Natural levee evolution in vegetated fluvial-tidal environments

Natural levees are common features in river, delta and tidal landscapes. They are elevated near-channel morphological features that determine the connection between channel and floodbasin, and consequently affect long-term evolution up to delta-scales. Despite their relevance in shaping fluvial-tidal systems, research on levees is sparse and often limited to fluvial or non-tidal case studies. There is also a general lack of understanding of the role of vegetation in shaping these geomorphic units, and how levee morphology and dimensions vary in the transition from fluvial to coastal environments, where tides are increasingly important. Our goal is to unravel the effects of fluvial-tidal boundary conditions, sediment supply and vegetation on levee characteristics and floodbasin evolution. These conditions were systematically explored by 60 large-scale idealized morphodynamic simulations in Delft3D which self-developed levees over the course of one century. We compared our results to a global levee dataset compilation of natural levee dimensions. We found that levee height is determined by the maximum water level, provided sufficient levee building sediments are available. Discharge fluctuations increased levee width and triggered more levee breaches, i.e. crevasses, that effectively filled the fluvio-tidal floodbasin. The presence of wood-type (sparse) vegetation further increased the number of crevasses in comparison with the non-vegetated scenarios. Conversely, reed-type (dense) vegetation strongly dampened tidal amplitude and reduced the accommodation space and sedimentation further into the floodbasin, resulting in narrower levees, no crevasses and limited floodbasin accretion. However, dense vegetation reduced tidal forces which allowed levee growth further downstream. Ultimately, the levees merged with the coastal barrier, eliminating the floodbasin tides entirely. Our results elucidate the mechanisms by which levee and crevasse formation, and vegetation may fill fluvio-tidal wetlands and affect estuary evolution. This brings new insights for geological reconstructions as well as for the future management of deltas and estuaries under sea-level rise.