VIDEO DERIVED OBSERVATIONS OF ESTUARINE SAND BANK MIGRATION, TEIGNMOUTH UK

摘要

Teignmouth is a busy commercial and leisure port situated at the mouth of the river Teign, in the south west of the UK. This study describes quantitatively the evolution of a sand bar system present at the Teignmouth estuary mouth. This is based on 5 years of observation utilising a video monitoring system supplemented by bathymetric surveys. Observations suggest that previous models of the sand bars behaviour at Teignmouth describing cyclical dynamics of the sand bar system are no longer completely valid. Instead phases of the cyclical dynamics are observed to occur with increased frequency. There is a strong suggestion that this deviation in behaviour is due in part to the anthropogenic influence of a dredging regime which maintains an adequate navigation channel for shipping access to the inner estuary.