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This dataset contains ascii text files of latitude, longitude, and water depth data which were collected using a pole-mounted multibeam echosounder system from the R/V Ukpik in July-August, 2021. Dr. Emily Eidam was the team lead and Dan Duncan was the multibeam operator. The data were collected along discrete tracklines across Harrison Bay. The general study was seaward of the Colville Delta between Cape Halkett to the west and Oliktok Point to the east, with a maximum seaward extent to water depths of approximately 30 meters (m) (about half to three-quarters of the way across the shelf from the shoreline). The dataset also contains a netcdf file of bathymetric change which was computed as the difference between the combined 2021 and 2022 data contained in this archive and a 1950s dataset which was recently corrected and is publicly available through Zimmerman et al., 2022 (doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2022.104745). The multibeam data provide information about a rich diversity of seabed features including large and small ice-keel scours, sand waves, strudel scour pits, and unusual scoured substrates. A detailed description of these datasets is provided in an in-preparation manuscript (Eidam et al., Seafloor sediments and morphologic features of Harrison Bay in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea). The bathymetric change data illustrates erosion of the inner and inner-middle shelf over the past ~70 years, including erosion of up to ~3 m near Cape Halkett and on the Colville Delta front. These changes are addressed in detail in Heath, 2024 (Oregon State University Master of Science Thesis, "Sedimentation and Erosion on an Arctic Continental Shelf: Harrison Bay and Colville River Delta, Alaska"). 

Abstract Seasonal sea ice impacts Arctic delta morphology by limiting wave and river influences and altering river‐to‐ocean sediment pathways. However, the long‐term effects of sea ice on delta morphology remain poorly known. To address this gap, 1D morphologic and hydrodynamic simulations were set up in Delft3D to study the 1500‐year development of Arctic deltas during the most energetic Arctic seasons: spring break‐up/freshet, summer open‐water, and autumn freeze‐up. The model focused on the deltaic clinoform (i.e., the vertical cross‐sectional view of a delta) and used a floating barge structure to mimic the effects of sea ice on nearshore waters. From the simulations we find that ice‐affected deltas form a compound clinoform morphology, that is, a coupled subaerial and subaqueous delta separated by a subaqueous platform that resembles the shallow platform observed offshore of Arctic deltas. Nearshore sea ice affects river dynamics and promotes sediment bypassing during sea ice break‐up, forming an offshore depocenter and building a subaqueous platform. A second depocenter forms closer to shore during the open‐water season at the subaerial foreset that aids in outbuilding the subaerial delta and assists in developing the compound clinoform morphology. Simulations of increased wave activity and reduced sea‐ice, likely futures under a warming Arctic climate, show that deltas may lose their shallow platform on centennial timescales by (a) sediment infill and/or (b) wave erosion. This study highlights the importance of sea ice on Arctic delta morphology and the potential morphologic transitions these high‐latitude deltas may experience as the Arctic continues to warm. 

Sediments covering Arctic continental shelves are uniquely impacted by ice processes. Delivery of sediments is generally limited to the summer, when rivers are ice free, permafrost bluffs are thawing, and sea ice is undergoing its seasonal retreat. Once delivered to the coastal zone, sediments follow complex pathways to their final depocenters—for example, fluvial sediments may experience enhanced seaward advection in the spring due to routing under nearshore sea ice; during the open-water season, boundary-layer transport may be altered by strong stratification in the ocean due to ice melt; during the fall storm season, sediments may be entrained into sea ice through the production of anchor ice and frazil; and in the winter, large ice keels more than 20 m tall plow the seafloor (sometimes to seabed depths of 1–2 m), creating a type of physical mixing that dwarfs the decimeter-scale mixing from bioturbation observed in lower-latitude shelf systems. This review summarizes the work done on subtidal sediment dynamics over the last 50 years in Arctic shelf systems backed by soft-sediment coastlines and suggests directions for future sediment studies in a changing Arctic. Reduced sea ice, increased wave energy, and increased sediment supply from bluffs (and possibly rivers) will likely alter marine sediment dynamics in the Arctic now and into the future. 

In this study, we developed a 1D Delft3D-FLOW model to simulate the temporal development of the Colville River Delta, Alaska during the most active Arctic seasons: break-up/freshet (spring), open-water (summer), and freeze-up (fall). Simulations focused on the deltaic clinoform (i.e., the cross-sectional view of a delta) and used a floating barge structure to mimic the effects of sea ice on surface waters. Delft3D simulations were coupled with modules written in MATLAB and outputs were process in MATLAB. Arctic delta morphology is impacted by seasonal sea ice coverage which significantly limits wave and river influences and alters river-to-ocean sediment dispersal. However, our knowledge of the morphologic influences of ice on delta morphology is relatively limited. To assess the role of sea ice, our study used a model to explore long-term Arctic delta development under seasonal ice, river, and wave conditions. Delta developmental simulations (spanning 1500 years) included ice-free and ice-affected cases. These cases consisted of simulations with and without waves to separately examine and compare sea ice, river, and wave impacts on Arctic delta evolution. Long-term delta developmental simulations showed ice-affected deltas form a compound clinoform morphology – a coupled subaerial and subaqueous delta separated by a subaqueous platform that resembles the shallow 2 meter platform observed offshore of Arctic deltas. In the model, the presence of nearshore sea ice and river forcing promoted sediment bypassing during break-up, forming a depocenter up to 6 km away from the river mouth and were the key drivers behind platform formation. Furthermore, six varying sea-ice characteristics (extent and thickness) were evaluated to examine effects on delta development for the first 500 years. We found that the compound clinoform morphology modulated by sea ice was heavily dependent on ice conditions, with closer and thicker sea ice produced a more elongated subaqueous platform. In addition to long-term delta developmental simulations, we examined two future scenarios (spanning 450 years) to assess future Arctic delta morphology with less seasonal sea ice coverage and larger waves as predicted by climate models. Modeled future simulations showed Arctic deltas may lose the shallow 2 meter platform feature on centennial timescales by (1) sediment infill or (2) wave erosion. This study highlights the importance of sea ice on Arctic delta morphology and the potential morphologic transitions these high-latitude deltas may experience as the Arctic continues to warm. The dataset includes an example model run file (Delft3D-FLOW and MATLAB) and output of results from the described simulations. Files include: 1) Example Delft3D-FLOW model setup file, MATLAB run script, and ice files for a 1500-year simulation. 2) Processed MATLAB structures and metadata for model results A) Long-term Delta Developmental Outputs (1500-year simulations) i) Ice-free ii) Ice-affected iii) Ice-free with waves iv) Ice-affected with waves B) Varying Sea Ice Characteristics Outputs (500-year simulations) i) Ice matrix (six simulations) C) Future Arctic Delta Scenarios Outputs (450-year simulations) i) Scenario A ii) Scenario B 

Future sea-level rise poses an existential threat for many river deltas, yet quantifying the effect of sea-level changes on these coastal landforms remains a challenge. Sea-level changes have been slow compared to other coastal processes during the instrumental record, such that our knowledge comes primarily from models, experiments, and the geologic record. Here we review the current state of science on river delta response to sea-level change, including models and observations from the Holocene until 2300 CE. We report on improvements in the detection and modeling of past and future regional sea-level change, including a better understanding of the underlying processes and sources of uncertainty. We also see significant improvements in morphodynamic delta models. Still, substantial uncertainties remain, notably on present and future subsidence rates in and near deltas. Observations of delta submergence and land loss due to modern sea-level rise also remain elusive, posing major challenges to model validation. ▪ There are large differences in the initiation time and subsequent delta progradation during the Holocene, likely from different sea-level and sediment supply histories. ▪ Modern deltas are larger and will face faster sea-level rise than during their Holocene growth, making them susceptible to forced transgression. ▪ Regional sea-level projections have been much improved in the past decade and now also isolate dominant sources of uncertainty, such as the Antarctic ice sheet. ▪ Vertical land motion in deltas can be the dominant source of relative sea-level change and the dominant source of uncertainty; limited observations complicate projections. ▪ River deltas globally might lose 5% (∼35,000 km 2 ) of their surface area by 2100 and 50% by 2300 due to relative sea-level rise under a high-emission scenario. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Volume 51 is May 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates. 

Abstract. Flood-protection levees have been built along rivers and coastlines globally. Current datasets, however, are generally confined to territorial boundaries (national datasets) and are not always easily accessible, posing limitations for hydrologic models and assessments of flood hazard. Here, we bridge this knowledge gap by collecting and standardizing global flood-protection levee data for river deltas into the open-source global river delta levee data environment, openDELvE. In openDELvE, we aggregate levee data from national databases, reports, maps, and satellite imagery. The database identifies the river delta land areas that the levees have been designed to protect. Where data are available, we record the extent and design specifications of the levees themselves (e.g., levee height, crest width, construction material) in a harmonized format. The 1657 polygons of openDELvE contain 19 248 km of levees and 44 733.505 km2 of leveed area. For the 153 deltas included in openDELvE, 17 % of the land area is confined by flood-protection levees. Around 26 % of delta population lives within the 17 % of delta area that is protected, making leveed areas densely populated. openDELvE data can help improve flood exposure assessments, many of which currently do not account for flood-protection levees. We find that current flood hazard assessments that do not include levees may exaggerate the delta flood exposure by 33 % on average, but up to 100 % for some deltas. The openDELvE is made public on an interactive platform (https://www.opendelve.eu/, 1 October 2022), which includes a community-driven revision tool to encourage inclusion of new levee data and continuous improvement and refinement of open-source levee data.