Should sedimentation be regarded as the solution to the resilience of the mangrove ecosystem? A case study in the Sunderbans, India
Abstract
Mangroves' ecosystem is acclaimed as the means of coastal protection in the World Heritage site like Sunderbans. The southern part of tide-dominated Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, the Sunderbans, registers a significant loss of mangroves each year (~2 sq. km), especially during post-monsoon and bore tide. Mangroves facilitate sedimentation. The objective of the study is to analyze whether sedimentation in-turn induce the mangrove growth. The average tidal amplitude, as well as the erosion and accretion rates of the northeastern bank of Kabasgadi Island, a compound tidal bar and the slough channel, Kakdwip River, have been estimated by extensive field surveys. These calculated values of erosion and accretion then compared with the remote sensing data analysis of vegetation growth and the sedimentation of the tidal bar and its surrounding areas from 2015 to 2019. The rate and distribution pattern of the sedimentation, as well as the vegetation growth at the concerning part of this tidal bar, vividly showed both positive and adverse effects of sedimentation of the entire area. The northeastern bank of Kabasgadi Island advanced and regressed no more than ~61.42 metres and ~34.78 metres, respectively, while ~0.02 sq km mangroves lost during 2015-19. The present study shows the anthropogenic activities induced accretion responsible for the decline of the mangrove ecosystem.
Keywords: Tide-dominated delta, Sunderbans, compound tidal bar, remote sensing analysis.- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMEP0610030B
- Keywords:
-
- 1625 Geomorphology and weathering;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 3020 Littoral processes;
- MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS;
- 4315 Monitoring;
- forecasting;
- prediction;
- NATURAL HAZARDS;
- 4217 Coastal processes;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL