Flow and salt transport in mangrove swamps

An analytical mathematical model is presented for flow and salinity in tidal mangrove swamps that is based one-dimensional approaches. The model is designed with the purpose to develop a method for rapid assessment of effects in mangrove swamps due to changes in river discharges that can also be used in situations with few data. A literature study demonstrated that the changes in salinity control the effects in mangrove swamps on the shortest timescale. The flow section of the model is based on linearisation of the momentum equation as introduced by Lorentz (1926). The salinity section of the model for open water in the swamps (creeks) is based on the equation for trapping in tidal swamps originally proposed by Ridd (1990). The salinity section of the model for groundwater is based on the description of hydrodynamic dispersion. A model with predictive value for groundwater salinity could be developed by incorporating the analytical solution of the flow section in the description of hydrodynamic dispersion and by using the solutions for salinity in creeks as boundary condition. The theoretical model can be used in practice with a relatively small set of field measurements and in combination with an existing model for flow and salt transport in rivers and estuaries.Civil Engineering and Geoscience