A sedimentological approach to P-A relationships for tidal inlet systems: An example from Yuehu Inlet, Shandong Peninsula, China

Power-law relationship between tidal prism (P) and the cross-sectional area of the entrance channel (A) is applicable to assess the equilibrium conditions of a tidal inlet system. The classic method of determining P-A relationships proposed by O'Brien depends on datasets from multi-tidal inlet systems, which has shown some limitations and is unable to assess equilibrium of a single tidal inlet. This paper focuses on establishing a new P-A relationship for a single tidal inlet. Our experimental result shows that in order to maintain the status, power n should be > 1, implying that the inlet width will narrow and current speed within the entrance will increase as tidal prism becomes smaller. A possible explanation for power n <,1.0, as many researchers argued before, is that the influence of tidal prism has been exaggerated. Meanwhile, the magnitude of coefficient C is dependent on many factors such as longshore drift, freshwater discharge, etc, resulting in a wide range of variation of C. It should be pointed out that P-A relationship given by the sediment dynamical approach is still a representative of average status for tidal inlets in equilibrium. As tide, wave, freshwater discharge and tidal inlet morphology change with time, actual P-A relationships will fluctuate also. The problems that need to be solved when applying sediment dynamic methods to P-A relationships include the cross-sectional distribution pattern of tidal current speeds in the entrance channel, the relationship between the tidal current and the tidal water level at the entrance, and the calculation of the ratio of width to depth. This paper will establish a sediment dynamical approach of P-A relationship for a single tidal inlet. The results are tested for P-A relationships of Yuehu Inlet, a small inlet-lagoon system located in Shandong Peninsula, China.