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Widespread Infilling Of Tidal Channels And Navigable Waterways In The Human-Modified Tidal Deltaplain Of Southwest Bangladesh, C. Wilson, S. Goodbred, C. Small, J. Gilligan, S. Sams, B. Mallick, R. Hale
Widespread Infilling Of Tidal Channels And Navigable Waterways In The Human-Modified Tidal Deltaplain Of Southwest Bangladesh, C. Wilson, S. Goodbred, C. Small, J. Gilligan, S. Sams, B. Mallick, R. Hale
OES Faculty Publications
Since the 1960s, ~5000 km2 of tidal deltaplain in southwest Bangladesh has been embanked and converted to densely inhabited, agricultural islands (i.e., polders). This landscape is juxtaposed to the adjacent Sundarbans, a pristine mangrove forest, both well connected by a dense network of tidal channels that effectively convey water and sediment throughout the region. The extensive embanking in poldered areas, however, has greatly reduced the tidal prism (i.e., volume of water) transported through local channels. We reveal that >600 km of these major waterways have infilled in recent decades, converting to land through enhanced sedimentation and the direct blocking …