Coastal inlets, engineering geology

formation Of Natural Inlets

Inlets result from a variety of processes that include the action of rivers, storms, longshore drift, and other geological phenomenan. Rivers entering the ocean form natural inlets, although the flow regimes differ from tidal inlets. Basic Characteristics of both types may be similar (Schmeltz and Sorensen, 1973).

Perhaps the most predominant agent of Inlet formation along barrier island coasts is storm activity. Pierce (1970) noted that such inlets are most likely to form where the island is narrow and the adjacent lagoonal depths are relatively deep. Inlets created by storms tend to be ephemeral, however, and they normally close relatively rapidly if the breach of the island is at a relatively wide point. Brown Cedar Cut on the Texas Gulf coast is an example of such a storm-created inlet (Mason and Sorensen, 1971).

Lateral deposition and growth of a bar across the mouth of a bay may also form an inlet. Longshore currents may transport sedimentary material...