ARTICLE IN PRESS

Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131

www.elsevier.com/locate/csr

Tidal inlet response to sediment infilling of the associated

bay and possible implications of human activities: the
Marennes-Oléron Bay and the Maumusson Inlet, France
Xavier Bertina,, Eric Chaumillona, Aldo Sottolichiob, Rodrigo Pedrerosc
a
Centre Littoral De Géophysique, Université de La Rochelle, Avenue Michel Crépeau, 17042 La Rochelle, Cedex 1, France
b
Département de géologie et océanographie, UMR CNRS 5805– Epoc, Université Bordeaux-1, av. des Facultés,
33405 Talence, Cedex, France
c
Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, 3 avenue Claude Guillemin, BP 6009, 45060 Orléans, Cedex 2, France
Received 17 February 2004; received in revised form 5 November 2004; accepted 9 December 2004

Abstract

Tidal inlet characteristics are controlled by wave energy, tidal range, tidal prism, sediment supply and direction and
rates of sand delivered to the inlet. This paper deals with the relations between inlet and lagoon evolutions, linked by the
tidal prism. Our study is focused on the Maumusson Inlet and the Marennes-Oléron Bay (first oyster farming area in
Europe), located on the western coast of France. The tidal range (2–6 m) and wave climate (mean height: 1.5 m) place
this tidal inlet system in the mixed energy (tide, waves), tide-dominated category. The availability of high-resolution
bathymetric data since 1824 permits to characterise and quantify accurately morphological changes of both the inlet
and the tidal bay. Since 1824, sediment filling of the tidal bay has led to a 20% decrease in its water volume, and a 35%
reduction of the inlet throat section. Furthermore, the bay is subjected to a very high anthropic pressure, mainly related
to oyster farming. Thus, both natural and human-related processes seem relevant to explain high sedimentation rates.
Current measurements, hydrodynamic modelling and cross-sectional area of the inlet throat are used in order to
quantify tidal prism changes since 1824. Both flood and ebb tidal prism decreased by 35%. Decrease in the Marennes-
Oléron Bay water volume is inferred to be responsible for a part of tidal prism decrease at the inlet. Tidal prisms
decrease may also be explained by an increase in frictional resistance to tidal wave propagation, due to a general
shoaling and oyster farms in the bay. A conceptual model is proposed, taking into account natural and human-related
sedimentation processes, and explaining tidal inlet response to tidal bay evolutions.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tidal inlet; Tidal prism; Tidal bay infilling; Oyster farming

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: xavier.bertin@univ-lr.fr (X. Bertin), a.sottolichio@geocean.u-bordeaux.fr (A. Sottolichio), r.pedreros@brgm.fr
(R. Pedreros).

0278-4343/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.csr.2004.12.004
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1116 X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131

1. Introduction

Anywhere in the world, the economical and

environmental importance of tidal inlets has been
growing for the last decade. The management of
tidal inlets is no longer only concerned with the
maintenance of navigation channels but also with
new concerns, like adjacent shoreline stability or
water replacement in the lagoons for aquaculture .
Probably due to the novelty of these concerns and
the difficulty to quantify shallow area changes in
the backbarrier, few studies tackle quantitative
relations between backbarrier changes and asso-
ciated inlet response. This leads to a relatively
poor level of understanding of these processes
(Mehta, 1996).
Nevertheless, the relation that links the mini-
mum cross-sectional area (A) and the tidal prism
(O) (function of the tidal range and the morphol-
ogy of the bay; Stauble, 1993) was one of the first
quantitative approaches to tidal inlet understand- Fig. 1. General location of the study area . Bathymetric interval
ing (O’Brien, 1931). This relation is of the form is 2 m and isobathe lines are bolded every 10 m.

A ¼ COn , (1) Further more, these changes are well recorded

where n is a dimensionless value ranging between
0.84 and 1.10 (Jarett, 1976) and C is a scaling
coefficient acquiring the dimensions necessary for
dimensional balance in view of the selected
exponent (Hugues, 2002).
Many similar studies have been conducted
(O’Brien, 1969; Nayac, 1971; Jarett, 1976; Hume
and Herdendorf, 1993 ; Michel, 1997; Hugues,
2002). However, most of them are based on
regression analysis of databases containing the
characteristics of a great number of inlets. As a
consequence, such studies rarely brought accurate
insight concerning backbarrier/lagoon natural
evolutions and induced changes at the inlet.
Human-related changes affecting the backbarrier,
such as dredging in order to increase the tidal
prism and to maintain the efficiency of the inlet
channel (Cleary and FitzGerald, 2003), are also
rarely well documented.
The Marennes-Oléron Bay, located in the
western coast of France (Fig. 1), display privileged
settings to quantify lagoon changes and demon-
strate tidal inlet response. Indeed, morphological
changes are very fast since the last two centuries.
thanks to accurate bathymetric data sets, available
since 1824. The necessity of understanding the
evolution of this area is essential because the
Marennes-Oléron Bay is the first oyster farming
area of Europe. The first purpose of this paper is
to demonstrate morphological evolution of the
study area at hyperscale (year to decades and km
scale; Mehta, 1996 ). Tidal prism changes at
Maumusson Inlet were studied using current
measurements, hydrodynamic modelling and in-
let-throat section variations. The causes respon-
sible for both morphological and hydrodynamical
changes are then discussed. Different processes
proposed are finally summarised in a conceptual
model, which may also be valid in other tidal inlet/
lagoon systems.
2. The study area
The study area is located in the middle part of
the western coast of France. This coast belongs to
a passive continental margin and is associated with
moderate vertical crustal motions. The Marennes-
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X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131
Oléron Bay is a 150 km2 macro-tidal bay that is
connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the
Maumusson Inlet to the south and the Pertuis
d’Antioche to the north (Fig. 1). The northern
entrance is constituted of an estuarine sandbank
separated from the shoreline by two tidal channels
(Chaumillon et al., 2002) and converging in the
Rade des Trousses Channel (RT Channel, Fig. 2).
The intertidal area represents 60% of this tidal
bay, mainly constituted of wide mudflats (Gouleau
et al., 2000). Two small rivers flow into the
Marennes-Oléron bay: the Charente river to the
north, and the Seudre river to the south. The
oceanic coast is made of unconsolidated sediments
and is bordered by high aeolian dunes. Northward
of the Maumusson Inlet, the Gatseau headland
corresponds to a 8 km long sandy spit (Fig. 2).
Tides affecting the study area are semi-diurnal
and range from less than 2 m during neap to more
than 6 m during spring tides (macro-tidal). Tidal
currents are strong within the inlet as well as in
other tidal channels of the bay (locally up to 2 m/s,
Fig. 2. Detailed toponymic map of the study area. Isobath lines
are every meter. –10 and 0 m isobath lines are bolded. Location
of current measurements in 1971, 1973 and 2002 are indicated.
1117
TESSON, 1973). Due to its two-connection
geometry with the ocean, a major asymmetry
exists between ebb and flood prisms at the
Maumusson Inlet: the flood prism is about 40%
less than the ebb prism. Mean freshwater dis-
charges from rivers are of two orders of magnitude
less than those involved by the tide: 100 m3/s for
the Charente river and 0.55 m3/s for the Seudre
River (Tesson, 1973).
The yearly average significant wave height is
about 1.5 m, but a wave can exceed 6 m during
storm events. West and northwest directions are
dominant, representing more than 56% (LHF,
1994), and inducing a southward net longshore
drift, estimated to be more than 500 000 m3/yr in
the southern part of the Oléron Island (Baxerres,
1978). Wave refraction allows attenuated swells to
penetrate Marennes-Oléron Bay, inducing a non-
negligible longshore drift, attested by the develop-
ment of several sandy spits (Fig. 2).
These hydrodynamic parameters place the
Maumusson Inlet in the mixed energy, tide-
dominated category of Hayes (1979). Sedimenta-
tion rate has been locally estimated using 210Pb
measurements (Gouleau et al., 2000), in the
eastern mudflat of the Marennes-Oléron Bay.
Values range from 0.97 cm/yr, on the lower part
of the mudflat and close to oyster farming
installations, to 0.26 cm/yr, on the upper part of
the mudflat. The modern origin of fine sediment
silt and clays has been determined by previous
authors using Cadmium and Sr–Nd isotopes
(Parra et al., 1998; Boutier et al., 2000). These
studies have demonstrated that fine sediments to
be found in Marennes-Oléron mudflats mainly
issued from the Gironde Estuary, located 20 km to
the south (Fig. 1).
3. Methods and data
3.1. Bathymetric data
For historic reasons, related to the implantation
of the national naval dockyard in the Charente
River, five high-resolution bathymetric data sets
are available on the whole study area since 1824.
These data have been extracted from the data
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1118 X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131

bases of the service hydrographic et océanogra-
phique de la marine SHOM and DDE 17 (local
hydrographic office) and most of them have never
been scientifically analysed. They have then been
georeferenced using Arcview software (ESRI) and
extensions developed by the SHOM. The local
geodesic system new triangulation of France
(NTF) has been chosen with Clarke 1880 as the
reference ellipsoid. Two kinds of co-ordinates have
been calculated: geographic co-ordinates for chan-
nel and shoreline descriptions and planar Lambert
II co-ordinate for surface and volume computa-
tions. Digital elevation models (DEM) have been
developed using Surfer software with a grid
spacing ranging from 20 to 200 m, depending on
the mean initial data sampling. According to the
SHOM, the maximum relative error does not
exceed 10 m horizontally and 0.5 m vertically for
data prior to 1970 and 1 m and 0.1 m, respectively,
from this date. This has been checked by the rocky
outcrops’ stability between each survey and the
relative error never exceeds 0.35 m in depth for the
five rocky outcrops considered in the study area
(Fig. 3). In addition, the random part included in
these errors is significantly reduced for volume
estimations by the fact that these computations
take into account a great number (more than
45 000 for 1995 data) of sounding points (Thomas
et al., 2002). These data and this methodology has
already been used in order to quantify morpholo-
gical changes in the study area (Chaumillon et al.,
2002, 2003; Bertin et al., 2003, 2004).
3.2. Current measurement
3.2.1. 2002 ADCP measurement
In order to quantify the present-day tidal prism
at the entrance of the Maumusson Channel, a
+13-hour acoustic Doppler current profile
(ADCP) transect was performed (Fig. 2) during
spring tidal conditions (5.9 m tidal range at La
Rochelle Harbour). The instrument deployed for
this study was a 600 kHz Workhorse Rio Grande
manufactured by RD Instruments. The Rio
Grande is a vessel-mounted class of ADCP in
which the instrument tracks the bottom thereby
allowing the user to collect current velocities
throughout the water column while steaming the

Fig. 3. Superimposition of identical bathymetric profiles from digital elevation models at different periods (1824, 1882 and 1995) on
rocky outcrops, we consider to have been stable since 1824. The maximum distance among the three cross sections on the outcrops is
less than 0.6 m, confirming bathymetric data accuracy.
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X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131
course of a transect. The instrument takes
advantage of BroadBand ADCP technology redu-
cing variance in the velocity estimates by as much
as 100 times when compared with narrowband
ADCPs. Transects follow a rectangular track that
was surveyed in less than 1 h and covered
important sections of the main channel and
margin areas. The ability to complete the loop of
an entire transect in less than 1 h allowed for a
velocity profile at the same place along each
segment of the transect over the course of a full
tidal cycle (Geyer, 1993). Each acoustic ping was
tagged with a differential corrected position from a
DGPS receiver. Data were acquired and merged in
RD Instruments WinRiver 1.02 software. Flow
velocities were averaged horizontally over 60 s
intervals of each transect. WinRiver computes the
discharge, i.e. the total volume of water flowing
through a cross section of water per unit of time.
In the measured section, the discharge is calculated
directly from the measured current velocities. In
unmeasured sections (near the surface and bottom,
and near the banks) the software can extrapolate
and thus estimate discharge. The algorithm used
for estimating discharge is adopted from Simpson
and Oltmann (1990), and Gordon (1989). The
estimated discharge over an entire tidal cycle
allowed to quantify the resultant tidal prism.
3.2.2. 1973 current-meter data
Several tidal current data sets are available on
the study area since 1970. In 1973, data were
obtained with six rotary current meter at the
Maumusson Inlet during a complete tidal cycle
and for a 5.90 m tidal range (Fig. 2). Three stations
have recorded tidal flows at the sea surface and at
1 m from the sea bottom, every 30 min. Sea-level
variations have been digitised from the original
tide record located close to the inlet. Interpolation
laws have then been chosen by observing 2002
ADCP data: spline cubic interpolation has been
chosen for lateral interpolation and two part-
linear for vertical interpolation. Both laws display
good correlation coefficient R2 with ADCP data.
The cross sectional of the inlet has been calculated
using Surfer software and divided into cells of 5 m
in x direction and 1 m in z direction. Tidal flows
have finally been calculated with a Matlab soft-
1119
ware program, including vertical and lateral
interpolation and sea-level variations.
3.3. Hydrodynamic modelling
The availability of four historical bathymetric
data sets (1824, 1882, 1960–1970 and 1995),
covering the whole study area and extending from
the Gironde and the north of Ré Island for 1824
and 1960–1970 data sets (Fig. 1), enables to
simulate tidal flows time variations on the study
area.
The model Telemac2D (Hervouet and Van
Haren, 1994) was used in order to simulate tidal
flows and compute tidal prisms for different
bathymetric settings. This finite element model
solves St Venant equations. Space discretisation
follows a classic triangle network where mesh sizes
range between 4000 m to the open sea and 50 m
close to the Maumusson Inlet. Boundary condi-
tions include the following: (1) mean annual river
water discharges from rivers; (2) tide variations,
calculated along the open sea boundary from the
17 main tidal harmonic constituents, given by the
SHOM for 27 points of this boundary. The four
simulations were run with the same tunings (initial
conditions, boundary conditions and physical
parameters). The 1995 and 1960–1970 simulations
reproduce very well tide records and current
measurements (Fig. 10), available at the two
entrances of The Marennes-Oléron Bay for these
dates (Fig. 2). As a consequence, differences in
tidal flows for the four simulations only result
from bathymetric changes. A similar methodology
was previously applied by Thomas et al. (2002) at
the Mersey Estuary in order to demonstrate
hydrodynamic changes since 1911.
4. Results
4.1. Morphological evolution of the tidal bay
The volume estimation between 1824 and 1995
DEM (Fig. 4) clearly evidences that accretion is
dominant in the sediment budget of Marennes-
Oléron Bay over the last 171 years: +106 
106 m3. We have estimated the corresponding
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1120 X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131

Fig. 4. Digital elevation models of 1824 and 1995 bathymetry. The bold isobath correspond to the isbath 0.

Fig. 5. Differential maps in the Marennes-Oléron Bay between 1824 and 1995, superimposed to 1995 isobath lines.

average sedimentation rate of 0.46 cm/yr, which is in the water volume of the tidal bay (WVB) since
consistent with previous geochemical measure- 1824, being in the order of 20% for a spring tide.
ment on the eastern mudflat (Gouleau et al., Very few areas experience erosion, they are mostly
2000). This sediment infilling has led to a decrease located close to tidal channels (Fig. 5). We
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Fig. 6. Morphological evolution at the Northern entrance of
the bay since 1824. Sediment accretion since that date result in a
decrease in cross section in the order of 15%.
distinguish (1) Erosion areas adjacent to accretion
areas that correspond to channel migration, like at
the Maumusson Inlet; (2) erosion areas located in
the central part of tidal channels (southern part of
the bay), indicating their deepening (locally up to 3
meters) since 1824.
To a great extent, Marennes-Oléron Bay experi-
enced sediment accretion since 1824 (Fig. 5).
Sediment gain occurs in four types of area: (1)
close to connections with the ocean (Pertuis
d’Antioche to the North and the Maumusson
Inlet to the South; area (a), Fig. 6) associated with
a progradation of the shoreline; (2) in the lower
part of intertidal areas (the eastern mudflat, Ronce
bank and Bourgeois bank; area (b), Fig. 5) with
maximum accretion (up to 3 m) in the lower part
of the intertidal area; (3) in the RT Channel, where
sedimentary accretion attains 10 m since (area (c),
Fig. 5); (4) in areas where land reclamation has
occurred like at the eastern mudflat shoreline and
the Seudre Estuary (area (d), Fig. 5).
4.2. Morphological evolution of the Maumusson
inlet
Bathymetric (Fig. 7) data were used to produce
9 DEM showing morphological changes of the
inlet and adjacent shorelines since 1824 (Fig. 8).
The axis of the isobath –10 m was used to describe
the channel orientation. The minimum cross-
sectional area was researched and computed using
1121
Surfer software (Fig. 9). From 1824, evolutions
were divided in 3 major stages (Bertin et al., 2004):
(1) From 1824 to 1864 (40 yr), inlet width
decreased from 2 km to less than 1.2 km due
to a southwestward progradation of the
updrift coast. The minimum cross-sectional
area did not change significantly (around
10 000 m2), whereas the channel depth in-
creased from –16 to –26 m. The channel
orientation evolved from N2651 to N2751.
(2) From 1864 to 1946 (82 yr), the channels
characteristics remained stable: width
(1200 m), minimum cross-sectional area
(around 10 000 m 2) and maximum depth (–24
to –26 m). The channel orientation displayed
no further evolution.
(3) From 1946 to 2001 (55 yr), the cross-sectional
area and maximum depth decreased consider-
ably (from 8800 to 6700 m2 and –24 to –15 m,
respectively). The tidal channel shifted south-
ward ( Fig. 10): its orientation evolved from
N2721 to N2321.
We also notice that these evolutions are non-
linear during the last 171 years, as it is attested by
the filling in sediment of the channel and its
shifting southward since the last decades (Fig. 11).
4.3. Morphological evolution of the northern
entrance
Three bathymetric data sets were used in order
to characterise morphological evolutions at the
northern entrance of the Marennes-Oléron Bay.
From 1824 to 1995, this entrance of Marennes-
Oléron Bay experienced sediment infilling. Fig. 6
displays lateral sediment accretion in both the
Eastern and the Western Channel as well as an
important shoaling at the Eastern Channel since
1824. During the same period, the top of the sand
bank located at the middle of the channel (the
Longe de Boyard, Chaumillon et al., 2002)
experienced little erosion, but the overall entrance
cross-sectional area was subjected to a reduction
of about 15% throughout the study period.
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1122 X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131

Fig. 7. Superimposition of the countour of oyster farming installations on the positive values of the différential map between 1824 and
1995.

4.4. Evolution of the tidal prisms and flows
Hydrodynamic models illustrate how changes in
bathymetry have altered flow patterns. Our
analyses have been focused on the two entrances
of the bay, where bathymetric changes are the
most obvious (Maumusson Inlet and RT Channel,
Fig. 5). Regarding the Maumusson Inlet, max-
imum depth-averaged velocities occur at mid-ebb
(Fig. 12) and differ little for the four simulations
considered (between 1.7 and 1.8 m/s) while its
cross-section decreased by 40%. Depth-averaged
velocities at the RT channel decreased progres-
sively by 10–15% since 1824 (Fig. 13), while its
maximum depth decreased by half and its cross
section decreased by 20%.
Because the Northern entrance of the Mar-
ennes-Oléron Bay does not correspond to a tidal
inlet sensu stricto, its cross-sectional variations
could not be integrated into the O’Brien relation
and thus could not be considered in order to
quantify tidal flows changes. Consequently, only
the Maumusson Inlet throat section variations are
considered to quantify tidal prism changes since
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X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131 1123

Fig. 8. Digital elevation models from 1824 to 1990 of the Maumusson Inlet (Bertin et al., 2004).

Minimum surface area until 1970 was calculated

by bathymetric data acquired during spring tides.
Thus, inlet cross-sectional variations evidenced in
this study (Fig. 9) do not correspond to variations
of tidal range.
Because the cross section (A2002) and the tidal
prism (O2002 ) obtained in 2002 constitute the most
accurate values of the data sets, they have been
introduced into the relation of O’Brien (1) in order
to express the tidal prism Ot at a time ‘‘t’’ as a
function of the corresponding minimum cross
section At:
Fig. 9. Evolution of the minimum cross-sectional area at

Maumusson Inlet, calculated from the digital elevation models. At Ot n
¼ ,
A2002 O2002
1824. The relation of O’Brien implies that the inlet O2002
throat contracts and enlarges as its tidal prism Ot ¼ p
n
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi . (2)
A2002 =At
changes. FitzGerald (1996) has also evidenced
short-term variations up to 7% only due to the Relation (2) has permitted to estimate the
predicted changes in the astronomic tidal range. evolution of the ebb tidal prism since 1824
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1124 X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131

Fig. 10. Superposition of field data with the results of 1960–1970 and 1995 simulations. The 2002 velocities at the northern entrance
have been depth averaged from ADCP data and 1971 velocities from three points in vertical direction. In both cases, tidal level
variations and depth-averaged velocities are well reproduced by the model.

(Fig. 11, Table 1), for the dates ‘‘t’’ where we only
have the minimum cross-sectional area At. These
results suggest a decrease in ebb tidal prism
ranging between 30% and 40% since 1824,
depending on uncertainties in the oldest bathy-
metric data sets and on the range of values taken
for constant ‘‘n’’ (0.84–1.1; Jarett, 1976).
Current measurements and hydrodynamic mod-
els have also enabled tidal prisms determinations
since 1824. The different results obtained, thanks
to these three independent methods, are super-
imposed in Fig. 11 and show a converging
evolution tendency. Both ebb and flood tidal
prisms experienced a decrease in the order of
40% since 1824, with an acceleration since the last
three decades.
5. Discussion
5.1. The causes of morphological changes in the bay
Differential maps and volume computations in
the Marennes-Oléron bay clearly evidenced a
positive sediment budget throughout the last 171
years (1824–1995). Sedimentary accretion mainly
occured in the lower middle part of intertidal areas
as well as in the RT Channel. We propose two
main causes for the sediment filling of the
Marennes-Oléron Bay.
5.1.1. Natural processes
Sediment gain in the Marennes-Oléron Bay
occured in 4 major areas (see Chapter 5.1).
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Fig. 11. Evolution of the Ebb tidal prism since 1824 deduced from the relation of O’Brien for 1824, 1864, 1882, 1946, 1985, 1990 and
1997 and from measurments for 1973 and 2002.
Accretion areas mainly consist of (1) sand
dominated areas and (2) mud dominated areas
(Chaumillon et al., 2003; Weber, 2003).
Sand gains occurred close to the connections of
the bay with the ocean and were associated with a
progradation of the shoreline (area (a), Fig. 5). At
these locations, sand accretion could be attributed
to the longshore drift induced by attenuated swells
that penetrate the bay. This longshore drift is
supported by the development of several sandy
spits in the bay (Fig. 2). Development of sandy
spits in the backbarrier has already been proposed
to explain backbarrier infill (FitzGerald, 1996).
Mud-gain areas are found in the intertidal zones
and in the RT channel (area (b) and (c), Fig. 5).
Water filling in the Marennes-Oléron Bay displays
a very high turbidity (Bassoullet et al., 2000).
Suspended matter partly originates from the
1125
Gironde Estuary, that generates a wide turbid
plume, deviated northward by the Coriolis effect
during the ebb, and penetrating the Marennes-
Oléron Bay through its two entrances during the
flood (Castaing et al., 1979; Parra et al., 1998;
Boutier et al., 2000). According to numerical
simulations, depth-averaged velocities at the RT
channel have decreased by 10–15% since 1824
(Fig. 13) while channel cross section decreased by
about 20%. This indicates a decrease in tidal flows
at the northern part of the bay, causing the 1824
channel morphology to be much too large to be
sustained by the present tidal motion. It has
probably led to high suspended matter deposition
and rapid filling up of the channel at the northern
entrance.
Sediment infill in tidal bays, lagoons (Freitas
et al., 2002) and related estuaries (Zaitlin et al.,
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1126 X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131
Fig. 12. Time evolution of maximum current velocities at the Maumusson Inlet since 1824. For the four simulations, maximum depth-
averaged velocities differ little and are observed at mid-ebb.
Fig. 13. Time evolution of current velocities at the RT Channel
from 1824, 1882, 1960 and 1995 simulations. A decrease in tidal
current velocity by 10–15% is evidenced.
1994; Allen and Posamentier, 1994) during high
stand periods has been widely documented. We
propose that the sediment infill of the whole
Marennes-Oléron Bay corresponds partly to a
natural behaviour of lagoons during high stand sea
level. The study area belongs to a passive
continental margin associated with very moderate
crustal motions, and secular relative sea-level rise
has been estimated at 1–2 mm/y (Wöppelmann,
1997). Such low values are about three times less
than sedimentation rates in the study area,
suggesting ‘‘surplus conditions’’ described by
Nichols (1989). This is in contrast to other lagoons
where high sedimentation rates are related to fast
sea-level rise (Oertel et al., 1992; Hoselmann and
Streif, 2004 and Van Goor et al., 2003).
5.1.2. Human-activity-related processes
The mean sedimentation rates in the Marennes-
Oléron Bay, estimated from volume computations,
are very high in comparison to the values
estimated in other tidal bays and lagoons (Carson
et al., 1988; Nichols, 1989; Oertel et al., 1992;
Morton et al, 2000; Freitas et al., 2002; Konto-
poulos and Avramidis, 2003). Oyster farms are
deployed over 36 km2 , i.e. 20% of the whole bay
area and close to 40% of intertidal areas. Since
1985, Marennes-Oléron Bay was considered as
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X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131
Table 1
Evolution of minimum cross-sectional area and tidal prisms at the Maumusson Inlet since 1824
Inlet throat section (m2) Ebb tidal prism (106 m3)
Deduction from Brien law. Model Current measurements Model Current measurements
1824 95007700 250723
1882 100007500 265725
1960–1970 81007100 205720
1973
1995 70007100 175702
2002 68007100
overstocked by 100 000 tons of cultured oysters
and 23 000 tons of wild oysters (Henocque, 2003).
Consequently, human activities, mainly consisting
of oyster farming, could have induced an increase
in sedimentation in the Marennes-Oléron Bay.
Sediment gain is locally very high within the
lower middle part of several mud and mud-
dominant flats (eastern mudflat and western
mudflat, Bourgeois Bank and Ronce Bank,
Fig. 1). The superimposition of those sediment
gain areas with oyster farming installation con-
tours (Fig. 7) locally displays a good correlation.
This supports the idea that oyster farming
installations increase the sedimentation of fine
particles, by creating obstacles to tidal currents,
and to a smaller extent to the wind waves,
favouring their decantation. In addition, Sornin
(1981) has shown that oysters directly contribute
to sedimentation by filtering fine sediments and
rejecting them in the form of cohesive feces balls.
These hypotheses are supported by geochemical
measurement, showing higher sedimentation rates
within lower mudflats and close to oyster parks
(Gouleau et al., 2000).
Sedimentation gain within the tidal bay is also
related to intensive land reclamation (area (d),
Fig. 5) that has occurred in the study area since the
Middle Age. This has led to a westward translation
of the shoreline, locally up to 2 km close to the
eastern mudflat since 1824. This sediment gain,
that is not included in the calculation area (Fig. 2)
due to a lack of data, has also contributed to the
decrease in the WVB. Land reclamation has
already been taken responsible for dramatic tidal
prisms decrease and tidal bays in filling, such as in
1127
Flood tidal prism (106 m3)
250 145
243 140
225
200 140
190 120
170 100
the Mont Saint Michel Bay, France (Bonnot-
Courtois et al., 2002) or the East Frisian Islands,
Germany (Oost and de Haas, 1992; Wang et al.,
1995; FitzGerald, 1996). Land reclamation at the
East Frisian backbarrier is well documented and
has led to a 30% barrier area decrease since the
last three centuries, causing subsequent shoaling
and narrowing of the inlets by 52% and lengthen-
ing of the barrier by 29%.
5.2. The causes for tidal flow changes
Current measurements, hydrodynamic modelling
and throat section decrease illustrate a dramatic
decrease in tidal prisms since 1824 (in the order of
40%). Maximum current velocities at the Mau-
musson Inlet differ little between the four simula-
tions considered (Fig. 12). This indicates that tidal
prism decrease is mainly related to cross section
decrease rather than current velocity decrease. This
is in good agreement with O’Brien’s (1931, 1969)
law. This also suggests that the Maumusson Inlet
probably stays close to the equilibrium state, that
corresponds with the instantaneous tidal condi-
tions. In the opposite, the RT Channel does not
seem to be in equilibrium with present day
hydrodynamics, as shown by the observed decrease
in tidal current and cross section.
Since the tidal prism is a function of the bay
morphology (Stauble, 1993) and more exactly the
WVB, the 20% reduction of this water volume
could easily explain one part of the tidal prism
decrease. However, the relation between the tidal
prism and the WVB is not linear due to the two
connections of the bay with the ocean. The strong
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1128 X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131
asymmetry between ebb and flood tidal prisms
evidences this argument. Part of tidal flows also
depends on tidal wave propagation in the bay.
Bathymetric changes (shoaling at the two en-
trances of the bay) and oyster farms may also have
a significant impact, adding frictional resistance of
tidal wave propagation into the bay, and conse-
quently reducing tidal prisms. The effect of oyster
farming installations on reducing tidal currents
velocities has already been demonstrated by
Sornin (1981) in the study area, showing a velocity
reduction of up to 50% close to oyster farming
installations.
5.3. Tidal inlet response to bay changes
The relation between the minimum cross-sec-
tional area (A) and the tidal prism (O) (1) was
firstly recognised by O’Brien (1931, 1969) and has
since then been widely documented (Nayac, 1971;
Jarett, 1976; Hume and Herdendorf, 1993; Michel,
1997; Hugues, 2002). According to this relation,
the tidal prism decrease in the Maumusson Inlet
since 1824, subsequent to morphological changes
at the Marennes-Oléron Bay, could easily explain
the decrease in the Inlet’s cross-sectional area and
the general shoaling of the Maumusson channel.
Given that the inlet cross sections are able to
contract and enlarge during a simple neap and
spring tide cycle, and the sediment infilling of the
bays are long-term processes (secular to millenary
time scale), it is more likely that bay changes
induce inlet changes. Alternative hypothesis, as-
suming inlet changes could induce morphological
changes in the bay, are generally not considered in
the literature concerning tide-dominated environ-
ments. This is not the case in micro-tidal and
wave-dominated environments, where important
backbarrier changes subsequent to inlet closure are
well documented (Cleary and FitzGerald, 2003;
FitzGerald, 1996). Nevertheless, it cannot be
excluded that inlet narrowing and shoaling may
have altered tidal propagation in the bay, resulting
in a positive feedback leading to tidal current
decrease and subsequent sedimentation in the bay.
According to the equilibrium classification of
Bruun (1978), the new equilibrium between tidal
flows and littoral drift (which we consider con-
stant, by a lack of swell data since 1824) could
explain the Maumusson Inlet downdrift (i.e.
southward) migration, as it has been demonstrated
for other inlet systems (Wang et al. , 1995; Cleary
and FitzGerald, 2003).
5.4. Mophodynamic evolution of the system: a
conceptual model (Fig. 14)
Both tidal flows and morphological evolution
display (Fig. 14) dramatic changes since 1824.
Decrease in tidal prisms has been attributed to
tidal bay sediment infill, inducing a decrease in
WVB and reducing tidal wave propagation in the
bay. In addition to natural processes, including
sand transport driven by littoral drift and
suspended matter deposition, abnormally high
sedimentation rates in the bay have been attrib-
uted to the very high human activity development
in the bay including land reclamation and oyster
farming.
We propose that these evolutions may be linked
by a positive feedback process where the general
filling of the bay led to a decrease in tidal prism,
itself inducing sediment accretion. Analogous
mechanisms have already been proposed for other
estuaries (Carter and Woodroffe, 1994; Van der
Wal et al., 2002).
Previous works of our team (Bertin et al., 2003,
2004) have demonstrated that there was a
dynamic interaction between the position and the
Fig. 14. Conceptuel model illustrating the couplings between
the Marennes-Oléron Bay and the Maumusson Inlet, linked by
the tidal prism.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
X. Bertin et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 1115–1131
orientation of the Maumusson main Channel and
the behaviour of adjacent shorelines. As channel
characteristics are controlled by the tidal prism,
morphological changes within the bay could be
inferred to have an indirect, but significant impact
on the downdrift migration of the main inlet
channel and the behaviour of the adjacent
shorelines.
6. Conclusion
To our knowledge, few studies tackle long-term
relations between backbarrier and associated tidal
inlet in a quantitative way. The Marennes-Oléron
Bay/Maumusson Inlet system appears to be a very
suitable area for studying quantitatively tidal inlet
response to lagoon/backbarrier changes. Bathy-
metric data have demonstrated that sediment
accretion was dominant in the inlet/bay system
over the last 171 years, causing a decrease in the
WVB in the order of 20% and a reduction of inlet
throat section in the order of 35%. Fast sedimen-
tation in the Marennes-Oléron Bay has been
attributed to (1) Natural processes, including sand
transport driven by littoral drift and suspended
matter deposition, (2) human activities that mainly
consist of oyster farming and land reclamation.
Current measurements, hydrodynamic modelling
and estimations from O’Brien law have shown a
40% decrease in tidal prisms at the Maumusson
Inlet since 1824. Both hydrodynamic and mor-
phological changes have been linked in a con-
ceptual model, where shoaling of the tidal bay
caused tidal prisms decrease at the Inlet, subse-
quently causing shoaling and downdrift shifting of
the inlet main channel.
In addition, it is worthwhile to notice that the
evolution of tidal flows and morphology of the
inlet was non-time-linear and display, an accelera-
tion since 1970. We have argued that the main
cause for these changes was the filling in of the bay
with sediment, which constitutes an irreversible
evolution. It has been shown that the evolution of
the inlet and adjacent shorelines does not corre-
spond to a cyclic process. The Marennes-Oléron
Bay and the Maumusson Inlet constitute an
original system, where the anthropogenic pressure
1129
is very high. Human activities and particularly
oyster farming and land reclamation have led to a
dramatic acceleration of the infilling of the bay;
the repercussion must also have affected the
Maumusson Inlet and its adjacent shorelines. As
many backbarriers and lagoons may experience a
high aquaculture development during the next
century, the Marennes-Oléron Bay/Maumusson
Inlet system may be representative of the impacts
of such activities.
Acknowledgements
This study has been supported by the BRGM
(Bureau de Recherche Géologique et Minière) and
the DGO (Departement de Géologie et d’Océano-
graphie, Bordeaux I university). The authors are
grateful to Dr. Michel Tesson for providing old
current data and for helpful discussion about
Marennes-Oléron Bay hydrodynamics. Bathy-
metric data sets have been supplied by the Service
Hydrographique et Oceanographique de la Marine
(Convention E61/99, SHOM) and the cell of the
DDE 17 (Local hydrographic office). Tidal har-
monic constituents for the open sea boundary
conditions were provided by the SHOM. The
authors would also like to sincerely thank A.
Nicolle, N. Pouvreau and Dr. I. Brenon for their
very helpful comments concerning hydrodynamic
modelling with telemac2D system. The authors
finally want to sincerely thank Dr. Oertel and an
anonymous reviewer for their very constructive
reviews. All their suggestions have improved this
paper greatly.
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