted very fine sands (3.0-3.5 ϕ ) has grown at a rate of 1.63 km/yr for the past three yews (1996-1998). Such a rapid growth of the sand bar is attributed to enhanced sediment supply derived from the degradation of former tidal sand bars at the mouth of the Mangyung River. Eventually the reworking of the tidal sand bars also caused the pre-existing tidal channels to be wider, deeper and more straightened. All of these phenomena well examplify the critical effect of artificial modifications on the natural estuarine environments.