Experimental analysis of tidal network growth and development.

In this paper we present some results of preliminary laboratory experiments carried out in a large experimental apparatus aimed at reproducing a typical lagoonal environment, subject to tidal forcings. We observed the growth and development of a tidal network and analyzed its most relevant features, taking into account the role played by the characteristics of the tidal forcings in driving the development of channelized patterns. Such an experiment was designed in order to improve our understanding of the main processes responsible for channel network ontogeny and evolution. Numerical and theoretical analyses of network configurations were also carried out through the use of simplified and complete morphodynamic models. In particular, we analyzed the evolution in time of the morphometric characteristics of the developed networks, and studied the hydrodynamics and sediment transport features related to a specific net configuration obtained with the experiments. The unchanneled flow lengths, compared to literature field data, have shown that tidal patterns developed within our laboratory experiment exhibit a behaviour consistent with that of actual tidal networks.