Quantifying the transition from fluvial- to wave-dominance for river deltas with multiple active channels

The plan-view morphologies of fluvial- and wave-dominated deltas are clearly distinctive, but transitional forms are numerous. A quantitative, process-based description of this transition remains unexplored, particularly for river deltas with multiple active channels. Previous studies focused on general attributes of the fluvial and marine environment, such as the balance between wave energy and river discharge. Here, we propose that the transition between fluvial and wave dominance is directly related to the magnitude of the fluvial bedload flux to the nearshore region versus the alongshore sediment transport capacity of waves removing sediment away from the mouth. In the case of a single-channel delta, this balance can be computed for a given distribution of waves approaching shore. Fluvial dominance occurs when fluvial sediment input exceeds the wave-sustained maximum alongshore sediment transport for all potential shoreline orientations both up- and downdrift of the river mouth. However, deltaic channels have the tendency to bifurcate with increasing fluvial strength. Initial bifurcation splits the fluvial sediment flux among individual channels, while the potential sediment transport by waves remains constant for both river mouths. At higher bifurcation orders, multiple channels interact with each other alongshore, a situation more complicated than the single channel case and one that cannot be simple addressed analytically. We apply a model of plan-view shoreline evolution to simulate the evolution of a deltaic environment with multiple active channels. A highly simplified fluvial domain is represented by deposition of sediment where channels meet the coast. We investigate two scenarios of fluvial delivery. The first scenario deposits fluvial sediment alongshore on a self-similar predefined network of channels. We analyze the effects of different network geometrical parameters, such as bifurcation length, bifurcation angle, and sediment partitioning. In the second scenario, local conditions help determine where channels form, distribute sediment and bifurcate, therefore allowing feedbacks between the marine and fluvial domains. With increasing fluvial sediment flux, the delta transitions from a classic cuspate morphology to a space-filling, radial fluvial delta. This simplified model allows us to quantify the transition from fluvial to wave dominance and enables comparisons with natural examples near this transition, such as the Tinajones lobe of the Sinu River Delta, Colombia, and the Po Delta, Italy.