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Pressure change and surface expansion in salt marshes due to tidal inundation
Author(s) -
Corapcioglu M. Yavuz,
Mathur S.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr023i010p01996
Subject(s) - ponding , infiltration (hvac) , pore water pressure , geology , salt marsh , hydrology (agriculture) , water table , geotechnical engineering , pressure head , hydraulic head , soil science , soil water , conservation of mass , geomorphology , mechanics , groundwater , materials science , oceanography , drainage , mechanical engineering , ecology , engineering , composite material , biology , physics
Infiltration of water across the surface‐water interface of a marsh in areas flooded due to tides has been known to cause swelling of sediments. The sudden tidal inundation in an unflooded soil creates a head gradient at the surface of the unsaturated soil above the water table. When water infiltrates into the soil under this gradient, the suction head in the unsaturated domain decreases, and the pore pressure in the saturated zone increases with time, resulting in swelling of highly compressible marsh soils. A one‐dimensional mathematical model which consists of a mass conservation equation, quasi‐static equilibrium equations, stress strain relations for an assumed perfectly elastic solid matrix and a variable total stress expression has been employed to obtain a numerical solution for pore pressure change and swelling due to tidal inundation. Numerical results are presented graphically at the spatial and temporal points of interest for a constant depth of ponding of water at the marsh surface resulting from tidal inundation. Results show that swelling of soil is primarily governed by the initial head gradient across the marsh surface‐water interface.