MORPHODYNAMICS OF A NATURAL, TIDE-DOMINATED INLETON A MICROTIDAL COAST: BUNCES PASS, FLORIDA

摘要

Bunces Pass is an unstructured tide-dominated inlet just north of the main entrance tornTampa Bay, Florida. The inlet has been stable for at least 130 years. The tide-domination of BuncesrnPass is maintained under a microtidal regime by an extremely large ebb-tidal prism that exceeds 2.00rnx 107 m3. The large tidal prism is more than 400 times the corresponding littoral drift. The tidalrnprism is therefore primarily responsible for maintaining the inlet’s stability. Additionally, thernmorphological evolution of the Bunces Pass ebb-tidal delta is strongly influenced by adjacent inlets.rnThe Bunces ebb-tidal delta is superimposed on the larger Egmont Channel delta to the south and isrnflanked on the north by the Pass-A-Grille Pass delta. These deltas effectively shield Bunces Pass,rnreducing wave energy, thus enhancing the tide-dominated morphology.