Author(s): Manel Grifoll; Benjami Calvillo; Janek Laanearu; Alan Cuthbertson
Linked Author(s): Janek Laanearu, Alan J S Cuthbertson
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: Field measurement data and internal-flow hydraulics are used to interpretate annual changes in water renewal processes within the Ebro Delta estuary (NW Mediterranean Sea) over past field measurement periods. Observed changes to the threshold heights of estuarine bed sediment features are attributed to several mechanisms related to cross-shore sediment transport driven by the river flow that erodes sediment bed features, and sea level changes in the Mediterranean that can increase or decrease bed threshold heights due along-shore sediment transport driven by wave action. It is shown that the stratified-flow processes in the Ebro Delta estuary switch between one- and multi-layer modes in different seasons, depending on variations of river discharge and sea water level. Results obtained from an internal-flow hydraulics model and a numerical modelling approach (BOM) are used to gain understanding of the varying stratification structure within the Ebro Delta estuarine exchange due to variations in the upstream freshwater outflow from the Ebro river and the water level within the Mediterranean Sea. The river cross-sections interfacial characteristics are compared.
Year: 2026