Dynamics and sedimentary developments of the Dutch Wadden Sea with a special emphasis on the Frisian Inlet : a study of the barrier islands, ebb-tidal deltas, inlets and drainage basins

Abstract

The Wadden Sea, along the coasts of The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, forms one of the major nature reserves in western Europe and one of the major intertidal areas on Earth. Numerous observations are available from this highly dynamical area, collected over the many centuries that Man has been wrestling with the sea. The growing concern about the fate of the Dutch coast in the next century, when an increase of the rate of sea-level rise is expected, has recently triggered extensive interdisciplinary research on coastal dynamics. This offered the opportunity to study in detail the dynamics and development of the Dutch Wadden Sea system, especially of the Frisian Inlet. The central theme in this study is the detailed understanding, from a geologists' point of view, of the dynamics of the morphological and sedimentological development of the Dutch Wadden Sea on different temporal and spatial scales. Special attention was given to interactions and feedbacks between sedimentary processes, sedimentary deposits and morphological elements, in order to promote a more dynamic approach of fossil analogues.