Circulation Change and Ebb Shoal Development Following Relocation of Mason Inlet, North Carolina; Conference paper

摘要

In March 2002, under the direction of the first author, a rapidly migrating inlet located in New Hanover County, North Carolina was relocated. The original entrance to Mason Inlet was closed, and the inlet was reopened approximately 850 m (2,800 ft) to the north. In addition, a 1,400-m (4,580 ft) long channel was dredged between the new inlet and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW), and a sedimentation basin was constructed west of the new inlet entrance. Monitoring was initiated to determine if the downdrift beaches receive sediment from breakup of the abandoned ebb shoal and to assess development of the new ebb shoal, including natural sand bypassing. This paper examines ebb shoal development, inlet cross-section equilibration, beach response, and changes in the tidal prism and flow distribution through the primary two tidal channels connecting the new inlet with the AIWW following the inlet's relocation. Locational and cross-sectional stability of the entrance channel are also discussed.