Residual currents and bedform migration in a natural tidal inlet (Knudedyb, Danish Wadden Sea)

• A clockwise residual circulation has been modeled in the Knudedyb tidal inlet.
• The pattern is morphologically driven by the presence of a confluent meander bend.
• Flow separates at the down-ebb-stream corners during ebb, enhancing tidal asymmetry.
• Hence crestal flexing and opposite migration of bedforms occur in the channel.

The morphology and hydrodynamics of the natural tidal inlet Knudedyb in the Danish Wadden Sea were investigated by the analysis of high resolution bathymetric data and hydrodynamic numerical modeling. In contrast to the expected anticlockwise pattern similar to the other inlets in the Wadden Sea, a clockwise tidal residual current was found, which drives the sediment transport and results from the presence of a confluent meander bend. The channel is draped by bedforms of several hierarchical scales (on average, approximately 155 m long and 2.3 m high), with average sizes decreasing from south to north and seaward (i.e., westward). Primary bedforms in the area are mostly asymmetric ebb-directed and migrate in the ebb direction in the order of 3 m yr− 1. Bedform sections at the northern channel flank show more symmetrical profiles; crests migrate flood-ward, leading to crestal flexing in the central channel. Lateral recirculation cells develop during ebb tide on both sides of the channel seaward of a bend, before the tidal reversal occurs in the rest of the model domain. As a result of the longer flood phase, a main clockwise residual eddy exists in the middle reach of the channel. Bedform migration patterns and hydrodynamic simulations reveal that the pronounced tidal asymmetry in the channel is enhanced by the effects of the channel morphology on the confined flow (at low tide).