Mud transport in the Dutch delta area and along the adjacent coastline
In: Netherlands Journal of Sea Research. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ): Groningen; Den Burg. ISSN 0077-7579; e-ISSN 1873-1406, more
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| Abstract |
1. There are two kinds of mud in the Dutch coastal area and in the estuaries, viz., river mud and marine mud (see paragraph I for definitions).2. The mud in the mouth of the Western Scheldt is mainly marine mud; most of it is produced by the erosion of old clay deposits in this maritime area. The mud continues to circulate in this area and hardly any of it is carried northwards. Consequently, the mud content of the water in this area is high.3. The mud in the Eastern Scheldt comes almost exclusively from the sea or is of organic origin. Under average conditions, very little mud is carried from the western part of the Eastern Scheldt to the eastern part (“Zak van Bergon op Zoom”).4. The Brouwershavense Gat contains mostly river mud, which comes from the Haringvliet.5. The mud found in the mouth of the Haringvliet, the sea area between the Haringvliet and the Rotterdam Waterway and in the Waterway itself is almost exclusively river mud. Some of the mud in the mouth of the Haringvliet is carried seawards through the Brouwershavense Gat, some of it continues to circulate in the mouth and some of it is carried to sea, where it is transported northwards to the Waterway by the current in the North Sea running parallel to the coast and by the flood tide surplus close inshore.6. The mud in the water north of the Rotterdam Waterway is largely river mud. It moves in a north-easterly direction, hugging the coast.7. The conclusions on mud transport in this area, which have been reached mainly by studying the movement of the water, agree very well with the conclusions reached by De Groot (1963) after studying the differences in the manganese content of the mud.8. The present average annual mud drain and the average figures for the mud content of the water in the estuaries and along the coast, are given in figure 9. |
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