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end-members are distinguished, wave-dominated
estuaries and tide-dominated estuaries. Surprisingly,
few papers have been published on the stratigraphy of
tide-dominated estuaries in spite of the huge litera-
ture dealing both with incised-valley infi lling and
tidal environments.
The aim of the present chapter is undertake
a synthetic overview of the stratigraphy of the
sedimentary infi lling of tide-dominated estuaries.
After setting out the main elements that typify the
morphosedimentary organization of tide-dominated
estuaries, the main body of the chapter is based
on the description of several modern examples
where available data on the sedimentary infi ll are
published. These descriptions allow comparison of
tide-dominated estuaries located in various con-
texts, especially in terms of sediment supply. This
includes recently published works on tide-dominated
estuaries located along the French coasts of the
English Channel and Atlantic (Seine, Mont St Michel
and Vilaine estuaries). The probably best-known
example of a tide-dominated estuary, the Cobequid
Bay-Salmon River estuary, is also described, as well
as the South Alligator River estuary. All these estu-
aries are characterized by low sediment supply. The
paper also includes the Gironde estuary, although the
latter is a mixed wave- and tide-dominated estuary
according to the classifi cation of Dalrymple et al.
(
1992
). Descriptions of the Holocene Yangtze estu-
ary and delta, and of the Qiantang River estuary are
provided as examples of systems located in contexts
of high sediment discharges. Finally, four ancient
examples (Pleistocene, Eocene, Cretaceous) are also
described. At the light of these different examples,
the factors that control the infi ll of tide-dominated
estuaries, such as sea-level fl uctuations, sediment
supply, bedrock morphology, and climate changes,
are discussed, and some criteria for recognition of
such estuaries in the rock record are proposed, espe-
cially regarding distinction with wave-dominated
systems.
Other chapters in the present topic provide defi -
nitions and descriptions that should be used as addi-
tional information for this chapter. In particular, for
information on sedimentary dynamics, morphologi-
cal evolution and facies, refer to Chap. 5, and on
tidal shelf bodies (tidal banks, tidal bars) compara-
ble to those present in the outermost entrance of
tide-dominated estuaries, refer to Chap. 13 .
6.2
Tide- vs. Wave-Dominated
Estuaries: A Few Reminders
According to the defi nition of Dalrymple et al. (
1992
),
tide-dominated estuaries refer to estuaries, the sedi-
ment dynamics of which are dominated by tidal cur-
rents at the mouth. By contrast, sediment transport and
deposition at the mouth of wave-dominated estuaries
is predominantly due to wave action. As a result, the
main morphosedimentary component of wave-domi-
nated estuaries consists in wave-built coarse-grained
coastal barrier scoured by a tidal inlet of variable width
and depth. Sheltered from high-energy marine dynam-
ics by the sand-dominated mouth body, fi ne-grained
deposits, mostly originating from fl uvial sources,
aggrade in a central basin, while coarser fl uvial sedi-
ments concentrate at the head to the estuary, forming a
prograding bay-head delta (cf. The Gironde estuary
example in Fig.
6.3
). Many examples of wave-
dominated estuaries, both in modern and from ancient
deposits, have already been described around the world,
with pioneering work along the eastern coast of the
USA and in Australia (cf. Chaps. 10 and 12 ). The
morphosedimentary organization in tide-dominated
estuaries differs quite signifi cantly from the typical tri-
partite sandy mouth/clayey central basin/sandy bay-
head delta distribution that typifi es wave-dominated
estuaries. In the ideal case of a tide-dominated estuary
with a well-defi ned funnel shape and a hypersynchro-
nous mode of tidal wave propagation, the morphosedi-
mentary distribution consists in longitudinal tidal bars
at the mouth, followed landward by a sandy tidal
channel-and-bars complex. This braided system that
corresponds to the area of highest tidal energy evolves
to a single tidal channel that is transitional with the
fl uvial one (Fig.
6.1
, cf. Fig.
6.3
). An important feature
of this single channel is the sinuous to meandering
shape that it develops in the bedload convergence zone
(BLZ on Fig.
6.3
) between landward fl ood-dominated
and seaward fl uvial-dominated net transports (for more
details, refer to Dalrymple et al. in this volume).
According to these sea-to-land distributions of sedi-
mentary bodies and facies, conceptual stratigraphic
models for sedimentary infi lling of wave-dominated
and tide-dominated estuaries have been proposed
(Dalrymple et al.
1992
, cf. Boyd (
2010
) and Dalrymple
2010
for slightly modifi ed models). The two end-
member models are not drastically different as both
