International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.2, 8-18
8
Research Article Open Access
Spit Migration Evolution across the Estuary of Rosetta Branch of the Nile River
in Egypt
Ayman A. El-Gamal
Department of Marine Geology, Coastal Research Institute (CoRI), National Water Research Center, 15 St., Elpharanaa, Elshalalat, postal code 21514,
Alexandria, Egypt
Corresponding email
International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No. 2 doi
Received: 22 Nov., 2016
Accepted: 10 Jan., 2017
Published: 15 Feb., 2017
Copyright © 2017
El-Gamal A.A., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
El-Gamal A.A., 2017, Spit migration evolution across the estuary of Rosetta Branch of the Nile River in Egypt, International Journal of Marine Science, 7(2):
8-18 (doi
Abstract
Spits are very dynamic coastal features steered by complex formation and evolution processes. In this paper, Rosetta
Estuary spit evolution is discussed based on the observation of spatial and temporal changes. Spit configuration has been compared
with its historical information to understand the variation using satellite images and field visit. Mechanical analysis of Rosetta
Estuary sediments was executed to confirm that the surface sediments of the last part of Rosetta Estuary were originally from the
coastal area. Moreover, salinity has been measured at different location of the study area. Migration of the spit towards the riverside
was recognized. The detected migration was 1.5 km during the period from 2007 to 2015 with rate about 187 m/y. The factors that
affect the formation of the spit inside Rosetta Estuary were discussed.
Keywords
Spit migration; Nile River Delta; Rosetta Estuary; Coastal geomorphology; Mechanical analysis
Introduction
Sand spits are important relief forms of river mouths’ estuaries and delta (Bastos et al., 2012) and among the most
forceful feature in the coastal zones (Dan et al., 2011). A spit is a long narrow extension of sand or shingle, which
has one end attached to the coastline and the other projecting out to sea, or into an estuary (Hordern, 2003). The
sand spits are dynamic in nature and show changes in their size, shape and position.
The natural formation of a spit near a river’s mouth: Sand spits near river outlet are formed by deposition and
accumulation of sediment that are derived from alongshore drift and/or due to the river input flow (Rajasekaran et
al., 2014). Spits can be formed at the river mouth under the influence of two main forces that control the
deposition of the transported sediments by cross shore or longshore drift along the coastline (Leatherman, 1979;
Jackson, 2014). The key factors of sedimentation and spit growth are the kinetic energy of the coastal drift and the
flow of the river water. If the flow of the river water into the sea at an estuary is stronger than the drift, sediments
are deposited at the outlet. The deposition of sediment forms a spit but its shape changes because of wave
refraction (Jackson, 2014). Examples were found in different parts of the world such as the cases for Sahalin spit
in the Danube Delta (Dan et al., 2009), La Banya spit in Ebro Delta (Jiménez and Sánchez-Arcilla, 2004), Goro
spit in Po Delta (Simeoni et al., 2007) or Damietta spit in Nile Delta (Frihy et al., 2003). In addition, Rosetta
Promontory is also faced this phenomena that spit formed at the end of the river mouth as described by Frihy and
Lawrence (2004).
If the energy of the flow water discharged from the river is at lower than the energy of the alongshore drift, the
deposition can occur inside the estuary. The spit formed in the River Nile Estuary at Rosetta Branch is after the
establishment of Aswan High Dam. The aim of this work is to evaluate: (I) The spatial and temporal variation of
the Rosetta Estuary spit. (II) The factors that enhance the spit formation inside the estuary and its migration. This
data is important for the integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and to predict the configuration of the spit
and its environmental effects. The formation of the spit inside the estuary is indicator of the change of the
estuarine ecology and its water salinity. They also impact on the stability of the shoreline, salt water intrusion,
social and economic value of estuaries.
