River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics: RCEM 2007, Two Volume Set

Around the world, many people live, work and recreate in river, estuarine and coastal areas, systems which are also important wildlife habitats. It is imperative to understand the physics of such systems. A key element here is morphodynamics: the mutual interaction and adjustment of landform topography and fluid dynamics involving the motion of sediment. The numerous interacting processes involved, such as large- and small-scale hydrodynamics, sediment transport dynamics, growth and decay of bed perturbations or larger bed forms, biological processes and human interferences make morphodynamics a challenging scientific issue. These proceedings bring together contributions from some 200 scientists from more than 20 countries and present and discuss the latest scientific research developments on this topic. In addition, five key-note papers are included that introduce the specific themes of the conference: - Relations between scales and long-term morphodynamics - Biogeomorphology - Small-scale processes and grain sorting - Morphodynamic free behaviour - Human interferences in morphodynamics The book provides an excellent overview of the state of the art knowledge on River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics and will be of interest to academics, engineers, planners, national and local authorities and all those involved in managing river, estuarine and coastal habitats.