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SUMMARY:An eco-geomorphic model for tidal channel initiation in salt marsh
 es
DTSTART:20140422T161500
DTEND:20140422T171500
DTSTAMP:20260916T050030Z
UID:ad3741a2d18de884bdf1ee03fcc81208d54497d151e8ce0985562683
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Marco Toffolon\, Assistant professor\, Department of Civil\
 , Environmental and Mechanical Engineering\, University of Trento\, Italy\
 nAbstract:\nTidal wetlands and particularly salt marshes constitute dynami
 c ecosystems of vital importance. Understanding the morphological evolutio
 n of the drainage network in salt marshes is particularly important\, as c
 hannels transport water\, suspended sediments and nutrients in and out of 
 the tidal platform. Moreover\, the development of the channels has signifi
 cant interaction with the dynamics of the halophyte vegetation\, highlight
 ing biogeomorphological feedbacks that are currently one of the most intri
 guing topics in this field of research. In this seminar\, a modelling fram
 ework is presented for the study of the channel initiation\, based on the 
 coupling of a morphodynamic module (Carniello et al.\, Estuarine\, Coastal
  and Shelf Science 2012) and a simplified description of the vegetation dy
 namics and the related eco-sedimentary processes\, participating in the fe
 edback between marsh sedimentation and plant growth. Channel morphogenesis
  is simulated starting from an initially flat microtidal basin under diffe
 rent scenarios of sediment supply and marsh ecology. Preliminary results s
 uggest that the morphological response strongly depends on the modelling o
 f vegetation dynamics\, which still contains large uncertainties\, and tha
 t the formation of the channel network in depositional contexts is charact
 erised by peculiar geomorphic properties.Short biography:\nThe research in
 terests of Marco Toffolon cover different aspects of environmental fluid m
 echanics (physical limnology\, sediment transport and morphodynamics\, tid
 al hydrodynamics\, eco-hydraulics) and some topics in fluid dynamics (e.g.
  flows in biological collapsible tubes). His main expertise is in mathemat
 ical modelling of environmental systems. After a Ph.D. in Hydraulic Engine
 ering (University of Padova\, Italy)\, he became assistant professor and t
 hen aggregate professor at the Department of Civil\, Environmental and Mec
 hanical Engineering of the University of Trento (Italy)\, teaching courses
  in environmental hydraulics and open channel flow. He is currently visiti
 ng EPFL until the beginning of May 2014.
LOCATION:GR A3 32 http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=GR%20A3%2032
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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