Response of sediment dynamics in the York River Estuary, USA to tropical cyclone Isabel of 2003

Abstract

Tropical Cyclone Isabel of 2003 generated large storm surge, strong waves, and subsequent river flooding in the York River Estuary, USA during its passage across the Chesapeake Bay region. A 3D model was used to investigate the changes of sediment concentration, sediment flux, and the recovery time of the York River Estuary to its naturally evolved condition without the storm. The results showed that two sediment concentration peaks appeared during the storm event. The first one was induced by the large upstream flow and waves during the storm surge rising period, and the later one was caused by the strong downstream flow during the descent of the storm surge. The advection, which was induced by the barotropic gradient, dominated the sediment flux during the storm event. The sediment fluxes increased by a factor of 100 during the rise and descent of the storm surge. A large amount of sediment that was transported into the estuary and eroded from the seabed during the rising of the storm surge was quickly transported out of the estuary during the descent of the storm surge. Waves played a key role in stirring the seabed and increasing the sediment concentration during the storm. Subsequent high freshwater inflow changed the sediment loading and hydrodynamics in the estuary, and thus, influenced the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) dynamics profoundly. The ETM moved downstream with the river flooding initially and returned upstream with the waning of river flooding and the re-establishment of gravitational circulation. The effect of river flooding on sediment concentration varied spatially and depended on the changes of ETM locations and vertical mixing. The model results suggest that a large amount of sediment was transported out of the estuary during the storm event and the subsequent river flooding had a larger impact on recovery time of the estuary.