Similar to the Chesapeake Bay inlets studied by Byrne et al. (1980),
Goldsmith Inlet is small and located on a coast receiving limited longshore
sediment transport. Unlike the Chesapeake Bay inlets, however, Goldsmith Inlet
is protected by one jetty and comprises medium to coarse grain sediment.
Blockage of longshore sediment transport by the Goldsmith Inlet jetty and the
streaming of this material past the inlet mouth as discussed in Chapter 4 would
reduce sediment arrival to the inlet and, therefore, promote a larger channel
cross-sectional area.
For Goldsmith Inlet, the width-to-depth ratio, W/D = 32, based on
measurements listed in Table 6-6. The inlet channel is, therefore, less efficient
than the small Chesapeake Bay inlets studied by Byrne et al. (1980) where the
average W/D = 23. However, as compared to the larger inlets studied by Jarrett
(1976), it is highly hydraulically efficient.
Goldsmith Inlet ebb shoal
Goldsmith Inlet does not posses an ebb shoal, as discussed in Chapter 4.
Instead, a subaqueous spit is present eastward from the jetty, in the direction of
predominant eastward longshore transport. Longevity of the inlet is inferred to
owe in part to eastward migration and orientation of the inlet mouth, enabling
sediment that would otherwise be deposited in the entrance to bypass the inlet.
The bar crossing the mouth of Goldsmith Inlet is morphologically similar to a
spit growing from the large fillet that forms on the east side of the jetty. This
fillet receives sediment that is transported close to shore and around the jetty
from west to east.
A conventional ebb shoal is considered to form and be maintained as a
balance of the ebb current that transports sediment seaward and wave-induced