Uargathy Inlet is a small natural tidal inlet in the northern region ol the Virginia Darner island chain. It is 100 m wide with a throat cross-sectional area of 384m2 and an average tidal prism of 6.47 x 106 m3. The i...Uargathy Inlet is a small natural tidal inlet in the northern region ol the Virginia Darner island chain. It is 100 m wide with a throat cross-sectional area of 384m2 and an average tidal prism of 6.47 x 106 m3. The inside drainage system is 7.8 km long and 2.2km wide. The main channels comprise 5.8% of the area, shallow lagoons 19.8%, and Spartina marshes 74.4% in 1970. Over the period 1851 - 1989 the inlet narrowed and migrated northward while maintaining a weakening downdrift offset. The nearby barrier island coastline’s rapid retreat (average rate 4.78m /a, 138 years retreat 660 m) was accompanied by back barrier channel and lagoon filling and a decrease in intertidal water volume which was probably the main reason for the entrance narrowing. The northward migration of the inlet was related to the dredging of the Inside Passage (before 1949) and the breaching of southern Metompkin Island (since 1957) connected with the inlet system. This altered the interior tidal circulation and likely shifted展开更多
文摘Uargathy Inlet is a small natural tidal inlet in the northern region ol the Virginia Darner island chain. It is 100 m wide with a throat cross-sectional area of 384m2 and an average tidal prism of 6.47 x 106 m3. The inside drainage system is 7.8 km long and 2.2km wide. The main channels comprise 5.8% of the area, shallow lagoons 19.8%, and Spartina marshes 74.4% in 1970. Over the period 1851 - 1989 the inlet narrowed and migrated northward while maintaining a weakening downdrift offset. The nearby barrier island coastline’s rapid retreat (average rate 4.78m /a, 138 years retreat 660 m) was accompanied by back barrier channel and lagoon filling and a decrease in intertidal water volume which was probably the main reason for the entrance narrowing. The northward migration of the inlet was related to the dredging of the Inside Passage (before 1949) and the breaching of southern Metompkin Island (since 1957) connected with the inlet system. This altered the interior tidal circulation and likely shifted