The late Holocene evolution of the Perimarine part of the river Scheldt
Kiden, P. (1989). The late Holocene evolution of the Perimarine part of the river Scheldt, in: Henriet, J.-P. et al. (Ed.) The Quaternary and Tertiary geology of the Southern Bight, North Sea. pp. 173-184 In: Henriet, J.-P. et al. (Ed.) (1989). The Quaternary and Tertiary geology of the Southern Bight, North Sea. Ministry of Economic Affairs. Belgian Geological Survey: Brussel. 241 pp., more |
| Abstract | Following a brief overview of the Holocene evolution of the river Scheldt, the late Holocene evolution of the tidal part of the river is presented in detail. A number of different phases could be distinguished. At or near to the end of the accumulation of the clayey peat a new non- or microtidal river channel was incised. Due to lateral displacement of the river channel point bars were formed while at approximately the same time peat accumulation came to an end by the deposition of an upper clay layer. At about 900 to 1000 AD, tidal range increased considerably in the study area and the MHW level started to rise continuously up to the present day. At present, tidal range is of the order of 5 m. A number of palaeo-water level indicators have been critically examined, in order to obtain data on the evolution of local water level and its relation to sea level rise and to the morphological development of the Scheldt estuary. It is shown that local MHW level around 900 to 1000 AD was about 0.8 rn lower than contemporaneous MHW level at sea due to the presence of an important floodbasin effect in the Scheldt tidal river system. The increase of tidal range after this date has been caused by a decrease of the floodbasin effect, partly due to human intervention. |
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