Morphological changes at the Nanakita River mouth after the Great East Japan Tsunami of 2011.

Abstract: This study investigates the morphological changes near the Nanakita River mouth in Japan. The morphology of the river mouth was greatly influenced during the Great East Japan Tsunami of 2011. The gradual morphological changes at the river mouth were investigated using two sets of data, of which, one was the continuous water level measurement data in the river entrance and in the sea, and the other being the intermittent aerial-photographs. The statistical parameters, viz., the correlation coefficient and the linear gradient between the two water level data, were analyzed, which formed as the basic for understanding the behavior of the river mouth, like river mouth closure or opening detected by the analysis of the water level variation. The proposed method is found efficient and effective in the evaluation of the morphological changes near a river mouth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]