The morphological analysis of the Tra Khuc inlet, Quang Ngai province

Abstract

      The natural tendency of inlets is to evolve towards a dynamic equilibrium or "stable" configuration. Ability of an inlet to maintain itself and associated longshore sediment transport depends on availability of littoral sediment moving into the inlet and the tidal prism. By the removal of large volumes of sand for channel construction and maintenance will make that the inlet comes out of equilibrium and the inlet and adjacent shorelines respond to restore equilibrium. It is, therefore, important to understand the mechanisms that govern the stability of the inlet and its hydraulics before the best inlet management practices can be determined. This paper will present the morphological analysis of the Tra Khuc inlet, in the Quang Ngai Province in order to identify the major factors which control the stability of the inlet.