Rapid Change in Sedimentary Facies from Wave- to Tide-dominated Macrotidal Flat in the Sinduri Bay, West Coast of Korea

Abstract

Yoon, H.H.; Chun, S.S., and Hong, S.H., 2020. Rapid change in sedimentary facies from wave- to tide-dominated macrotidal flat in the Sinduri Bay, west coast of Korea. In: Malvarez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 728-732. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Macrotidal wave-dominated coastal environments are widely distributed on the western open coasts of Korea, although various muddy intertidal flats occur also in the inner part of embayed areas influenced strongly by geomorphological factor. The surface sediment of wave-dominated sandflat and tidal beach, which are developed on the northern Sinduri Bay coast, consists mostly of very well sorted medium to fine sand. Swash bars, which are parallel to the coastline and continuously migrating landward, play the important role in the formation of this macrotidal sandflat. The surface sedimentary facies in this southern embayed area consists mostly of mud. The mud flat is very gentle in slope with slight concave-up profile, and dominantly shows a highly bioturbated mud facies. The distribution of surface sedimentary facies, slope profile, hydrodynamic analysis and the transport pattern of coarse-grained sediment show a rapid change in sedimentary facies with very narrow transition zone from wave-dominated sandflat facies to tide-dominated mudflat facies. Both wave- and tide-dominated coasts have been formed together within a small single geomorphological unit. The co-occurrence of different types of coasts and the rapid shift of sedimentary facies can be indicative of one of characteristics in the macrotidal open-coast depositional environment in which geomorphology, sediment supply and hydrodynamic factors have been closely associated within a relatively small bay area. Sedimentary processes in the two coastal sytems are separated and independent each other. The development of separated depositional systems are also evident even in cored sediments, indicating that the recent depositional setting has been continued much longer time.