Next Article in Journal
Bioremediation of a Polluted Groundwater: Microbial Community Comparison of Treated and Untreated Aquifer through Next Generation Sequencing
Next Article in Special Issue
Effects of Dry and Wet Negev Soil–Dust Deposition on the Induction of Autoxidation of Soil–Dust Lipid Components
Previous Article in Journal
Impact of Boundary Conditions Dynamics on Groundwater Budget in the Campania Region (Italy)
 
 
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Assessing the Role of Extreme Mediterranean Events on Coastal River Outlet Dynamics

1
Centre de Formation et de Recherche sur les Environnements Méditerranéens, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, UMR 5110, 52 Avenue Paul Alduy, CEDEX, 66860 Perpignan, France
2
Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Université de Montpellier, 1039 Rue de Pinville, 34000 Montpellier, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Water 2022, 14(16), 2463; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162463
Submission received: 1 July 2022 / Revised: 3 August 2022 / Accepted: 5 August 2022 / Published: 9 August 2022

Abstract

River mouths are highly dynamic environments responding very rapidly to changes in wave energy or river floods. While the morphological response during floods or during marine storm events has been widely documented in the literature, little is known about the mechanisms acting during the co-occurrence of fluvial and marine hazards. This concomitance of river flood and marine storm is quite common in the western Mediterranean Sea, and was the case for the Gloria event, considered to be the most extreme event in recent decades. During this event, monitoring of hydrodynamics and morphological evolution was implemented, making it possible to better understand the impact of concomitant marine storm and fluvial flood during an extreme meteorological event on spit breaching of a small Mediterranean river mouth. Monitoring using a combination of high-resolution hydrodynamic measurements, topographic and bathymetric surveys, and sediment cores was used before, during, and after the storm “Gloria”. The results suggest an amplification of the morphological impact of the events and a different morphogenic response than if each of the events had acted independently on the system. The marine storm, occurring first, weakened the spit and initiated its breaching, which was continued by the extreme fluvial flood, thus leading to the complete destruction of the mouth. The destruction of the spit acted as a sediment source for subaqueous large delta deposition amounting to 50% of the total volume. The contribution of the river, estimated at 30%, was quite low for an exceptional event, showing the importance of locating rainfall in a catchment area controlled by a dam. For this event, extreme morphological evolution was observed, as well as the importance of water levels in the river mouth, which probably increased flood hazards, demonstrating the importance of including the compounding effect of extreme coastal water levels in river flood risk management.
Keywords: extreme event; river mouth; spit breaching; concomitant marine storm and fluvial flood; IOCE extreme event; river mouth; spit breaching; concomitant marine storm and fluvial flood; IOCE

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Meslard, F.; Balouin, Y.; Robin, N.; Bourrin, F. Assessing the Role of Extreme Mediterranean Events on Coastal River Outlet Dynamics. Water 2022, 14, 2463. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162463

AMA Style

Meslard F, Balouin Y, Robin N, Bourrin F. Assessing the Role of Extreme Mediterranean Events on Coastal River Outlet Dynamics. Water. 2022; 14(16):2463. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162463

Chicago/Turabian Style

Meslard, Florian, Yann Balouin, Nicolas Robin, and François Bourrin. 2022. "Assessing the Role of Extreme Mediterranean Events on Coastal River Outlet Dynamics" Water 14, no. 16: 2463. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162463

APA Style

Meslard, F., Balouin, Y., Robin, N., & Bourrin, F. (2022). Assessing the Role of Extreme Mediterranean Events on Coastal River Outlet Dynamics. Water, 14(16), 2463. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162463

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop