Influence morphology on tide and sand transport

This report aims to understand how mega-scale and meso-scale morphological changes affect tidal dynamics and sand transport within the Scheldt estuary. With mega-scale we refer to the whole Scheldt estuary; with meso-scale we refer to tidal channels within a macro-cell. To that end we have applied a validated two-dimensional horizontal (depth-averaged) Delft3D model of the whole Scheldt estuary including flow and sand transport processes with both tidal and wind forcing. The model simulations were morphostatic, i.e. the bed levels were fixed. First, we have ran simulations using historical bed levels (1973, 1983, 2006, and 2011) to further validate the model and study the impact of the large-scale morphological changers. Then we have systematically investigated how a possible further deepening of the Gat van Ossenisse and undeepening of the Middelgat affects tidal dynamics and sand transport in the Scheldt estuary.