Research Projects

Tidal inlet as an opening in the shoreline through which water enters the hinterland, thereby providing a connection between the ocean and bays, lagoons, and estuaries. These inlets provide a tidal connection between back barrier bays, lagoons, marsh and tidal creeks, and the coastal ocean and are kept open by tidal currents. Tidal inlets significantly impact the local coastal environment. They play an important role in near shore processes and exchange of water, sediments, nutrients, larvae, planktonic organisms and pollutants. Tidal basins, including tidal lagoons and estuaries with their associated coastal inlets, interrupt a significant part of the world’s shorelines. The main channel of a tidal inlet is maintained by the tidal currents propagating back and forth between the lagoon and the sea resulting from the rise and fall of the tides. Due to the fact that coastal inlets interrupt the continuity of the shorelines and near shore processes, they play a vital role in sediment budgets and coastal erosion. The morphology of tidal inlets is controlled by the interaction of hydrologic, geologic, meteorological, oceanographic, and topographic features. The complexity of inlet processes show diversity in hydraulic signature, sediment transport patterns, and morphology. The frequency and interactions of tide, wave and freshwater flow, together with topographic and geologic controls, are responsible for wide range in tidal settings