Morpho-sedimentary evolution of a microtidal meandering channel driven by 130-years of natural and anthropogenic modifications of the Venice Lagoon (Italy)

Abstract Tidal channels form the pathways for tidal currents to propagate and distribute clastic sediments and nutrients, thus providing a primary control on tidal-landscape ecomorphodynamics. Most tidal channels in both estuarine and lagoonal environments have a tendency to meander, yet very few studies exist that investigate the full spectrum of processes controlling tidal meander morpho-sedimentary evolution. The Venice Lagoon (Italy) offers a unique opportunity to shed light on this topic, because a long record of morphological and sedimentary data is available, which allows one to relate tidal channel evolution to the hydrodynamic and morphological changes undergone by the lagoon. In particular, during the last 130 years, feedback between rising relative sea levels and anthropogenic interventions have caused severe modifications of the Lagoon hydro- and morpho-dynamics. Here we investigate how these modifications fed back into the morpho-sedimentary evolution of a meandering tidal channel located in the northern Lagoon. Combining extensive datasets of aerial photographs, topographic and bathymetric surveys, geophysical investigations, sedimentary core analysis, and numerical modeling, we show that enhanced local tidal ranges and water discharges determine adjustments of channel cross-sectional geometries proportional to increasing tidal prisms, while changes in local tidal asymmetries caused modifications of the local sediment transport regime, resulting in the development of bar-pool patterns according to the dominant tidal phase. Such bar-pool patterns eventually determine channel migration through a bar-push mechanism controlled by a fluvial-like, quasi-linear relationship between local channel curvature and lateral migration rates. Critical differences in sediment transport regime are however highlighted between fluvial and tidal meanders, the latter being potentially characterized by high concentrations of suspended sediment during periods of slack waters when wind-driven sediment transport processes are not negligible. This could hamper the formation of high-relief bedforms, with profound implications for the sedimentology of tidal point-bar deposits.