UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA

FACULTY OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

EMN 3102

“Analysis of Mudbank Movements along the

Guianas Coast”

Name : Recardo Phillips

Lecturer : Ranata Robertson
Submission: 24th October, 2017
 Analysis of Mudbank Movement along the Guianas Coast.

Introduction

High suspended sediment discharged from rivers are the primary cause of turbid
waters along the coastlines of the world. The movement of these sediment
discharges along shore is influenced by wave action along with wind and tidal
currents which result in bar like deposits parallel to the coast and intricately marked
and shaped coastlines. The Guianas is a region located on the north-central coast of
South America covering 468, 800 Square kilometres. (Tognetti, Burdette and
Schipper n.d.) According to Allison, et al (1999) the Guianas consist of a 1600
kilometre alluvial coastline spanning from the Amazon River to the Orinoco River,
making it the longest mud coastline in the world. This coast is air marked by muddy
turbid waters which extend along the shores, triggered by the large supply of silt
and clay discharged from the Amazon River. These discharges, termed fluid muds,
when deposited repeatedly form mud banks which are a dominate force that
extensively developed the coastline of the Guianas. The main objective of this
literature review is to analyze the mudbank movement along the Guianas Coast
primarily focusing on the processes of mudbank formation and migration, its
interaction with the shore and the consequent coastal influences.

Mudbank Formation

The Amazon River is 6150 kilometres in length and empties a watershed of 6, 100,
000 square kilometres. (Organization of American States 2005) According to
Milliman and Meade (1991) it contributes to one fifth of the world’s freshwater into
the ocean, discharging at a rate of 6300 km3/ year. This enormous freshwater
discharge leads to the transport of the largest riverine solute discharge of 2.9 x 108
tons/year (Degens, Kempe and Richey 1991) and the second largest sediment
discharge of 1.2 x 109 tons/year to the Atlantic Ocean. (Meade, et al. 1985) These
riverine solute and sediment discharges, consisting of silt and clay, from the
Amazon forms a low salinity plume that extends 100 – 500 kilometres seaward.
According to Milliman and Meade (1991) and supported by Nittrouer and Kuehl
 Analysis of Mudbank Movement along the Guianas Coast.

(1995) and Dagg, et al (2004) Silt and Clay composes 90 % of the total sediment
load of the Amazon discharge, and about 15 – 20 % of this forms highly turbid
suspensions in the vicinity of the river mouth. The turbid suspensions have been
described by Mehta (2002) as fluid muds which develop at concentrations at which
the settling velocity of the mud particles starts to be impeded by inter-particle
interactions, meaning it becomes a composite slurry which absorbs the energy from
wave actions. The densities of these fluid muds are extremely variable and have
various stages of concentration, deposition and consolidation, consequently
forming mudbanks. These mud banks are spaced at intervals of 15 – 25 kilometres
apart, are up to 5 metres thick, and 20 – 30 kilometres wide. (Gardel and Gratiot
2005) Allison et al (2000) contends that these mudbanks originate in the vicinity of
Cabo Cassipore, 350 kilometres northwest of the Amazon River mouth, and the
volume of each mud bank can contain the equivalent of 7.50 x 108 tons of the annual
Amazon mud supply. Mud bank formation is dependent on the physical layout of
the continental shelf going seaward of the Amazon river, with this area being an
initial storage area for discharged sediment; this, contends Trowbridge and Kineke
(1994) along with Geyer, Hill and Kineke (2004), allows rapid and sustained fluid
mud concentration and trapping associated with freshwater-saltwater interaction
along with frontal wave and tidal activity which are all precursor conditions for the
formation of mud banks.

Mudbank Migration

The enormous discharge of the Amazon river generates rapid sediment deposition
on the continental shelf at water depths of about 20-60 metres due to the estuarine
circulation on the shelf. (Trowbridge and Kneke 1994) These sediment fluid muds
are mobilized further seaward and then alongshore by a complex combination of
wave action, tidal currents, and wind induced coastal currents. The waves, by
orbital motion, are able to erode the bottom and keep the sediment in suspension.
This explains why this phenomenon is restricted to the coastal zone with depths not
 Analysis of Mudbank Movement along the Guianas Coast.

exceeding 20-25 metres since in greater depths the wave action near the bottom is
weak. (Allersma 1971) For already established mudbanks, cyclic pressures caused
by incoming waves start by generating small elastic deformations within the
seabed. As these stresses exceed the bed strength, internal failures develop resulting
in liquefaction, this according to Mehta (2002), generates a fluid mud layer and an
increase in sediment concentration towards the shoreline. As additional waves
come in, they generate additional movement in this liquefied mud-water interface
and these are dissipated by internal friction within. The suspended sediment is
transported by flowing water, even if the current is weak to cause erosion and
suspension by itself, this according to Allersma (1971) is caused by drift currents
which are proportional to the wind speed and subsequent wave action. These cause
the mudbanks to steadily migrate westward due to the deposition at the west side
and erosion at the east side. The constant flow of fluid muds transported by the
westward coastal Guiana currents travelling at velocities of 1 m/s at the surface and
0.1 m/s - 0.35 m/s at the bottom causes further deposition of fluid muds at the
western side. (Augustinus 2004) Mud mobilization is particularly high following
long periods of moderate high wave activity which forms mud bar features that
translate shoreward as a gel-like fluid mud, argues Gratiot, Gardel and Anthony
(2007). However, high surge waves generated by the strong north-east trade winds
are transformed into solitary waves when they approach a mudbank shore, this
pushes the fluid mud further shoreward; this is according to Wells and Coleman
(1981) who states that these waves lose their energy due to the high internal friction
the orbital movement experiences in the fluid mud, thus increasing deposition on
the west of the mud bank. Going eastward across a mudbank there can be found
fluid mud which is compacting until the muddy sediment has matured to young
clay to the far east; this has lost its wave attenuating properties and therefore, the
east side of a mudbank is subject to erosion. With sedimentation to the west side
and erosion at the east side, the mudbanks migrate westward. The wave energy flux
of the Guiana coast plays an integral part in mudbank migration and can be resolved
 Analysis of Mudbank Movement along the Guianas Coast.

into a longshore and cross-shore component. The coastline of Suriname and French
Guiana experience a stronger longshore component, meaning longshore transport
is favoured giving rise to longer mudbanks, while the Guyana coast has a stronger
cross-shore component which gives rise to stronger wave winnowing processes.
The mudbanks along the coastline of the Guianas are characterized by Augustinus
(2004) as a westward shifting alternation of accreting and eroding parts composing
of mudbanks which appear to migrate with an average velocity of 1.5 kilometres
per year.

Interaction with the shore and the consequent coastal influences

The coastline of the Guianas is characterized by a westward shifting fluctuation of

accreting and eroding parts. (Augustinus 2004) Migrating mudbanks create linear
shore parallel mud bar accumulations such as those commonly found in sandy
beach environments. This, contends Gratiot et al. (2007) that mud banks formed in
the inter-tidal zone are eroded and transported along with fluid muds in the same
zone to form bar accumulations which are further eroded and transported to the
shore. The transportation and subsequent deposition and consolidation of sediment
to the shore forms a flat, furrowed bed of mud called a mudflat. According to
Allison and Lee (2004) rapid sediment accumulation of approximately 0.24 cm –
2.0 cm per year contributes to the seasonal surface layer of a mudflat. Augustinus
(2004) contends that a mudflat, after a period of accretion followed by a period of
erosion and chenier formation, will become accretionary 30 years later again.
Cheniers or chenier plains or ridges are sandy berm like ridge that are wave built
flanked by intervening and usually wider intertidal-subtidal flats. (Otvos 1999)
Their development occurs through the concentration of sand by waves that are
much less dissipated in inter-bank areas. The blanketing of relict fluvial sand by
mud banks on the inner shelf has been deemed to preclude shoreward sand, which
modifies to form the beach and barrier system on the coast. (Filizola 2003)
Mudbanks induce periodic alterations in the longshore drift that lead to form of
 Analysis of Mudbank Movement along the Guianas Coast.

beach rotation. This significantly alters the coastline on a short and medium term
time-scale.
Mangrove colonized shorelines of the Guianas coast fluctuate at significant short
term rates of several tens of metres to several kilometres in the cross-shore
direction. The creation of a mudflat due to an eroding mudbank significantly aids
in the rapid development of very dense mangroves followed by rapid erosion of the
said mangroves during migration of the mudbank. (Anthony , et al. 2010)
Mangroves help to dissipate wave energy from the shoreline but their development
is harboured on the migration phase of the mudbank.

Conclusion

The coastline of the Guianas is characterized as a westward shifting and alternating

coast consisting of accreting and eroding parts. The enormous discharge of silt and
clay from the Amazon river leads to turbid waters along the coast and is the primary
factor for the formation of mudbanks which migrate westward. Migrating
mudbanks create dynamic shoreline interactions such as the development of mud
bars parallel to the shoreline, formation of beaches on shore along with sandy berms
called cheniers parallel to the coast, and flat accumulations of consolidated muds
called mudflats. Mudbanks also influence the vegetation of a coastline, aiding in
the rapid development of very dense mangroves which dissipates wave energy for
a period of time.
 Analysis of Mudbank Movement along the Guianas Coast.

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