THE EBB-TIDAL DELTA MODEL OF SHOREFACE RIDGE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION - APPRAISAL AND APPLICABILITY ALONG THE SOUTHERN NORTH-SEA BARRIER-ISLANDCOAST - A DISCUSSION

The ebb-tidal delta model of McBride and Moslow is the most comprehens ive on the morphogenesis and distribution of shoreface ridges along th e US Atlantic seaboard to date. This discussion evaluates the applicab ility of the above model to the southern North Sea barrier island coas t. Results indicate that the characteristics of the North Sea shorefac e-connected ridge sediments display a genetic relationship with those of the inlet ebb delta as implied by the ebb-tidal model. By contrast, ridge orientation is not well accounted for by lateral inlet migratio n and shoreline recession as suggested by the model. A possible reason for the aforementioned discrepancy is discussed.